Susie was a schoolteacher. By the time she was 17, both of her parents were dead. In 1891 she decided to move to Chicago, where she worked as a teacher for 12 years. On December 30, 1903 she went to a matinee performance at Chicago's newest and fanciest theater- The Iroquois Theater. It was billed as fireproof. That day, filled with women and children on Christmas break, a fire broke out on stage. The fireproof curtain failed to drop and the fire blasted out over the audience. Susie, and several hundred other people perished in the ensuing chaos. Her body was identified by a friend and sent home to New York for burial beside her parents.
Susie attended the theater that day with Ella Fair, a fellow Gallistel School teacher, Ella's sister, and Mrs. Collier, her landlady. Mrs. Collier escaped the flames and carried the story of the loss of Susie and the Misses Fair to friends who commenced a search for their bodies. Susie had been taken to a small mortuary on Halstead and her description in the paper was given as "female age 20, size 7 shoes" this description delayed her identification as her friends searched all other places before coming to this place. A telegram was sent to Susie's family in Greenbush, and her brother and brother-in-law got on a train to retrieve her remains.
On arrival in Chicago, George Clay (brother) and George White (bil) attended a funeral arranged by Susie's Chicago friends. It was well attended and even in the face of Chicago winter and 600 other funerals in the city, it was said to be draped in all manner of flowers.
Susie's casket was sealed in a zinc case and escorted home by her brother while her brother-in-law remained in Chicago to see to her estate, along with her executor David Collier.
In Greenbush the family hosted another funeral, well attended and covered in the local paper. She was well loved, described as kind and loving. There were also assurances that it appeared her death was swift, and without fear and that while one side of her face and hair was singed it seemed that she suffocated in the blast of hot gas that blew over the balcony when a back stage door was opened.
Susie attended the theater that day with Ella Fair, a fellow Gallistel School teacher, Ella's sister, and Mrs. Collier, her landlady. Mrs. Collier escaped the flames and carried the story of the loss of Susie and the Misses Fair to friends who commenced a search for their bodies. Susie had been taken to a small mortuary on Halstead and her description in the paper was given as "female age 20, size 7 shoes" this description delayed her identification as her friends searched all other places before coming to this place. A telegram was sent to Susie's family in Greenbush, and her brother and brother-in-law got on a train to retrieve her remains.
On arrival in Chicago, George Clay (brother) and George White (bil) attended a funeral arranged by Susie's Chicago friends. It was well attended and even in the face of Chicago winter and 600 other funerals in the city, it was said to be draped in all manner of flowers.
Susie's casket was sealed in a zinc case and escorted home by her brother while her brother-in-law remained in Chicago to see to her estate, along with her executor David Collier.
In Greenbush the family hosted another funeral, well attended and covered in the local paper. She was well loved, described as kind and loving. There were also assurances that it appeared her death was swift, and without fear and that while one side of her face and hair was singed it seemed that she suffocated in the blast of hot gas that blew over the balcony when a back stage door was opened.
Susie was a schoolteacher. By the time she was 17, both of her parents were dead. In 1891 she decided to move to Chicago, where she worked as a teacher for 12 years. On December 30, 1903 she went to a matinee performance at Chicago's newest and fanciest theater- The Iroquois Theater. It was billed as fireproof. That day, filled with women and children on Christmas break, a fire broke out on stage. The fireproof curtain failed to drop and the fire blasted out over the audience. Susie, and several hundred other people perished in the ensuing chaos. Her body was identified by a friend and sent home to New York for burial beside her parents.
Susie attended the theater that day with Ella Fair, a fellow Gallistel School teacher, Ella's sister, and Mrs. Collier, her landlady. Mrs. Collier escaped the flames and carried the story of the loss of Susie and the Misses Fair to friends who commenced a search for their bodies. Susie had been taken to a small mortuary on Halstead and her description in the paper was given as "female age 20, size 7 shoes" this description delayed her identification as her friends searched all other places before coming to this place. A telegram was sent to Susie's family in Greenbush, and her brother and brother-in-law got on a train to retrieve her remains.
On arrival in Chicago, George Clay (brother) and George White (bil) attended a funeral arranged by Susie's Chicago friends. It was well attended and even in the face of Chicago winter and 600 other funerals in the city, it was said to be draped in all manner of flowers.
Susie's casket was sealed in a zinc case and escorted home by her brother while her brother-in-law remained in Chicago to see to her estate, along with her executor David Collier.
In Greenbush the family hosted another funeral, well attended and covered in the local paper. She was well loved, described as kind and loving. There were also assurances that it appeared her death was swift, and without fear and that while one side of her face and hair was singed it seemed that she suffocated in the blast of hot gas that blew over the balcony when a back stage door was opened.
Susie attended the theater that day with Ella Fair, a fellow Gallistel School teacher, Ella's sister, and Mrs. Collier, her landlady. Mrs. Collier escaped the flames and carried the story of the loss of Susie and the Misses Fair to friends who commenced a search for their bodies. Susie had been taken to a small mortuary on Halstead and her description in the paper was given as "female age 20, size 7 shoes" this description delayed her identification as her friends searched all other places before coming to this place. A telegram was sent to Susie's family in Greenbush, and her brother and brother-in-law got on a train to retrieve her remains.
On arrival in Chicago, George Clay (brother) and George White (bil) attended a funeral arranged by Susie's Chicago friends. It was well attended and even in the face of Chicago winter and 600 other funerals in the city, it was said to be draped in all manner of flowers.
Susie's casket was sealed in a zinc case and escorted home by her brother while her brother-in-law remained in Chicago to see to her estate, along with her executor David Collier.
In Greenbush the family hosted another funeral, well attended and covered in the local paper. She was well loved, described as kind and loving. There were also assurances that it appeared her death was swift, and without fear and that while one side of her face and hair was singed it seemed that she suffocated in the blast of hot gas that blew over the balcony when a back stage door was opened.
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