Lillian Russell's Understudy? Jessie Hanna's Story
Much was made in the press of the fact that Jessie Elizabeth Hanna and Hugh McCulloch Bond were from two of the wealthiest families in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Nothing in their upbringing would lead anyone to suspect they’d make the national news embroiled in a New York theater scandal with Jessie made out to be a “bad girl” and Hugh sort of a chump.
Jessie was the daughter of the late Horace Hovey Hanna, an officer at Fort Wayne Machine Works, maker of steam engines and tanks. But more significantly, she was the granddaughter of the late Samuel Hanna, owner of Fort Wayne Machine Works and “half of Fort Wayne,” as the local newspapers said. Judge of the Circuit Court, a state senator, trustee of Hanover College, founder of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, he made a fortune in land investments and businesses. He built a grand Greek revival mansion, and as each of his sons grew up he established them in business and built them houses. He died a multi-millionaire if the value of his estate is calculated in today's money.
Hugh McCulloch Bond was the son of the late Charles D. Bond, president of Fort Wayne National Bank. Charles worked under Hugh McCulloch, an American financier and president of the Bank of Indiana, who served as Secretary of the Treasury under Abraham Lincoln and two other presidents. Charles also made extensive investments in western land and was estimated to be worth about $7 million (in today’s value) at the time of his death in 1873 – or so the newspaper claimed.
Both Jessie and Hugh inherited property when their fathers died, she at age six and he at 18. Both she and Hugh were also given stock in First National Bank of Fort Wayne. They grew up in the same social set of Fort Wayne, “our elite,” a local newspaper called them. She was placed under the legal guardianship of her aunt and uncle, Fred Hayden and Eliza Hanna Hayden, who made sure she was educated as wealthy young girls were in the day, with the social graces and musical training. She attended the Conservatory of Music in Fort Wayne. With two other girls from the city, she was sent to Gormley Seminary along the banks of the Hudson River in Newburgh, New York, seminary being another word for academy.
Her musical training was shown off at first in the expected ways, in local “parlor entertainments” and charity fundraisers and solos at church. This included such performances as pianist for the Amateur Drama Club’s production of an operetta, “The Marquis,” with her cousin Carrie Hanna in the lead -- a fundraiser for Fort Wayne’s Home For the Friendless. She sang at a Thalonian reunion, the Thalonians being a group from Fort Wayne Female College. On another occasion, she hosted a party at which she and her brother Sam performed. Hugh was a guest.
Perhaps the families were pleased when these two married in October that year. They had a high church wedding at the Episcopal church, and a wedding reception at her grandmother’s mansion, the Hanna Homestead. She had many “sterling womanly qualities,” the newspaper said, and was “a pronounced blonde.” Later, it was said that Hugh was given $20,000 cash, an incredible sum at the time, and considerable real estate on the occasion of his marriage.
In December she and Hugh entertained their bridal party and a few other friends at their “charming suburban home, “Rose Cottage.” The few mentions of Jessie in the newspaper had her conforming to the expectations of a respectable young wife. A few days after the party at Rose Cottage it was announced that she agreed to temporarily fill in as organist at the Episcopal church. “Mrs. Bond is not only a sweet vocalist but an instrumentalist of rare accomplishments performing on a number of pipe and string instruments.”
It was rather devastating what typically happened to cultured and talented young women in Jessie’s day. A typical outcome was described as follows:
The climax of four years of hard work and the expenditure of several thousands of dollars was a modest debut in the salle of a quiet hotel at some spa, the folding chairs occupied by an audience whose attendance the maestro could command. There was a pretty bouquet, a little champagne supper, congratulations, and Fräulein returned to Ohio to disappear forever from the pages of history. (1)
She could be called upon to perform in friends’ parlors, or perhaps a ladies’ musical society -- exactly the sort of thing she was doing. If she wasn’t in the upper class, it was acceptable to teach music lessons.
Jessie was not content to limit herself that way. Nor did she intend to live her life in provincial Fort Wayne. First she and Hugh moved to Chicago. A later news story would say they entertained lavishly there, so much so that their “means were rapidly diminished.”
In 1888 they moved to the bright lights of New York City where she pursued her passion for comic opera, studying and practicing for hours.
