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Chapters One to Four Chapters Five to Seven Chapters Eight to Eleven Chapters Twelve to Fifteen
Chapter VIII.
After I had rested in New Orleans for one week, I crossed to Mobile and joined the Star State Circus, then performing in a building owned by Barney Van Nepps.
The following members constituted the company then showing with the Star State Circus:
Edgar Jones, rider, acrobat and slack-rope vaulter.
Horace M. Smith, acrobat.
John Harper, clown.
James F. O'Connell, tattooed man (who had left Rice in the Spring of 1852).
James Robinson, feats of strength, called,"The Modern Hercules."
John D. Connor, acrobat.
James Enright, acrobat.
Willis Armstrong, acrobat.
And myself, rider.
After playing in Mobile one week, the management being unable to pay, I advanced them (on Whitbeck's advisement) enough to pay the salaries of the members of the company, and it immediately broke up. Whitbeck then bought the whole concern, and repaying me what I had advanced, he engaged me to ride for him in a circus, which he proposed to open in New Orleans.
I opened with him there and played one month, doing very good business.
New Orleans people may remember a man named Duncan, who resided in New Orleans at that time.
He was the most peculiar man I ever met. Every Sunday he dressed as follows: his hat, a white plush with a solid gold band around it; his vest velvet, with six ten dollar gold pieces for buttons; his coat a blue cutaway with twenty-dollar gold pieces for buttons; his trousers blue, with solid gold stripes; his shoes with uppers covered with silver; heavy gold and diamond rings on his fingers; heavy gold watch chain, with gold and silver fish for pendants, having diamond and ruby eyes, and his watch, which I have heard weighed nearly fourteen ounces, set with brilliants; his walking cane was silver, set with gold and brilliants. He was termed the walking jeweller's shop. His reason for dressing so was, I believe, that some years previous, and while comparatively poor, a young lady whom he was keeping company with, jilted him for a richer rival. From that time he, although only a stevedore at the wharf, continued to save money, then when he had become enabled to purchase this jewelry, he every Sunday used to walk up and down in front of the lady's house, to let her see that he was then richer than the man she had married.
He only used to dress so on Sunday, as on the week days he used to work as a stevedore.
In the beginning of January, 1853, Whitbeck formed a company for a tout of the Island of Cuba, and on the third day of January we set sail from New Orleans for Havana on the Bark Meledon, Captain Butler.
The company comprised the following members:
Edgar Jones, two-horse rider and slack-rope performer.
John Harper, clown.
James F. O'Connell, tattooed man
John Johnson, rider.
John D. Connor, acrobat.
James Enright, acrobat.
M'lle Nunn, rider.
Joseph Rigas, juggler and sword swallower.
Jesse Star, gymnast.
John Clarke, gymnast.
Harrison Huff, ringmaster.
And myself, rider.
On our arrival in Havana, after a pleasant passage of ten days, we met John Shay, ringmaster, who bad gone on before to make arrangements.
We opened there about the middle of January, in a theatre in the city, where we played sixteen nights, at the expiration of which, Shea left us and went back to New Orleans, M'Ile Nunn leaving us to join an Italian circus proprietor, then in Cuba, named Scopolletti. Also at the end of our performances there, Whitbeck took as a partner, the proprietor of the theatre where we had been showing, whose name was Ninniponce. We then commenced a three months' tour of the Island of Cuba, and showed in the following places during that three months: Matanzas, Cardenas, Bember, Macas, Alveras, Sagua la Grande, Esperanza, Villa Clara, Esperanza, Santo, Maroon, Puerto Principe and Nuevitas. At Nuevitas the company broke up and returned to Havana.
At Matanzas we used to show in the old Plazo del Toro, where the bull fights were formerly held. We only usually showed there in the afternoons, but one day Whitbeck took the notion in his head to show at night, and ordered bonfires to be lit all round the outskirts of the ring, and we showed there by bonfire light. At Espiritu Santo and Puerto Principe, when any party engaged a private box, they used to have to send their slaves down with the necessary seats, and also with a large shade lamp which used to be hung just above the box.
On our arrival at Havana, Whitbeck refused to pay me any money, saying that the expedition, had resulted in a financial failure, and as I had been working as a sort of partner, therefore, I was entitled to nothing. At that time I simply had one solitary half dollar in my pocket, and it was in that condition that Whitbeck and the rest left me. Since then I have discovered that Whitbeck made twelve thousand dollars that season, but now that Whitbeck is dead, I need say no more about it.
The day that they all sailed from Havana, and as I was walking down the street, I met a young, lame girl lead her blind mother along, and I took out that poor half dollar and gave it to her.
But the darkest hour is before the dawn, for in three days I entered into an engagement with Scopolleti to travel with him. According to the engagement, I was to meet him in Cardenas; so to raise, sufficient money I pawned my watch with a jeweler named Delphine for six ounces of gold, or one hundred and two dollars. This watch I had bought from Dan Rice some time previous for one hundred and fifty dollars.
That season while in Havana, the first time, I was called upon by the then Marquis de Cardenas (the son of the man who had protected me during the trouble between Cadwalader and Palmer in 1838).
The young marquis took me in his carriage to his home, introduced me to his wife, and made me stay to dinner. His whole theme during my stay at his house was, "his father." On leaving that day, the Marquis made me promise to call again, and also to promise that whenever I was in Havana I should constantly call on them; he in fact, tried to make me promise to make his house my home during my stay at any time in Havana. I promised to call on him again, but told him that, although I was very grateful to him for his other offer, I thought it best not to give him so much trouble, as, if I had stayed there, they would have to drive me to and from the circus every day. Not having called on the Marquis previous to my departure from Havana the first time, as soon as he heard I was in town after Whitbeck had left, he drove down to where I was staying and carried me off to his house.
It was in the latter part of May, 1853, that I joined Scopoletti, in Cardenas, and I remained with him for eighteen months, during which time I travelled almost the whole of Cuba. The following are some of the towns in which we showed during that tour: Bember, Sagua la Grande, St. Juan de Remedios, Villa Clara, Espiritu Santo, Maroon, Puerto Principie, Holguin, Bayamas, Jaquani, Copper Town, Santiago do Cuba, Manzanillo and Santa Cruz.
M'lle Nunn left us in the Spring of 1854, and went to Havana, where she married Delphine, the jeweller.
In November, of 1854, Scopoletti and I quarrelled as to certain questions of salary, and I left. Two of our company, John O'Connor and George Sharpe, wanted to leave at the same time, but Scopolletti stepped in and had the whole three of us arrested and taken before the Alcalde of Puerto Principie (where we were playing at the time). The Alcalde threatened to put the three of us in prison unless we consented to go on with Scopoletti; but on Gorchaulk, the great piano player, calling on the Alcalde, the Alcalde released me, but told the other two that they would have to go on with the concern for two months.
Scopolletti's company at that time was composed of a number of Spaniards, whose names are too difficult to mention, (at least, so my readers would think, if they had to pronounce them) so I refrain from doing so.
The following were the American artists engaged with Scopolletti:
George Sharpe.
Henry Richardson.
John A Connor.
And myself.
I stayed in Puerto Principe after Scopolletti had left, and bought horses to break for circus work.
In January, of 1855, Connor, Richardson and Sharp came on, and the four of us formed a joint concern and commenced a tour of the island. At Santo Espiritu we were joined by Lavata Lee, his wife, two daughters and two sons. After that, and on our arrival in Cardenas, Lee and his wife and family left us, and we received instead of them, Edgar Jones and wife. We played in Cardenas for one month, then went on to Bember, where Frederic Cuidaroga, wife and two pupils, joined us and remained with us for two months. From Bember we kept on showing through the island, and at Cara, Folce Cuidaroga and his people left us. After showing for about two months longer, the rainy season came on, and we were compelled to abandon our tour; so we put up at the Point of Pines, with Charles Pine, (called there Don Carlos Pini) who kept the hotel at that place.
