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GRUPO DE REFLEXIÓN SOBRE EL MUNDO HISPÁNICO

Walter L. ISAACS

(New York, 1865-New York, 1914)

isaacs walter portrait

Jean-Claude SEGUIN

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Samuel L. Isaacs (Prusse, 09/10/1825-[Bogota, 1892]) épouse (Harris, 25/05/1848) Rachel Cornelia Levy (Harpers Ferry, 1827-New York, 1874). Descendance:

  • Esther A. Isaacs (Houston, [1848]-New York, 21/06/1877) épouse Simon Aaron Asch (Prusse, 14/06/1840-New York, 12/12/1891). Descendance:
  • Ella L. Isaacs Schuman (New York, [1863]-) épouse Herman B. Schuman (Prusse, 03/1852-New York, 02/11/19221922). Descendance:
    • Elsa Rachel Schuman (1887-)
  • Walter Lincoln Isaacs (New York, 09/05/1865-New York, 08/03/1914) épouse (Kingston, 10/10/1885) Lucy Ellen Jones (Kingston, 27/05/1869-Pittsburg, 25/08/1942). Descendance:
    • Walter Samuel Isaacs Jr (Colon, 12/1885-) 
    • Lewis Cleveland Isaacs Devereaux (Colon, 15/07/1886-Lebanon, 6/1968) épouse (New York, 21/02/1907) Ethel Naomi Bradley (Louisville, 09/01/1889-Roanoke, 09/01/1963). Descendance:
      • Ethel Naomi Isaacs Devereaux
      • Charles L. Deveraux
      • Charles L. Deveraux
    • Clifton Isaacs (Colon, 05/10/1888-)
    • Edith R. Isaacs (Colon, 1889-1945)
    • Gertrude May Isaacs (Colon, 25/05/1891-Cincinnati, 29/05/1973)
      • épouse (New York, 06/09/1911) George Washington Wiley (1887-1936). Descendance:
        • Alexander Burton Wiley (1913-1967)
      • épouse Wilbur Raymond Greenlum (1885-)
      • épouse Earl H. Bugbee (1892-)
      • épouse Albert A. Koch.
    • Olive Edna Isaacs (New York, 1894-1982)
    • Alfred Elmo Isaacs (New York, 1897-Acapulco, 23/02/1981)

Recensement 1905.

Recencement 1910.

1903: Issacs Walter L. 83 Nassau (Optical Goods).

Certains membres de la famille ont changé le nom "Isaacs" par "Deveraux" vers 1915.

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Samuel Isaacs, d'origine prussienne, s'installe aux États-Unis où il épouse, en 1848, Rachel Cornelia Levy. Il obtient sa naturalisation en 1861. Son fils Walter Lincoln Isaacs, à l'âge de vingt ans épouse à Kingston (Jamaïque), le dix octobre 1885, la jeune jamaïcaine Lucy Ellan Jones. Peu après, le couple s'installe à Colon (Panama) où Walter figure comme "merchant" (commerçant)  et où naissent ses premiers enfants. Sa présence est encore attestée à la fin de l'année 1890, à la suite d'un incendie d'une série de coffres-forts:

Colon, Central America, in flames .
COLON, Republic of Colombia,
Oct. 31, 1890.
We, the undersigned bankers, merchants and other residents of this town, who had in our possession Herring's Safes, over which passed the late conflagration on the 23d of September last which destroyed three-fourths of this place, hereby certify that Herring's Safes withstood the flames and on opening them we found their contents, consisting of books, documents, specie, jewelry, etc., in good order and condition, and we hereby bear testimony to the excellence of the manufacture of these safes.
Isaac Brandon & Bros., bankers.
S. L. Isaacs & Asch, bankers and general merchants.
S. L. Toledano, dry goods merchant.
Maduro Hijo & Co., bankers and merchants.
Generoso Roma, merchant.
G. Ducca, merchant.
Kwong Fong & Co., merchants.
Dengostini & Gallo, proprietors Casino Suisse.
Wing Hing Lee & Co., merchants.
A. James & Co., general merchants.
Charles Courtenay, merchant.
Walter L. Isaacs, merchant.
Gerald G. H. Waldron, agent American Lloyds.
E. D. Garnett, merchant.
Rodriques & Servat, merchants.
Lam Sang & Co., merchants.


