Photos of Walter and Jack were taken several years prior to 1903
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At the 1903 Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago, twenty-year-old Tessie Bissinger tried valiantly but failed
to save her fifteen-year-old brother, Walter Bissinger
(top), and ten-year-old cousin, Lafayette, Indiana
resident Jacob "Jack" Pottlitzer (center).
Walter and Tessie were the children of realtor Benjamin Bissinger
(1848-1930) and Leah Felsenthal Bissinger
(1859-1911) of Chicago. He had three other
sisters in addition to Tessie. The Bissingers
lived at 4934 Forrestville in Chicago.
One newspaper reported that Walter was an usher who
died at his post but that seems unlikely; nowhere
else was he listed as one of the Iroquois ushers.
It is possible that he was working at the theater
temporarily over the holidays, however.
He had attended the Morgan Park Academy in the 9th grade
then gone on to Howe Military
academy in Indiana and in 1903 was home for the Christmas break.
Walter began writing poetry at age seven.
His poems were
published after his death.
Jack, also nicknamed "Jackie," was the only child of
Max Pottlitzer (1867-1907) and the late Emily M.
Felsenthal Pottlitzer (1873-1903). Emily had
died from surgery complications nine months
before her son's death at the Iroquois.
Max Pottlitzer was secretary-treasurer of the
Lafayette Cracker Co., owned by his brothers.
He also registered patents for several tools and
engine components.
In the chaos of nearly one thousand dead and
injured it was
rare for a first responder to recognize a
victim. Jack was one of the
exceptions. Surgeon
Dr. Daniel Eisendrath was working in an
emergency triage center next to the
theater, John Thompson's diner, trying to
save people who showed signs of life. Eisendrath had been Emily Pottlitzer's
doctor and recognized Jack's body.
In the years after the fire
Theresa Bissinger (1882-1960)
married Sidney Henry Bernheim in 1906, a
fellow graduate of the University of
Kentucky. The pair settled in Louisville
where Bernheim became advertising manager
for the Louisville Herald newspaper.
They had three children, two daughters and a
son named Jack Walter Jack after Tessie's
cousin Jack and brother Walter.
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