While staying at the Point of Pines, Harry Widby, who was in Havana with a company, engaged Sharp, thus leaving Connor, myself, Jones and wife as the sole proprietors and performers of the circus. At the end of the rainy season a Spaniard named Florencio engaged us and the stock horses, &c., but at the expiration of two months, finding that we could not get what was due to us, we left; Florencio at that time owing us over one thousand dollars.
From that time (October 1855), until March, 1856 we travelled ourselves, and done reasonably well, and in March of 1856, we went into Havana, and on arriving there we called on Madame Delphine (nee M'lle Nunn), and she introduced us to the now world-known Joseph Charini (at present in East India), then looking for good riders. On the first of April we entered into partnership with Charini to travel through the island, we supplying tent, wagons, twenty horses and ourselves, and Charini supplying five ring horses and members of the company. We started out on the second of April, and after a seven months' tour we started from Puerto Principle for a horse-back ride to Havana, a distance of three hundred and fifty miles, and one of the most fearful rides it has ever been my lot to undertake. We lost seventeen of our pack horses, and Charini lost his best ring horse, and I lost a mare I used to ride bare-backed in the ring. The cause of their death was the intense heat and the bad condition of the roads.
My ring horse died from some sudden attack in the middle of the night. None of us saw the mare die, she being all right when we went to rest, and in the morning when I got up my mare could not be found. On examination we found that she had broke her halter, and on following her tracks, we found her lying dead in a brook that ran along by where we had camped for the night. She must have broke her halter and rushed into the water, and becoming seized with cramps or something else, have fallen down, and not being able to rise, was drowned.
After our arrival in Havana, in the beginning of November, we rested two weeks before again starting out, this time engaging ox carts to transfer our baggage.
One remark as to our former trip. In August, of 1856, Charini, his wife and daughter, and his groom, were all taken sick with yellow fever. The groom we sent to the hospital, but Charini and his family we personally attended, keeping them in the house with us. In a few weeks they were convalescent (groom and all), and after another week we left Santiago de Cuba, where we had been at the time.
It is most remarkable that, although this was the third time that I had been with people who had yellow fever, I never took it at all. So much for contagious, diseases.
We continued travelling under our original articles of partnership until April 1, 1857, when we entered into a monthly agreement with Charini.
Our company then comprised the following artists::
Joseph Charini, rider.
Josephine Charini, rider.
Katie, (adopted daughter of Charini), rider.
Edgar Jones, rider and slack-rope walker.
John D. Connor, rider.
Lorenzo Mayo, clown and gymnast,
Mons. Abdalla, wife and family, jugglers &c.
And myself, scenic rider.
From the first of April, 1857, until the beginning of May, we travelled around with Charini, and then arriving in Havana we showed there six weeks and then disbanded. Jones and his wife left us in the middle of May, and returned to the States.
From 1853 to 1857, we seldom slept inside of a house or in a bed, on account of the intense heat - the way we used to sleep being in hammocks slung from trees, where trees were available, and where there were no trees, we used to drive stakes in the ground and sling them on the stakes.
Our circus tent also was peculiarly fitted up, it having no top, and each one of the audience having to supply his or her own seat. This was during our tour with Charini.
While in Havana, in 1856, I attended a bull fight on a Sunday, over ten thousand persons being present. It was held in a circular building, without roof, tiers of seats sloping down to the arena. The boxes are shaded, so as to keep the sun from striking on the heads of the aristocratic portion of the audience. The place where the bulls fought was circular, surrounded by a fence dividing the ring from the audience. When all is ready a blast of trumpets announces the entrance of the picadores and banderillos, or combatants, all splendidly dressed.
On a preconcerted signal, a small gate is thrown open, and a bull darts into the ring. He stands still for a few moments, when one of the men darts to the front and waves a red rag in his face. On the bull catching sight of the rag, he rushes at the person who has waved it. The footman evades the flag and jumps over the fence, and the bull then looks for something to vent his rage on, and catching sight of one of the mounted horsemen, he rushes at him, and instead of that person trying to get out of the road, he calmly awaits the approach of the now frantic animal. As the bull nears him, he calmly holds his lance firm, and thus repels the fierce onslaught. The bull by this time is really mad, and after pawing the ground for a few moments, he again rushes at one of the mounted horsemen, and this time the horse is desperately wounded, from which wound the entrails protrude; the horseman is lying on the ground as the footmen dart forward and attract the attention of the bull from the fallen man.
Before that bull is killed, other horses are killed and dragged from the ring.
The way they killed the bull is as follows: The footmen torture the bull by driving darts into the animal, and by the time they have driven the animal to the extreme of madness, he plunges about from one part of the ring to the other, trying to drive his horns into one of the foot or horsemen. Then another blast of trumpets, and every horse and footman leaves the ring, and there slowly enters the matadore (the person who is to put the coupe de grace to the bull). After bowing to the ladies, and taking off his cap, he draws his sword and slowly approaches his majesty, "Toro," who stands seeming perfectly amazed at the audacity of the puny-looking person thus approaching. The matador carries a sword in one hand and a crimson scarf in the other, with which to once more aggravate the bull before giving him the final thrust. Intense stillness now reigns, as the critical moment is at hand. The matodore steps quietly and quickly forward, waves his crimson flag, and then, as the bull rushes at him, his sword goes forward like a streak of lightning, and as the bull falls, and he steps backward, it is seen that the sword is driven up to the hilt, just behind the shoulder. One false step, a slip of any sort, and the matadore would have been lost. The applause is tremendous, the matadore bows right and left, and then stepping forward he receives his reward. Gaily dressed mules then enter the ring, and the carcass of poor Toro is dragged out, and then the ring is again sanded to prepare for another victim.
Our matadore was then the greatest and most renowned in Cuba - his name was Gavini - and the chief of the picadores was named Teri Beck.
In the latter end of June, 1857, Connor and I left Havana for New Orleans, on board the Empire State, arriving there after a splendid run of four days.
On our arrival at New Orleans, we put up at the St. Charles Hotel, then kept by a great friend of mine, Dave Bidwell. I had intended to have gone on to New York, but Bidwell persuaded me to go on and join Spaulding & Rogers, who were showing up the river, he giving me a letter of introduction to Colonel Rutherford, Spaulding's manager.
Connor and I left New Orleans on the steamer "Rainbow," for Cairo, a distance of one thousand miles which we covered in four days, at which place Connor left me, and I went up to Brandenburg, and met the floating palace at that place. I presented my letter to Rutherford, and he asked me to stay and show with them for a day or two, until Spaulding arrived, and then we could settle terms. Spaulding arrived three days afterwards, and we then made an arrangement whereby I was to receive fifty dollars a week. I showed on board of the palace until October, 1857, when the company broke up, we being then at Cairo, Illinois.
The company with Spaulding at the time I joined him were:
Robert Ellingham, equestrian manager.
Elizabeth Ellingham, rider.
John Barry, rider.
Charles Walters, acrobat.
Charles Davis, gymnast.
Hercules Libby, styled "The Only Hercules."
John Davenport, clown.
Mike Lipman, clown.
Jerry Worland, acrobat.
John Booker, comic Negro minstrel.
George Charles, dancer.
James McFarlane, tightrope walker.
Charles Fish, rider.
Francis Cordillo, musical instrument player.
Charles Gall, famous bugler.
Phil. Rice, banjoist
Omar Richardson, rider.
While I was on board the palace, she was towed by the James Raymond, having on board the first steam calliope I had ever seen.
