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Robert Abrams, boss hostler, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1912. "Complete Circus Roster Season 1912", Billboard, March 23, 1912. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Arthur Adair (circa 1881 - ) & Dot Adair. Capt. Arthur Adair, dancing barrel. Mille Adair, flying aerial ladder. They were with the John Robinson 10 Big Shows in 1900.(1)
      The Adairs, who did the musical turn, are residents of Petersburg, Ill., Mr. Adair being a fine musician. With Shipp's Indoor Circus, 1901.(2) The acrobatic act of Art and Dot Adair, who perform some very remarkable feats while playing their violins. The lady stands on her head and plays a break-down to the accompanment of the clown and the full band (illustration left). (3) Art Adair, clown, clown band, comic high stilt walking, Shipp's Indoor Circus, 1901.(4)
      Art Adair, clown, lives in Chicago. He has been a clown for twenty years. Is with the Barnum show for the coming season. An acrobat, a girl leap over animals with a parasol. He is an accomplished musician. Art was with Shipp's Indoor Circus in 1903.(5) Arthur and Dottie Adair were with Shipp's Circus in 1905.(6)
      Art and Dot Adair, head balancing perch, Arthur Adair, musical clown, with Shipp's Indoor circus 1905.(7) Art Adair and wife do a head balancing act, Art is a musical clown and also plays cornet in band in the street parade. Shipp's Indoor Circus, 1905.(8) 1908 - Art Adair is a famous circus clown and in the summer time he is connected with the Wallace-Hagenback circus. He is under contract with the Western Vaudeville association until March, after which time he goes back to the circus.(9)
      "Arthur Adair, Who Makes 'Music on the Big Bassoon.' Circus Clown Who Had Made Millions Laugh With His Musical Stunts and Funny Make-Up. 'I have visited Cedar Rapids so many times during the past quarter of a century that the city seems almost like home to me,' said Arthur Adair, the well known circus clown yesterday. 'Art' as he is known by his friends and is announced on the posters, is helping to keep the Peoples theater audience good natured this week, and he is doing it in the same inimitable. way that he has entertained hundreds of audiences in practically every country on the globe. During the past twenty-seven years Adair has been traveling with the big circuses during the summer months and in that time he has visited Cedar 'Rapids about twenty times - and he isn't through yet. During the winter months he plays the vaudeville circuits, and this is the second time that he has been 'on' at the Peoples. He is a past master In the art of getting music out of the bassoon, that peculiar instrument made famous by 'Heine, who played with Sousa once - and only once,' and he is perhaps the only vaudeville performer who uses it. The bassoon is as full of whims as a school ma'am, and has to be feeling just right or it won't work. If the room is too cold it gives out a sound Iike the grunting of an alligator, and if the instrument is 'thirsty' or the reed is not dampened just right it will do nothing but squeal, no matter how expert the performer. Adair's life history runs something like this: Born In Chicago, he joined the R. W. Welden shows in 1881 at the age of 14 as an acrobat. After he had been with this aggregation two years the show went broke and he joined the Holland & McMann show and later the Forepaugh & Samwells circus, where he made his debut as a clown. He next went with the Main & Sargent show, and later the John E. Heffron shows. In 1889 he joined the Ringling Bros. show, which was then a one ring affair traveling through the country by wagon. In 1892 he joined the the S. H. Barret show, a branch of the Sells combination, and the seasons of 1893-4 he spent with the Orrin Bros. shows in Mexico, joining the Ringlings again in 1896. In 1897 he joined the John Robinson show, and during the years 1898, 1899 and 1900 he was again with the Ringlings. In 1901-02 he was with the Forepaugh-Sells shows, and in 1902-04 he was with the Barnum show in Europe. In 1906-07 he was with the Hagenback show in Mexico, and next season he will be with the Wallace-Hagenback combined shows, which opens at Peru, Ind., April 25. He has visited Cedar Rapids with nearly all of these shows, and in addition to this he was here with Shipp's Indoor circus, which, by the way, is playing in Panama this winter. The Wallace-Hagenback show will undoubtedly be in Cedar Rapids this season, and one of the main features will be Art Adair and his bassoon." (10)
      Jack Swift's Shows, 1913. Arthur Adair, general agent.(11) Show opens at Casey, Ill., about April 18, 1913. Adair's vaudeville act in 1917 included "Hank Sponge," the boob musician. Art also played a cornet solo while standing on his head. He was still using a bassoon in his act.(12)
      The 1918 Hagenbeck-Wallace train wreck. "Lon Moore and Art Adair clowns sat on the arms of berths in the last of the coaches exhausted from their exertions. There were two of the heroes of the catastrophe. Buried beneath the wreckage of a coach they had used superhuman strength to extricate themselves, drive to the greatest effors by the heat of threatening flames. Once free they battled the fire and dragged to safety a score of injured companions and both received painful burns from head to foot. . . ."(13)
      Adair was a clown with the John Robinson Circus, 1919-1920.(14) He was a clown with the Rice Bros. Shows in, 1923.(15)
      Art Adair and his clown band participated in a Liberty Loan Drive in 1918, probably with Rhoda Royal Circus. Art Adair was a clown with Agee's All-Star Circus (winter circus) in 1921.(16) By 1924 he had Art Adair's clown band, Art Adair, producing clown.(17) He was a producing clown with Sells-Floto in 1926.(18) All information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for the Adairs.