Daily Record, Owego New York, samedi 24 janvier 1891.

C'est vers cette époque qu'il est initié dans la Masonic Lodge of Panama City. Après la naissance de leur fille Gertrude, en mai 1891, le couple et ses enfants rentrent aux États-Unis. Water Isaacs va développer alors deux activités principales: la commercialisation de différents types d'appareils et l'exploitation d'une impressionnante collection d'objets artistiques ramenés de ses séjours en Amérique Centrale, en Amérique du Sud et dans les Caraïbes.

Le "Bioscope" (1896-1898)

On ignore à quelle période précise Walter Isaacs va s'intéresser à la cinématographie, mais il commercialise des accessoires que Charles Urban a déjà eu l'occasion de lui commander, sans doute en relation avec ses activités d'alors (machines à écrire, phonographe...). C'est sur la base de ses relations commerciale que va naître le bioscope :

During my phonograph days I bought a lot of accessories from a Mr. Walter Isaacs (New York) who also made machine parts. I called on him and we jointly designed a motion picture projecting machine, which I named the 'Bioscope'. After testing the first model he had completed, I placed an order with him for fifty machines, which I had decided to sell outright. Edison however had anticipated me by putting on the market a portable projecting machine before I secured delivery of a quantity of Bioscopes from Walter Isaacs.


URB, 1999: 32.

On peut situer cet épisode entre le printemps et l'automne 1896. Il s'agit d'un cinématographe directement inspiré, semble-t-il, de celui de Georges Demenÿ :

May I state that l am the sole licensee in Great Britain and the Colonies for the well-known Demeny patent, which is the basic movement of the Bioscope, and which movement-not the trembling one—is considered the perfection of movement for animated pictures?


The Era, Londres, samedi 2 mai 1903, p. 21.

Dès lors, Walter Isaacs va se lancer dans une production d'appareil qui apparaît trop lente aux yeux de Charles Urban:

Referring again to the business - I sold as many Bioscopes as Isaacs could construct for me although these did not come on fast enough to suit me. I went to New York to try to speed up the work.


URB, 1999: 36.

Déjà engagé avec l'entreprise Maguire et Baucus, Charles Urban va faire racheter le solde d'appareils non livrés par la société :

The firm agreed to take over the balance of Bioscopes still undelivered by Walter Isaacs, which I had occasion to test and suggest improvement thereto, the sale of which I specialized in, instead of pushing the sale of the Edison projector.URB, 1999: 38.

Si l'on sait donc tout le parti que Charles Urban va tirer de l'exploitation du bioscope, on a très peu d'informations sur les bénéfices que Walter Isaacs va effectivement réaliser après la fin de la collaboration avec Urban. La première donnée est une annonce publiée dans le New York Clipper de décembre 1896 pour la vente d'un appareil nommé "animascopticon" qui un projecteur d'images animées. Dans les mois qui suivent, d'autres annonces reprennent en les modifiant et en les emplifiant les informations.

isaacs walter 1896 decembre clipper isaacs walter 1897 mars clipper
New York Clipper, New York, samedi 26 décembre 1896, p. 694. New York Clipper, New York, samedi 27 mars 1897, p. 68.
isaacs walter 1898 01 clipper isaacs walter 1898 clipper
New York Clipper, New York, 1er janvier 1898, p. 735. New York Clipper, New York, 21 mai 1898, p. 204.