The last day we showed, John Robinson's company, who had broken up a few days ahead of us, all came down and had a jolly time with our company on board the boat. Robinson and his wife dined with "Commodore" Spaulding, and remained on board of the boat that night, and the following day, which was Sunday.
The carpenter on board the palace turned out to be an old friend of mine, whom I had not seen from the time I left Baltimore in 1835; in fact, he often had carried me when I was almost a baby.
Leaving Cairo as soon as we broke up, I went on to New Orleans to meet my former partners, Jones and Connor. Connor had been to New York while I had been with Spaulding, and made all necessary arrangements for a tour to Cuba, and the morning of the day I arrived in New Orleans, Connor and Jones had sailed for Havana on the steamer Grenada. This information I received from Dave Bidwell, who had letters from Connor and Jones, which they had left with him for me. I then discovered that I had to wait a full week until the next steamer, which was the Cahawba, sailed. I took passage on her, and we made the run from New Orleans to Havana in fifty hours, when I met my partners, and we all joined with Pancho Lopas' circus for a trip through, Cuba.
The company comprised the following members:
Edgar Jones, rider and slack-rope vaulter.
Annie Jones, rider and pantomimist.
John D. Connor, rider and plate spinner.
Augustine Blanco, clown.
Paul Inyestrias, rider.
Augustin (a pupil of Lopaz), slack-wire performer.
And myself, scenic and sommersault riding.
Leaving Havana in November (1857), we travelled through Matanzas, Esperanza, Cienfuegos, Espiritu Santo, San Christopha, Bember, Sagua la Grande, Trinidad, Los Palos, Pinar del Rio, Bahia Honda, Villa Clara and other towns in the central part of the island until the month of April, 1858, when, reaching Caso Blanco (meaning White House), close to Havana, we broke up. Edgar Jones and his wife joined Charini, and I, Connor and another performer (who had been with Charini's company) named Sands, took passage on the brig Chase for New Orleans, and after a successful run of ten days, we once again set foot on American soil. We remained in New Orleans for two days, then took the boat to Cairo and from there the cars to St. Louis.
Not finding any vacancies in our line of business in St. Louis, we went on to Chicago, and from there to Philadelphia, at which place we decided that we would make another trip to Cuba that fall, and Connor went to New York to get a one hundred foot round-top canvas, and to order circus posters and everything necessary to fit out a good circus. Sands left me in Chicago, and from that time forth I have never seen him.
I went from Philadelphia to Cincinnati, Ohio, and there purchased a mare for the ring. From there I took the mare to Bloomington, Illinois, where I put up on the farm of a friend of mine named Thompson, where I had a ring built, and went to work to break the mare for ring work, and she proved to be the best bare-back ring mare (or horse) that I had ever ridden.
Connor returned from New York after an absence of six weeks, and joined me there, and then he and I went to work for hard practice, I riding four or five hours every day, and he practicing on the slack wire and trapeze about the same period of time. This lasted for about two months, and we then went on to St. Louis, and there, took the boat for New Orleans. On our arrival in New Orleans we found fever raging fearfully, and people dying all over, thus we did not stay long there, but both us could not leave on the steamer, as they would not carry my mare, so Connor stayed behind to take passage on a sailing vessel, while I went on to Havana by the steamer Black Warrior. Connor engaged passage on a sailing vessel, but the captain taking ill and dying of yellow fever, he was detained a short time, and then the mate took charge of the vessel and made the run to Havana in safety.
Shortly after Connor's arrival, we were joined by Lorenzo Mayo, and then we all joined in with Lopas for another Cuban tour.
His company included the following persons: myself, Connor, Mayo, Augustin (pupil of Lopas), Mons Montague, (gymnast), and Madame Montague (dancer).
The company commenced their tour on the first of November, and we showed in much the same places as we had done in previous years, but in Cienfuegos, in February, 1859, I was taken so ill that I was unable to proceed any further with the circus - that is to do any work.
While I was lying sick at Villa Clara, and the company at Esperanza, a distance of fifteen miles, a messenger came to me at six o'clock one evening with a letter asking me to go to the Alcalde (or mayor) of the town, and get a license, as the company were refused permission to open until a license came. When the message, came I had just one hour to get the license and reach Esperanza so as to be able to get there on time, for the circus to start. I hurried out and got the license and mounting my own horse I set out for Esperanza, with just fifty minutes to spare. The night was dark, but I knew the road pretty well, and I went at a gallop along the road, and got along pretty well until within just six or seven miles from Esperanza, when two shots were fired from the side of the road, and I heard one of the bullets whistle unpleasantly close to my head, and at the same time I felt my horse tremble. I struck the horse with my whip, and urged him into a faster gallop, and for the remainder of the journey I remained unmolested. I arrived at Esperanzo as the church clock was striking seven, and I then found that my horse had been wounded in the near fore shoulder. Lopaz told me the trouble about the license was caused by a rival company who were there. That ride and the excitement made me worse, and the doctor who attended me informed me that the only chance I had of saving my life was an immediate change of air, and I then sold out my share in the concern and left for Havana, from which place I took passage on a sailing vessel (which was then lying ready to sail) for New Orleans.
We reached New Orleans ton days after leaving Havana, and on landing I met "Commodore" Spaulding. He asked what was wrong, and on informing him and telling him that I Intended going to St. Louis, he very generously offered to take me up on his boat, which was going to start in a few days. I waited three days in New Orleans, and then went on board Spaulding's boat, and, during the trip to St Louis the greatest care was taken of, and every attention paid to me.
The boat on which I made this passage was the Choctaw Chief, and we arrived in St. Louis April 1, 1859. On my arrival there I looked like a living skeleton, only weighing eighty-five pounds.
After trying two or three doctors, and they doing me no good, I at last came under the care of a German doctor named Engels, and I stayed with him in his house, for two months and a half, when I was declared entirley cured. I then weighed one hundred and twenty-eight pounds, having gained forty-three pounds in the ten weeks that I remained under the German doctor's care.
That is the highest weight I have ever reached, my average weight being one hundred and fifteen pounds.
In the latter end of June I received a letter from George Archer, offering me an engagement with a circus which he was about to start at Indianapolis. His terms being suitable, I accepted, and next day I left St. Louis.
On arriving in Indianapolis, I found the whole concern in the hands of the sheriff. and everything in such a fearful condition that no one seemed to know what to do. The performers were so badly off that the sheriff, as an act of charity, allowed them to give two performances on the fourth of July - one in the afternoon and the other in the evening.
The following were the artists who performed there that day:
Oliver Bell, rider.
Nathaniel Rogers, acrobat and rider.
George Archer, globe performer.
J. J. Le Powell, clown.
Charles Brown, trick, clown.
Ben Grush, trapeze performer.
Eli Burke, trapeze performer.
William Sparks, balancer and cannon-ball performer.
William Donovan, gymnast.
And myself, bare-back and sommersault rider.
The amount we each received on the fourth enabled us to hold out a few weeks, and on the twentieth of July a gentleman named McCorkle came from Shelbyville, Indiana, and paid all the attachrnents that were on the concern, and then bought it right out from Archer and engaged all of the above mentioned performers.
McCorkle took the whole concern down to Shelbyville, and he there started Oliver Bell and myself breaking horses for the ring. We kept on at that work until the first day, of August, and then commenced a tour of Indiana, showing in Shelbyville, Peru, Fort Wayne, Huntington and Valparaiso.
From Valparaiso we went to Chicago, where, at the end of our weeks' show, we discovered that McCorkle had skipped for parts unknown. It was not the loss of McCorkle that we cared so much for, but when McCorkle left, all the cash left with him, and all he left us was the concern heavily in debt, but that was better than nothing, for an old showman (who kept a hotel in Chicago) named Abner Pell, took hold of the concern and ran it for us under the name of the "Commonwealth Circus." The company all boarded at Pell's Hotel, and we showed in Chicago for another week.
