The Eventful Career of Levi J. North

Levi James North was born in the township of Newtown, Long Island, June 16, 1814. In 1826, there was a circus playing under canvas in Brooklyn in the Military Garden where the courthouse now stands. The stock was sold and came into the possession of Quick & Mead. Young North apprenticed himself to Isaac Quick of that firm. They also had an interest in a small menagerie exhibiting in the South under the immediate management of Jerry Fogg and Ebenetiz Howes. Quick & Mead shipped direct from New York to Richmond, Virginia, by schooner, making the trip in nine days.

The performers in the company were Samuel P. Stickney, Major DeGroot, Chris Hughes, clown; William Lawson, ringmaster, and who also played Billy Button and sang comic songs; James Raymond (an apprentice boy often confounded in reminiscences of the arena with J. R. Raymond, the manager), and Walter Raymond, brother of James, a vaulter. There was no lady rider in the company.

The advertiser was a man by the name of French who traveled on horseback and kept his stock of printing in two saddlebags. The bills in size were square quarter-sheets, illuminated by two cuts at the head, one depicting an equestrian act, the other a performer balancing his body above an overturned chair, his hands clasping a rung thereof. Major Winn, a versatile musician, who boasted of the double accomplishment of being a manipulator of the violin and of the hurdy-gurdy, was sent on to the menagerie. Music for the circus was supplied by a Dutchman named Saunders, who played the hurdy-gurdy, and the performers took turns beating the bass drum. On the occasion of Saunders’ benefit, he appeared as a musical moke in an act similar to that of the late Swaine Buckley and occasionally performed by street musicians. (45) On the bills, the hurdy-gurdy was called “King David’s Cymbals.”

The ring stock consisted of Romeo, a trick horse; Juliet was skewbald and matched Romeo; Fanny was the Billy Button mare; Lilly, a sorrel mare on which young Levi learned to ride; Lady, a cream colored mare; Arab, a small but powerful Kannuck horse ridden by S. P. Stickney; a horse called Doctor, used on the wagon; and Bob, a pony afterwards broken to do Billy Button.

The canvas was about fifty feet across, permitting of but little seating accommodations. In after years, Mr. Stickney informed Mr. North that the expenses averaged only about thirty-five to forty dollars per day. They carried side poles but a new center pole was ordered at every stand. The canvas was put up by the band and performers. One twohorse wagon carried everything except the curb. The performers traveled on horseback, riding the stock through the routes. [When it] arrived in town, the covered wagon was used as a dressing room. Performers dressed at the hotel for the parade. S. P. Stickney, being a star, was distinguished from the stock by an ostrich plume which he wore in his hat. Saunders led the procession, playing a keyless bugle. The parade brought up at the canvas and the show began as soon as the people were in. The paraders remained mounted and rode in for the entree. Except in the larger places, the performances were given only in the afternoon. Mr. Stickney was the only person who wore tights. The other performers wore shirts and loose fitting pants. No tights were to be purchased in the country. When the circus did not exhibit in the afternoon, the managers permitted the performers to give a room show for their own benefit.

Mr. North first stood on a horse’s back in practice at Raleigh, North Carolina. In those days there was no Stokes’ “mechanic” to inspire confidence in the pupil and save him from a tumble. (46) The novice held onto a rawhide, while the tutor ran at the horse’s side. After five or six days’ practice, Master North made his first appearance before an audience as an equestrian at Camden, South Carolina. James Raymond was riding bareback. It was the rule that apprentices should get all the properties, such as coffee for Billy Button, and snuff box, make the balloons, etc. Jim Raymond did not have his rosin ready, [so] the ringmaster forbade his going into the ring. And thus it was that young Levi was thrust before the public. He rode on a saddle, jumped his whip, and finished with the waving of flags.

Some of the feats that were a feature at the time are worthy of mention. One was leaping over a dining table set with crockery and glassware for dinner, [with] the horse running under. Mr. Stickney jumped through double balloons, which were supposed to represent an English mail coach. He accomplished the feat successfully and alighted upon his horse without difficulty. Levi became a favorite of the ringmaster and, after his debut, used to ride from town to town with that important functionary.