1. Hobby Bandwagon, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Mar), 1949, pp. 10-11.
2. Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, January 30, 1901.
3. Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, February 5, 1901.
4. Cedar Rapids (IA) Republican, February 3, 1901.
5. Cedar Rapids (IA) Sunday Republican, February 1, 1903.
6. Daily Review (Decatur, IL), January 6, 1905.
7. Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, February 21, 1905.
8. Daily Review (Decatur, IL), January 3, 1905.
9. Alton (IL) Evening Telegraph, January 16, 1908.
10. Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette, March 12, 1908.
11. "Showmen's Roster", Billboard, March 22, 1913.
12. Logansport (IN) Pharos-Reporter, August 16, 1917.
13. Lake County Times (Hammond, IN), June 22, 1918.
14. Janesville (WI) Daily Gazette, July 12, 1919; Independent (Helena, MT), July 25, 1920.
15. Middlesboro (KY) Daily News, August 25, 1923.
16. "Early Equestrians of the Ringling Bros. Circus: John Agee," Bandwagon, Sep-Oct, 2000, pp. 31-32.
17. "Sells Floto 1924" by Chang Reynolds, Bandwagon, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Mar-Apr), 1964, pp. 4-13; Mansfield (OH) News, May 6, 1925.
18. New Castle (PA) News, June 23, 1926.

Jess Adkins, owner, died June 25, 1940. "Frank Hartless Elected . . .,"White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 10-11 (Aug-Sep), 1941, p. 6. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

John Agee, rider, Ringling Bros. Decatur (IL) Daily Review, August 18, 1908. Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Ted Akeman, aka Ted LaVelda, was a clown, ran a sideshow, was a trapeze artist, animal trainer and a contortionist. Born circa 1906, he began his career in 1922 with the Lamont Brothers Circus as a contortionist and was with a number of circuses. He toured with most of the Hogo based shows. At one time he had his own show, Monroe Bros. Circus. Died September 30, 1985 at Jefferson, Texas, age 80. Circus Report, February 15, 1983, pp. 30-31; November 4, 1985, n.p.n. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Okeo Akimota is the name of the pretty little Japanese lady whose portrait appears here. In private life she is known as Mrs. Sankichi and is a most amiable and pleasing lady. Okeo is a native of Yokohoma, Japan, and 23 years of age. She goes through the marvelous performance of walking with her little bare feet upon a ladder of keen-edged swords, and her very expert act never fails to win rounds of applause. Okeo has been in the United States two years. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Leo M. Albrecht was an artist, singer, wire walker, acrobat, balancer and animal trainer. He also built circus wagons and floats. He trained dogs and ponies, taking his show on tour in the midwest. In the 1950s, he and his family formed Albright's Attractions that toured until 1965. Died August 9, 1989 at New Prague, Minnesota, age 98. Circus Report, September 4, 1989, p. 15. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Clate Alexander, cornet, has been a member of the band connected with the Ringling Shows for the past three seasons and has always proven himself an able and reliable man. His home is at Portland, Ind. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Roy Alexander was a circus juggler and wire walker and at one time was a circus owner. He was general agent for the Gene Ledel Shows. He also booked acts into shopping centers. Died Jun 17, 1975 at Arlington, Texas, age 82. Circus Report, July 21, 1975, p. 11. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Spencer Alexander, widely and popularly known as “Delevan.” occupies the position of chief of the entire horse department, and the superb stock of the World’s Greatest Show tells the story of his wonderful ability better than words. Mr. Alexander knows a horse when he sees him, and any day he can be seen passing judgment on picked horses that are brought to the equine department for sale. It is not only in the purchase of horses, however, that “Del.” finds use for his versatile talents, for on him also depend their care, matching and veterinary requirements, and above all the daily transit from the cars to the grounds and back again of the entire show. Mr. Alexander has been a boss hostler for many years, and is a veteran as well as a veterinary. His first season with the Ringling Bros, was in 1889, since which time he has constantly been in charge of their many hundreds of superb horses. His experience prior to this time covered a long term of years with the Burr Bobbins, Barnum and other shows. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Slayman Ali Troupe, ground and lofty tumbling, to be one of the features with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Circus in 1917. Billboard, March 24, 1917, p. 141. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these performers.

Alispaw (Alispach). Fred Alispaw is boss elephant man with Sells-Floto, 1911.(1) He was in charge of the Sells-Floto elephants from 1909 to 1917.(2) According to his WWI draft card:(3) Fred Charles Alispaw was born February 23, 1882. He was living at Craig, Moffat County, Colorado, listing himself as a farmer. His wife was listed as Lucia Alispaw. In the 1920 census Fred C. and Lucia Z. Alispaw were living at Fortification, Moffat County, Colorado listed. Fred stated he was born in Idaho, Lucia born in New York.
      1926: ". . . Fort Morgan, Col. - Mrs. Frederick Alispaw, of Black Mountain, Moffat county, has a homestead in Northwestern Colorado which she lives upon and operates. As Lucia Zora, Mrs. Alispaw was known to thousands as a famous lion, tiger and elephant trainer in a leading circus. After her graduation from a seminary Miss Zora went on the stage and later joined the circus. She was married to Fred Alispaw, an expert animal trainer and manager of the menagerie. She became one of the stars in the organization and her name was heralded on billboards and in newspapers. While she had reached the zenith of popularity and daily received the applause of thousands there smouldered in her heart a dream - a desire to live the simple, quiet life. This secret ambition centered about a bit of land somewhere that she could call her home - a place far away from the crowds, from the strenuous circus life. Her glittering diamonds were the collateral which she would exchange for the little home in the west. The dream became a reality In December, 1917, when she and her husband boarded the Mflfat train to go to the end of the road. Alispaw went into the immigrant car with their furniture, machinery, boxes and bales and dogs and one cow, while Mrs. Alispaw rode in a passenger coach.
      "A cabin built of logs, with a dirt roof and a dirt floor, was the foundation upon which they would build a real home. With their cow, dogs and chickens, they were soon located on their own land in the middle ot the winter with nothing around them but snow. After the teamsters had helped them haul their equipment and furniture to the cabin and had left them the couple faced the reality of homesteading in the Rocky Mountains. The cabin seemed frail and uninviting, the cow mooed dismally and the dogs whined and cuddled close to their friends. Their second night in their cabin was little better than the first one. The wind shrieked through the logs and snow pattered on the sides and Mrs. Alispaw, resting uneasily, was startled by a sudden sharp sting on her finger. In response to her screams her husband lit a lantern and the dogs barked and growled as a huge black rat scurried to its hole in the corner. The woman who had faced lions and tigers had been frightened by a rat. During their first year on the homestead the great snowdrifts buried their cabin until the spiral of smoke from the chimney seemed to be issuing from a snowbank. For weeks she and her husband were shut in from the outside world, but when spring came the prospects brightened."(4) Lucia died at Fort Pierce, Florida: Mrs. Fred Alispaw, 52, known two decades ago as Madame Lucia Zora, 'The world's most daring woman,' for her circus exploits.(5)
      This may be Fred: "Fred Alispaw, former resident of this city, who has been in a nursing home at Mesa, Ariz., for several months, died this morning, . . . Among the survivors is his wife, Mrs. Mary Esther Alispaw of this city and two sisters, Mrs. Lillie Webb of Mesa and Mrs. Minnie Eckard of Los Angeles, Calif."(6) All information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

