Tootle Opera House

Milton Tootle came to St. Joseph in 1849, at the age of twentysix, when he was offered a partnership by his former employer, George Smith. The general mercantile firm of Smith & Bedford then became Smith, Bedford & Tootle. On July 8, 1849, George Smith died at the age of thirty-five. Milton Tootle then arranged for his two brothers, Thomas E. Tootle and Joseph W. Tootle, with William G. Fairleigh, then aged nineteen, to form a partnership-Tootles & Fairleigh-to buy out the stock of goods of the old firm and carry on the business.

The father of the three Tootles, John Tootle, had died at Grafton, Illinois, in 1846. Their mother then moved to Savannah and came with them to St. Joseph, where she died of cholera in 1851.

The firm of Tootles & Fairleigh was organized at just the right place at precisely the right time, and Milton Tootle ably led the firm to leadership in supplying the thousands of emigrants bound across the plains to California in the 1850s. This was a very profitable business.

In 1859, when he was thirty-six years old, Milton Tootle became president of the newly organized Western Bank of Missouri which reported capital funds of one million dollars. The office was at Third and Felix Streets and Bela M. Hughes was cashier. This bank continued operations through the Civil War and was liquidated in 1867. The first Directory of St. Joseph, for 1859-1860, showed Milton Tootle's residence at the Planters' House, which had been built in 1850 as the Edgar House at the northeast corner of Main and Francis Streets. The building is still standing and is now the headquarters of the United Paper & Office Supply Company. Thomas E. Tootle, also a bachelor, was living at the City Hotel which had been built in 1846 at the northeast corner of Main and Jule Streets. Joseph W. Tootle had married in Savannah, in 1848, Miss Sarah McCord, sister of James McCord. William G. Fairleigh, another bachelor, was also living at the Planters' House in 1860.

Joseph W. Tootle died in 1860. Thomas E. Tootle married in 1862 and decided to go into the banking business. After his withdrawal from the mercantile firm, the name became Tootle & Fairleigh. The two partners of the business then married sisters, daughters of James L. O'Neill, who had been Secretary of the Buchanan Life & General Insurance Company, and was later Cashier of The Western Bank of Missouri before his death in 1865. On January 26, 1866, Milton Tootle married Miss Kate O'Neill, and in October 1867 William G. Fairleigh married Miss Alice O'Neill. In 1872 Mr. Fairleigh retired from the firm which then became Tootle, Craig & Company.

The excellent business of Tootle & Fairleigh, along with that of the other merchants of St. Joseph, came to a standstill during the Civil War days. But it was resumed and rose to new heights after the war, as the earlier California migration was succeeded by a large movement of emigrants to the gold fields of Colorado and Montana.

After his marriage, Milton Tootle took his bride to live at the Pacific House, but by 1868 they were able to move into a sumptuous new home on the west side of North Fifth Street, between Faraon and Robidoux Streets. On August 23, 1871, a St. Joseph newspaper reported: Messrs. R. R. Wilson & Co. have just completed for Milton Tootle, Esq. the first set of gold-plated harness ever made in the city. Messrs. Wilson & Co. are unsurpassed as skillful workmen and are turning out some splendid work.

About that same time -- late 1871 -- Mr. Tootle decided to build an opera house. All through 1872 the work went on, erecting the building on the southeast corner of Fifth and Francis Streets. The total cost of the building was $165,000; the architect was W. Angelo Powell of St. Joseph. It was solidly built, the foundation walls being six and a half feet thick at the base, and two and a half feet thick at the street level. The entrance was on Francis Street with two large rooms for stores on each side of the entrance. Two other rooms for stores were on the Fifth Street side. Seats on the orchestra floor were designed for comfort, with ample room, and there were two balconies. On each side of the orchestra were large boxes, two on each side on both the first- and second-floor levels. The front right-hand box was always reserved for the Tootle family. Great pride was taken in the splendid, large chandelier over the orchestra. This was lighted by gas, which was ignited by an electric spark arrangement-the most advanced system available. Only one theatre in New York and one in Boston were similarly equipped-Mr. Tootle had installed the third one in the United States.

Finally, the opening night for the theatre arrived Monday evening, December 9, 1872. The St. Joseph Morning Herald reported the event in its next morning's issue:

The largest and most brilliant audience that ever assembled in St. Joseph gathered at the Opera-house last night, to witness the opening of this magnificent temple of amusement by the peerless Maggie Mitchell. Miss Mitchell herself, with her wide popularity and splendid reputation, was enough to draw a rousing house, but everybody in the city, except a few old fogies, wanted to get a look inside of the splendid structure when lighted by gas and filled with people. Both these causes contributed to bring out the entire elite of the city.

Just before seven o'clock, the time for opening, people anxious to get in and secure the best unreserved seats began to gather around the door, and numbers of ladies and gentlemen who had seats engaged waited some time in the cold before they were admitted. When the doors were opened there was a perfect rush up the broad halls into the open room. After the first rush the hall filled up rapidly until by a quarter past eight the parquette, dress circle, family circle, and gallery were entirely full. As soon as it became full the interior of the building presented a rare spectacle. Wherever the eye roamed it met shapes and forms and colors of beauty and from the floor and galleries there beamed a vast throng of anxious and interested faces.