At Columbia, South Carolina, the managers erected an amphitheatre with board sides. At that time there was only one street in the town. The menagerie came up and the two shows were combined. They had the original elephant, Columbus, performed by a Negro called Bill. [They had] a lion, a tiger, and a performing pony and a monkey. The monkey rode the pony and was introduced by Bill, the Negro aforesaid. The menagerie brought with them three performers, George Nichols (a clown and fine tumbler), William Kelly (who excelled in tumbling), and Paddy Welch (a vocalist, whose favorite song was “Tippity Witchitt”). The united bands now consisted of a hurdy-gurdy, a violin and a bass drum. Mr. North believes [the elephant] Columbus died about 1828 at Snyder’s Hotel on Second Street, Philadelphia.

There was quite a somersault mania among the performers, who somersaulted off a table blindfolded and with their hands tied. Master North was ambitious and determined to do all that others did and, if possible, excel them. He was daily somersaulting off a running horse. The two shows next moved to Augusta, Georgia, but opened in opposition to each other. The circus exhibited in a building which had previously been erected for the purpose. They remained all winter. Lawson was discharged and John Rogers joined the company with his son, Charles J., now in retirement. Master Charley Rogers danced the “Highland Fling” and his father played ringmaster. Dan Minnich, a slack rope vaulter who also did feats of strength, was added to the company.

When they started out in the spring [of 1827], a man named Aaron Barker was hired to transport the curb. They toured through Georgia. Barker at length seceded, taking with him Nichols, Kelly and Major DeGroot with the intention of starting a circus. He engaged James Hunter, said to be the first bareback rider that ever came to America, but who was past his prime. Major DeGroot returned to Fogg & Quick on account of salaries not being paid. Hunter struck for his wages, exciting the ire of Barker, who exclaimed:

“I’ll kill you, anyhow!”

It is stated that Barker was a desperate man and had both the ability and the disposition to put his threat into execution. Hunter sought safety in flight. On the site of the city of Columbus stood a solitary house. Fording the river, Hunter entered an Indian cabin to seek shelter. It appeared deserted at first but as redskin after redskin began to put in an appearance the equestrian scooted.

The company cut their way through the Cherokee reservation, felling trees and clearing away undergrowth as they moved. In Montgomery, Alabama, was one small, frame hotel [where] they had to cut away trees and brush to make a lot to exhibit on.

Returning to Columbia, they met Asa Smith and Ben Brown and the shows were united under the name of the Washington Circus. Asa Smith was the husband of Mrs. Yeaman, the female rider. Appearing in Savannah [on] Christmas night, Master North took a benefit, [with the acts of the night’s bill printed on] a pink satin program which he still preserves. He was announced thereon as “The Young American Prodigy.” A Mr. Creighton sang a song. Of him, Mr. North says:

“He was a Baltimorian, a perfect gentleman, and a facsimile of Sam Long. He had a peculiarity - he could never go into the ring without a whip in his hand.”

On this occasion, Master Raymond played ringmaster to his boy comrade’s principal act, which was concluded by throwing a wonderful back somersault off his horse, his horse going at full speed. Master Rogers (Charles J.) played clown. “The Lilliputian Clown” (Rogers) rode an act and Master North officiated as ringmaster. The beneficiary also appeared in “Metamorphose of the Sack” on two horses. In this act, North was placed in a sack and, after by-play between the clown and the ringmaster resulting in a wager, rode three times around the ring and, freeing himself from the bag, appeared in skirts. There were plenty of vocalists in the program. Ricardo, the Israelite, sang a song and Stickney sang “The Water Man.” “Billy Button” concluded the entertainment under the title “The Lilliputian Hunted Tailor, or Young Mr. Button’s Unfortunate Journey to Brentford” in which Masters North, Rogers and Raymond appeared.

The engagement in Savannah was in a building. And when the company moved to Charleston they found two buildings which had been especially erected for arenic exhibitions.

In the fall of 1828, the managers built the Washington Circus on the Old York Road, Northern Liberties, Philadelphia. There, Mr. North first met Richau, the scenic rider, who did “The Death of the Moor;” [and] John Whittaker (brother of Frank Whittaker, clown and middle man), who rode bareback. Jim Hunter, before alluded to, was also a member of the company and rode bareback and danced the tight-rope. Ben Stickney, brother of Sam and uncle of Robert Stickney (our present well known equestrian), was a rider and appeared in the horse dramas. During the winter they produced a succession of equestrian plays. In spring they traveled in Pennsylvania. At this time, Sam Stickney had accomplished the hitherto unparalleled feat of throwing eleven somersaults. Frequently, days were lost in moving to a place of exhibition but, [having] arrived in a town such as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, it was not unusual for the show to remain a fortnight.