In August 1889 a Fort Wayne newspaper reporter seemed very pleased to announce the headline: “On the Stage. Mrs. Hugh McCulloch Bond, Nee Jessie Hanna, To Make Her Debut in New York.” The reporter wrote, “Her rich and rare voice has been the pleasure of her many friends to hear.” The rest of the article was copied from a New York newspaper. After describing a Louisville beauty making her debut as Parthenia, the New York writer said, “Jessie Bond, the new mezzosoprano of the Casino forces, will also make her debut on that occasion.”
The Casino Theater was established by Rudolph Aronson, a composer and theater company impresario. Located at 39th Street and Broadway, it was famous for its rooftop garden.
A few days later the Fort Wayne paper was again reporting enthusiastically about their local girl-done-good. “A High Compliment,” the headline read. “Mrs. Hugh McCulloch Bond’s Accomplishments Spoken of by the New York Press.” The local writer quoted the New York Sun:
“Mrs. Bond’s voice is a rich soprano, and she is happily fortified for her new career by keen musical instincts and a thorough musical education. In private life she has long been known as an accomplished pianist, with immense power of improvisation. Nature has otherwise given her a face of uncommon beauty and a tall, graceful figure, gifts that will go far toward changing a young, pretty and popular woman of society into an agreeable figure on the comic opera stage.”
The Sun detailed her family background, discussing the accomplishments and wealth of her father, father-in-law and grandfather. “In consequence of the wealth and prominence of these two families, Mrs. Bond’s step will be regarded in the west with lively interest,” the reporter concluded.
The next news was big: Jessie was chosen to be an understudy for Lillian Russell, the biggest star of the day! A September 16th article said she was joining Rudolph Aronson’s company in the show “The Brigands” as soon as it left New York, and she would sing Miss Russell’s parts in the smaller towns and at matinees. This was the Big Time! Lillian Russell was a noted beauty, the feminine ideal of her generation, and the country’s top singer of operettas and musical theater. An article appearing the same day said she was worth $100,000. It’s hard to overstate how famous and beloved she was at her peak. Friends and family in Fort Wayne must have been very excited to read this news.
The next day, Jessie’s name was again in the newspapers, and this time, it wasn’t just in Fort Wayne and New York, but in Boston, in Pittsburgh, in Chicago. The headlines, however, were devastating. “Can’t Be a Brigand. Mrs. Jessie Bond Fails to Secure a Position in “The Brigand Company,” said the Fort Wayne Sentinel. The article began, “The SENTINEL yesterday gave considerable space to Mrs. Hugh McCulloch Bond. Today it gives a new chapter in her theatrical career, and we let the New York World tell the chapter in its own way.”
Lillian Russell, the story said, ordered a carriage at the Hotel Metropole to take her to Grand Central depot where her voluminous luggage preceded her. She took the 4 o'clock train to Boston, while the other members of the Brigand Company took a boat to Boston. “Neither on the Boston boat or the Boston train was there any one of the name of Bond who was going on the road with “The Brigands” company in the eventual expectation of superseding Miss Russell.” The article continued. “But in Room 25, Hotel Metropole, which she has occupied with her husband for ten days past, was Mrs. Jessie Hanna Bond, who was quoted in a morning newspaper yesterday as saying she was going to Boston as a member of Mr. Aronson’s company.”
The Evening World reporter sent up his card seeking an interview, as did some half a dozen other reporters. Jessie sent word asking them to excuse her for not coming down or commenting. The Evening World reporter sent a note to her husband who replied, “I have nothing whatever to say in regard to the matter.”
Meanwhile, at the Casino, “The Drum Major” was in rehearsal. Between acts, Charles Barton, business manager for Mr. Aronson, told “as much as he knew or was willing to tell about the difference of opinions which seems to exist between the Casino management and Mrs. Bond.”
“Mrs. Bond has never been engaged by Mr. Aronson,” he said. “She certainly is not going to play Miss Russell’s part in “The Brigands.” I have telegraphed to our agent in Boston to deny the story if it is published there, and that if these people appear at the theater to refuse the admission except on the presentation of tickets.”
Several months ago, manager Barton said, Jessie called at the Casino. She “made known her desire to go on stage and asked to have her voice tried. Her voice was tried. She was not given an engagement on the spot to play a principal part, but a gentleman in the office very obligingly took down her name and address in a book.” This book was known as a “suspense list.” It was merely a list of people to consider, possibly – someday. The newspaper speculated that she was confused and took this as an engagement.