Nulle part, il n'est question de "bioscope" et les appareils sont successivement nommés : animascopticon, Cinematagraphe et Americanized Cinematographe. Or, le témoignage de Charles Urban est tout à fait crédible, et il est peu probable que Walter Isaacs se soit lancé dans l'invention successive de plusieurs prototypes. Reste à savoir pourquoi le nom "Bioscope" n'est jamais utilisé. L'hypothèse la plus crédible serait que Charles Urban ait souhaité garder pour lui le nom, ce qui expliquerait alors que Walter Isaacs en ait utilisé d'autres, voire des périphrases comme "Americanized Cinematagraph". Au-delà de 1898, il semble que la vente du cinématographe cesse.

Et après... (1899-1914)

Si Walter Isaacs semble avoir renoncé à la commercialisation de son cinématographe, il n'en continue pas moins à vendre ou distribuer d'autres appareils optiques ou sonores aux 39, puis 14 Cortland Street de New York. C'est dans la nuit du 30 au 31 janvier 1899 que se déclare un incendie :

BIG BLAZE IN CORTLANDT STREET.
Fire was discovered at half-past nine o'clock last night at No. 14 Cortlandt street. No flames could be seen by the firemen when they arrived—just the reflection on the tall building of the telephone company next door. Doors were battered down, and the firemen found that the rear of the building—it ran back a hundred feet—from the second to the fifth, or top. floor, was ablaze. The fire had started in the second floor, rear, occupied by Kashare & Hyman, picture frame dealers, and had been smouldering for hours, it is supposed.
There Is an airshaft in the rear, and the flames went right up to the roof and had a good start on every floor. Kashare & Hyman occupy the second, third and fourth floor and Walter L. Isaacs, novelties, has the top floor. The ground floor is occupied by the Broadway dining rooms...


New York Herald, New York, mardi 31 janvier 1899, p. 5.

Si les circonstances de l'incendie n'ont ici qu'un intérêt limité, les dégâts et pertes subis par Walter Isaacs sont évidemment immenses et le même journal, quelques jours plus tard va faire le bilan désastreux de ce drame:

FIRE DESTROYS MUMMIES OF INCAS
Valuable Collection of South American Antiquities Burned in a Cortlandt Street Building.
INTENDED FOR MUSEUM.
Mummies of three Incas—ancient rulers of Peru—and many other antiquities from South America were destroyed in a fire at No. 14 Cortlandt street late Monday night. Walter L. Isaacs, who owned the relics, made known his loss yesterday.
The collection, which was valued at $20,000, was composed of 22,000 pieces. Mr. Isaacs, who has been a lifelong collector of Central and South American curiosities, spent nine months in gathering the antiquities, aided by natives, who found and mounted the pieces. The collection was about to be sold to the Museum of Natural History in this city, and was only partly insured.
In it were agricultural and hunting implements. costumes, musical Instruments, idols and pottery. The three mummies were those of Peru's remote Incas, being taken from the royal tomb at Thwlptjnk. near Cuzco, the seat of the royal power. They were the last to be consumed of the pieces in the collection. The firemen were not aware of their value.
Valuable pieces that were also destroyed were whistling arrows, used by the natives in the remote forests of the Amazon. These are employed for signalling purposes. There were also marked arrows, denoting events in the lives of the owners. One of the arrows had fifteen thousand marks of a minute character.
A genuine marimbo, a primitive musical instrument in use throughout South America, was also in the collection, it consisted of a convex bow, in the middle of which is a stone, the whole being placed against the stomach of the user and struck violently.
ANOTHER COLLECTION MADE.
Mr. Isaacs stated yesterday that he had received a certified check for $15,000 from persons in Chicago as part payment for the collection. It was issued before the fire, and he was obliged to return it.
Another large collection, designed for the Paris Exposition next year, has been held in South America by cabled orders, while Mr. Isaacs is negotiating with the Museum of Natural History. The institution may get this collection, which, if brought here, will be the only collection of South American curios in the United States.


New York Herald, New York, vendredi 3 février 1899, p. 6.