‘It was pleasing to see the marked approbation upon every countenance that came into the room, on surveying the richness and elegance of the apartment. To those who have seen the building by daylight, their admiration was heightened by the great improvement in its appearance when under the brilliant effect of gas illumination. Everything inside was handsomer than by daylight. The magnificent chandelier glittered with its hundreds of jets and lit up the galleries with fine effect. The magnificent proscenium boxes, with their rich drapery, their heavy columns and elaborate corinthian ornamentations, showed in a splendid manner under the smaller chandeliers, and the effect of the light upon the heavy gilding around them made them seem like entrances to a golden palace.

‘Before the play began, one of the actors appeared before the curtain and read a long dedicatory poem. At the close of the recitation, Milton Tootle's name was spoken and as soon as it was announced a loud cheer arose from all parts of the house to hear a word or two from the man whose munificence and enterprise had reared such a large and beautiful edifice. In response to the general call made upon him, Mr. Tootle came out upon the stage and made the following speech of welcome:

‘LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I do not come out to make a speech, but to bid you all welcome to our beautiful Opera House. This large and brilliant audience which I see before me convinces me that you appreciate my efforts and more than repays me for all that I have done. If you are proud of our new and beautiful Opera House, I am still more proud of the splendid greeting which you have given it tonight. Again I bid you welcome.'

‘Mr. Tootle was greeted with a storm of applause as he retired from the stage. The curtain was then rolled up and the audience was introduced to the first act of

“FANCHON, THE CRICKET”

"Miss Mitchell was greeted with a magnificent audience, and was in her element. The Cricket is one of her special characters, and her representation last night was remarkably successful. The extremes of the character were reached without the slightest difficulty, and her presentation left nothing to be asked for. She brought her large audience nearly to tears in one moment and in the very next started them off in a huge laugh with some of her polished eccentricities. All the wild carelessness and abandon of Fanchon's life was portrayed with a laughable recklessness, and every jewel in her noble nature was set in brilliants by the perfect manner and characterization of Miss Mitchell. There was no Maggie Mitchell. It was all Fanchon.”

The Herald commented on the occasion:

‘MILTON TOOTLE, ESQ.,

is one of our wealthiest and worthiest citizens. Possessed of ample means and fully appreciating our necessity for a public hall of increased capacity, he determined, about one year ago, to erect at his own expense an opera house that would be an ornament to the city and for years to come reflect credit upon us. With him, to determine was to act, and to-day, although but twelve months have glided by since that determination, we have the finest opera house in the West, and one that will compare favorably with the opera houses in the large cities of the Atlantic border.

‘Milton Tootle has prospered in this community; here in St. Joseph he has accumulated a vast fortune, and here he has expended a large sum to ornament our city and to the advantage of our people. It is a noble example that should be followed by a number of other wealthy residents. For this magnificent temple our citizens are solely indebted to Milton Tootle-a debt of gratitude that can not be paid in this generation.

‘And this is not the first evidence of Milton Tootle's enterprise and munificence. He has adorned our city with one of the finest private residences in the Missouri Valley, and a number of our most imposing and costly business houses have been erected by his enterprise. No plan has been adopted with a view to advance the prosperity of St. Joseph, in which he has not taken an active part. But this last act is the proudest and most enduring monument to his liberality and worth. It will not be forgotten by the present inhabitants of our city, but the record of his generosity will be handed down to generations yet to come. As long as this proud work of a private citizen of St. Joseph remains firm on its foundation walls, so long will Mr. Tootle's benevolence and liberality be cherished by a grateful people.

Milton Tootle was only forty-nine years of age on this evening of his greatest acclaim, and during the next fourteen years before his death on January 2, 1887, the Tootle box was seldom empty. His Opera House was regarded as the finest theatre west of the Mississippi River, and the leading actors of the time included it in their travels. Oscar Wilde spoke from its stage during his American tour of 1882. The entertainment offered was the best available. St. Joseph was a wealthy city and Tootle's Opera House became one of the central features of an active social life. Crowds of people would gather to see the carriages arrive for the evening performances bringing the ladies bedecked with their jewels and the gentlemen in evening dress. After the performance the stentorian voice of the uniformed doorman would ring out: "Mr. Tootle's carriage, “Mr. McCord’s carriage, *Mr. Fairleigh's carriage, “Mr. Burnes' carriage.' and many more. It was a glamorous age, and Tootle's Opera House was the peak of the glamor for the Western country.

The theatre was equipped with a collapsible dance floor which could be placed over the orchestra-floor seats, level with the stage. Upstairs, a banquet hall and kitchen were part of the facilities. The New Year's balls given at the theatre were famous.

In 1893, when Milton Tootle, Jr., reached his twenty-first birthday, he undertook a complete refurbishing of the theatre, laying down rich crimson Wilton carpets. The newspapers of the date commented appreciatively on this forward-looking action which ensured the retention by the theatre of its position as 'the handsomest one west of the Mississippi River.

In 1897 symphony concerts were instituted, featuring local musicians in six concerts each year. Competition from the Lyceum Theatre developed in 1899, and in 1904 the Tootle Theatre was forced to descend to vaudeville as a part of the Orpheum circuit.

In 1916 the Dubinsky Brothers leased the theatre for their stock company repertoire, eventually adding musical comedy and motion pictures. Finally closed in 1929, the theatre was, in 1932, converted into an office building. It is now known as the Pioneer Building.