The sheriff then attached the circus in behalf of the various creditors, and Pell gave bonds to the sheriff, and he released the concern, to enable us to go down to Freeport, Illinois, where we showed for one week during the fair there. Although we done very good business there, when we came to the end of the week, and started to divide the profits, the members of the company became dissatisfied at the division, and broke up.
Bell and Abner Pell, then took the concern back to Chicago and handed it over to the sheriff, and he sold it.
Le Powell and I went from Chicago to St. Louis, and on our arrival there we were offered an engagement by Jerry Maybee, which we accepted. Our engagement was for a six weeks' tour of the State of Illinois, and at the expiration of that time the company broke up in Shawneytown.
The following people constituted Maybee's company during that time:
Walter Waterman, two and four-horse rider.
William Stout, equestrian manager and rider.
James De Motte, rider.
Alonzo Fortier, hurdle rider and equilibrist.
John Conkling, cannon-ball performer.
Henry Jennings, acrobat.
William Miller, acrobat and sommersault thrower.
J. Le Powell, clown.
And myself, doing principal riding acts.
DeMotte left us after the first week out from St. Louis, going home for a rest.
On leaving the company at Shawneytown, I went on to Cincinnati, and from there to Indianapolis.
At Indianapolis they were in want of a teacher for the gymnasium, and they sent to me and asked would I teach there for that winter. I consented, and remained until July of 1860. During my stay there I gave two exhhibitions with my pupils, and they reflected credit on themselves, as apt pupils, and on me, as a good teacher.
In July of 1860 I entered into engagement with George W. DeHaven to travel with him, and I went up to Dubuque, Iowa, to join his concern. When I reached him at Dubuque the following artists were members of his company:
Oliver Bell, rider and acrobat.
Charles Brown, clown and acrobat.
William Sparks, cannon-ball performer.
Thomas Burgess, clown.
Henry Morress, horizontal bar performer and gymnast.
Fred Spreckel, horizontal bar performer and gymnast
P. H. Seaman, minstrel.
Annie Seaman, dancer.
At the end of two weeks from the time I joined DeHaven, he ran short of funds, and we were forced to remain in Lena until cash came to the treasury. We did not have to wait long, as Sam Matthews came along and went in with De Haven. We showed from that time through Illinois, Iowa and Michigan, and on the fifth day of October, finding that the concern was heavily in debt, and that there were no more funds to carry it on with, it was determined to break up. Previous to breaking up, and while in Dewarjacque, (which was the place where we broke up) Matthews sent for Bell and I, and said to us: "Boys, the show has got to break up. I have no more money; but I don't want to see you swindled out of a cent, as I always try to act on the square, and here is something towards paying you." With that, he handed Bell and I a bill of sale of the horse each of us used to ride in the ring. We took the bills of sale, and thanked Matthews. but the other members of the company, getting to hear of it, they went and got attachments against the concern, and placed them in the hands of the sheriff for execution.
Bell and I agreed that one of us should keep watch while the other went to bed and rested. I went to bed and Bell stayed on watch, and along about twelve o'clock Bell came and woke me up, saying that the sheriff was coming, so that we had better see what could be done to save our horses. I ran into the stable, clapped saddle and bridle on my mare, and taking Bell's horse by the halter, I started out for Niles, Michigan. A fearful storm was raging, the night was as dark as pitch, illumined now and then by fearful flashes of lightning. Before I had ridden one hundred yards my clothes were wet through, and that, together with the darkness of the night, the bad condition of the roads, the heavy peals of thunder and the flashes of lightning (which startled my horses) made this one of the most unpleasant and hazardous rides I have ever undertaken.
Notwithstanding all these obstacles, I arrived safely in Niles, and there had the horses hidden away by a friend of mine, to be kept there until he got a chance to sell them for us. The horses were sold for one hundred dollars each, and the amount due to each of us was two hundred and fifty dollars. We thus lost one hundred and fifty dollars each, but if we had refused Matthew's offer, we would have lost more, as the rest of the company realized but very little under their attachments.
Bell joined me at Niles the next day after I left the company, and after receiving the money coming to us from the sale of the horses, he and I went to Chicago, and finding nothing there, we went to Lena, where a friend of mine offering me a position as a bar tender. I accepted it and remained with him for six weeks, when, getting tired of that sort of work, and anxious to be once more in the ring, I left the liquor business, and as I had received another offer from George W. DeHaven, Bell and I went on and joined DeHaven at Freeport, Illinois. The terms of our engagement were, that we should give two performances a week, Saturday afternoon and evening, and in return we should receive board, lodging and washing, a fair amount of money for necessary use, and one clear benefit during the season.
Those were not very high terms, but they were better than doing nothing, or working for a large salary and then not getting it.
We performed in Freeport until April, 1861, during which time the following artists performed with us:
Oliver Bell, rider and acrobat.
Hiram Marks, clown and rider.
Henry Gardner, rider and acrobat.
William Sparks, cannon-ball performer.
P. H. Seaman, minstrel and clown.
Annie Seaman, dancer.
Tom Burgess, clown.
During our stay in Freeport, I for one month was billed as a French lady rider, and performed during the whole of that time without any one outside of the company knowing of the deception. In fact, I carried the deception so far and so well that it was a nightly occurrence for me to receive half dozen very loving epistles and bouquets. Many an hour's fun have the company had while I read my love letters to them, and on the Saturday afternoon and evening performances it was amusing to see the young men come and hang around the dressing-room door of the circus to try and get an introduction to the French rider, M'lle Reine.
In April, of 1861, the company disbanded. I remaining in Freeport until the first day of May. About the middle of April Dan Rice hearing that I was in Freeport, came down to see me. We were mutually glad to see each other, and after a few hours of pleasant conversation, Rice had to take the train back to his circus. I went to the railroad depot with him, and just as the cars were about to start, Rice placed a ten-dollar gold piece in my hand and jumped aboard of the cars before I could say a word, and he said good bye, and was gone.
It was also during our stay in Freeport that we heard the news that the first shot in the civil war had been fired at Fort Sumpter.
On the first day of May I left Freeport for Chicago, and on arriving there I found the excitement intense, people being enlisted every where and pushed forward to the front. Any one in that city at that time who favored the Southern cause, had to keep pretty quiet, for if they had openly favored the cause their lives would not have been worth one hour's purchase.
At that time R. Sands' circus was showing in the city, and one of their riders having fallen ill, I took his, place for three days.
Not finding anything to do, I remained in Chicago until the latter part of July, and during that time the excitement there was something great. Stephen A. Douglas had died on the third of June, Colonel Elmer E. Elisworth had been killed, and things were beginning to assume a blood-red hue.
About the latter part of July, R. Sands, then in Minnesota, forwarded me an engagement to sign, and sent fifteen dollars to pay fare to where the circus was. My engagement was for six weeks, and instead of forwarding it by mail to Sands, I took the train myself and delivered the agreement in person.
From the time I joined Sands until the expiration of the six weeks' engagement, we travelled through Minnesota and Wisconsin, and finally broke up in Chicago.
The following is a list of the artists who were with Sands during my six weeks' engagement:
Charles Sherwood, Sr., commonly known as "Pete Jenkins," he being the greatest at the old countryman act that I have ever seen.
Virginia Sherwood, rider.
Ida Sherwood, (adopted daughter of Charles) rider.
Charles Sherwood, (adopted son of Charles, Sr.) rider.
Martini Chariski, (L. Gilbert) juggler, plate spinner and slack-wire performer (since dead.)
Felix Carlo, clown.
William, George and Fred Carlo, acrobats.
Robert Williams, clown.
