|
Otto was among the many dozens of Iroquois employees who
testified at the coroner's trial after the 1903 fire
that claimed nearly six hundred lives. His testimony
about his Iroquois Theater experiences was lost with
all the other trial transcripts, and nothing of it
was reported in the newspaper. He worked as a light
operator.
Otto was the youngest of three children born to
German immigrants — a North Avenue musical
instrument maker and dealer, Liberat Ammann
(1828–1906), and Francis Porscher Ammann
(1835–1923).* According to his WWI draft
registration, he was tall and of medium build with
blue eyes and grey hair.
The Ammann family lived for many years at 223 North
Avenue in Chicago, where Liberat Sr. then Liberat
Jr. operated the family musical instrument store.
|
|
In the years after the fire
In the 1914 Chicago
city directory, Otta described himself as an actor
but by 1920 returned to carpentry. His brother,
Liberat Ammann Jr. (1867–1950), followed in their
father's footsteps and continued operating the music
store. Efforts to learn the Ammann family's musical
instrument focus brought only one clue. In an 1872
city directory, Liberat was listed as a piano and
organ tuner. Subsequent directories did not list the
store specifically as a piano source, however,
suggesting that while pianos may have been the
foundation, the Ammanns later offered a wider range
of instrument types.
Otto spent the last decade of his life as a patient
in the Cook County Oak Forest Infirmary. He was
described in the 1940 U.S. Census as a widow but in
1930 as single and I found no record of a marriage.
The Oak Forest facility was sometimes referred to as
a poor farm, sometimes as an infirmary, and
sometimes as a tuberculosis hospital.
|
|
Discrepancies and addendum
* I have much sympathy
for genealogists working on this family's tree. The
name Amman was sometimes spelled Amann, Ammann,
Annann and Ammenn. Several variations of Liberat's
name appeared, including Lieberat, Libert, Libart,
Lippert, Leppert, Libust and Sippart. The spelling
of Francis Amman's maiden name was sometimes
sometimes spelled Porche, other times Porscher, and
her given name as Francisca, Franziska, Francis and
Franzis.
|