“Mrs. Bond was very anxious to go upon the stage. She studied and practiced several hours every day and cultivated the friendship of prominent members of the profession. She took a flat at 229 West Forty-third street, on the floor above that occupied by Miss Russell, and the impression became prevalent in the neighborhood that when Mrs. Bond made her debut Miss Russell would thereafter languish in the deep shade. Well known professional people were frequent visitors at the flat of Mrs. Bond and her husband. It is understood that their wines were excellent and their cook beyond reproach. Sometimes the prominent professionals reciprocated by providing a box at the opera.
Mrs. Bond’s aspirations did not become oppressive to the Casino management until, as the end of “The Brigands” approached, people began to enquire, as they bought their tickets at the box office, whether this was the night of Mrs. Bond’s first appearance in Miss Russell’s part. The situation became still more serious when management learned Mrs. Bond had purchased several trunks full of wigs and other things needed by the shapely prima donna.”
They are much respected at the Hotel; she drew large checks at a Fifth Avenue bank and paid all bills promptly.”
The article closed with, “This will probably inform the lady that enrollment on the “suspense list” is not the equivalent of an engagement.”
Her next unflattering mention was in November 1889. Marie Halton was a singer with the “Drum Major” Opera Company, under contract to Rudolph Aronson. She was performing at the Casino when she suddenly “fled” to Europe with a man of “years and money.” A Fort Wayne newspaper said, “Miss Halton is the young lady with whom Mrs. Jessie Bond has associated herself with a view to getting on the stage. They both occupied the same flat at 229 43rd St.” Another article said she’d sublet the apartment to Marie, which hardly created a link to a flighty actress. As for Hugh Bond, he returned to Fort Wayne.
A Bit of Success
Jessie was next mentioned in January 1890 in the Chicago Tribune. The article was so flattering that it could have been written by Jessie herself, except that wasn’t how the Tribune operated. It put a completely different spin on what seemed a deluded belief that she was hired as Lillian Russell’s understudy.
“Mrs. Hugh McCulloch Bond will soon make her appearance in comic opera. This announcement will cause quite a sensation all over Indiana, where her family stands high in the social, political and business world, and in Chicago, where she frequently visited well-known families while she was still Miss Jessie Hanna. Mrs. Bond’s first attempt at comic opera will be made as a member of Francis Wilson’s company, which will present “The Gondoliers” in Philadelphia at an early date.(2) Some time ago it was hinted that Mrs. Bond was to become a member of the Casino company, but Lillian Russell did not care to have a young and beautiful rival in the same company, and she kicked up an even merrier row than she is accustomed to do, and the Aronsons abandoned their plan of adding her to their list of attractions. Now that she has become a member of Francis Wilson’s company they are sorry they let her go, even to appease Lillian Russell.
Mrs. Bond’s ventures will be watched by scores of her old associates in the West. Before her marriage Miss Jessie Hanna and her sister Miss Alice were social leaders and belles in Fort Wayne, Ind. [The article rehashed who her father, grandfather and father-in-law were.]
“The young people came to New York to live. They found that married life was not congenial to them, and some time ago they separated, Mr. Bond going back to Fort Wayne. They parted good friends but will not live together again. Mrs. Bond has developed an ambition to achieve fame on the comic opera stage. Whatever may be her abilities as a singer she has more than the usual attractions of face and figure and is expected to bound at once into popularity.”
After the earlier publicity about her attempts at a stage career, one would think the Fort Wayne newspapers would be eager to repeat this positive spin on her story, and to cover her performance in Philadelphia. A shorter version of this story went out over the wires and appeared around the country in places like Centralia, Hurley and Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin; Indianapolis, and Steuben, Indiana. March 20th the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette reported that Jessie was back in Fort Wayne and seriously ill. Curiously, she was staying at the home of James M. Barrett, an attorney and Democratic state senator. Barrett was the father of her friend Florence, who attended her wedding. But why wasn't she at her mother's house, or her aunt Eliza's at the big mansion? Of course it could be a simple matter that she was the Barretts' guest when she became ill. April 4th the same newspaper said she was heading back east.
The Fort Wayne Sentinel had more interesting news in April. Jessie was hired by the Chestnut Street Theater in Philadelphia to appear in "The Sea King." She was hired by Nixon A. Zimmerman, the manager of the theater and owner of the rights to the play. What is interesting about that is that Nixon was a professional name used by Sam Nirdlinger. Sam Nirdlinger came from a pioneering Fort Wayne German Jewish merchant family and knew her family well. He quit the family business and moved to Philadelphia when he was hired as a theater manager.(3) He was on his way to building the most powerful theater group in the country.