Thomas Baker, clown and negro artiste, composer of the well-known negro song, "The Happy Land of Canaan."
Benjamin Huntington, ringmaster.
After we had broke up in Chicago, I went on to Pekin to see John Robinson, and on my arrival there he offered me an engagement with his company. At that time James Robinson, an adopted son of old John Robinson, was with him, having just returned from an extended European tour. He was the second man that turned a somersault on the bare back of a horse while at full galop around the ring.
The concern was then known as Robinson & Lake's circus, and its members at the time I joined them were as follows:
John Robinson, Jr., Manager. Gilbert Robinson, Treas.
James Robinson, bareback-rider.
William Dutton, pony rider.
William Lake, clown.
Agnes Lake, slack-wire walker.
Alice Lake, (adopted daughter of William Lake) rider.
James Reynolds, clown.
Archie Campbell, clown.
William Odell, rider.
Rosie Odell, singer.
Henry Keys and William Rolland, acrobats.
William Costello, ringmaster.
Samuel Rhinehardt, leaper and acrobat.
After a few weeks tour of Illinois I left Robinson and Lake in Chicago and went on to New York, and after stopping one week there I went on to Albany and joined the brothers Kincaid for an engagement of six weeks. These are not the same Kincaids that started out at the same time as I in 1835, but another family who on account of the great popularity of the original Kincaid family, had taken that name.
I played out my six weeks engagement in the old Green Street Theatre, proprietor Captain John Smith, and then started out with P. H. Seaman to do a run of Public Hall exhibitions, the following, constituting the company besides Seaman and myself.
Seaman's wife and an apprentice, Charles Seaman, Kincaid and his two pupils and Bert Scott.
Two days before Christmas of 1861 we opened in Ruyter and on New Years day of 1862 showed in Syracuse and from that time until the second day of March we continued showing in New York State.
After we broke up I received a letter from Thayer & Noyes asking me to call upon "Doctor" Thayer (one of the firm) as soon as convenient to me, and giving the place of meeting as the Florence Hotel, New York city, and after receipt of that letter I went on to New York and met Thayer on the tenth of March and made an engagement with Thayer and Noyes through "Doctor" Thayer to travel with their circus that season as principal rider. Immediately after making my engagements with Thayer I went through to Girard, Pennsylvania, to help Noyes break in the horses for the ring, and on the second day of May we opened for our first performance in Girard, with the following company:
James L. Thayer, clown.
Charles W. Noyes, ringmaster.
James Robinson, bareback rider.
Eaton Stone, rider.
William Hoegle and John Keefe, acrobats and trapeze artiste.
James Reynolds, clown.
Charles Seeley, acrobat and contortionist.
I did not perform at the opening, as a few days previous I had fallen from a horse and sprained my ankle, and was therefore not fit for the ring for a couple of weeks.
Leaving Girard on the fourth day of May we went to Erie, Westfield, and North East, in the state of Pennsylvania. After showing in North East we crossed into New York State and showed in Freedonia, Gowanda, Whites Corners, Buffalo, Lockport, Albion, Medina, Brockport, Rochester, Palmyra, Lyons, (at Lyons a gentleman named Jerome Thomas came down to the circus to see Robinson, and to see how a horse which he bad sold Robinson two years previous had turned out. The horse had become a splendid ring animal and although Robinson had only paid five hundred dollars for him when purchased, he refused over and over again one thousand dollars) Geneva, Seneca Falls, Auburn, Syracuse, Fulton, Oswego, Watertown, Mexico, Antwerp, Gouverneur and Ogdensburg.
At every place we visited at that time excitement was intense, and we everywhere met volunteers going to the front to fight for the Union. Southern sympathisers were scarce in New York State in those days.
From Ogdensburg we crossed the line into Canada, opening at Prescott and then showing in Kempville, Ottawa, Smith Falls, Kingston and Knapanee. At this place while performing I fell from my horse and broke one of my ribs, thus again having to lay off for two weeks. I went on with the company although I was unable to appear in the ring, the company showing in the following places, Belleville, Coburg, Fort Hope, Whilby and Toronto in Canada and then crossing into New York State showed in Lewiston, Buffalo, (at which, place Reynolds left us and we engaged J. J. Le Powell in his place) and Aurora, previous to my again appearing in the ring.
At Aurora I again entered the ring having by that time entirely recovered. From Aurora we went down through New York State to Pennsylvania opening at Erie when after showing for one day, we packed up preparatory to a trio to Ohio. On our way, having to pass through Girard, we breakfasted with Mr. Martin, the father-in-law of both Thayer and Noyes. Martin or (as he was better known in the profession) Grip Martin, was the celebrated showman who had broken in the performing elephant Hannibal. After breakfast we crossed into Ohio and commenced a tour of that state showing in Painesville, Sandusky, Cleveland, Norwalk and Greenville. From Greenville we crossed into Pennsylvania and showed there in the following places: Youngstown, Newcastle, Sharon, Butter, Catanning, Freeport, McKeesport, Pittsburg, Johnstown, Meadville, Fisherville, Franklin, Oil City, Corie, Columbia, Conietville, and Girard, where after showing for one day we broke up, thus closing a very successful season of twenty weeks.
Thayer and Noyes then engaged me to stay in Girard that winter and break horses for them for the coming season.
While there that winter I received a notification that I had been drafted for the war at Erie, Pennsylvania. Mr. Thayer received a notice at the same time that he had also been drafted. Thayer and I both went to Erie to see how the matter could be arranged, as neither of us wanted to go to the war.
On our arrival there I found that it it was a very easy matter for me to get released, as the injury to my arm which I had received while performing in the "Battle of Monterey" in Philadelphia in 1847, incapacitated me for war service, I was thus exempted, but not before it had cost me over fifty dollars for expenses.
What I therefore had at one time considered a serious, and detrimental injury to me, turned out for my good, as if I had went into active service during the war the chances are that I never would have served forty-two years in a circus ring, and that my present readers would not have had to read this narrative of my travels.
"Doctor" Thayer was not so lucky as I was, as he had to provide a substitute, costing him one hundred dollars (substitutes at that time not being so expensive as at a later period of the war). The substitute got off very easy, as on his arrival in Pittsburg he was declared physically unfit and the doctors sent him back; he thus getting one hundred dollars and having to run no great risk.
At a later period of the war Thayer and I were again drafted; this time I was drafted at Chicago, but was immediately exempted on producing evidence that on a previous occasion having been drafted and examined I had been pronounced physically unfit for service. Thayer was drafted at Girard and this time had to pay three hundred dollars for a substitute, but he thought it was better for him to pay that amount than run the risk of losing his life on the battlefields, or through exposure.
In March of 1863, my engagement with Thayer and Noyes expiring, I went on to New York and finding nothing there, I went to Philadelphia where John O'Brien engaged me and another rider named Charles Read to break horses for him. Our engagement with O'Brien was for one month and at the expiration of that I received a letter from Castello and Van Vleck offering me an engagement with them to open at Fairplay, Wisconsin. After considerable correspondence between us on the question of salary, it having been finally settled to the satisfaction of all parties, I left Philadelpia and travelled to Fairplay by way of New York, Girard and Chicago. On my arrival therein the latter part of April 1863, I found the following people already engaged, and the circus ready to start out under the name of "Castello and Van Vleck's Mammoth Circus."
Dan Castello, clown.
Frances Castello, rider.
Joseph Tinkham, hurdle rider.
George M. Kelly and Charles Burroughs, acrobats.
Thomas Poland, ringmaster.
William Smith, two horse rider.
Thomas Burgess, clown.
Natt McCollom, banjoist and negro minstrel.
Richard Hammon, acrobat.
John Burns, acrobat.
During this season I rode (besides my sommersault act) at two horse act with Smith in the ring.
