Victor B. Fisher, 1884-1940
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Victor B.6 Fisher (Anna Binnard5, Bendet4, Mosiek3, Jacob2, Lewin1) oldest child of Nathan and Annie (Binnard) Fisher, was born 27 July 1884[1] at Colfax, Washington.[2] He was tall, of medium build, with brown eyes and brown hair.[3] His World War I draft registration states that he had no middle name, just an initial,[4] while his death certificate has the middle name “Bennet” filled in by hand on the typewritten form.[5]
After completing two years of high school,[6] Victor moved Spokane, Washington about 1901. There, at the age of 15, he boarded with his mother’s cousin, Daniel Barmon, and attended Northwestern Business College.[7] He spent most of the next nine years as a traveling salesman. In 1904 his employer was Chant Music Company,[8] and in 1905 he worked for the Kirkwood Distillery Company.[9] His uncle, Dan Binnard,[10] and his mother’s cousin, Abraham Binnard, also started working for Kirkwood the same year.[11] In 1907 Victor and Morris L. Harris started their own business, Fisher Tailoring Company, makers of men’s tailor-made clothing. It was located at 515-517 Mohawk Block in Spokane.[12] The partnership was short-lived, and in 1908[13] and 1909 Victor was again employed by Kirkwood Distillery Company.[14] By early 1910 Victor, along with his mother, brother, and sisters, had moved to Los Angeles. There he and his brother Morris were the support of the family. Victor was a commercial traveler for a cigar distributor, and Morris worked as a clerk in a hat store.[15] A few years later Victor left Los Angeles for San Diego, where he and David Richter, husband of his aunt Minnie Binnard, operated a retail liquor store, Fisher and Richter, located in 1913 at 1236 E Street. Victor's brother Morris worked for them.[16] In 1914 Richter left the business and was replaced by Leon Openheimer. He and Victor were wholesale liquor dealers at 336 E Street.[17] About 1912, at the age of 28, Victor married.[18] A voters’ register for the year 1914 shows Victor B. Fisher, a wholesale dealer, and Mrs. Lenora Fisher, housewife, residing at the Carnegie Apartments in San Diego.[19] Victor was in El Paso, Texas by 1917. There he took a job as salesman for the California Wine House, where his brother-in-law, Ralph Lewin, was manager. Victor's mother's cousin, Abraham Binnard, also worked there. Others living in the city at the same time were Victor's sister and brother-in-law, Fred and Ruth Markman, who had opened a jewelry store, and his uncle, Dan Binnard, who was manager of The Stag saloon.[20] By 1918 Victor had moved to San Francisco, where he[21] and his uncles Dan Binnard[22] and David Richter[23] were all employed as salesmen for Richter Manufacturing, a company owned by David that made paper boxes. Lenora was also in San Francisco. In October 1919 she traveled from there to Portland, Oregon, where her trunk, smelling strongly of liquor, was seized at Union Station. An FBI agent opened the trunk and found women’s clothes and bottles of Jim Crow, some of which were broken. Also found in the trunk was a marriage license and certificate for Victor B. Fisher and Lenor [sic] Reynolds, and a summons and complaint in divorce, Victor B. Fisher vs. Lenore Reynolds Fisher. Lenore was arrested for violation of the Reed Amendment, which made it illegal to transport liquor into a dry state (Washington had adopted prohibition in 1916). Under questioning, she stated that she was 28 years old and that she and Victor had been married in Sacramento. The report does not give the marriage or divorce dates. Lenore was placed under arrest and jailed overnight. Although she claimed that no one else was involved, a man named George Perkins came forward and stated that he had asked her to transport the liquor to Portland. He hired a lawyer and posted Lenore’s bond of $500. They both pleaded guilty to bringing liquor into the state and were each fined $250.[24] Nothing more is known about her. From El Paso Victor moved to Los Angeles, where in 1920 he was still employed as a salesman for the paper box factory.[25] Soon he found a new career in the entertainment industry. He may have made connections through David Richter, whose brother-in-law, Joseph Leblang, ran a discount theater ticket agency in New York and was acquainted with many people in show business.[26] Victor’s first position was with Super Art Productions, where he assisted in making the movie Bubbles.[27] In February 1921 Variety announced the formation of a new independent motion picture distributor, Associated Photo Plays. Their first film was to be No Man’s Woman.[28] Victor was the general manager.