One of the features of the performance was a stilt dance, six or eight participating therein. Sometimes two of the performers, made up as an old man and an old woman, would walk out on stilts, impersonating “The Cobbler and His Wife” as an advertisement.

Fourth of July was a lively day in Harrisburg and there was an abundance of amusements. In addition to the circus, there came to town a hall show consisting of three people and, on top of all, a menagerie. The circus parade showed up eight horses. The menagerie sent out a monkey on horseback. To cap the climax, the hall show then paraded its forces. Two of the performers appeared in character, wearing their best stage clothes. The third wore the motley of a clown. The first actor played the violin as he led the way and the clown threw an occasional handspring to the delight of the gaping crowd. Here, also, a quarter race came off between Shad, the quarter horse of the circus, and the “dark horse” belonging to the menagerie. The menagerie folks imagined that they had a walk-over, as their animal was supposed to be a “fiver” and was kept on purpose for quarter racing. The race was run without the knowledge of the circus proprietor, Shad being taken from the stable on the sly. The course determined on was a road that ran alongside the canal. The distance was marked out and young North was selected to mount Shad. Mr. North relates that it was fortunate that the horse ran towards home, else there is no knowing where he would have stopped. As it was, he ran so fast that his rider could not see and he only stopped when he brought up at the stable, the winner of the stakes with plenty of time and distance to spare. The amount of the stakes was three dollars.

The salaries were not munificent. Ricardo (clown), John Whittaker, S. P. Stickney, Richau, James Raymond, Charles J. Rogers, and Dan Minnich were paid from eleven to twelve dollars per week. All the rest [earned] six dollars. The apprentices occasionally received a roll of twenty-five big coppers. If the show took [in] one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty dollars, the managers wrote to their friends in Philadelphia in regard to the big business. The expenses averaged about fifty dollars a day.

In the winter, the show returned to Philadelphia. This was the termination of Mr. North’s apprenticeship. He then engaged with Handy & Welch to go to Cuba. Charles Laforrest, the very famous bareback rider of the day, was secured. A juggler by the name of Thompson was also a member of the company. His performance of the “rings,” the familiar feat of magicians, was considered marvelous.

The expedition sailed from New York in a Baltimore clipper for Havana. Handy & Welch had exhibited in Cuba the previous season but, prior to that, no circus had exhibited there in twelve years. That one was owned by Pepin & Breschard. Handy & Welch played only on Sundays and the afternoons of holidays, which were numerous. The condition of affairs on the island at this time may be judged when it is stated that the circus exhibited outside the city and that it was dangerous for people to be out in that locality after sundown. The desperadoes [did not] hesitate to rob the patrons of the circus and [went] so far as to pull the earrings out of the ladies’ ears.

Having exhausted the patronage of Havana, the managers decided on visiting Mantanzas and secured as a guide the notorious Roboyer, (47) a land and sea pirate. He had secured his freedom by fighting the most vicious beast in the bull pen for the edification of the populace and the officials. Roboyer, after his liberty and escape from death, took up residence in Havana, having apparently reformed.

Before the circus company set out on their journey under the pilotage of the ex-pirate, they received a sealed letter with the mysterious request that it should not be opened until the party were well on their journey. Yankee curiosity led to the opening of the letter before their departure and they were well-nigh frightened out of their wits to find that it contained a warning of impending danger. It went on to say that they would be led into a trap by the Spanish robber and probably never be heard of again. The letter came from the proprietor of the bull pen. The pirate’s rage was terrible when he came to hear of the epistle. After he was over his burst of passion and had expressed himself freely to the man of the bull pen, he drew himself proudly up and exclaimed with a tragic air that meant every word he said:

“Rather than one drop of the Americans’ blood should be shed or harm come to a hair of their heads, I would die!”

Thus reassured, the circus company set out for Mantanzas. As they moved through the country, they found the name of their leader a terror. The mention of his dreaded name secured immediate attention at both inn and plantation. Occasionally, he met his old pals, who treated him with deference and [who] extended civilities to the travelers on account of the presence of their old chieftain.