The manager of our circus I discovered to be an old friend of mine, he having been with me as groom when I went to South America in 1845. His name was Richard Van Volkenburg and he now keeps a hotel in Oswego, where he is greatly respected. He always was and still is highly thought of by the members of the circus profession.
On the first of May we gave a dress rehearsal and one week later we commenced our summer tour by opening in Dubuque, Iowa; and then continuing by showing in the places in Iowa: Hazel Green and Mineral Point, Wisconsin; then crossing into Illinois, we showed in Freeport, Peke Tonika, Rockford, Belvidere, Elgin, and Chicago. From there to Wisconsin showing in: Kenoska, Wauekgan, Racine, Milwaukee, Waukeshaw, (at this place, while we were showing there the remains of Colonel Sidney Bean, who had been killed in the war, arrived, and Castello, belonging to the Masonic order, of which Bean had also been a member) he sent the band down and they escorted the remains to the home of Bean's relatives, play[ing] funeral airs along the march;) then to Eagle, Stoughton, Madison, Janesville, Portage, Ripon, Waupon, Fond du Lac, Oskosh, La Crosse, Watertown and Tremplo.
Then crossing to Minnesota we opened at Winona, and continuing our tour we passed through and showed in Minneiska, Wabasha, Lake City, Red Wing, Hastings, Hudson, Prescott, Stillwater, St. Paul, St. Anthony, Minneapolis, Shakopee, Northfield, Faribault, Owatonna, Waseca, Rochester and Chatfield. Then driving thirty miles we began our tour of Iowa the second time by opening in Waukon, then McGregor, Arcadian, Waterloo, Independence, Iowa City, Tipton, Monticello, Davenport, Muscatine, Wapello, Washington, Eddyville, Oskaloosa, Ottumwa, Keosauqua and Keokuk. From Keokuk we crossed to Warsau, then to Quincy, Carthage and Alton, all in the state, of Illinois. From Alton we drove into St. Louis where Van Vleck going into partnership with McGinley and De Haven, Castello and I left as I did not wish to travel in any company that De Haven was interested in. I received from Van Vleck all that was due to me and although he offered me an increase of fifteen dollars a week to stay with them, I would not stay and that closed for me and for Castello and Van Vleck one of the most successful tours that I or they had ever had.
After leaving St, Louis I went to Chicago and there meeting Andy Springer, advance agent for Thayer and Noyes, he asked me to go up and meet them at Milwaukie. I went to that city and there met "Doctor" James L. Thayer. As soon as he saw me he asked had I received a letter which had been written to me by them, and of course not having received one I immediately answered no, and then on his enquiring whether I had been doing anything, or was engaged to do anything, and again answering in the negative he asked me to wait and see Noyes. I stayed and when I saw Noyes we had a good deal of argument as to whether I should take eight hundred dollars a year, board and lodging from them to break horses or not. I refused to take less than twelve hundred dollars (clear money) a year. They (Thayer and Noyes) then asked me to join them for a couple of weeks to take the place of a member of their company who had left them. I agreed to that and then played two weeks with them, in that time showing between Milwaukie and Chicago, arriving and disbanding in Chicago about the middle of November, 1863.
Shortly after arriving in Chicago we broke up. At that time the following artists comprised Thayer and Noyes' company.
James L. Thayer, clown.
Charles Noyes, ringmaster and equestrian manager.
James Robinson, great bare-back rider.
Thomas Carr and Edward Winney, or the Dellevante brothers, trapeze artists.
John Barry, rider.
Robert Johnston, rider and acrobat.
Frank Howes, rider and ringmaster.
Marie Howes, rider.
Daniel Bushnell, juggler.
Albert Aymar, scenic rider.
On disbanding in Chicago, James Robinson and Frank Howes went into partnership and erected a building on Washington Street to use for a circus. The lot was then owned by Alexander White but Robinson and Howes agreed to erect the building. We opened in our new building the night before Thanksgiving Day of 1863 with the following company:
Frank Howes, ringmaster.
Marie Howes, rider.
Kelly and Burroughs, acrobat.
Louis Carr and Henry Burdeau, gymnasts.
John Barry and Robert Johnston, riders.
William (commonly called "Billy") Dutton, rider of four horses.
John Davenport, clown.
Albert Aymar, clown.
James Robinson, bare back rider.
Samuel Rhinehardt, acrobat.
Luke Rivers, rider and acrobat.
William Blake, gymnast.
Walter Wentworth, gymnast.
Charles Davis, gymnast and acrobat.
Dan Castello, clown (formerly partner of Van Vleck.)
Frances Castello, rider.
Frank Donaldson, wife and boy, slack wire performers and gymnasts.
Monte Verdie, contortionist.
Adolph Gonzales (or the sprite) acrobat.
John Batcheler, leaper and tumbler.
Thomas Burgess, clown.
Charles Clarney, gymnast.
Henry North, (adopted son of Levi J. North.) gymnast.
At the time that I joined Robinson and Howes they had about the strongest company that had ever exhibited at one time in the States. Its name it deserved viz: The Champion Circus.
In November of 1863 I kept showing in Chicago with Robinson and Howes and on the 15th day of April 1863 our company broke up.
On the eighteenth Robinson and Howes reformed for their summer tour, and on the nineteenth we opened and showed in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Our company then was comprised of the following people:
James Robinson, champion bare-back rider.
Frank Howes, ringmaster and equestrian manager.
Marie Howes, rider.
Kelly and Burroughs, gymnasts and acrobats.
Louis Carr and Henry Burdeau, gymnasts.
John Davenport, clown.
Albert Aymar, clown and rider.
Samuel Rhinehardt, leaper and sommersault thrower.
William Blake, gymnast and acrobat.
Charles Davis, gymnast and acrobat.
Ada Davis, Singer and dancer.
Adolph Gonzales, "the sprite."
John Batcheler, (then called John Davis) leaper and tumbler.
On commencing that season we opened as I have said in Kenosha, then on to Waukegan, Racine, Milwaukie, Waukeshaw, Janesville, and Madison. From Madison, Wisconsin, we crossed over to Freeport, Illinois, and on leaving there for Chicago by rail we placed our centre pole on top of one of the cars, and on passing through a tunnel in some manner the pole became loosened and swinging around it struck the side of the tunnel, giving the whole train a tremendous jar, but as the train was running at almost fifty miles an hour, the sudden shock did not manage to throw any of the cars off the track. The engineer of the train slowed up as soon as he could, as he did not know what had caused the shock to the train, and when we got back to the tunnel we found that our pole was split up into matchwood, except a piece about seven feet long which was embedded almost two feet in the wall. We cleared the remains of the pole off the track and cut the other piece out of the wall and then went on our way, none the worse except the loss of the centre pole.
On Sunday after arriving to Chicago we left for Joliet and from there we continued travelling through town after town in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, New York State, New Jersey, and then back to Illinois, covering the whole distance by railroad that season. For showing in St. Louis two weeks General Rosencrans made us pay to him a percentage of our receipts on account of it being a fair time there. While we were performing in St. Louis I one evening slipped from my horse while riding in the ring and this time I severely injured my knee and was compelled to remain idle for one month. As soon as I recovered I rejoined the company at Cincinnati Ohio. After showing two days I was again compelled to leave off work but this time the sickness was slight and I was enabled to open with the company at Buffalo, after an absence from the ring of a couple of weeks.
After showing through New York State, Now Jersey and Ohio we crossed into Indiana and opened in Fort Wayne in August of 1864.
Leaving Fort Wayne we went to Chicago, and in that city at that time excitement was intense on account of the presidential campaign, Geo. B. McClellan (at that time stumping Illinois) being in Chicago when we were there.
The excitement of the present presidential campaigns are nothing compared to what it was in 1864, as then the whole Union was in a thorough ferment.