On peut penser que la destruction de cette collection d'objets artistiques a profondément affecté Walter Isaacs. Toujours est-il que son nom disparaît de la presse jusqu'en 1903 où on le retrouve vendeur de stereopticons sur la Nassau Street, d'abord au 83, puis 81 et enfin au 41.

isaacs walter 1905 annonce isaacs walter 1905 juillet clipper
New York Clipper, New York, samedi 17 juin 1905, p. 440. New York Clipper, New York, samedi 22 juillet 1905, p. 557.

On retrouve ces annonces également dans les années suivantes :

THE BUYERS' GUIDE
[...]
Stereopticons.
[...]
Walter L. Isaacs, 81 Nassau st., New York.


 The Moving Picture World, vol 1, nº 9,  4 mai 1907, p. 141.

On entend encore parler de lui à la suite d'un différend avec une cliente, qui se termine au commissariat de police:

The shrieks of a woman drew tenants of 41 Nassau street, New York, to the fourth floor recently in a great rush, and they crowded into the anteroom of the office of Walter Isaacs, a moving picture man, whence issued the alarm. In the inner room they saw Isaacs, who weighs 200 pounds, and a woman who could balance the steelyards with him bouncing a little man back and forth between them like a baseball. The little man was saying: “Now, I beg of you, be calm. Do not fight. Let me be your peacemaker.” When the woman saw all the men staring she blockaded the doorway, opened a small satchel — screaming all the time — and produced a dog whip. The little man wisely ducked into a corner. The whip cracked and sizzled, and when the big man would try to escape it the little man would push him into range. “Call the cops!” roared the tenants, when they saw the big man was penned in. Cops came and took all three, the woman still screaming, to the Tombs Police Court. The woman was Mrs. Lena Hoffman, of 21 Bergen avenue, Union Hill, N. J., and her auxiliary was Henry Linhart, of Hackensack. They had called to get the number of a moving picture machine that had been stolen from them, and Isaacs had refused to give it until a $5 balance was paid. Mrs. Hoffman had purchased a dog whip, “for use at home,” as she explained in court, and it came in handy. Magistrate Crane held the pair in $300 bail for trial.
[What a pity there was not a camera at work on this scene! It would have made good copy. — Ed.]


The Moving Pictures World, vol. 1, nº 13, 1er juin 1907, p. 198-199.

Nouvelle disparition jusqu'en en 1911 où à l'occasion du mariage de sa fille Gertrude, nous apprenons qu'il habite au 122, Midwood street. Trois ans plus tard, la presse annonce sa disparition :

MR WALTER L. ISAACS, an electrical expert, died of pneumonia at his home in Brooklyn, N. Y., on March 8 at the age of 50. He was formerly in business on the Isthmus of Panama and was a Past Master of a Masonic lodge of the city of Panama. He leaves a wife, four sons and three daughters.


Electrical Review, Chicago, vol 64, nº 13, 28 mars 1914, p. 651.

Une autre note nécrologique offre quelques informations complémentaires :

WALTER L. ISAACS.
Walter Lincoln Isaacs, a prominent Mason and expert electrician, who was engaged in the electrical advertising devise business, died Sunday at his home, 122 Midwood street. Flatbush. He was past master of Masonic Lodge of Panama City, where he was formerly engaged in business. Mr. Isaacs was a member of Euclid Lodge. F. and A. M. Aurora Grata Chapter, R. A, M„ and Kismet Temple. A widow, four sons and three daughters survive. Funeral services will be held at 8 'o'clock tonight.


The Daily Standard Union, Brooklyn, mardi 10 mars 1914, p. 3.

Des années plus tard, une société, la "Walter Isaacs Company" commercialise, entre autres appareils, des "moving picture machines":

STEREOPTICONS $25.00 up; portable Moving Picture Machines. $50.00; Nitrogen Lamps Lenses Condensers and Lantern Slides. WALTER ISAACS COMPANY, 36 East 23d. St., New York.


The Billboard, Vol. XXXI, nº 23, 7 juin 1919, p. 74.

C'est son fils aîné qui a repris le commerce.

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