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Seventeen-year-old Harry B. Sutton
(b.1886) was the oldest of two surviving sons of Thomas
(1847–1925) and Maria West Sutton (1861–1943). They had lost two other children as toddlers in 1887 and
1892. Married in 1884, both were emigrants, Thomas
in 1868 from England and Maria in 1883 from Nova
Scotia. Financially comfortable if not yet
prosperous, Thomas was an officer in Chicago
Portland Cement* and the family owned their large
two-year-old home (pictured above) at 1595 W. Adams in Chicago (in
1908 becoming 3432 W. Adams), near the intersection
with Ashland and the Church of the Epiphany.
Harry's body was found at Rolsten's Funeral Home
where it was identified by P. A. Mallen. His
funeral was held on Saturday after the fire and
interment was at Rose Hill Cemetery in Chicago.
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Like most of the others in his theater party, Harry was a
student at the Lewis Institute.† He was probably
tall and thin with dark hair, like his younger
brother, Frank Sutton (1894-1966). Frank would
graduate from the University of Illinois in 1916 and
work for Lehigh Portland Cement in the credit
department. During World War I he served in Navy.
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Fourteen-year-old Grace M. Callan (1890–1958)
was oldest of two children born to New
York natives, Frank D. Callan (1861–1906) and
Estella May Folts Callan (1865–1967). A nephew of
Frank's was also raised with Grace. The family lived
at 1626 W. Jackson Blvd. in Chicago. Frank Callan
was a realtor at Callan & Varty on Jackson and St.
Louis Ave. After his death in 1906 Estella and the
children moved to Frankfort, NY. Grace attended
college for two years and in 1917 married William
Bond. They had two daughters and settled in
Schenectady, NY.
Thirteen-year-old Avis Dubia(1892–1972)
lived in a large home at 1649 W. Adams St. (3524 W. Adams today)
with her parents, Harry and Kitty Dubia, four
younger siblings and a domestic servant. Harry Dubia
was president of the Industrial Savings Bank. Avis
also attended the Lewis Institute. After two years
of college, in 1921 she married Earl Gowing, had two
children and settled in Louisville, KY. Harry's bank
failed in 1916. He became professional trustee and
in 1941 was indicted for embezzling trustees funds.
Fifteen-year-old-year-old Irene Jones (1888–)
was at first thought to be missing but was
then located and credited with having led her
younger sister and three friends from the theater.
She and her sister Ethyl were two of seven children born to Ohio natives,
Stephen B. Jones (1856–1924) and Mary Ann
Evans Jones (1859–1939).
Thirteen-year-old Ethyl G. Jones (1889–)
was the daughter of Stephen B. Jones, owner of a coal dealership,
Ethyl enjoyed the security of their own home on W. Adams, a few blocks
from Harry Sutton's, and enough prosperity to employ a full
Irene and Ethyl attended Lewis Institute High School with the Sutton
boys and Helen Sailor.
Thirteen-year-old Helen Sailor (1890–1946)
was one of four children born to Samuel
Sailor (1855–1924) and Sarah "Sally" Jones Sailor.
Samuel Sailor was vice president of Heywood-Wakefield furniture manufacturer
in Chicago during the years when it was focused on rattan furniture. Helen would
grow up and marry Robert Caskey. Helen was probably a cousin of Irene and
Esther Jones. Their father, Stephen Jones, had a sister named Sarah Jones
and Helen's father, Samuel Sailor, married a woman named Sarah Jones. There
are conflicting genealogy collections, however.. The Sailor family lived at 1645
W. Adams. Like Harry Sutton and the Jones girls,
Helen attended Lewis Institute.
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The three teens below,
described as friends of the Jones/Sutton/Dubia/Callon/Sailor
group, were seated in the seventh row of the parquet on
the ground floor. They did not rise to leave the
auditorium until
Eddie Foy appeared on the stage.
Winnifred Cardona (1892–)
was the only daughter of Raymond and Julia
Cardona. Though reported as having been fourteen
years old at the time of the fire, according to US
Census reports she was eleven years old. She may
have been adopted some time 1900–1903 because the
1900 Census reported Raymond and Julia had no
children.
Raymond was partner in a commercial bank,
Kemper, Cardona & Co. They owned their home at 1335
W. Jackson Blvd and employed a full-time domestic
servant. Initially Winnifred was thought to be among
the missing. She had been knocked to the floor but
was helped up and escaped. She would go on to attend
Lewis Institute and in 1915 married steel broker
William E Seifried. The pair had two daughters.
Eighteen-year-old Mary Eileen Kiley
was first listed as among the missing but then found to
have survived. She is thought to have been the
daughter of Margaret Sarah McCarrin Kiley and
stepfather John Kiley. John Kiley was secretary of
the Royal Arcanum fraternal organization. In 1903
the family lived at 4107 Perry in Rogers Park. John
and Margaret married when Eileen was ten years old,
in 1897. John's position in the Royal Arcanum was
sufficiently public that when the marriage became
troubled twelve months after the Iroquois Theater
fire, it made the newspapers that Margaret had filed
for divorce and the pair had reconciled.
Sixteen-year-old Ethel M. Walsh (1887–)
and her five siblings were the children of widow
Margaret Walsh (1864–1943) and the late Timothy
Walsh. The family lived at 1647 W. Adams. Ethel
married John Smith in 1914 and they had at least two
children.
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