On reaching Indianapolis the season of 1864, Robinson had sold out to Horace Norton and the company broke up. We then went to Chicago where Howes and Norton reorganized and started out for Nashville, Tennessee with the following company:
Frank J. Howes, ringmaster and equestrian manager.
James Madigan, rider, leaper, and double sommersault thrower.
Charles Madigan, rider and acrobat.
Charles Fish, bare-back rider.
Millie Frances, wire walker and dancer.
William Lake, clown.
Albert Aymar, rider and clown.
Agnes Lake, principal rider.
William Lester, contortionist.
Alice Lake, rider.
Emma Lake, singer.
John Davenport, clown.
John Lo Lo, clown.
William Donovan, leaper and acrobat.
Silas Baldwin, juggler and plate spinner.
On arriving at Nashville we found that the army of the South under General Hood lay outside of the town and between it and the town lay the Union army under Thomas. We planted our canvas in the very heart of the city thinking thereby to escape the shells of the Rebel army, but it was a common occurrence during our stay of six weeks there for the shells to keep dropping and bursting four or five times a day within a distance of twenty yards from our canvas. The day after our arrival General Thomas, who was very short of horses, pressed all of ours leaving us only two mules and one ring horse. Howes went and saw General Thomas and he said that he could not do anything, as he wanted the horses and he was going to use them. Next day Vice President Johnson came to Nashville and Howes immediately went to him and laid the facts of the case before him and asked his intervention. Johnson took Howes with him and went and saw General Thomas, and then telegraphed to Lincoln for instructions. After a short delay President Lincoln replied to "release the circus horses if they provide substitutes" and on that condition General Thomas returned us our ring horses. It took Howes nearly a week to accomplish the task of providing substitutes but at last he was successful. When our horses were returned to us each of them had a large U. S. stamped on them, but we were glad to get them back in any condition.
During our stay there some of our boys thought that they would like to go and see the intrenchments so they started out one morning and on their arrival at the intrenchments they were immediately seized by our own troops and made to work at digging for three hours each.
A more tired, worn out and sorry looking get of men were never seen than they were when they returned. In Nashville we boarded in a house kept by a lady of southern sympathies and so confident were those, whose sympathies were with the south, that Hood could and would beat Thomas that they got ready to give a reception to Hood on his entrance to that city. It is a historical fact that Hood did not enter Nashville as a victor but that Thomas did.
I remained in Nashville five weeks with the company and then realizing that I would be safer outside of Nashville I informed Howes that I intended to leave and I then quietly took the train for Louisville. On the cars with us was a number of wounded Union soldiers going home. At the depot in Louisville we saw between seventy and eighty Southern prisoners, most of them officers, bound for Jeffersonville prison.
It was a heartrending sight to see the condition of those poor fellows, most of them gentlemen, dressed in tatters and some without a shoe to their feet. They were all dressed in homespun clothes (at least they were clothes at one time) and the only mark whereby you could distinguish an officer from a private was by a small vari colored rosette worn on the hat.
From Louisville I went on to Chicago where I remained from the twenty-first of December 1864 until April 1865. During my stay in Chicago I saw that city under two different phases; one, the joyful occasion when the news came that Richmond had fallen and that the war was practically over; and the other, a mournful and sorrowful occasion. when the news came that the greatest living hero, and Illinois son, Abraham Lincoln, had been cruelly assassinated by Wilkes Booth. On the fifteenth of April Chicago was draped in honor of the dead President, and that was a sorrowful community that day.
In the month of April I commenced to break horses for Frank Howes, he having arrived in Chicago shortly after I did, as he had disbanded the company almost immediately after I had left Nashville.
On the third day of May Howes opened in Chicago with a grand parade and one performance, and we then commenced our season with the following company, including myself:
Frank J. Howes, rider and ringmaster.
Timothy Fitch, negro delineator.
Matilda Fitch, dancer.
John J. Nathan, manager.
Luke Rivers, rider.
William Lerou, acrobat.
William Blake, acrobat.
Frank Lee, tumbler and vaulter.
Signor Teranti, contortionist.
Albert Aymar, clown.
William Aymar, clown.
Emma Aymar, rider.
J. Walter McAndrews, (commonly called the water melon man) negro delineator.
A few words in respect to McAndrews. I believe he stands to-day preeminent as a delineater of the southern negro, and whenever he performs in Boston he is always sure of a immense reception. McAndrews proved a good friend and a great benefit to us during our tour of the state of Missouri. On entering that state we found predatory bands going around plundering where they could. McAndrews had a friend named captain Trueman, a Missourian, and it is to him that we owed our safety during our stay in that state, he more than once saving the company from total annihilation.
The whole of this season, was a bad one for us, the, weather being bad and trouble constantly occurring between soldiers or townsmen and ourselves. Times were very troublesome then and every person carried revolvers and knives whether on the street or in their business houses, even to the waiter girls in the dining rooms and the barbers in their shops. It was a common thing In Missouri to see the negro women walking along a street carrying revolvers in their hands.
I do not complain as to the treatment we received In Missouri so much, but it was decidedly unpleasant to have to go about doing your business or to walk along the street and always expecting or fearing that a shot fired by or at someone else would come along your way and put a sudden termination to your career.
I do not think that there was one of our company who did not heartily thank McAndrews, and who were not glad when we left Missouri, as at Warrenton (in that state) we came near losing our lives.
The day we showed in Warrenton the Home Volunteer troops had just got full liberty and they were making things mighty unpleasant for all parties concerned. They had been running the town for a day or so and they thought when we came that they could also run us. The afternoon performance passed off without any trouble but in the evening (and just as I was in the ring), some of the volunteers came and demanded to be allowed in. John J. Nathan, who was at the, door, told them. "go to the ticket wagon, pay your money, and you can get in, but not unless." They insisted on being allowed in free and, on a second refusal, knocked Nathan down with the butt of a pistol. Nathan picked himself up and shouted to me to stop the performance, turn out the audience and pull down the canvas. Before we could end the performance they broke past Nathan but our baggage men soon threw them out and as they retired we hauled down our canvas and sent our women to the hotel.
As soon as our baggage men had beaten them off they retired to a hill about one hundred yards off and commenced firing at our men, and we then formed our wagons into a circle and placed all our horses in the centre and got in there ourselves. The soldiers kept firing every few moments at the wagons, keeping it up until early morning when their Lieutenant, a smart young looking officer (who had taken no part in all this) came down to us and proposed that both sides would let the matter drop and shake hands all round. We were perfectly satisfied to let the matter drop and they were glad to do so, and they all came down and we became quite good friends. The only damage we received through all this was that our wagons were filled full of rifle bullet holes, and our casualities were, Nathan with a sore head and one of our ring men with a broken nose.
I will now go back to when we left Chicago in May. On leaving there we crossed over to Wisconsin and showed through that state in the following towns: Waukegan, Kenosha, Racine, Millwauke, Waukeshaw, Madison, Janesville, and Stoughton, then to Warren, Freeport, and Galena, Illinois.
From Galena we crossed into Iowa and in that state showed in Dubuque, Independence, Waterloo, Keokuk and Keosauqua, and then crossed into Missouri showing there at Warrentown, (where we had the trouble with the soldiers) then to Bacon, Chillicothee, St. Jo, and Richmond. At Richmond a Southern officer named Fairchilds who had been present at one of our performances, called on me, and after expressing his admiration at my riding, he presented me with a handsome Indian scarf which I continued to wear every time I rode an Indian act until I left the business in 1877.
