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Light fixtures at the Iroquois theater, excluding those used on the stage,
were supplied by manufacturer and wholesaler T. W. Wilmarth Company.
Wilmarth also supplied fixtures for several other Klaw & Erlanger theaters
in Chicago and around the Midwest. Sconce lights and Etruscan crystal bowl
electroliers can be seen in interior photographs.
The president of Wilmarth, Joseph H. Dimery, was a personal friend of Will
J. Davis, Iroquois manager. Dimery served as an auctioneer at the
promotional
ticket sale auction in
mid-November before the theater's grand opening. He and Davis were fellow
members of the Chicago Athletic Club. Dimery and his wife were in a party
who, in 1909, visited Davis at his Crown Point farm, Willowdale, to attend
the Cobe Trophy Cup auto race in Crown Point (see photo below). Others in
the group were attorney
Levy Mayer, novelist/playwright Marjorie Benton Cooke, and light opera contralto Kate
Condon.
Dimery attended Mr Bluebeard matinee
Dimery surely attended the November 23, 1903,
Iroquois grand opening and must have liked the show
because he saw it again the afternoon of the fire.
He survived and testified at fire attorney
Fulkerson's hearing two days after the fire. He sat
on the first floor in the parquet, far enough south
that he did not see the first flames. In court, he
spoke of trying to reassure people sitting in the
nearby box seat. He remained in the theater long
enough to see the problems in lowering the fire
curtain and spoke of the draft that blew into the
auditorium when the stage door was opened as being
strong enough to nearly knock him over. He was the
only one who emphasized the strength of the draft,
but the reason soon became clear: Iroquois
management thought the draft exonerated them. Old
man Joe was helping out Old man Will.
In his testimony, Dimery did not refer to anyone
else in his party at the Iroquois, so it is not
known if his wife, Sarah, also attended.
Joseph Dimery (1859–1928) immigrated from England in
1879. He was the son of George and Mary Dimery. He
married Sarah Emily Austin (1864–1920) in 1888.
Sarah went by her middle name, probably to avoid
confusion with her mother, also named Sarah. Emily
was the daughter of New York natives Judge Peter B.
Austin and Sarah Lyons Austin. Peter was a judge in
Detroit. Emily's brother, Al Austin, operated a
trendy Chicago restaurant for many years in the
early 1900s. Joseph and Emily had no children that
survived. Two daughters died in infancy in 1888 and
1889.
Joseph Dimery stepped down as president sometime
before 1913 but was still working as a sales
representative until at least 1920. I failed to
learn what became of the Wilmarth lighting company.
The last reference I found was in 1943.
Wilmarth history
As a young man in 1856, Henry Wilmarth went to work
as a bookkeeper for the Gerould Brothers gas
fixtures company. When the Gerould brothers died, he
became the manager and eventually purchased the
company. His brother, Thomas W. Wilmarth, joined the
business, and at Henry's death, the company was
renamed T. W. Wilmarth. By 1903 none of the Wilmarth
family remained associated with the company, but the
name remained, probably because it was synonymous
with light fixtures in Chicago and in various
industries, including hotels, public buildings, and
theaters.
Chicago City Club contract
In 1912 Wilmarth won a contract to supply light
fixtures to the six-story, eight-year-old City Club
on Plymouth Court in Chicago (picture above),
designed by Pond and Pond. Included in the project
were 350 lamps. The Commonwealth Edison company
supplied direct current for the building — powering,
in addition to lighting, three elevators, and two
dumb-waiters. A trade magazine reported that the
facility was equipped with outlets for table lamps
and vacuum cleaners, with special "cutouts" for
stereopticons in the two lounges. Stereopticons
projectors were used for glass slide presentations
and are also known as "magic lanterns." Am not sure
what a "cut out" is, but since the story appeared in
an electrical trade publication, it may have
referred to a separate circuit. Stereopticon
projectors used high-powered bulbs and may have
gobbled more than their fair share of power. It is
interesting that as late as 1912, wall outlets for
table lamps were novel enough to merit particular
mention in a magazine read by electricians.
The Dimerys joined Will J. Davis for the 23.3-mile
June 1909
Cobe Trophy Cup race in Crown Point, Indiana, two months before the first Indianapolis 500.
Pictured is Joe Matson driving his Chalmers-Detroit
racer to a win on the first day of the race. Three
years later, he won the Indy 500. In Crown Point,
Matson did ten laps, averaging 52.2 mph. Louis
Chevrolet of France was the winner on the second
day, with a Buick that averaged 49.26 mph. Davis saved photos of this race.
For all that, Joe Dimery looks like the bookkeeper
he was at the beginning of his career; 1900–1910
Chicago newspapers suggested a fellow that was
enjoying life. There were several stories of jovial
exploits of fraternal organizations involving Dimery
and, usually,
Will J. Davis.
Uncontrolled lighting played a role
William Brady theatrical producer at
Iroquois Theater
Florence Tobias taught at
Jefferson Elementary
Other discussions you might find interesting
Story 2637
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.