[29] Unfortunately, there were problems almost immediately. In March 1921 Associated Photo Plays (spelled Photoplays in the story) went to court to prevent Florence Hoyt Stokes from selling the film. Mrs. Stokes was owed $7,500 by Helen Gibson, the film’s producer. She demanded reimbursement from Associated. Associated, in turn, filed suit against Helen Gibson for $5,000, the amount it spent in promotion.[30] Apparently the film was never released. Victor next became general director and manager of Cliff Smith Picture Corporation. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the company had recruited actors Johnnie Walker, Ruth Clifford, and Les Bates for its new picture, which they said was based on a story by James Oliver Curwood.[31] The film was released under the title My Dad. According to one description, the theme was "the nobility of self sacrifice, the heroism of a son in fighting to prove his father innocent of murder." Besides the leading actors, the cast included "a large number of frontiersmen, half-breeds, mounted police and others" amid "broad reaches of snow-covered lands and towering timbers."[32] Victor announced that the company would move its studio to San Francisco, which, he thought, “presents superior opportunities for the production of photoplays. Sea scenes, desert scenes and the snow of Truckee but a few hours away make this the ideal producing center.”[33] He further stated that “San Francisco has so much in its favor that it seems strange that the film business did not develop here long ago.”[34] Shortly thereafter Victor left the Smith organization and became the supervising director of Belasco Productions, a company formed by Edward Belasco, brother of the famous theatrical producer and director David Belasco. They announced they would make a film of the story “The Dancing Feet” by Anna Blake Mesquida.[35] In October 1922 Victor established his own company, Fisher Productions, in San Francisco. His partners were Aaron L. Jaffe, a manufacturer, and S.I. Blake, who had formerly been with the Anglo-California Trust Company. Jaffe assumed the position of president and Blake became treasurer.[36] Offices were at 315 Montgomery Street in the Commercial Union Building.[37] Victor may have known Jaffe through his mother's cousin, Abraham Binnard. In 1911 Jaffe and Binnard had had a wholesale liquor business in San Francisco.[38] Fisher Productions’ first film was based on the novel Youth Triumphant by George Gibbs. Retitled Enemies of Children, it starred child actress Virginia Lee Corbin, Anna Q. Nilsson, Raymond Hatton, Joseph Dowling, Claire McDowell, Kate Price, Ward Crane, Eugenie Besserer, George Seigman, Lucy Beaumont, Boyd Irwin, and William Boyd.[39] The director, Lillian Ducey, was called "the foremost woman wielder of the megaphone in America."[40] According to the film’s publicity, “the story has been developed so as to bring out the spiritual as well as physical struggles which are overcome by the heroine in the picture. The sinister shadow of a misunderstood past threatens to drive this young woman to desperation, but youth will have its day and the story terminates happily.”[41] Filming was completed by the beginning of June 1923.[42] Reviews were less than stellar. In January 1924 Photoplay summed up the picture: “The uncertain parentage of a little waif adopted by a wealthy family covers a multitude of reels in this film. The author goes all around Robin Hood’s barn to prove that the child is not only an heiress but related to her benefactors. Virginia Lee Corbin plays the first half of the heroine’s life, and Anna Q. Nilsson is good in the latter half.”[43] In the next issue the review was reduced to: “Conventional story of a waif, tiresomely told.”[44] Victor's next move was to lease space at the Hollywood Studios, located on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. He retained Lillian Ducey as director and James Dent as production manager and appointed David Chapman, described as "a San Francisco oil man," as assistant supervising director. Victor announced an ambitious schedule of buying the rights to several novels and Broadway plays, and claimed to be close to signing "a number of prominent players" to contracts.[45] In an interview Victor announced that “hereafter, stories, plays or novels which he produces will be put upon the screen without change. He is tired, he says, of seeing good plots warped to fit conventional ideas of what a film play must be, and will hereafter handle stories in such a way that they will be recognizable when they reach the silver sheets.“[46] According to another source, “the Fisher Productions, which bids fair to become one of the largest and most influential organizations in the United States, has adopted as its policy the principle of making pictures combining story values of unquestioned power, scenic investure second to none, and above all, its pictures will be acted by the very best talent available, regardless of cost.”