As for the "Sea King," with scenery and costumes that critics raved over, Sam wasn't taking a huge risk in hiring Jessie. There were over twenty-five other "scantily clad" showgirls in the chorus; she was just one of the bunch.
Her engagement must not have lasted long, as in August, she went on stage with Fay Templeton in “Hendrik Hudson.” Fay Templeton was a popular comedian, vaudevillian and legitimate theater actress, but the show only lasted for sixteen performances. Publicity seemed fixated on the fact that Fay wore tights, "sixty-four button kid leggings, smoothed and molded firmly to the contour of the limb," and resulting comments on her pleasingly plump figure.
Meanwhile, the "Sea King" was a success and went on the road in October. In both the "Sea King" and "Hendrick Hudson," Jessie wasn't a lead, but she was on stage, as a paid performer. It was, it seemed, a start.
Fay Templeton had a long career starting at age 3 with her vaudevillian parents.
A Swift Decline
A year passed, then Jessie had more publicity, and of an increasingly negative nature. In August 1891 a story appeared in the Indianapolis News, reported from New York. Top Fort Wayne attorney Robert C. Bell, a former state senator, was looking for her.(4) She and Hugh had been separated for some time. Now, his family persuaded him to seek a divorce, and the family attorney wanted to get her to agree to relinquish all claims to any of his property. Since the separation, the article said, “she has been getting into worse and worse circumstances. It is said she is now living in Bleeker street with a negro who was formerly her washer-woman.”
Jessie and Hugh were well-known in Indianapolis, the reporter said. “They are members of highly respected, formerly wealthy families and their marriage about six years ago was an event in a society way that attracted much attention.” Their family history was repeated. It was noted that Hugh was living a much less high-flying lifestyle as he worked as a clerk for the Nickel Plate Railroad.
Two days later, the Boston Globe picked up the story. “On the Downgrade. Steps Led Jessie Hanna Bond To the Slums. She Once Drank Champagne; Now She Likes Whiskey Best,” the headlines blared. Jessie now had the worst things that could be said about a woman being said about her. A “blind, unreasoning infatuation with gayety” led to her downfall, readers were told. “When she was a girl in Fort Wayne, Ind. people said she would shine someday. Only the wise ones noticed that she was unbalanced.”
This article continued in a savage vein, and it contained errors. It said Judge Hanna was her father and that Hugh was considerably younger than her. In fact, he was a year older. It said his father supplied them with the money for their high lifestyle. That may have been true if it was inherited money, but it implied his father was still living. The rest painted Jessie in a very bad light.
Once they moved into the 43rd Street apartment, which they luxuriously furnished, “then began a series of gay times,” the article continued. “There have been few riotous times in this big town which equaled those in the Bond flat. Case upon case of wine was drunk. Pretty nearly everyone was welcome. Mrs. Bond gathered about her companions who were not always choice. There were many actors whose names are not at all familiar, gamblers, hangers-on at the theater and people of that kind.”
Jessie met Marie Halton, and this friendship seemed to fill her with stage fever. The orgies in her flat grew wilder. The young Hugh - his youth being cited as a reason he could not control his wife - was around when she wanted, and left when she did not. His parents persuaded him to separate from her and return home.
“Her habits were such that he met with little consideration. She would take up with nearly every man she met. She was not in love with the individual, but the sex. After Mr. Bond left her she began to go downhill at a rapid rate. For a little while she sang in a chorus of “The Sea King” in its production in the Chestnut Street Opera House, Philadelphia. But she soon returned to New York. She became the plaything of men. She was passed from one to another. For a long time, she lived with the brother of a prominent amateur actress…When she separated from this man she seemed to give up everything. The dives were all that was left to her.”
Hugh lived with Jessie after he knew she was unfaithful, and for this reason, he no longer could be granted a divorce from her, the paper said. This part was true. It wasn’t easy to get a divorce, and judges regularly decided against granting one. A man could expect a pretty much automatic divorce if his wife committed adultery – but not if he’d taken “damaged goods” back. Hence, the alleged involvement of the Hon. R.C. Bell in trying to get her to relinquish any financial claims on Hugh.