One night North was riding in the rear of the column when two horsemen appeared to him from a cross path. He related that in his eyes their horses loomed up mountain high. Whatever was their purpose, a stentorian, “What do you want?” and a string of Spanish oaths from Roboyer sent them on their way.

Halfway in their journey, while moving along a mountain path, the robber announced that he had lost his way and ordered a halt while he made a reconnaissance of the situation. Roboyer disappeared in the gloom and, after a patient waiting for his return, the awful impression fell upon the Americans that the pirate had led them to their death - that they were in ambush and on the eve of being robbed and murdered. A series of whistles that rang through the deathlike stillness of the night confirmed their fears. Roboyer, the robber, was signaling to his pals! When they were worked up to their highest pitch of excitement and were one and all in a cold sweat, the pirate returned, singing an old Spanish air and making the woods ring again with his vocalists. He had found the path and Mantanzas was reached in safety. Roboyer, the robber, had kept his pledge.

While in Mantanzas, a Yankee schooner arrived from Maine, having been ninety days on the way. The managers of the circus chartered her. They were forty-seven days making St. Thomas. The charter was twenty-five dollars per day, the company providing their own food. They experienced a rough voyage, the performers taking turns in watching the horses. Laforrest was cook. During the heavy storm they could see the seams open in the sides of the vessel. The performers took the dangers and the discomfiture as cheerily as possible and, when they passed water and corn to the stock, they sang the merry chorus of the slaves, which they had learned “way down South in Dixie.”

They put into Savannah River for water and, [as] North described, the singing of the birds as they neared land [was] the most grateful music he ever heard. In the meantime, Handy had given up the company for lost. It having been reported that they were all murdered by pirates, at the time of their arrival Handy was about to take his departure for the United States.

Before reaching their destination, they were put up on short allowance, the last remaining biscuits being divided. When affairs were at this stage, North, DeGroot, and Walter Howard arose in the night and, purloining the “chocks” from under the water casks, the store of wood being exhausted, stole some flour and made some biscuits that were more doughy than palatable. Two days thereafter, they arrived in St. Thomas.

At St. Thomas they visited the two ancient castles of the famous buccaneers, Blue Beard and Black Beard. Here the company was reinforced by Ned Derious (now in retirement), Gen. Eaton, John J. Nathans (now director of the Barnum show), Sol Lipman and Alf Johnson, two-horse rider. Eaton had been to the Windward Islands with his apprentice, Nathans. The rest of the season was made up in the West Indies.

North relates an anecdote of Gen. Eaton. He was a good-sized man, while North was a small figure. By accident, the General, who was just recovering from a fever, got hold of one of North’s shirts instead of his own and without noticing his mistake was making frantic efforts to encase himself therein.

“Good God!” he exclaimed, “have I swelled?”

On the contrary, he was emaciated by his illness, a fact which gives additional point to the joke.

At San Diego, Cuba, the company opened in a building. Seats in the boxes were two dollars apiece and all were sold before the opening. North was amused at the Negro method of working, toting the heaviest of burthens on their heads with apparent ease.

A physician related his experience with a black laborer. To facilitate work, he sent to Philadelphia and got a wheelbarrow. The Negroes’ method of using it was novel, if not labor-saving. They filled it with dirt and then carried it on their heads.

North was astonished to see priests dealing monte in the streets. Some Yankee faro dealers had come to the island and they received an official recognition, the Alcalde placing a guard at their doors.

At Jamaica, Mrs. John Drew, now manageress of the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia, but then a little girl, was playing at the theatre. Forbes was the leading man. He gave North a sword with which to do “The Death of the Moor.” There were also in the company: Keene, a singer; Kelsey, light comedian; and Jones, an elderly man. Simpson was the manager.

From Jamaica, the circus shipped to Carthegenia, South America. Gen. Eaton went in advance but on arrival could find only one person who had ever seen or knew what a circus was. That individual was a priest who had seen a circus in Spain. By permission of the priest, they played in the courtyard of an old convent. Carthegenia was a walled city but had to surrender to about fifty men serving under the banner of Bolivia.... North, declining a tour of the interior, embarked with Gen. Eaton, John J. Nathans and Ned Derious for New York on the schooner Dennis McCobb and arrived home August 31. As a matter of record, we will state that during the season in the West Indies and South America, North’s salary was thirty dollars a month.