1. Nevada State Journal (Reno, NV), May 11, 1911.
2. www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=466
3. WWI draft card dated September 12, 1918
4. Independent (Helena, MT), October 31, 1926.
5. Nebraska State Journal (Lincon, NE), November 11, 1936.
6. Fort Pierce (FL) News-Tribune, February 26, 1957.

Bunk Allen has the privileges with John Barton, Sells-Gray, 1900. Billboard, May 21, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Charles Allen and wife Mert Allen. Proprietors, Allen Bros. Wild West, 1937-1934. Charlies and Mert trained Alaskan black bears and other animals. They had their Allen's Trained Bears on various circuses in the 1950s and 1960s (Hagen Bros., Hamid-Morton, Ken Jensen's, and others). Their daughter ". . . Kay Allen has been performing with bears since she was a baby and assists her parents in the presentation of Allen's Alaskan Black Bears . . . The parents train the animals, leaving Kay to teeter-totter with them, feed them out of a bottle and scoot around on a motorcycle." - Gil Gray Circus, 1962.
      By 1971 the Allens resided in Pixley, California where they had their Charlie Allen Petting Zoo. Charlie was featured in a 1977 article:
      ". . . how about the man who put a bear in a balloon? That man is Charles Allen, a wild animal trainer of some 40 years who hails from Texas but who has lived in Pixley since 1985. He comes from a long line of animal trainers and can take credit for training just about anything that walks on four feet — from the lowly goat to the unpredictable black rhino. Allen operates a petting zoo in Pixley. What animal is the most difficult to train? "The zebra and the black rhino," he says. But of his favorite animal to train, Allen would pick the the Alaskan black bear. Why? Because he says, of their intelligence. He says of their intelligence when it comes handling and training them. He says he has a great affection for the cumberson clowns which grows each time a new cub arrives and a new training session begins. Allen has a theory about training that applies to just about any animal he has come in contact with over the years. His theory: gentleness but firmness; reward only when earned; and patience and understanding of each animal as there are no two alike. While working animals in various movie and television studios, he says his theory proved to be invaluable, especially when it became necessary to cue black rhino to saunter nonchalant along a narrow pathway or coax big black bears to work under glaring studio lights. There have been numerous times when his method paid off, but one time in particular, he says, he will always remember. Contracting to do some publicity for the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, using his favorite animal — the Alaskan black bear that portrayed 'Gentle Ben' in the circus segments of the TV series. He was to load the 550-pound bear into a hot air balloon for a short trip over the fairgrounds. But, Allen recalls, he never realized until airborne the amount of heat the balloon's burner would project. 'With that intense heat overhead, the noise of the burner keeping the balloon afloat and the swaying motion as we sailed over the fairgrounds, I would have expected any animal to bolt or create a serious ruckus — imagine being up in a balloon basket with a large frightened animal! But that big black bear really kept his cool — better than I did. He just sat there in the basket calmly enjoying the sights below. Would I do it again? No way!' Allen is often asked why he stays in this business with the hard work, expense, feeding and care of the various animals. He replies, 'I tried quitting the business one time for a nine-to-five job and it just didn't work. I guess the love for my animals and the outdoors is too strong. And besides, if people like myself were to quit when the going gets rough, where would the youngsters of today go to see a bear trained to ride a pony, a brahma bull taught to say his prayers and perform on a teetertotter or a zebra trained to kick footballs on voice command." Sunday News and Tribune (Jefferson City, MO), May 13, 1956, p. 5; Hobbs News-Sun (Hobbs, NM), August 20, 1962, p. 3; Charleston Gazette (Charleston, WV), January 17, 1963, p. 28; Union-Bulletin (Walla Walla, WA), April 24, 1967, p. 3; Fresno Bee (Fresno, CA), January 27, 1977, p. D3. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Mr. Allen is the show's detective on John Robinson's, 1911. Alton (IL) Evening Telegram, May 11, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Whiting Allen, advance, Forepaugh-Sells Bros., 1900. "Whiting Allen . . . on a visit to New Haven, obtained from Professor Dexter, of Yale College, some very interesting facts relative to Mr. Allen's New England ancestors. Professor Dexter's work in Yale devotes three pages to Rev. John Searle, Yale, 1797, who was Mr. Allen's great-grandfather. . . . Mr. Searle was a pastor of a church in Litchfield, and afterward pastor of the Stoneham Congregational Church. At Stoneham he married a daughter of the Rev. Samuel Dunbar, of that town. He held other pastorates, and died at the age of sixty-seven. Whiting Allen is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University class of '73. On his maternal ancestral side he is descended in the ninth generation from Richard Hubbell, who came here from England in 1645, and on the Allen side he is descended from Samuel Allen, who came over with the pilgrims in 1620. Samuel Allen's oldest daughter married Lieutenant Josiah Standish, son of the famous Captain Miles Standish. One of his direct descendants married Mary Alden, daughter of Joseph Alden, who was a son of John Alden and the famous Priscilla. Hence Mr. Allen's ancestry goes back in direct line to two of the most famous names of our early New England days, and associated him in ancestral details with Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower. Mr. Allen's home state is Ohio, and his father was valedictorian of the first class that graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, which was in 1848. His parents removed to Ohio from Vermont. Billboard, June 15, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Arvel Allread was a circus band musician. With his wife, Grace, they were with C. R. Montgomery Circus, 1947-50, Robinson Bros., Tom Thumb Circus, Great Pan American Zoological Society. They retired in 1951, but went back on the road with Carson & Barnes in 1986, Arvel in the band and Grace on the front door. Arvel was a music teacher and directed several bands. Circus Report, April 13, 1987, p. 8. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charles Alpine (Alpine Troupe) were said to be English wire walkers. 1909 was said to be their first tour of the US, the Alpine Troupe from Europe, with Cole Bros., 1909.(1) The Alpine Troupe consisted of Charles Alpine and wife, two daughters (Beatrice and her sister) and a son.(2) The troupe was with Forepaugh-Sells in 1911.(3) The Alpine Troupe was doing a double wire act in 1913, vaudeville.(4) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Lima (OH) Times Democrat, March 11, 1909; Lima (OH) Times Democrat, March 10, 1909; Iowa City (IA) Citizen, June 28, 1909.
2. Syracuse (NY) Herald, April 8, 1911; Syracuse (NY) herald, December 23, 1913.
3. Charleroi (PA) Mail, May 4, 1911.
4. Syracuse (NY) herald, December 23, 1913.

