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Three teenage friends survived
the Iroquois fire. They were sitting in the
eighth row of the parquet on the first floor where
there were few fatalities. One of the trio, Lila
Hazel Coulter, described her experience to the
Chicago Chronicle newspaper and another testified at
the coroner's inquest.
"I was sitting in the fifth seat from the aisle,
said Miss Coulter, "but the fire, which was bursting
out from both sides of the stage, had such a
fascination for me that at first I could not move.
Finally, by an effort, I gathered up my coat and
rushed into the aisle, looking back as I did.
"Helen Dickinson was standing up, her eyes fixed
upon the blazing stage, and that was the last I saw
of her. I did not notice Mr. Collins. When I reached
the aisle I was swept along so fast that I had no
time to think, and before I knew it I was at one of
the exits leading to the alley. It was a frightful
jam, and all the time that awful screams were
ringing in my ears. I was in a crush of women, as
there were but few men on the lower floor.
"There was a momentary jam at this alley door, and
just before I fell into the alley I looked toward
the stage. The house by this time was full of smoke
and several women and children near me were
strangling. I could hardly breathe. The stage was one
mass of flame, the fire reaching out into the
auditorium, while the boxes on each side were
blazing.
"All at once I was pitched into the alley upon
the bodies of a lot of people, and then several men
and women fell upon me. After I had disentangled myself and
managed to get up I found myself standing on a young
girl. She was apparently unconscious so I lifted her
up.
"The [fire escape] stairways leading to the
balcony and gallery were crowded to their utmost
and I saw several women, girls and men hanging
from the platforms by their hands. Before I
could get away, I saw some of these fall into the
alley. Smoke was pouring out from everywhere
about the theater, and the alley becoming so
thick with smoke, I ran toward State street."
Sixteen-year-old Leila* Coulter
(1887-after 1942), who often went by her
middle name, Hazel, was the only child of John
"Johnny" Coulter (1856-) and Ella Pollock Coulter
(1862-1919), 4760 Champlain Avenue. Her father worked
for the Chicago Evening Post and the New
York Herald. The family
was prosperous enough to own their home and
socialize with the
Plamondon's. They
moved to Manhattan in 1905 and Hazel married Will
VanBenthuysen Jr, book illustrator and son of late
newspaper New York World editor, Will
VanBenthuysen. After his 1929 death, she
married Richard Anderson.
Kenneth P. Collins
(1884-1955) had turned eighteen a month
before the Iroquois fire. He was the only surviving child of
Anna E. Collins (1850-1921). His
late father, John L. Collins
(1847-1901), had
died two years earlier in an
elevator
accident at the Masonic Temple. Kenneth was the grandson of a celebrated
civil war naval commander, Napoleon Collins.
Kenneth graduated from the Northwestern law school
three years later and practiced investment law in
Chicago for the next fifty years. He did not
marry.
Fourteen-year-old Helen Marcella† Dickinson
(1889-after 1931)lived in a boarding house
named Josephine Apartments at 3637 Michigan Avenue in
Chicago.
Helen testified at the coroner's inquest in January 1904.
She also escaped into Couch Place alley, reporting that only
one of the three first floor exits was open. Helen
described seeing women jumping from the balcony and hanging from the balcony rails.
Helen was the daughter of Sadie Mertage Dickinson and her
ex-husband, Willis P. Dickinson (1856-1925) — a
business speculator, owner of railroads and trotting
racehorses, accused embezzler and serial
philanderer. A graduate of Sacred Heart Academy in
New York and St. Xavier Academy in Chicago, Helen
reportedly made her society debut in 1903 but I
found only one newspaper notice of her involvement
in parties. Probably no money for debutant
activities. Though intermittently wealthy and from
an influential family,‡ her father had anger issues,
chronic financial problems, was often in legal
entanglements and only paid child support when taken
to court.
I was not able to learn what happened to Helen after 1931 but
suspect she remarried for the third time. From
1906 to 1931 her life was was turbulent:
Helen married Harvard grad, Rodman
Robeson. By November, she
sued for divorce, claiming he
tried to kill her.
1910
She gave birth to son Ralph Anthony
Robeson and was deserted by her
husband who later said they did
not agree about anything.
1912
Helen filed for bankruptcy
1913
She divorced Robeson, later claiming
she thought he died in Alaska.
Helen then married Edward Royce,
former stage manager for George
Edwarde at Gaiety Theater in
London and Flo Ziegfeld.
1914
Had a daughter who died at age two.
Ended up in court over an
argument with a neighbor.
1915
Helen took her father to court for
failure to pay grandchild support. Her father
accused her mother of infidelity, claimed Helen was
not his child and that Sadie,
who was caring for Ralph while Helen was in London, was not a
fit caretaker. Helen penned a few poems and a short
story, planned to return to her stage career, performing as
Helen Hamilton Dudley. No
evidence she'd ever been on the stage, or left it.
1916
She claimed to have been accused of
being a spy while in London.
1931
Helen enlisted assistance from law
enforcement to track down Rodman
Robeson. He wasn't dead
and had inherited $300,000 from
his mother's estate. Helen
wanted a piece. He had
remarried fifteen years earlier.
No follow-up as to whether he
settled.
Discrepancies and addendum
* Also spelled Lela and Lila in newspapers
† She sometimes used Hamilton. She claimed to be
the great great granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton.
‡ A brother, Jacob Dickinson, served as president
Taft's secretary of war.
Clara and William Reid of
Waukegan
Barsness sisters escaped
Iroquois fire
1921 fire destroyed 1890
census records
Other discussions you might find interesting
Story 1102
A note about sourcing. When this
project began, I failed to anticipate the day might come when a
more scholarly approach would be called for. When my
mistake was recognized I faced a decision: go back and spend years creating source lists for every page, or go
forward and try to cover more of the people and circumstances
involved in the disaster. Were I twenty years younger, I'd
have gone back, but in recognition that this project will end when I do, I chose to go forward.
These pages will provide enough information, it is hoped, to
provide subsequent researchers with additional information.
I would like to
hear from you if you have additional info about an Iroquois victim, or find an error,
and you're invited to visit the
comments page to share stories and observations about the Iroquois Theater fire.