[After arriving] in New York, Nathans engaged to travel with a wax figure show that was exhibiting in the Bowery. North and Derious engaged to Purdy Brown. Brown, having an amphitheatre in Cincinnati, sent Derious to [the] West Indies and North to Cincinnati. Brown ran a double company, giving a ring show and producing spectacles. He also carried a stage with him when he traveled in the summer season. North went to St. Louis in the fall of 1832 but did not play on account of the prevalence of the cholera. He continued with Purdy Brown until 1836.

Up to 1835, North was receiving from manager Brown fourteen dollars a week. When Weeks & Waring, who were on their way to New Orleans, offered him a bonus of five hundred dollars and a salary of twenty-five dollars per week, North declined to break his engagement. And Purdy Brown raised his salary to twenty-five dollars a week. In 1836, Purdy Brown died. Oscar Brown ran the circus for a while and it was then united with Fogg & Stickney‘s Show. L. B. Lent afterwards became a partner in the concern.

In 1837, North join in a combination of performers for the purpose of conducting a circus on the commonwealth plan. Frank Whittaker was a member of the company. They were located in Louisville.

As soon as the river broke up, North went to New Orleans and there joined Waring’s Circus and Menagerie. Barney Carroll, who is still living, was a member of the company. There, Mr. North met Joe Blackburn, a favorite clown, who also juggled on horseback. Blackburn was a man of considerable literary ability, as is evidenced in his diary of a tour to England with North, and published in the Clipper under the title of “A Clown’s Log.” (48) He was known far and near as “Gentleman Joe” on account of his affability. While abroad he wrote communications to the Baltimore and Western press, which were widely copied.

During this engagement, the visit to England was planned. Cony and Blanchard, who achieved some fame in dramas in which trained dogs enacted important roles, resolved to join them in the voyage. (49) Before departing from the country, North and his new found friend played a short engagement with Bacon - appearing in Washington, Fredericksburg, Richmond and some of the smaller Virginia towns.

Arrived in London, North and Blackburn secured an opening at Astley’s Amphitheatre, then under the management of the renowned Andrew Ducrow and William West, Jr., son of the James West who was the pioneer in spectacular horse pieces in America. At this time (1838), Price was the best vaulter in England. But, in spite of his fame, he was obliged to succumb to the little Yankee stranger; for, during the three weeks’ engagement, North was beaten but twice. Price took his discomfiture to heart and rushed into print in a challenge which he promulgated through the columns of Bell’s Life. (50) Blackburn responded in behalf of North, accepting Price’s cartel as printed. Price quibbled and then backed down, much to the disgust of “Gentleman Joe,” who acquired an antipathy for Europe’s greatest vaulter and to his dying day he spoke of him only in terms of contempt and as “the only man he hated on earth.” On the contrary, amicable relations existed between the rivals and they in time became partners in business, as will appear hereafter.

The first appearance of North and Blackburn at Astley’s is described in the following letter, which Joe Blackburn wrote to Thomas Atkinson of Louisville, Kentucky, from London, July 14, 1838 (The original is in the possession of Mr. North.):

I will now give you an account of our success in business. We made our first appearance at the great place - Astley’s Amphitheatre - two weeks ago, in vaulting; North as the champion of America, against Price, champion of all Europe, and my honorable self playing clown to the American party, having two springboards in the ring and two parties, American and English. You may well suppose I was much excited the first night. Such a brilliant audience I had never seen before, and was fearful North could be beat. The trial came. Price went on first and did twenty somersaults. The house rang with applause, they thinking North could not beat this; but the little Yankee went on and did thirty-three, the most that had ever been done in this country. Then the shouts came, and handkerchiefs waved all over the house. If I ever felt well, it was just about that time. We have played twelve nights since, and have only been beat once. So, you see, we have astonished the natives.

A postscript was attached in which another score was given, and opposite “41” is written “nine cheers.”

North and Blackburn next appeared with Ryan’s company in the provinces. During this engagement, Mr. North was presented with a medal by the members of the company.... Good Friday was the day selected, there being no performance at the circus. The presentation took place at a public dinner tendered him and the formal gift-maker was Richard Rivers, Sr. (father of the Richard Rivers who still is before the public) in the presence of about fifty guests, to which Blackburn responded in the recipient’s behalf.