Jerry Alton, performed an upside down trapeze act, W. H. Coulter's, 1911.(1) Adams County Free Press (Corning, IA), May 17, 1911. There was a Jerry Alton, clown, with Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1922.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Adams County Free Press (Corning, IA), May 17, 1911.
2. Bandwagon, Nov-Dec, 1965.

Paul Alvarez, of Spain, was a head balancer. His brother performed with him, also a head balancer. They were with Forepaugh-Sells in 1910.(1) Paul and his brother may have been the acrobatic balancers from Spain with Ringling Bros., 1907-1908.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Bedford (PA) Gazette, April 29, 1910; Charleroi (PA) Mail, April 28, 1910; New Castle (PA) News, April 29, 1910.
2. Piqua (OH) Daily Call, May 2, 1907; Eau Claire (WI) Leader, June 19, 1908.

Ned Alvord, press agent, Barnum & Bailey, 1911. Waterloo Reporter, June 28, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

W. B. Alvord, advance, Reno & Alvord Show, 1900. Billboard, May 1, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources

Ernest Alvo, (Alvos, Three Alvos), gymnasts. The troupe, from Europe, was with Ringling Bros., from 1900 to 1906.(1) The Three Alvos were with Hagenbeck-Wallace in 1907.(2) Alvos, acrobatic comedians, vaudeville, 1909.(3) The Alvos, bar artists, three in number, the funniest and most expert lofty bar artists, Forepaugh-Sells, 1910-1911.(4) The Ernest Alvo Troupe, comedy horizontal bar gymnasts, vaudeville, 1912.(5) 1913, Ernest Alvo Trio, Ernest Alvo said he spent 8 years with Ringling circus. Now with vaudeville. Mr. Alvo is now owner of a half dozen gymnastic acts touring the country.(6) Ernest Alvo's great acrobats played the Anamosa Fair in 1916.(7) All information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Iowa Citizen (Iowa City, IA), August 14, 1903; Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, May 28, 1904; Newark (OH) Advocate, May 1, 1906.; Lincoln (NE) Evening News, September 9, 1905; Lima (OH) Daily News, June 20, 1906.
2. Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, May 2, 1907.
3. Fort Wayne (IN) News, June 28, 1909.
4. Charleroi (PA) Mail, April 28, 1910; Bedford (PA) Gazette, April 29, 1910; Charleroi (PA) Mail, April 28, 1910; New Castle (PA) News, April 29, 1910; Charleroi (PA) Mail, May 4, 1911.
5. Sheboygan (WI) Evening Press, October 24, 1912.
6. Fort Wayne (IN) News, July 15, 1913.
7. Oxford (Oxford Junction, IA) Mirror, August 10, 1916.