[47] Another of Victor’s intentions was to introduce new actors. He was quoted as saying, "by placing one or two new players in important parts in every picture we make, we feel we will being doing our share toward contributing to the progress of motion pictures and at the same time do no harm to the box-office value of the production. If every producer does likewise, the coming years would find many new players in public favor."[48] In September 1923 Virginia Corbin, mother of Virginia Lee Corbin, sued Victor B. Fisher and Aaron L. Jaffe for breach of contract. Filed in Los Angeles, the suit stated that Fisher Productions promised to pay the actress $300 a week. Mrs. Corbin claimed that her daughter had been waiting for 45 weeks of work, had been paid $3,000, and was still owed $11,500.[49] It is not clear exactly when Fisher Productions went out of business, but it was probably before 1927. It was still active in 1925, when Variety reported that Victor had signed 18-year-old Virginia Lee Williamson of Salt Lake City, Utah to a contract.[50] The company’s address that year was Hollywood Studios, Hollywood, California.[51] The 1927 Los Angeles city directory lists Victor B. Fisher with the occupation of salesman,[52] and the 1929 directory lists him with no occupation.[53] At some point Victor met Lillie (Seldner) Beer. Born in New York, she was the daughter of Leopold and Clara (Michel) Seldner.[54] Her birth date is not precisely known. On the 1900 census she is said have been born in November 1880 in New York,[55] while on the 1940 census her age is given as 64 (born 1876).[56] She was married about 1910 to Alfons Beer.[57] He was born 16 February 1858 in St. Ingbert, Germany.[58] He immigrated to the United States in 1883, was naturalized in 1889, and resided in Philadelphia and Elgin, Illinois.[59] He then moved to Cripple Creek, Colorado,[60] the center of a gold rush. In 1902 he and Mortiz Glauber formed the Glauber-Beer Company, which ran a department store in Cripple Creek.[61] Twelve years later, in 1914, the two men and a group of associates purchased the Wormser Hat Company. Samuel A. Stein was the president, Moritz was the vice president, and Alfons was the treasurer.[62] Alfons died in New York City on 24 September 1924.[63] Lillie and Victor were married in Los Angeles on 2 March 1927 by Edgar F. Magnin, rabbi of Temple B’nai B’rith. Witnesses were Victor’s brother, Morris Fisher, and his brother-in-law, Fred Markman.[64] On the marriage license, both Victor and Lillie are listed as 42 years old.[65] About 1930 the couple moved to New York City, where the census shows them living at the Hotel Alden, 225 Central Park West. For some reason, they were not staying together. Victor is listed as a guest of Benjamin Heymann. His occupation is given as advertising salesman.[66] Lillie S. Fisher is a guest of Albert Oppenheim. Her occupation is retail hat store, obviously Wormser Hats.[67] In 1935, still residing in New York, Victor was the metropolitan representative of Brown-Forman Distillery Company, makers of Early Times and King of Kentucky whiskies.[68] According to family lore, he was made a Kentucky Colonel. The title was probably conferred on him by Ruby Laffoon, who was governor of Kentucky from 1932 to 1935. During that time he appointed 2,368 colonels, including celebrities such as Mae West, Jean Harlow, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Jack Dempsey, and Clark Gable. The colonels were not required to have had any military experience; the distinction was honorary. They wore uniforms and mainly rode in inaugural parades and other official events.[69] In 1940 Victor and Lillie lived at 20 East 76th Street in Manhattan, near Central Park. Included in their household was Sophie Becker, age 56, who was born in Germany. She is described as a companion. Victor’s occupation is given as manager, retail millinery, indicating he had left Brown-Forman for Wormser Hats.[70] Victor and Lillie were spending the winter in Phoenix, Arizona when Victor died of a heart attack at the age of 56 on 25 December 1940. A newspaper article noted that he was “a director of the Pacific coast chain of Wormser Hat Stores”. [71] Services were conducted in Phoenix on 27 December, with Rabbi A.L. Krohn officiating.[72] The body was cremated.[73] Lillie returned to New York City where she died 9 May 1957.