From Richmond we went to Kansas City where we pitched our canvas for the second time in a graveyard, our seats being placed over the gravestones. Our reason for showing in the graveyard both there and in Blainsville, Ohio (which was the first place) was that no other available place could be had. From Kansas City we went to Liberty at which place James McFarlane, a celebrated member of the profession (and a great friend of mine) had been killed some years previous (in 1858.) The manner and cause of his death was as follows: It seems that McFarlane some time previous to 1858 had quarrelled with his wife and they parted, she joining another circus. In 1858, she with Levi J. North's company and he with Spaulding and Rogers both arrived in Liberty. As soon as North heard that McFarlane was in town he hurried to the hotel where McFarlane's wife was staying and gave strict orders to the landlord not to allow any man of the description which he gave go to Mrs. McFarlane's room, at the same time giving the landlord a very good description of McFarlane and telling him that he feared that if they met McFarlane would kill his wife. That afternoon as soon as McFarlane heard that his wife was in town he started up to the hotel to see her, and on his arrival there and asking to see his wife the landlord refused to allow him upstairs. McFarlane, naturally a quick-tempered man, insisted on going up, and to enforce his demand he drew his revolver. The landlord drew a bowie knife and jumped forward and as McFarlane pulled the trigger of his revolver the landlord knocked it up and then drove his knife right through McFarlane's neck, nearly severing the head from the body, and killing him instantly. There was no need of North ever going to the landlord with the story he did and on the landlord finding out the true facts of the case he shortly afterwards went insane.
McFarlane was one of the cleverest tight-rope walkers in the country, married in 1849, separated from his wife in 1856, and killed at Liberty in 1858.
On our arrival in Liberty in 1865 we went to the hotel where he had been killed and the place where the bullet from his revolver had struck the ceiling was shown to us. We then asked to see his grave and finding weeds growing over it, and it in a thoroughly delapidated condition, we subscribed a hundred dollars amongst the company and not having time to look after it ourselves we went and saw the mayor of Liberty and giving him the money we asked would he see that a suitable grave stone was placed on the grave and the grave put in good order. He promised to do so and I have since heard that he kept his promise faithfully.
At New Albany, Missouri, we we showed on the ground where the famous Guerilla chief "Bill Anderson" had been killed. Southerner as Anderson was every brave man must respect him, as he had a remarkable amount of courage. On the day he was killed he sat on his horse with the reins in his mouth and a revolver in each hand and continued firing until he dropped dead. It was then discovered that the rifle bullets had smashed his legs all to pieces ere he fell from his horse. This was one of the men whom the North had to fight in that great and bloody war.
In Arra Rock. Missouri, after our performance was over Governor Jackson's son (formerly an officer in the rebel army) came down and engaged our musicians to go and play at a ball which he was giving. After the ball was over young Jackson gave each man fifteen dollars, and also a good supper, and when the men were going he personally spoke to each of them saying, "well boys your northerners, and brave foemen we found you, but let us hope that we will remain friends from this out, for tis a pity to see two good men kill each other.
The remaining places where we showed in Missouri were Boonville, Jefferson City and St. Louis.
From St. Louis I took the railroad to Alton, Illinois, then going by wagon to Williamstown. After showing three afternoons and evenings we started, out at five o'clock in the morning (and a nice cold October morning it was) to go to Lincoln, a distance of twelve miles. The first of our party reached Lincoln at five o'clock in the evening and the others with the wagons I don't believe would have reached there yet had not Henry Palmer, great friend of ours and the keeper of the hotel in Lincoln, sent a dozen fresh horses to our assistance. The cause of this was the fearful condition of the roads, the wagons sinking up to the axles and it being almost impossible for the horses to move them. We were right glad when we reached Lincoln and more so when we saw the good hot dinner that Palmer had ready for us, as all we had had from five o'clock that morning had been some bread and cheese which we had brought with us from Williamstown.
From Lincoln we went to Bloomington then to Kankakee, Camden and Joliet all by road, and from Joliet the performers went by rail to Chicago and the wagon men took the wagons over the road and they did remarkably well considering the condition of the roads, as they only lost one horse.
We showed in Chicago for one week and on the Saturday evening after the performance, the wagons, horses, etc. were ordered to be taken to a stable owned by Frank Howe's father. We, suspecting nothing wrong, took them there and then Frank Howes quietly informed us that the whole of the concern belonged to his father and that he had not a cent to pay us with.
He then owed over three thousand dollars to the company, four hundred and fifty of which was due to me. After investigating the matter thoroughly we found that we could do nothing so we had to remain there almost penniless. This was the tenth day of November, 1865.
One week after that and on the Seventeenth of November I and Albert Aymar received an engagement from Fox and Henshaw to open with them in Philadelphia on the twenty-sixth. Howes also was engaged to provide the horses necessary for ring purposes. Howes, as a slight compensation for what he owed us, paid Aymar and my fares through to Philadelphia, that being all that we ever received from him.
On arriving in Philadelphia we opened in the old circus building in Walnut Street, above Eighth, where I had performed in 1841 and 1842, with the following company including myself:
Frank J. Howes, ringmaster and equestrian manager.
Marie Howes, rider.
Albert Aymar, rider and clown.
Edwin Derious, rider.
Mary Anne Whittaker, (Madame Marie) rider.
Charles Read, great pad rider.
Charles Fish, bare-back rider and acrobat.
Harry King, gymnast.
Harmon and Powers, trapeze artists.
Mrs. Charles Warner, (formerly Mrs. Dan Rice) rider.
William Hill, leaper, ladder balancer, and acrobat.
John Davenport, clown.
Joseph Pentland, clown.
The Great Arabian Troupe, gymnasts.
Milla Sanfretti, tight-rope walker. William F. Wallett, clown. This was Wallett's first appearance in America since 1852 when he showed with Dan Rice.
On the day that Wallett arrived the band was sent to the railroad depot to meet him and all the company assembled also to give him a fitting reception. As soon as he left the Kensington Depot he was placed in an open carriage and surrounded by the members of the company all on horseback and preceded by the band in a gorgeous band wagon he was driven to the Continental Hotel. Wallett said that he could not find words sufficient to thank us for the reception which we had given him.
Wallett is a very unassuming man, as is shown by the following: when Fox engaged him, he, of course assigned a single dressing room, done up in the finest style for Wallett, but when Wallett was shown in there, he simply said, "where do the other boys dress," and on being shown, he said, "bring my traps in here. I guess this will do for me. I'm no better than any of the rest of the boys."
During that season we also engaged as additional members to our company:
Robert Butler, stage clown.
Amelia Butler, singer and Columbine in Pantomime.
George Mankin, light and heavy balancer.
James Ward, juggler on horseback.
Charles De Vere, clown.
The three South American Brothers, gymnasts.
We produced a fine pantomime that season entitled "Dame Trot and her comical cat," the cat being performed by Philip Kincaid who had also been engaged.
My engagement came to an end in March of 1866, and the company all disbanded at the same time. I then made an engagement with S. 0. Wheeler for an Eastern tour, but sickness prevented my. joining him until the twentieth of April when I did so at Providence; Rhode Island. I did not perform with him there but made my first performance on the twenty-third at Pawtucket also in the same state. The company with Wheeler when I joined him were. Harry Whitby, equestrian manager. Nellie Whitby, rider. (Now Mrs. Richard Hemmings.) Same Whitby, rider. Charles Monroe, flown. Robert Williams, clown. Jacob Showels, rider. Mrs. Jacob Showels, rider. Mrs. Wheeler, rider. We that season made a tour of the following states; Rhode Island. Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, showing in the below mentioned towns: Pautucket, Providence, Phoenix and Newport (Rhode Island); New Bedford, Taunton, North Bridgewater,. South Boston, East Boston, Lynn, Salem, Gloucester, Haverhill, Greenfield, North ampton, Holyoke; Westfield, Huntington. Hinsdale,
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Last modified November 2005.
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