Alzanas. "Miami, Fla., Nov. 20. A brother and sister, tightwire performers with the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus, today owed their lives to their gray-haired father who rushed to break their fall as the plunged from a high wire to the sawdust floor of the tent. The father, Charles Davis, and his son, Harold, 31, and daughter Hilda, 16, were in serious condition . . . but were expected to recover. . . . The slightly-built father had retired from the aerial act of the Flying Alanzas, but his practiced eye could still catch the slightest off-balance motion of the son and daughter he had taught to ride the tightwire. Watching them perform . . . first . . . to realize they were losing their balance as they rode a bicycle on a 35-foot high wire with no net below. Just in time, he rushed beneath them. His still-strong arms broke the impact as they hurtled toward the sawdust of the cinter ring and the trio collapsed in a heap. Monessen Daily Independent (Monessen, PA), November 20, 1947, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Charles Anderson was a side show performer and concessionaire. He toured in the 1930s-40s as a sword swallower and bally performer with Tom Mix, Haag, Texas Jack's and Scranton, PA Shrine circus. Died in 1988 at Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Circus Report, June 27, 1988, p. 3. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ethel Anderson, menage, Frank A. Robbins, 1907. Portsmouth (NH) Herald, June 6, 1907. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Charles Andress, claimed to be the first to use the word "carnival" in describing a show - Charles Andress’ Carnival of Curiosities, Trained Animal Exposition and Congress of Living Wonders, 1888. Had Charles Andress’ Big Circus in 1889 and had Willie Sells as a partner in 1890. Had Andress & Showers’ in 1896. He was a legal adjuster for Ringling Bros. for ten years; and was with Barnum & Bailey for five years, traveling with the show to Europe. Married at age 80 to the 27-year-old Virginia Prichard. Their son was born the following year, and the octogenarian Andress was widely publicized in the newspapers when his son was born.
          In the Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas:
          Charles Andress is one of the many many old timers of Barton County who left here and journeyed afar . . . Although Mr. Andress has traveled all over the world, most of the time being engaged in the show business he has always owned land in Barton County and it was while here on one of his frequent trips that we got the information from which to make the article for this book. He was born in Brockville, Canada January 15, 1852 - also his mother's birthday - and when Charles was two years of age his parents moved to Chesaning, Michigan, a lumber and shingle camp in Saginaw County. His father was a turner and cabinet maker by trade and he had a very strenuous time making both ends meet, and to make things worse after the family had been there about two years the elder Andress was injured in the machinery and died after three weeks of suffering. This left Mrs. Andress with five boys, the oldest not quite sixteen at that time and the youngest only two years and Charles about four years of age. . . . Mr. Andress' interview:
          "My mother certainly had a very hard time of it raising her boys and I well remember the many trials she went through to hold the family together. Why, I have known her to sit up all night to finish knitting a pair of socks so she could trade them for groceries the next morning to prepare our breakfast so we could go to school and as she could not buy shoes for us she would wrap our feet in cloth rags and send us to school and when we arrived at the school house we would take off the rags and lay them by the fire to dry out so we could have them ready for wearing home at night after school. The two older brothers of course helped all they could and as we were all more or less musically inclined we soon found considerable income from playing for country dances, but enough of this, for I know you are anxious to know how I started in the show business. I was always gifted with the power or knack of imitating birds and animals and doing different stunts in so-called ventriloquism, and in those days every hotel had a hall over head in which all dances and shows were given and the shows all traveled by stage or private conveyance, and in 1862 a magician came along by the name of Prof. Hertz, a foreigner, and offered my mother $10 a month if she would consent to my traveling with him and would send her the money in advance every month and would clothe me, etc., and as the two oldest brothers were now inlisted in the army she very much disliked to part with me but finally consented to let me go. Well I had been out with this magician nearly two years when he was taken sick and died in Pontiac, Michigan, and his wife soon left for England and left me to shift for myself. My two years schooling with him had advanced me very materially as he was a good violinist and we always played for a dance after the show and I was a good "fiddler" for a boy and he bought me a violin and made me a present of it, and this, with a fairly good suit of clothes, was all I possessed when Mrs Hertz left for England. I soon joined bands with an old minstrel performer by the name of Zeke Filliman who played a banjo and with him I used to play for dances in and around Pontiac until he went into retirement on a farm, which left me to shift as best I could for myself. It was then I organized my first show which consisted of a few tricks in magic, which I had learned from the professor, and my ventriloquist act. A set of cambric curtains and the "fiddle," and 500 little programs which I had printed in Lapeer, which cost me $3.50, and the outfit when packed consisted of a sack containing a small cambric curtain, some small tricks in magic and my talking figure. With this equipment in the sack which I carried over my shoulder, and my fiddle in one hand I would travel on foot from one place to another giving shows and occasionally playing for a dance after the show."
          From this primitive beginning Mr. Andress by dint of hard work and careful management his possessions grew until he finally had gotten together a good opera house show, consisting of trained birds, dogs, monkeys, goats, ponies and other animals. In 1874 he decided to go to California with a little show. It was when he was making this trip that he came to Great Bend and put on a show. There being no opera house he got permission from the sheriff to show in the court house for four nights. He stretched a rope across the street from Allen's corner and gave an exhibition with the birds. One of the feathered creatures walked the rope wheeling in front of it another bird in a wheel barrow. Mr. Andress gave presents away at the inside performance and although times were very hard just at that time the show made a big success. . . . From: Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas, Great Bend, KS: Great Bend Tribune, 1912. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Charles Andrews, with Barnum & Bailey, 1903. ". . . Probably the highest salaried man with the Barnum & Bailey show this year is Charles Andrews. He started in the show business as a magician giving performances in the school houses through the country, as well as in halls and vacant store rooms in little interior towns. He is now the owner of much valuable farm land in Kansas as well as quantities of choice Chicago real estate. When Mr. Andrews started with his small show he took with him a little boy of the name George Wood . . ." See George Wood. Ottumwa (IA) Daily Courier, July 27, 1903. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Antaleks, performers, Grotto Circus, 1941. "Conn. Fans Buck Snow to Attend Indoor Circus," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 8. Six Antaleks, four of which are woman, perch, Hamid-Morton indoor, 1941. "Circus Sawdust," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 14. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Joseph L. Antalek was a member of the Five Antaleks. A native of Hungary, he performed with Ringling-Barnum, Polack Bros. and other major shows. Died February 1, 1981 at Wheaton, Illinois, age 73. Circus Report, February 23, 1981, p. 12. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Mickey Antalek was an animal trainer and performer. He presented a chimp act with the Ringling Red Unit for a number of years. Died August 28, 1984 at Peoria, Illinois, age 43. Circus Report, September 17, 1984, p. 10. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Mark Anthony, clown, resided Hartford, also carved a statue of Otto Griebling, 1941. "Fan Notes," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

William Arley, trapeze artist, killed by train, October 26, 1941. Arley and his family were traveling in their show truck when the locomotive crashed into it. A son of English troupers, born in Holland, with Barnum & Bailey and in vaudeville. Past few years the Arleys performed at fairs and Shrine circuses. A feature of the act was a perch act where one of the performers balanced a mast on his head while the others performed near the top of the mast. Wife was Fernande, son Richard, daughters Regina and Irene. "Trapeze Artist Killed by Train," White Tops, Vol. 15, Nos. 1-2 (Dec-Jan), 1941, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

