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Of the three Harbaugh sisters who attended the Mr.
Bluebeard matinee at the Iroquois Theater, one died
at the theater, one was revived at J. Thompson
restaurant to spend eight days at the Samaritan
hospital before dying, and one recovered from her
injuries after six weeks at St. Luke’s hospital and
lived, turbulently, until 1956.
They were the Harbaugh girls, three of five children
born to Isaac William Harbaugh (1841-1884) and
Emeline “Emma” Neiswender (1844-1914). They were
Harriet “Hattie” Harbaugh (1868-1904), Mary Emma
Harbaugh (1873-1903), and Rose Harbough Stafford
(1877-1956)
Early years
Isaac and Emma each came from large Ohio families.
Isaac’s three years of service as a farrier in the
Union army (Company F 3rd Regiment of the Ohio
Volunteer Cavalry) ended in 1864, and they married
two years later. Isaac went to work as a blacksmith.
Harriet, nicknamed Hatty / Hattie, came along in
1868, Mary Emma in 1873, Kate Roselle in 1877, and
Frederick in 1881. According to the 1910 census,
there was a
fifth Harbaugh child,
name unknown, presumed to have died without reaching
adulthood.
Harriet was born in West Salem, Ohio, south of
Cleveland, but the other children were born in
Plainfield, Illinois southwest of Chicago.
Emma widowed
In 1882 when Fred was a year old, Emma had lost her
father, Joseph Neiswender. Worse misery came two
years later when her husband Isaac died, and Emma
found herself a widow with three minor children.
Somehow she got along and moved her family a bit
south to the larger town of Joliet, IL.
Emma remarried
Mary and Harriet became teachers, and in 1895 Emma
remarried. Widower John Corlett (1832-1908), a
native of England, had five children from his first
marriage, all surviving when he and Emma married. In
1896 Harriet attended the Cottage College at
Northwestern University in Evanston, and Mary was
assigned to the Henderson school.
Girls as adults
In mid-1901 Rose married businessman Llewellyn Clarence Stafford
(1874-1939), honeymooning with a trip to the worlds
fair in Buffalo, NY. In 1902 Fred graduated from
Joliet High School. Harriet went to work as a
private teacher for the Frank S. Greenleaf family in
Savanna, Illinois, where she taught the fifteen- and
seventeen-year-old Greenleaf sons at the family’s
beautiful new Greenleaf mansion, Hillcrest.
1903
In December 1903, Fred was in college, Mary was
assigned to the O’Toole elementary school, Rose was
married, Harriet worked in Savanna, and Emma was
eight years into her second marriage.
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The Harbaugh girls made plans to get together over
the Christmas holidays. Harriet traveled north to
stay with her mother, sister Mary, brother Fred and
stepfather at 615 Oneida in Joliet.
Day of Iroquois Theater fire
The morning of December 30, 1903, Mary and Harriet
traveled to Rose's house in Rogers park, then the
three women traveled to see a matinee of the newest
Klaw and Erlanger Christmas extravaganza, Mr.
Bluebeard
<
Five hours later, Mary was dead at Gavins Mortuary,
and both Harriet and Rose were at hospitals fighting
for their lives. Rose won her fight; Harriet did
not.
Harriet got to the Samaritan hospital by way of the
Thompson's Diner next to the Iroquois where she'd
been laid in a pile of the dead, soon headed to a
morgue. Though unconscious, she moved a finger, and
the sign of life was noticed. She regained
consciousness long enough to supply her last name
then was rerouted to a hospital.
Rose was at St. Luke's hospital with burns and a
fractured skull after falling from a second-floor
fire escape and landing head first in Couch Place
alley. The only second-floor fire escape door opened
was one at the lowest position, not a great enough
distance for a somersault after a feet-first jump,
and she wouldn't have dove headfirst intentionally.
Being pushed over the railing by the crowd behind
her, however, could have resulted in a headfirst
fall. Rose's husband Llewellyn found and identified
Mary's body and Harriet. Eight days later, Harriet
succumbed to her injuries. Rose would remain at St.
Luke for six weeks.
Years after the fire
1908 Emma once again became a widow when John Corlett died<
1913 Rose's husband abandoned her, fearing insanity (his, not her's)
1914 Emma died
1915 Rose was awarded a divorce from Llewellyn
1917 Frederick Harbaugh moved to Texas
1918 Fred married Florence Wilson and had three children 1919-1926
1918-1929 Rose and Llewellyn continued living
together despite the divorce. Not known if they
remarried or if he went mad, but they eventually
separated.
1930 Rose moved to Denver and worked as a maid in a private household<
1934 El Paso, CO Rose married widow John Lehman
1856-1945, a photographic printmaker for Nast
Photography in Denver. John was twenty-one years
older than Rose.
1935 Rose and John moved to Arapahoe, CO
1945 John Lehman died
1956 Rose died in Pueblo, CO, and was buried
with John in an unmarked grave.
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