Bell called at the Casino Theater with U.S. Senator Calvin S. Brice. They were told that Jessie had “sunk to the deepest depths of degradation,” including hanging out at dives patronized by Black people.
March 26th, Jessie had a risky operation at Bellevue Hospital, of the kind, “which modern surgery has dared attempt only within the last few years.” She stayed at the Sturtevant House Hotel to recover. There, she nearly died after contracting pneumonia. This brush with death motivated her to change her ways and get right with God, the reporter claimed. She went to Bishop Henry Potter at the Seaman’s Mission and was confirmed in the Episcopal Church.(5) Two society women “of wealth and position, whose names would instantly be recognized were they printed,” took an interest in her. They agreed to get her engagements to appear at “parlor entertainments.” The plan was for her to spend the summer recuperating at Bath Beach in Brooklyn, which was then a beach resort; and in Newport, Rhode Island. However, the article went on, “The Bohemian life called her, and one night she was gone; nobody seemed to know where.”
She returned from a three-week yachting cruise, barely able to hold up her head, dissipated from too much champagne. Her lady patrons abandoned her.
Her Side of the Story
Jessie granted an interview to counter the many details in the story. Her interview appeared the next day and was carried over the wire service. “I think I have been pretty hardly used by the newspapers,” she said. “Since certainly there can’t be any slanders left to say about me, I am entitled, as a woman, to have the last word in my defense.” She first cleared up some of the indisputable errors in the story, such as who her father was versus her grandfather. (Newspapers also frequently described Hugh as the nephew of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hugh McCulloch, which he was not.) She said she intended to sue the newspaper for libel.
Going back to the original stories printed about her claiming she was hired as an understudy to Lillian Russell – of course that was false and absurd, she said. Jessie was a contralto; Lillian was a soprano. So of course she wouldn’t have been hired for that position in the first place.
As to the rumors of a divorce: The attorney, Senator Bell, was an old friend of her family and had known her since was a little girl. He was in town on railroad business, she said, and looked her up. That was all there was to it. Nothing of a settlement with Hugh was discussed, she claimed. “Not a word was said about settling any difference between me and my husband for the simple reason that there exists no difference to reconcile or adjust.”
As to the pathetic individual described as living with her “Negro” washer-woman, Jessie said that was completely false. She did not live with Georgiana Christian, who had been employed as her servant for the past six years. Georgiana was a finer person than many white people, Jessie said. “I think the world of her,” she said, describing her as a dear person.
The facts were, she said, that when she was hospitalized and in recovery, she stored trunks, curtains and other things at Georgiana’s house at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Streets. Georgiana herself had been sick for the last three weeks and so Jessie had visited her there. Georgiana had told her about some sketchy places patronized by Blacks, but Jessie had not been to them.
She also said she was still recovering her health, that she and Hugh regularly corresponded and that he sent her money. “He is very kind to me and I have always remembered that I am his wife,” she said. They weren’t compatible and did not plan to live together again, but had no animosity towards each other.
The article said that when they lived in Chicago, they lived high on the hog at the city’s finest hotel, the Richelieu. It was brand new then, sumptuously decorated, and owned its own herd of forty Jersey cows kept at Hyde Park to ensure “unsurpassed” cream, butter and milk. When Hugh needed money, he sold some of his property. This may have been true. However, in the 1880s after marrying, Jessie sold several properties, including over eighty acres to Fred J. Hayden, her aunt Eliza’s husband, her former guardian and the man who gave her away at her wedding.
Jessie said she was headed back to Indiana as her husband telegraphed to tell her her brother Sam was sick with typhoid fever. It was very distressing to think that the news reported about her would reach home first.
At the End
Ten months later, Jessie was dead. She was 29. It is interesting what was said about her then. Nothing about scandal and debauchery was mentioned. Under a headline, “Wife of Hugh McCulloch Bond,” an Indianapolis newspaper said she died at her mother’s home in Fort Wayne after an illness of several weeks, but added that she’d never recovered fully from an illness since the fall of 1891. She was described again as Hugh’s wife and was, “possessed of a sweet voice and considerable histrionic ability. Several years ago she went to New York to study for the stage and was connected with the Lillian Russell Opera Company for a time, and after that with other companies.” Again the newspaper incorrectly said that she was the daughter, not granddaughter of Samuel Hanna and brought up the family’s wealth and prominence. The only mention in the Fort Wayne Gazette of her career was that, “she will be remembered for a part she took in a musical concert given at the opera house under the auspices of the ladies of First Baptist Church.” The Logansport (Indiana) Pharos-Tribune said she was, “well known among theatrical people in New York.” She was buried in the Hanna family plot at Lindenwood Cemetery.
