The Joseph story was reported on page seven of the February 13, 1904 issue of The Inter Ocean newspaper.  It was part of a larger story and transitioned into several paragraphs about contradictions between testimony from ushers and audience members and between ushers and other Iroquois employees as to who opened doors in the theater.

Testimonial transcripts of the two Iroquois inquests were not preserved so historians are dependent on two months of newspaper snippets and stories for clues about usher behavior.  In an effort to see a fuller picture I gathered the pieces and learned a bit about each of them.  If you're interested, there's an Iroquois usher roundup page. A simple summary is that some attempted to help, some snarled at the audience, some ran away, and some helplessly flapped their arms.  No ushers were identified or charged with being guilty of bad conduct, but as a group they were condemned by journalists and politicians, and blamed for increasing the death count.  The blame then moved to their immediate supervisor, George Dusenberry, for having failed to train them adequately, and kept traveling to the top, to business manager, Thomas Noonan, and on to Iroquois owner-managers Will J. Davis and Harry Powers.

Two of the children saved by Joseph Seymour may have been twelve-year-old Marjorie Wetmore and her fourteen-year-old cousin.  Marjorie's father, insurance man Ethelbert R. Wetmore, would later credit their survival to an unnamed Iroquois usher.  It was the only account published of an usher helping bring people out of the theater.

One, two, three...

Given chaos at the scene, the specificity about the quantity of Joseph's rescued victims is suspicious.  Joseph's fellow ushers, or a police officer guarding the front entrance of the theater, could have seen him bringing out multiple people, but the scene was far too chaotic for anyone to have had the opportunity to count the comings and goings of one man.

Newspaper stories were contradictive about Joseph's final moments of life.  Some reported that his  body was still among the unidentified at the county morgue (see accompanying image) and others that he died while on route to the hospital in an ambulance.  Safe to say that Joseph did not have an opportunity to share his last words with his mother or first responders.

One possibility is that in the two months that elapsed before the grand jury trial, Mary Seymour heard the story from one of Joseph's co-workers at the Iroquois or even from manager Davis.

Family entitled to feel proud

Despite probable exaggeration in the Seymour story, Joseph was one of the ushers at the Iroquois who tried to do the right thing when the fire started. Whether he rescued one or twenty, he died while engaged in a selfless and courageous effort to save others.  His body was found at the county morgue the day after the fire, wearing his usher's uniform over a shirt labeled with his late father's initials, carrying a silver watch and gold chain. He was identified by his teenaged younger brother, Gordon E. Seymour (c1886–1929).

In 1903 Joseph, his mother and siblings, Eva, Ida, Gordon and Ray Seymour, lived at 758 W. Lake St. in Chicago.  With Will J. Davis's help, the family found a presumably less costly four- or five-room flat at 984 West Madison, near the corner of Madison and Morgan.

In the years after the fire

Gordon Seymour (see below) worked as a musician for Standard Oil during World War I.  Mary and the children remained in Chicago until at least the 1940s and stayed together through marriages, divorces and career changes.

Discrepancies & addendum

In 1904 Iroquois references Mary Seymour was described as widowed from her husband.  He was Marcus "Mark" D. Seymour, who had been alive in 1900 but I found no evidence of death 1900 — 1904. In the 1910 U.S. Census, Mary described herself as married but still used the name Seymour. She claimed another child, born in 1906.  That may have been the adopted child of Mary's daughter, Eva, who died that same year.  There are many missing and iffy pieces in the Seymour story. I do not know what became of Marcus Seymour. I suspect his mother, Mary, may have been a Longnecker at some point. The frequent moves makes following their trail difficult. Their longest stay was in Chicago so after 1898 there are bread crumbs for Mary and the children, but before that, not many.  I have come across divorcees in the 1900 and 1910 U.S. Census who claimed to be widowed; such was the stigma of divorce.  Each of Mary's six children was born in a different state, suggesting that husband Marcus may have had some difficulty in finding work.  (In the 1900 U.S. Census the collection worker's handwritten notation as to his occupation is illegible but an 1898 city directory reports his occupation as a "penman," a job title given to a person who drew letters for documents and logo design.  A year later he worked as an insurance agent.)  Whatever the reason, over a ten year period, the family relocated every two years.

The surname "Seymour" was attached to three individuals in connection with the Iroquois Theater fire. One was Fred "Slim" Seymour, a member of the stage crew who usually lowered the fire curtain but had gone home sick the morning of the fire. Another was A. L. Seymour, who appeared on early victim lists but not on later lists and for which a death certificate was not issued. Joseph is the only verified Seymour fatality from the fire.

Newspapers reported that his brother, Gordon, was nineteen, but according to the 1900 U.S. Census, Gordon was born in 1886 and, according to his WWI draft card, born in 1887, making him seventeen or eighteen in 1904.

* The two detectives from the States Attorney's office who went to the Seymour home and spoke with Mary were Thomas E. McAuliffe and Frank H. Been.

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