[74] Victor had no children. ______________________________ [1] “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZK3-49N : accessed 28 Feb 2014), Victor B. Fisher, 1917-1918; citing San Francisco City no 13, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); Family History Library microfilm 1544263. [2] Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizona Genealogy Birth and Death Certificates, database and images (http://genealogy.az.gov/ ; accessed 2 March 2014), entry for Victor Bennet Fisher, 25 December 1940. [3] “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” Victor B. Fisher. [4] Ibid. [5] Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizona Genealogy Birth and Death Certificates, entry for Victor Bennet Fisher, 25 December 1940. [5] “Deaths,” New York Times, 12 May 1957, p. 87. [6] 1940 U.S. Census, Manhattan Borough, AD15, Block L, enumeration district 31-1350, sheet 6A, household 159, entry for Victor Fisher; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2012); NARA microfilm T627, roll 2656. He reported he had completed two years of high school. [7] R.L. Polk & Co.’s Spokane City Directory, 1901 (Spokane, Washington: R.L. Polk & Co., 1901), 167, 333. [8] Ibid (1904), 299. [9] Ibid (1905), 323. [10] “Personal Mention,” Colfax Gazette, 2 June 1905, p. 2. [11] R.L. Polk & Co’s Spokane City Directory, 1905 (Spokane, Washington: R.L. Polk & Co., 1905), 323. [12] Ibid (1907), 366, 433, 1052. [13] Ibid (1908), 480. [14] Ibid (1909), 399. [15] 1910 U.S. census, Los Angeles Township, Precinct 134, Los Angeles City, Los Angeles County, California, enumeration district 179, p. 6A, dwelling house 91, family 245, entry for Victor B. Fisher, son, household of Annie Fisher; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2012); Family History Library microfilm 1374095. [16] San Diego City and County Directory, 1913 (San Diego, California: San Diego Directory Co., 1913), 366, 812, 1363. [17] Ibid (1914), 466, 847, 1527. [18] 1930 U.S. census, New York, New York County, New York, enumeration district 31-447, p. 15A, dwelling 51, family 292, entry for Victor Bernard [sic] Fisher digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2012); Family History Library film 2341291. On the census Victor reported that he had first been married at the age of 28. [19] Ancestry.com. California, Voter Registrations, 1900-1968 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Index to Great Register of San Diego County, 1914, Precinct 64, p. 4, lines 88 and 89, Mrs. Lenora Fisher and Victor B. Fisher. [20] El Paso City Directory, 1917 (El Paso, Texas: John F. Worley Directory Co., 1917), 242, 267, 360, 474, 498. [21] “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” Victor B. Fisher. [22] “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZKS-NRQ : accessed 28 Feb 2014), Dan Binnard, 1917-1918; citing San Francisco City no 13, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509, (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); Family History Library microfilm 1544260. [23] “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZKS-GRM : accessed 28 Feb 2014), David Richter, 1917-1918; citing San Francisco no 12, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); Family History Library microfilm 1544261. [24] Fold3 by Ancestry.com. FBI Case Files: Miscellaneous Files 1901-1921, database and images (www.fold3.com : accessed 12 April 2014), entry for case # 39728, Mrs. V. B. Fisher, citing Investigative Case Files of the Bureau of Investigation 1908-1922; Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Record Group 65, Publication Number M1085; National Archives, Washington. [25] 1920 U.S. census, Los Angeles Township, Precinct 261, Los Angeles City, Los Angeles County, California, enumeration district 236, p. 6B, dwelling house 7, family 7, entry for Victor B. Fisher, lodger, household of Edward Ward; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2012); NARA microfilm T625, roll 109. [26] “Joseph Leblang Is Dead at 57,” The New York Sun, 17 April 1931, p. 29. [27] “Fisher Joins Independents,” Los Angeles Times, 10 April 1923, p. II8. [28] “News of the Film World,” Variety, 4 February 1921, p. 44. [29] Los Angeles Directory Co’s Los Angeles City Directory, 1921 (Los Angeles, California: The Los Angeles Directory Company, 1921), 444, 1043. [30] “’No Man’s Woman’ Suit,” Variety, 18 March 1921, p. 35. [31] “S. F. Future for Films Held Good,” San Francisco Chronicle, 6 April 1922, p. 11. [32] “Strand Offers Johnny Walker in ‘My Dad,’” Buffalo Courier, 5 November 1922, p. 60. [33] “S. F. Future for Films Held Good,” San Francisco Chronicle, 6 April 1922, p. 11. [34] “Once Again,” San Francisco Chronicle, 12 September 1922, p. 24. [35] “San Francisco,” Variety, 28 July 1922, p. 26. The complete text of the story, originally published in the November 1921 issue of Everybody’s Magazine, can be found on Google Books (http://books.google.com). The author’s name is spelled Mezquida in the magazine. [36] “Fisher Joins Independents,” Los