George Arlington, associate owner, Miller Bros. 101 Ranch, 1909. Daily Independent (Monessen, PA), May 20, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Abe Aronson, clown, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Ashbys, Ed. F. Davis Shows, 1900. Billboard, June 9, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Josie Ashton, rider, Forepaugh-Sells, 1900.(1) Josie Ashton, equestrienne, late of Barnum & Bailey, circa 1901 or 1902.(2) Miss Josie Ashton, rider, Frank A Robbins, 1905, 1907-1908, principal rider, also with John Rooney, 1908.(3) Ashton, Rooney & Ashton with Robbins, 1906.(4) Also see Slout's Olympians on this website. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Fitchburg (MA) Sentinel, June 1, 1900.
2. Trenton (NJ) Times, September 24, 1902.
3. Bandwagon, Jul-Aug, 2001, p. 37; Portsmouth (NH) Herald, June 6, 1907; Bandwagon, Nov-Dec, 2001, p. 33; Bandwagon, Jan-Feb, 2002, p. 24.
4. Bandwagon, Sep-Oct, 2001, p. 31.

The Ashtons were compelled to cancel their season's engagement with the Bob Hunting Show on account of sickness. New York Clipper, April 7, 1894, p. 68. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

George Atkinson, banjoist and comedian, has signed with the New Great Syndicate Shows, to make announcements and do his specialty in the concert, making his second season with this show. New York Clipper, February 1, 1896, p. 761. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Gordon Atkinson was an owner and concessionaire. Died April 18, 1977 at Senaca, South Carolina, age 76. Circus Report, May 16, 1977, p. 14. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Robert Lee Atterbury, age 75, owner Atterbury Bros.' Circus, died at Sioux City, Iowa, February 15, 1941. Born Paris, Missouri, February 10, 1866. "Circus Notes," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Norman Atwell was known as Jo Jo the clown when he worked as a midget clown at age 5. After World War II he worked night clubs with his wife Irene, doing magic. He returned to clowning as Jo Jo, America's Best Dressed Clown, with Mills Bros., Cole Bros., Hagenbeck-Wallace, Shrine and other circuses. In later years he worked as a magic clown in the Chicago area. He also worked as a barker for the Great Lentini, the three-legged man on many circuses. Died circa 1989 at Punta Corda, Florida, age 78. Circus Report, April 24, 1989, p. 12. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ben Augle, excursion man, advance, Welsh Bros., 1900. Billboard, June 30, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Arndt Augustad. With Skerbeck circus of Medford, acrobatic work, 1904.(1) Member of the band, Gollmar Bros. 1905, will join a winter circus troupe originating at Indianapolis.(2) Hippodrome rider, Ringling Bros. 1905, a Stevens Point, Wisconsin resident.(3) A contortionist with Gollmar Bros., 1907, will do vaudeville as an Indian Club swinger.(4) Baton work and contortionist acts, Ringling Bros. 1908.(5) Contortion, clown, Roman standing horseback riding, Ringling Bros., 1910, with Ringling past three seasons, resides Stevens Point.(6) Ringling Bros., 1911, 1913 hurdle rider, 1914.(7) 1916, Arndt Augustad returned to Stevens Point, WI to spend the winter after his season with Ringling Bros., an acrobat and rider with Ringlings for a number of years.(8) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Stevens Point (WI) Daily Journal, July 22, 1904.
2. Stevens Point (WI) Journal, October 21, 1905.
3. Stevens Point (WI) Daily Journal, March 21, 1905.
4. Gazette (Stevens Point, WI), October 30, 1907.
5. Gazette (Stevens Point, WI), February 19, 1908.
6. Stevens Point (WI) Daily Journal, March, 23, 1910.
7. Stevens Point (WI) Daily Journal, March 18, 1911; Gazette (Stevens Point, WI), November 19, 1913; Gazette (Stevens Point, WI), June 24, 1914.
8. Stevens Point (WI) Journal, November 18, 1916.

Aurora Zouaves, human automatons, military maneouvers, Forepaugh-Sells, 1905.(1) Galveston (TX) Daily News, November 8, 1905. "The Aurora Zouaves, a military close-order drill team, was formed in 1887. By 1896, wins in successive competitions earned them the title, 'Champions of the World.' From 1897 to 1906, the Aurora Zouaves were famous the world over. The team toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and with Forepaugh & Sells Brothers Circus. The Zouaves also toured Europe on their own in 1901-02, playing before thousands of spectators and the crown heads of Europe." From Aurora, Illinois.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

1. Galveston (TX) Daily News, November 8, 1905.
2. www.aurorahistoricalsociety.org/factiods.html, poster on website.

Clarence Auskings was a veteran agent for over 50 years. He first traveled with the George W. Ely Circus in 1903, a show out of Harrisburg, Illinois. In 1904 he had the Thardo Family Circus, a wagon show from Linesville, Pennsylvania. He worked for George Hall (Popcorn) when William Campbell was the manager and later worked for Campbell when he had a two car minstrel show. In 1912 he was with George Christy who was operating a movie show under canvas and the next year when it was a vaudeville show called the Hippodrome Show. He worked for the magician Felix Hermann. He also worked for Golden Bros. and Bible Bros. In later years he worked for school shows, carnivals, etc. His last road work was for the magician R. P. Crotser. Died January 17, 1973 at Afton, Oklahoma. Circus Report, January 29, 1973, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Adelaide Austin, bareback rider, wife of Frank Brown, died at La Plata, South America, June 8, [1889?] after an illness of twenty-three days. The deceased was born at Mexico, Mo., and was one of the D'Atalie Family who made their debut in this country in 1870 as acrobats. In 1872 Miss Austin appeared with Barnum's Circus, this city, which was afterwards burned out. She was with the same show in 1873-4-5. During the season of 1876 she was with Montgomery Queen's Circus, and in the fall of the same year joined Cooper & Bailey's Show at San Francisco, which made a tour of the Sandwich Islands, Fiji Islands, Australia, East Indies, New Zealand and South America, returning to this country in the Winter of 1879. She remained with the same show during the season of 1880, when she had the misfortune to break her leg twice. The season of 1881 she joined W. W. Cole's Circus, which went to Australia and New Zealand. Returning to this country she remained with them the season of 1882. In 1883 she joined Pubillone's Circus at Havana, Cuba, where she met Frank Brown and they were married in the Fall of the same year, when they joined Carlo Bros. circus in South America, remaining in that country ever since, as the last three years Mr. Brown has had a circus of his own. She leaves three children. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Avalons, four in number, high wire, from England, Forepaugh-Sells, 1910.(1) Double wire act of the Avalons with seven performers, Howe's Great London, 1916.(2) The five Avalons double wire performance, State Fair, California.(3) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