Afterward
What’s true and what’s not? Who knows. It’s hard to believe that there wasn’t something to the stories. The penalty for a woman stepping out of the expected and rigid gender norms of the time was terribly steep. To venture a career on stage was already suspect. The top American opera star of Jessie's day, Emma Abbott, successfully fought the popular belief that women on stage were immoral. She and her husband/manager were early masterful users of public relations. They let it be known that Emma refused to sing on Sundays or in "immoral" operas and that she went to church in whatever town she was performing in. One reporter, who called her the "Queen of Taffy," described how she would place her "soft, white hands" on a reporter's chest, look up at him with wide, pleading and eyes, and say, “Now you’ll be kind to me in the paper tomorrow, won’t you? I know I’m not faultless, but I try so hard to please – and I want you to like my Juliet!”
She emphasized her humble Midwestern roots, and in interviews, her husband talked about things like how she was generous to a fault with poor relations. She cultivated an image as someone who was the girl-next-door, the non-diva diva, and the press responded rhapsodically. In Kansas City in 1890 a reporter described her as follows:
“As gentle a lady as ever trod the stage, and as true a woman as ever felt that woman as well as man has her mission in this life. Here is the face, not of genius, but of one who has a noble, lofty purpose which she will steadily and earnestly pursue – it bespeaks purity and innocence and fidelity; it is the mirror of a clean soul, a great, warm heart…and on its surface are reflected all those sweet attributes mankind revere as god-given."
Purity, innocence and fidelity -- the very opposite of how women on stage were said to be. Maybe if, at the beginning of her troubles, Jessie had met with reporters, maybe if her husband didn't send down a "no comment" response, things would have gone differently for them. What if the two sat down for an interview then, she with her big blue eyes, and both portrayed her as a sweet, innocent Midwestern girl, caught in the confusing world of the New York stage business? She just didn't understand....it was all an innocent mistake. One week she was playing the organ in church and the next, well, she admired Lillian Russell so much and never, never thought she was anything close to her equal.
Maybe, too, if they hadn't flashed their wealth around, maybe if it didn't seem that they were trying to buy Jessie's way into showbiz, things would have been different. In a time of huge gaps between the rich and the poor, there was a schadenfreude quality to stories of the rich foolishly squandering their fortunes.
Yet, she briefly – fleetingly – achieved at least a tiny bit of her dream. How many who yearn for stardom are ever paid to perform on stage? She was. If she recovered her health and lived longer, maybe she would have continued to pursue a theater career.
Hugh Bond lived a very modest life for the rest of his days. He continued to work as a clerk for the railroad and lived in a rental home in Chicago. He remarried, and his wife always worked, which was so unusual that it’s the only case I can think of in peering at hundreds of census records. In contrast, his brothers seemed to live a life more closely aligned with their upbringing, and one was vice president of the bank their father founded.
Emma Abbot was not described as pretty, nor even as the best singer. But she carefully cultivated an image as the "non-diva diva," the humble girl next door, and had a masterful handling of the press.
Notes:
Gerald Carson.
Francis Wilson got his start in minstrelsy. He was with the Casino Theater Company until 1889. He later became the premiere actor of his time on the New York stage.
Sam Nirdlinger was the son of Fred Nirdlinger, a German immigrant who came to Fort Wayne in the 1840s, went into the mercantile business and did well. He was elected to the city council in 1853 and according to his obituary was known as the "Father of our sewer system." He was the founder of the first synagogue and sered as an officer of First National Bank. Sam and his brothers got their start as clothiers in Fort Wayne, operating the Palace of Fashion. Sam moved to Philadelphia and ads identified him as the eastern manager of the business. He and a partner became theater owners in Philadelphia. More importantly, they created the Theatrical Syndicate. It created a monopoly of venues for top theaters, demanded a share of the profits from the theaters and a fee from the producers. They soon controlled hundreds of theaters across the country. Performers or theatrical companies who didn't agree to their terms found themselves relegated to playing tent shows and second-rate venues. He would have been a powerful friend for Jessie to have, especially if she had lived longer.