Angeles Times, 10 April 1923, p. II8. [37] Crocker-Langley San Francisco City Directory, 1923 (San Francisco: H.S. Crocker Co., 1923), 2003. [38] Crocker-Langley San Francisco Directory for the Year Ending August 1911 (San Francisco: H.S. Crocker Co., 1911), 273, 869, 1939. [39] “Amateur’s Night at Nile; Famous Film,” Bakersfield Californian, 12 May 1925, p. 7. William Boyd went on to portray Hopalong Cassidy in many films. The full text of the novel can be found on Google Books (http://books.google.com). [40] Ibid. [41] “’Enemies of Children’ Opens at Westchester,” Daily Argus (Mount Vernon, New York), 14 April 1924, p. 11. [42] “Fisher Film Ready,” Los Angeles Times, 6 June 1923, p. II21. [43] “The Shadow Stage,” Photoplay 25 (January 1924): 90. [44] “Brief Review of Current Pictures,” Photoplay 25 (February 1924):8. [45] “Expansion Is Planned By Fisher,” Los Angeles Times, 30 May 1923, p. I6. [46] “Buys New Stories for Talmadge Girls,” Omaha World-Herald, 27 May 1923, p. 47. [47] “Amateur’s Night at Nile; Famous Film.” [48] “New Faces Are Need of Screen, Fisher Thinks,” Los Angeles Times, 24 June 1923, p. III26. [49] Leone Case Baer, “The Stage,” Sunday Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 16 September 1923, p. 6. [50] “Former Ogden Student Will Enter Movies,” Ogden Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah), 25 May 1925, p. 3. [51] “Questions and Answers from Washington,” The Niagara Falls Gazette, 23 January 1925, p. 8. [52] Los Angeles Directory Co.’s Los Angeles City Directory, 1927 (Los Angeles, California: The Los Angeles Directory Company, 1927), 830. [53] Ibid (1929), 874. [54] "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K8NN-7ZF : accessed 02 Mar 2014), Victor Bennett Fisher and Lillie S Beer, 1927. [55] 1900 U.S. census, Borough of Manhattan, New York, New York County, New York, enumeration district 932, sheet 1A, dwelling 7, family 7, entry for Lillie Seldner, daughter, household of Clara Seldner; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2012); Family History Library film 1241123. [56] 1940 U.S. Census, Manhattan Borough, AD15, Block L, enumeration district 31-1350, sheet 6A, household 159, entry for Lilly, wife, household of Victor Fisher; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2012); NARA microfilm T627, roll 2656. [57] 1910 U.S. census, Cripple Creek District, Precinct 2, Cripple Creek City, Teller County, Colorado, enumeration district 194, sheet 9A, dwelling house 21, family 30, entry for Lillie S., wife, household of Alphons Beer; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2012); Family History Film 1374138. The census shows that the couple had been married for 0 years. [58] Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007, application of Alfons Beer, no. 6458, Kane County, Illinois, 9 July 1897. [59] Ibid. [60] Ibid, application of Alfons Beer, no. 64102, Teller County, Colorado, 19 December 1902. [61] “Hat Chat,” The American Hatter, vol. 32, no. 2 (September 1902), p. 4. [62] “New Corporations Formed,” New York Herald, 31 December 1914, p. 16. [63] “Obituary Notes,” New York Times, 26 September 1924, p. 21. [64] "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K8NN-7ZF : accessed 02 Mar 2014), Victor Bennett Fisher and Lillie S Beer, 1927. [65] Ibid. [66] 1930 U.S. Census, New York, New York County, New York, enumeration district 31-447, sheet 15A, dwelling house 51, family 291, entry for Victor Bernard [sic] Fisher, guest, household of Benjamin Heymann; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2012); Family History Library film 2341291. [67] 1930 U.S. Census, New York, New York County, New York, enumeration district 31-447, sheet 14B, dwelling house 51, family 281, entry for Lillie S. Fisher, guest, household of Albert Oppenheim; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2012); Family History Library film 2341291. [68] “Advertising News,” New York Sun, 2 November 1935, p. 61. [69] “Kentucky Colonels,” The Age (Melbourne, Australia), 13 September 1941, p. 14. This is how Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken obtained his title. [70] 1940 U.S. Census, Manhattan Borough, AD15, Block L, enumeration district 31-1350, sheet 6A, household 159, entry for Victor Fisher; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 July 2012); NARA microfilm T627, roll 2656. [71] “Official of Hat Chain Called,” Seattle Times, 26 December 1940, p. 4. [72] “Deaths and Funerals,” Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona), 27 December 1940, section 2, p. 6. [73] Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizona Genealogy Birth and Death Certificates, entry for Victor Bennet Fisher, 25 December 1940. [74] “Deaths,” New York Times, 12 May 1957, p. 87. |