1. Bedford (PA) Gazette, April 29, 1910; Charleroi (PA) Mail, April 28, 1910; New Castle (PA) News, April 29, 1910; Indianapolis (IN) Star, September 6, 1910.
2. Piqua (OH), Daily Call, May 18, 1916.
3. Woodland (CA) Daily Democrat, August 24, 1920.

Avenas Family, acrobats, Great Floto Shows, 1905. Galveston (TX) Daily News, March 28, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Doc. Aymar is another one of the array of arenic talent who prides himself on being a Baltimorean. Mr. Aymar started in the amusement profession some ten or twelve years ago in conjunction with Carl Clair. The two did a bar act and played in the band with a very small show, where versatility was at a premium. His later and very successful career as a performer is well known to the profession, and his accomplishments as a pyramid builder with tables, bottles, chairs, etc., are so well known that allusion to them here would be superfluous. Mr. Aymar resides in Elmira, N. Y. He has spent several years with the Ringling Bros. show. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Lottie Aymar is perhaps the most widely known lady performer in the circus business. Lottie Aymar comes from a family noted for its connection with the circus in America. Her father was the well-known circus rider, Walter Aymar. She commenced her professional career as a rider at the age of seven years, and her superb and graceful acts as an equestrienne have been performed with the leading circuses of this and other countries. In 1891, Miss Aymar rode her act with the Ringling Brothers, but since that time has devoted her time and talents to her highly artistic and finished aerial acts. Miss Aymar is an artist of rare gracefulness and style. Ringling Bros. 1893. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

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Archer L. Bagley, assistant master of properties, Ringling Bros., can always be found speedily and accurately carrying out the orders of Mr. C. O. Miller, and the thirty or more men employed in this department are never at a loss for intelligent orders by which to work. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

King Baile, was sideshow manager, Seils Sterling Circus for several seasons. In 1941 an organizer for a fraternal society. White Tops, Vol. 14, No. 12 (Oct-Nov), 1941, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Albertine Bailey, trapeze, Mollie Bailey Show, 1900. (probably daughter of Mollie Bailey) Billboard, June 23, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Brad Bailey, contortion, Mollie Bailey Show, 1900. (probably son of Mollie Bailey) Billboard, June 23, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Eugene Bailey, trapeze, Mollie Bailey Show, 1900. (probably son of Mollie Bailey) Billboard, June 23, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Edward Baird, showman. "South Milford — Word was received here to-day that Miss Erma Baird was united In marriage to Mr. Arthur Howe in Bedford, Ill., Wednesday of last week. Miss Baird is about eighteen years of age and has always lived in South Milford. Mr. Howe is a New York man. Both are members of the Barlow show, which winters in South Milford, and they have been spending their winters in that town during recent years. They are respected highly by many friends In this vicinity." - 1908.(1) "Baird, Miss Edna, age 22(?), daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. Baird of South Milford, performer in her father's circus, known as the Barlow Brothers shows, died Friday at Macomb IL of typhoid fever." - 1909.(2) According to the 1900 census for Syracuse, Indiana, Edward Baird was a manager of a circus, wife Ella, daughters Edna and Erma. Edna was born circa 1886, Erma circa 1889. Arthur Howe and the Barlow Sisters, gymnastics, with Ginger the Clever Dog, vaudeville, 1917.(3) No information on Baird's ownership of Barlow shows. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

1. Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, July 15, 1908.
2. Fort Wayne (IN) Evening Sentinel, Tuesday, September 14, 1909.
3. Sheboygan (WI) Press, November 9, 1917.

George Bailey, better known as “Pittsburgh” is the assistant superintendent of the railroad department and a valuable second to Mr. Taylor. There is hardly a piece of iron or wood about a car with which Mr. Bailey is not familiar, and it is a lesson in system to see him carry out the orders of his chief. These are executed with a quiet and unostentatious dispatch that stamp him as one of the most trustworthy and thorough assistants in his line. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Miss Baker. Miss Gray and Miss Baker, menage, Frank A. Robbins, 1907. Miss Gray, menage, Frank A. Robbins, 1908. Portsmouth (NH) Herald, June 6, 1907; Bandwagon, Nov-Dec, 2001, p. 34.; Bandwagon, Jan-Feb, 2002, p. 24. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Mr. Baker, show detective, John Robinson's, 1911. Alton (IL) Evening Telegram, May 11, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Johnny Baker, marksman, Buffalo Bill's Wild West, 1908.(1) Sharpshooter, Buffalo Bill's Wild West & Pawnee Bill's Far East.(2) "Birth: January 13, 1869, Death: April 22, 1931, Showman, Entertainer. Foster son of William 'Buffalo Bill' Cody. Although his parents never allowed Cody to officially adopt him, he nevertheless travelled, worked and studied with Buffalo Bill from the age of 7 years, after the death of Cody's natural son, Kit Carson, in 1876 at the age of 5. Under Cody's tutelage he became the sharpshooter star of 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West' show in the United States and Europe, and later was manager and booker worldwide for the show until Cody's death in 1917. He then founded the Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum. Burial: Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, Monroe County, New York, USA. Plot: Section I, Lot 149."(3) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Colorado Springs (Co) Gazette, August 17, 1908.
2. Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, June 21, 1909.
3. www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6186.