Up to this time, North had thrown fifty-five somersaults and it was to commemorate this event that he received the valuable testimonial.

The next engagement was at the Amphitheatre, Liverpool. Shortly after opening there, Blackburn returned to America. North returned to America in the fall of 1840 and opened with Welch’s company, which was playing at the Bowery Theatre under the man-agement of Tom Hamblin. (51) He filled an engagement of sixteen weeks, during which his trophies, a gold medal and a snuff box, were on exhibition at the Branch Coffeehouse, a favorite resort for equestrians, actors, and their admirers. This snuff box, a beautiful affair of solid silver, ornate with gold, and bearing in relief a representation of Mr. North in the act of vaulting, has the following inscription (Unfortunately, it was robbed of its beauty and narrowly escaped destruction in the Chicago fire.):

THIS BOX was given as a mark of esteem and merit to MR. NORTH BY MR. BATTY’S EQUESTRIAN COMPANY (presented by Mr. Hughs, acting manager), for the unparalleled feat of throwing 55 somersaults at one trial, at a morning performance at the Royal Leamington Spa, July 22, 1839, before Lord Dillion, Lord Manners, Countess Belgrave, Lady Paget, Marchioness of Devonshire, and other ladies and gentlemen of rank and fashion.

A local critic, commenting on North’s performance at the Bowery, wrote:

What Fanny Ellsler or Taglioni is to the Ballet, North is to equestrian performances. It is not a mere execution of a number of difficult steps that can make a premiere danseuse, nor is it a number of extraordinary feats on horseback that can make the most finished rider. North, like the dancers we mentioned, has “caught a grace beyond the reach of art.” There is a mind in almost all he does. In stature he is under the middle size, but well proportioned. His face is handsome and intellectual. He will be admired by everybody, but especially by the ladies. He is what Ducrow was in his prime - without exception, the most graceful and accomplished rider of the day. There are none who we have seen that can approach him.

Another scribe was quite as enthusiastic in the expression of his opinion:

There have been men of all ages of particular greatness, among all professions. Garrick, Betterton, Cook, Quinn, Kemble and Kean stood first in the drama. Thousands of females have equally excelled in the “fantastic toe” - but comparatively few have ever been what may be termed the “most brilliant performer in horsemanship.” Mr. North stands out in bold relief of the Ring as did Kemble of the Stage, and far excels Fanny Ellsler in his graceful motions. We doubt exceedingly whether there is a single individual can compete with Mr. North either in the beauty or in the variety of his performance.

Mr. North’s opening at the Bowery resulted in litigation. An action was brought by J. J. June and others for breach of contract and excitement ran high in regard to the young equestrian and his merits.

* * * * * * * * * *

In the spring of 1841, North engaged to Welch for a season in the West Indies but on his arrival at Mantanzas [he] found that the manager had disposed of his interest but three days before. There was a marked increase in the receipts upon North’s appearance, for he immediately arranged with the new proprietors. There was a gain of one hundred twenty-five dollars or more in the attendance in the Negro pit alone. The managers negotiated with North for the production in Havana of a Spanish version of “Timour the Tartar,” for which he was to receive three hundred fifty dollars a week. The Cuban attaches of the theatre did not take kindly to young North, whom, by reason of his size, they derisively called “The Boy.” But the refectory were brought to understand his position when they were told:

“Take the roof off if he tells you to.”

At the very last moment, the leading actor revolted. He refused to risk his precious neck in the performance of any daring act of horsemanship.

“You will be there,” remarked North, designating at a rehearsal the actor’s position.

“I will be here if the price of my existence is twenty thousand dollars,” the actor responded, “otherwise, I will be in my dressing room.”

Mr. North was thus obliged to ride the “runs.” The play opened to a $2,400 house but it did not prove a success. North rode for three weeks at three hundred fifty dollars a week.

Returning to New York in midsummer, he joined Jonas Bartlett at Baltimore. Bartlett was inexperienced in management and was shortly bought out by Welch. This Bartlett was interested with Welch at the time North was with the latter in Philadelphia. He was sometimes called “Pony” Bartlett and for a time was proprietor of the once famous Branch Hotel, New York City. This he disposed of to Tom Hyer and he then became landlord of the Washington Hotel at the Battery.

