Keyword search
(Iroquois-specific results
will appear at bottom of
search list):
Note: If this tab has been open in your browser for hours
or days, a new search may bring an access error or unproductive results. When that happens, position the cursor in the
"Enhanced by Google" search box above, then refresh your screen
(F5 on PC, Cmd-R on Apple, 3-button symbol at top right of screen on Android or iphone) and
re-enter your search words.
On Wednesday, December 30, 1903, the Bolte family from New Trier
township in Winnetka, Illinois, traveled into downtown Chicago
for an afternoon theater matinee at the city's newest luxury
playhouse, the Iroquois Theater on Randolph St. In the party
were Charles and Jessie Bolte and their three children, John,
Guy and Linda, and the family's domestic servant,
Eleanor Elna Frandsen.*
Their seats were in the balcony on the second floor, surrounded
by teachers, children, and families who turned out to celebrate
the last few days before the end of the holiday and return to
school, a good place to appreciate the music, special effects,
and aerial dancers. The Mr. Bluebeard fairytale
pantomime production by
Klaw & Erlanger had
been imported from the
Drury Lane Theater in London.
When a fire broke out on the stage, Charles picked up his wife,
who had a lame leg, and told the boys to take care of their
sister. He carried Jessie to the fire escape on the north side
of the auditorium leading out to Couch Place alley (doors nos 29-31)
where she was then helped by firemen. John and Guy tried to
steer Linda out of the theater, but she became frightened and
ran in the opposite direction, probably to the exit through
which they'd entered the auditorium. Unable to find her, Guy and
the boys followed Jessie out the fire escape exit.
Adding to the terror, Jessie's dress became
frozen to the fire escape iron and firemen
had to chop it free. Jessie would
later say during her harrowing escape down
the fire escape that she bolstered her
courage with the resolve of needing to live
for her family she presumed had all escaped
from the Iroquois.▼1
Only Linda perished. Her body was identified by her uncle, John H. Willard, her mother's brother.▼2
Thirteen-year-old Linda W. Bolte (b. 1890) was the
daughter of Charles Guy Bolte (1856–1919) and Jessie
Jane Willard Bolte (1856–1938), each age
forty-seven. Her brothers, John Bolte (1884–1964)
and Guy Bolte (1888–1947) were nineteen and fifteen.
I've not yet learned what school Linda Bolte
attended in Winnetka. She would have been one of 512
K-12 students in a new Trier population of around
5,000.
Charles G. Bolte was a native of Canada who
immigrated to the United States in 1867 and became a
naturalized citizen in 1880. He worked as a sales
agent for a silk factory in 1900, probably the same
company as his son Guy.▼3
Jessie Bolte was
the daughter of Alonzo J. Willard (1817–1903),
co-founder of the
Washington Ice Company.
In the years after the fire
Seven years after the fire, Charles and Jessie lived
with Jessie's nephew, John W. Willard, and his
family, at 217 Pine St. Charles then co-owned a
lighting company, Bolte & Weyer Company, purchased
for $500, from John J. Weyer. See attached story
with Weyer's description of his lamp, its
introduction to the circus industry, and accusations
showing Bolte in an unfavorable light.
Linda's mother, Jessie Bolte,
was on the Board of Education in Chicago. Her
fifteen minutes of fame came in March 1900 at a
meeting of the Department of Superintendence of the
National Educational Association. She drew gasps and
anger when she questioned information presented by
Temperance Union proponents, labeling the
presentation as more political than factual, from
self-proclaimed experts. Jessie asserted that for
every 1,000 people killed by the whiskey bottle,
10,000 died by the frying pan (presumably from poor
nutrition or food
poisoning rather than by being clobbered).
Jessie Willard Bolte must have been an interesting woman. Widowed in 1919, she
lived for a time in New York City with her son Guy. In 1922 she visited Shanghai, China, and in
1925 Puerto Rico, both trips seemingly taken by
herself. Her last years were spent in Fairhope, Alabama.
In Winnetka, the Boltes lived at 211 Jackson. Their
home was razed, and a new structure was built in
1935.
2. The uncle who identified Linda's body, John Willard (1857–1928),
lived in Chicago with his wife, Ada Eldredge
Willard(1858–1936), and daughters, Margaret and Edith Willard.
3. In 1921, son Guy worked as the advertising manager for
the Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturers company in
New York City, and John worked as a manager in a
paint company.
Dr Robert McInnes of
Belvidere IL at Iroquois Theater
Elna Frandsen
Carrie
and Susie Turney
Other discussions you might find interesting
irqcombine
Story 2694
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.
