|
In 1903 three teenaged cousins lost their lives in
America's worst theater fire. Ruth Payson was age fifteen; brother and sister
Helen and Glenn Bickford were age sixteen and seventeen
when they went to an afternoon matinee at Chicago's
Iroquois Theater.
Ruth Gertrude Payson (b.1888) lived on Elizabeth Court in Oak Park, IL. She
was a high school sophomore but may have gone to a
private school because a list of public school
Iroquois victims omitted her name. She was
the daughter of Kate "Kitty" Louise Bickford Payson
and Edward Payson (1855-1938). Edward Payson
was president of the Payson Company, a thirty-year-old manufacturer
of casters and hardware for doors and windows.
The Payson brand is still on the market and its
vintage products are sought after by collectors and
restoration specialists.
Ruth had three sisters: Grace, Isabel and Edith.
Ruth's funeral was held at the Third Congregational
Church on Forest Street in Oak Park (completed in
April 1903). After the fire, the family moved to Traverse City, Michigan
where they lived on Sixth St.
|
 |
At age seventy-two, Edward worked as a gardener.
Daughter Edith married in the 1950s but in 1940 she
still lived with her parents, working as a public
school teacher.
An Iroquois Theater fire survivor, sixteen-year-old
Alice Prescott,
sat next to Payson and the Bickfords. Before
escaping from the theater, she overheard Glenn
Bickford saying to his sister, Helen, "Never mind,
sister. Don't be afraid. Everything will be all
right."
Glenn Bickford (b.1886) and Helen Bickford (b.1887) lived at
947 Farwell Ave in Chicago and attended the Lake
View High School. They were the children
of Canadian immigrants, Charles Bickford and Harriet Bickford
of Rogers Park in Chicago. Charles Bickford
was a lumber dealer.
Services for Helen and Glen were held in the chapel
at the Grace Land cemetery on Saturday morning after
the fire.
Glen and Helen had a younger
sister, Cornelia, who did not attend the theater.
|