In the fall of 1841, North went to New Orleans and played with S. P. Stickney at the St. Charles Theatre, Caldwell being the lessee. (52) North went to New Orleans overland and, against the advice of Welch, sent his wardrobe by sea. As fate would have it, it was sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

Sol Smith was at the time playing the company of John Robinson, now a retired Cincinnatian and a heavy dealer in real estate. Ben DeBar, a slender fellow then, but afterwards very corpulent, was a member of Smith’s dramatic company. Smith organizing an expedition to Cuba, North joined it, John Robinson furnishing the ring stock and attractions. En route, Sol Smith suffered terribly from seasickness and, much to North’s amusement, exclaimed:

“My native land! Oh, my native land! Oh, put me ashore anywhere!”

They survived the perils of the deep and arrived in Havana in the midst of the Lenten season. Fanny Ellsler was fulfilling an engagement there. Sol Smith was “out” on the speculation but John Robinson made a good thing of it by disposing of horses at a high figure.

North returned home on a fruit vessel and opened with Welch in Baltimore. In the company were Risley and his two boys. Risley excelled in everything he undertook. His “Risley Act” with his boys is known all over the world. Risley was equally successful as an athlete, a dancer and a shooter.

North visited England in the spring of 1842, taking with him an American trotting horse and a road buggy, both of which created a sensation and were objects of curiosity, the horse on account of its speed and the vehicle for its apparently frail construction.

Monday, September 19, 1842, we find Mr. North’s American gray horse, Captain Tyler, entered in the East Surrey races, Rosemary Branch Grounds, Peckham, England, “under saddle” in the first race and “in harness” in the third race.

To visit his bride-to-be, Miss Sophia West, daughter of James West, North drove with his horse and buggy from Liverpool to Exeter, Devonshire, where his marriage took place. The fruits of his union were three children: Henry North, a non-professional, now living; Levi F., a promising boy who died in 1865 at the age of thirteen; and Sophia Victoria, prominent in the profession as a seriocomic vocalist. Mr. North recalls the fact that VanAmburgh, the American lion tamer, was at the time of his marriage performing in Exeter. The bridal tour was a buggy ride to London behind the American trotter.

What was known as the American Company, managed by Titus, June and Dick Sands, opened in Liverpool. North joined them there and also appeared under the management at the Opera House, London. In London an animal piece was produced called “Mungo Park,” in which Carter, the lion performer, appeared, drawn in a chariot by a team of lions. A tiger fight was also introduced. Here North became acquainted with Mr. Dent, mine host of an inn in Brooklyn at the present time and their friendship extending nearly forty years is a solace to the veteran equestrian.

In the spring of 1843, North joined his old rival, Price, and put on the road Price & North’s Circus. Leaving the circus in charge of Price, he returned to the United States in 1843 and opened with Rockwell & Stone at Niblo’s Garden. (53) But, the place being too far out of town, they removed to the Chatham Theatre.

Returning to England in the spring of 1844, he rejoined his partner, Price; and that autumn disposed of his interest in the show. After which, he appeared with the American Company at the Theatre Royal, Liverpool.

June 21, 1845, while a member of Franconi’s company at the Circus, Champs Elysees, an institution subsidized by the government, he appeared by royal command before Louis Philippe, King of France, and the royal household, performing in the private riding school of that monarch. At the end of five months, he returned to the United States and engaged to Welch in Philadelphia.

In the summer season of 1846, he traveled with Rockwell & Stone. And in the winter [he was] with John Tryon, who was running the Bowery Theatre. William Kemp, who was the principal, is now a gold beater in New York.

Mr. North then played with the following managements: Welch, 1847; Jones, Stickney & North, 1848; Stokes, 1849; and from the winter of 1849 to 1851 with Dan Rice. He leased the Bowery Amphitheatre of the late Avery Smith in the summer of 1851; (54) and in the winter of 1852, conducted a circus in a riding school in Williamsburg, of which Harry Whitby was the manager. In 1853, North & Turner (Harry J. Turner, deceased) ran a canal boat show and in the winter season of 1853 and 1854, [he] leased the National Amphitheatre, Philadelphia. During the season of 1855, North & Turner traveled by wagon; and, in the winter, appeared in a circus which they had built in Chicago, then a city of 115,000 inhabitants. In 1856, North erected an amphitheatre on the site of the circus and, during the tenting season, turned it into a theatre and played there on “certainties” with the leading stars of the profession, such as Burton, Collins, the Keller Troupe, James Wallack, Jr., Mrs. Shaw and others.