The Hon. Robert C. Bell served in the Indiana Legislature from 1874-1886.
Bishop Potter seems to have been a truly admirable character with a deep concern for the poor. The Seamens’ Mission was the Seamens’ Church Institute, an Episcopal organization founded in the 1830s to minister to seafaring men.
Family Note: Jessie is a cousin. Jessie was the granddaughter of Eliza Taylor and Samuel Hanna. Eliza was the sister of my fourth great-grandmother, Laura Taylor Suttenfield. Her father, Horace Hovey Hanna, and my third great-grandmother, Jane Suttenfield Barbour, were first cousins.
Sources:
Carson, Gerald. The Polite American: A Wide-Angle View of Our More or Less Good Manners Over 300 Years," London: MacMillan, 1967.
Preston, Katherine K. “The People’s Prima Donna”: Emma Abbott and Opera For the People,” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Jan 2014), pp. 56-79.
"Samuel F. Nixon," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Wikipedia Foundation, January 1, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_F._Nixon
Travis, Steve. "The Rise and Fall of the Theatrical Syndicate," Educational Theater Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Mar 1958), pp. 35-40.Newspapers:
“The True Story of Emma Abbott, the New Prima Donna,” Chicago Tribune, 30 July 1876, p. 12.
“Hanna-Bond,” Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, 26 Oct 1884, p. 5.
"Personal Mention," The Daily Gazette (Fort Wayne), 1 Jan 1885, p. 6.
“On the Stage. Mrs. Hugh McCulloch Bond, Nee Jessie Hanna, To Make Her Debut in New York,” Fort Wayne Sentinel, 22 Aug 1889, p. 1.
“A High Compliment. Mrs. Hugh McCulloch Bond’s Accomplishments Spoken of By the New York Press,” Fort Wayne Sentinel, 29 Aug 1889, p. 3.
May Be Understudy: Fort Wayne Daily News, 16 Sept 1889, p. 2.
“Can’t Be a Brigand. Mrs. Jessie Bond Fails to Score a Position,” Fort Wayne Sentinel, 17 Sept 1889, p. 1.
“A Prima Donna Elopes. Marie Halton of the Casino Runs Away With a Diamond Merchant. She Deserts Her Little Son,” San Francisco Examiner, 31 Oct 1889, p. 1.
Marie Halton Runs Off: Fort Wayne Daily News, 7 Nov 1889, p. 4.
“Emma Abbott. General Gossip About the Great Cantatrice and Her Troupe,” The Kansas City Times, 11 Jan 1890, p. 9.
“Another Society Star. Mrs. Hugh McCulloch Bond to Essay Comic Opera,” Chicago Tribune, 18 Jan 1890, p. 5.
"Society Star in Opera. Mrs. Bond, A Hoosier Belle, Joins the Wilson Company," Centralia Enterprise and Tribune (Centralia, Wisconsin), 25 Jan 1890, p. 19.
Ill and Back in Fort Wayne: Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, 20 Mar 1890, p. 4.
Jessie Bond Returning East: Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, 4 April 1890, p. 4.
"Jessie Hanna Bond Will Make Her Debut on the Stage in Philadelphia," Fort Wayne Sentinel, 28 April 1890, p. 1.
"New Romantic Opera. Successful Rehearsal of the "Sea King" At the Chestnut," The Philadelphia Times, 25 May 1890, p. 11.
Jessie hired by Fay Templeton: Fort Wayne Sentinel, 16 Sept 1890, p. 4.
“Came From Fort Wayne. Searching For Mrs. Jesse H. Bond in New York,” Indianapolis News, 14 Aug 1891, p. 1.
“On the Down Grade. Steps Led Jessie Hanna Bond To the Slums,” Boston Globe, 16 Aug 1891, p. 6.
“Denies the Story. Mrs. Jessie Hanna-Bond Talks ABout Her Troubles,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 17 Aug 1891, p. 5.
“Obituary. Mrs. Jessie Hanna Bond, Wife of Hugh McCulloch Bond, of Fort Wayne,” Indianapolis Journal, 30 June 1892, p. 2.
Dies At Mother’s Home: The Daily Democrat (Huntington, Indiana), 1 July 1892, p.
“Rudolph Aronson, Composer, Dead. Built the Casino Theater,” New York Times, 6 Feb 1919, p. 6.
So interesting and beautiful writing!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It is so interesting to me to research.
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