Turner died during this winter, willing his all to his partner and cherished friend, Levi North. A fitting monument in Greenwood, erected by his surviving partner, marks Turner’s last resting place.

In 1857, Mr. North was elected Alderman of Chicago and served his term of office. In 1858-1859, North’s National Circus was on the road. During the summer of 1860, he ran a canal boat show and in the winter he played a star engagement with Spalding & Rogers at the Bowery Theatre, New York. (55)

The war excitement running high in 1861, North traveled in Canada with Alexander Robinson. In 1863, he associated himself with the late William Lake and Hod Norton, eventually disposing of his interests with his partners and in 1864 traveled with Haight & DeHaven. At the age of fifty-two, he made his appearance in Lent’s New York Circus, in the iron building formerly situated opposite the Academy of Music, in his great specialty of the Sprite in the fascinating fairy equestrian legendary spectacle of the “Sprites of the Silver Shower,” in which he appeared for eight weeks with marvelous success, astonishing his many admirers by the evident retention of his powers of his younger days. (56) Since that time, Mr. North has been principally in retirement, as there ended his career as an equestrian.

Footnotes

45. Swaine Buckley (1831-?) was an original member of Buckley’s Minstrels, which opened in Boston, 1843. He performed on the banjo and the jawbone and was the principal tenor singer and comedian.
46. Spencer Q. Stokes, who gained fame as a horse breaker and trainer of riders, is credited with the invention of a device to enhance the safety of his novice pupils, called a “mechanic,” comprised of harness and rope that disallowed injurious falls from moving mounts.
47. The writer spells the name as pronounced, without vouching for the accuracy of the orthography.
48. See An Annotated Narrative of A CLOWN’S LOG, edited by William L. Slout, distributed by The Borgo Press, P.O. Box 2845, San Bernardino, CA 92406. [Note: online on this website.]
49. Barkham Cony, called the “dog star,” was born in England in 1802. He made his debut in America in 1835. His specialty was performing with his trained dogs, notably Hector and Bruin. Cony died in Chicago, 1858, at age fifty-six. William Blanchard, not to be confused with his English contemporary of like name, was an athletic performer, who for several years was connected with Cony. Their pieces included “The Cherokee Chief, or The Shipwrecked Sailor and His Dogs,” in which Blanchard appeared as an Ourang Outang; “Jack Robinson and His Monkey,” Blanchard playing the Monkey; “The Planter and His Dogs, or The Slave’s Revenge,” and “The Forest of Bondy, or The Dog of Montargis.”
50. This appeared in Bell’s Life in London, September 2, 1838.
51. The Bowery Theatre opened as a circus under the management of Welch, Bartlett & Co., January 11, 1841, with North as one of the feature attractions.
52. North was at the St. Charles, New Orleans, for six performances, beginning December 14, 1841, after which he removed to the American Theatre in that city, opening January 12, 1842, and performing nightly until his departure for Havana on the 24th.
53. The circus opened at Niblo’s Garden, N.Y.C., on November 27, 1843 and closed January 13, 1844, the company advertising it was moving to Boston. Nevertheless, the troupe was back in N.Y.C., open at the Chatham Theatre, January 30, 1844, and remained until March.
54. North opened at the Bowery Amphitheatre on August 25, 1851. He was gone by the middle of November. He returned a year later, this time with R. Sands & Co. and J. J. Nathans & Co., beginning November 23, 1852. In May of that year, he was in Brooklyn, Hoyt and State Streets, with Welch’s National Arena for a few performances.
55. North was at the Bowery, along with his “stud of horses,” beginning December 10, 1860. Prior to this he was in Brooklyn, on a lot opposite the city hall, where Levi J. North’s Great Show opened on October 9, 1860.
56. The Hippotheatron was constructed of corrugated iron. The architect was Lawrence B. Volk; the contractor, W. G. Lord. James Cooke opened the building with his circus company on February 8, 1864. “The Sprite of the Silver Shower” was a feature during the week of February 12, 1866 at the Hippotheatron.


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William L. Slout and Circus Historical Society, Inc.