Tom Baldwin. Early 1880s, acrobatic act with Harry Potter. Baldwin afterwards became famous as the original parachute jumper. With Sells & Forepaugh, 1903. Ottumwa (IA) Daily Courier, July 27, 1903. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

William Bale, owner and performer. Operated the Bale Buckeye Circus for several years, toured a magic and illusion show for 17 years. Served as chairman of the Theatrical Arts Department, Ohio State University. Managed a magic shop in Finley, Ohio. Died May 23, 1980 at Columbus, Ohio, age 69. Circus Report, June 9, 1980, p. 14. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

R. G. Ball, contracting agent, Forepaugh's, 1904. Fitchburg (MA) Sentinel, April 9, 1904. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Ballatzer Sisters, Hagenbeck-Wallace. Surname may be misspelled. Anaconda (MT) Standard, June 19, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Gerald F. Bangs joined Ringling-Barnum in 1930 and was with this show for about 20 years, producing clown gags and features. Later worked on Shrine circuses. Died May 9, 1978 at Hanover, New Hampshire, age 74. Circus Report, June 12, 1978, p. 28. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

J. C. Banks, press agent, Sig Sautelle, 1900.(1) J. C. Banks, legal adjuster, Frank A. Robbins, 1904.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources

1. Naugatuck (CT) Daily News, July 28, 1900.
2. Bandwagon, Jul-Aug, 2001, p. 35.

J. G. Banks, manager, Leon Washburn's Circus, 1908. May be J. C. Banks. Middletown (NY) Daily Times-Press, July 24, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Flying Banvards, family of four, Forepaugh-Sells, 1904, said to be first time in this country.(1) Banvards with Sells & Downs 1905, flying trapeze and strong arm acts, three men, two women and a 14 year old boy.(2) Charles Banvard Troupe, aerialists, Norris & Rowe, 1907.(3) Four Flying Banvards, two men and two women (another source states six in number), Norris & Rowe, 1909.(4) Six Flying Banyards, trapeze, recently at Hippodrome, London, (1911) Miss Maudie Banyard, Miss Dora Banvard and four male members.(5) Flying Banvards, aerialists, well known to circus goers, two girls, Banvard sisters, short vaudeville tour, 1913.(6) Vaudeville, 1905 - Banvard sisters, trapeze. Have accepted offer with Norris and Rowe.(7) Name sometimes spelled Banyard. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

1. Atlanta (GA) Constitution, October 16, 1904.
2. Newark (OH) Advocate, Augut 8, 1905.
3. Woodland (CA) Daily Democrat, April 9. 1907; Manitoba (Winnipeg, Canada) Morning Free Press, August 1, 1907.
4. Marshfield (WI) Times, June 30, 1909; Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada) Herald, June 2, 1909.
5. Oakland (CA) Tribune, March 26, 1911.
6. Waterloo (IA) Reporter, September 27, 1913.
7. Oakland (CA) Tribune, April 7, 1905.

Vander Barbette was a famous trapeze performer in the 1920s-30s. In later years he produced productions and aerial numbers for Cole Bros. and Polack Bros. and for several circus films. Died August 5, 1973 at Austin, Texas, age 68. Circus Report, August 27, 1973, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Baritine Trio, gymanasts, Great Floto Shows, 1904. Oakland (CA) Tribune, April 30, 1904. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

George Barnaby was a clown, touring with Ringling-Barnum and a number of other shows. Died 1985 at Sarasota, Florida, age 74. Circus Report, August 26, 1985, p. 17. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

George Barnard, contortion, tumbler, Hunt Bros. Circus, 1892. "Eastern Fans to Meet with Hunt Show at Opening of 50th Year," White Tops, Vol. 15, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 3. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Al G. Barnes. . . . The Billboard of August 1, 1931, right after Mr. Barnes' death occurred: "In the death of Al G. Barnes, who passed away after an illness of seven months, July 25, on the Robeson Ranch, near Indo, California, the outdoor show world suffered the loss of one of the ablest producers and managers known to the circus in America. He had passed his 68th year.
      "Up to the time of the absorption of the big show carrying the Barnes banner, with others of the American Circus Corporation group by John Ringling, he was conspicuously active, personally managing and directing his various interests in the amusement world. Barnes sold his circus two years ago and retired to his home in Los Angeles.
      "Al G. Barnes for many years operated on the Pacific Coast and confined his activities almost exclusively to the territory west of the Rocky Mountains. His career as a showman was spectacular. His success was attributed by those who knew him most intimately to his fine business acumen, his resourcefulness, keen foresight and faculty for overcoming every obstacle he encountered.
      "Ill-health overtaking him, he sought rest and restoration of his physical powers amid the quiet and seclusion of the desert. Pneumonia, with complications, hastened the end of his career.
      "At his bedside when he passed on was his third wife, Margaret Goldsboro Barnes, whom he married only last December in Phoenix, Ariz. His first wife, Mrs. Dollie Barnes, and his second, Mrs. Jane Barnes, also survive. By his second wife, Barnes was the father of three children - two girls and a boy. A sister is the only other immediate relative surviving.
      "Altho the public knew him as the owner of the Al G. Barnes Circus for 35 years, he was christened at his birth in Lobo, Ont., Alpheus George Barnes Stonehouse. His early days were spent on a farm. With Dolly Barlow, whom he later married, he started a wagon show at Glenwood Springs in 1859, financing it with $2,700 raised by selling his farm. This show consisted of a squeaky phonograph, a pony and a picture machine, but it formed the nucleus of the big circus which he sold in 1929 for more than $1,000,000. Circus Scrap Book, No. 14 (Apr), 1932, pp. 44-45. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Harold Barnes, wire-walker, 1941. Descends from a circus family, first instruction started at age four, began performing at age seven. "Boy Who Walks "The Straight and Narrow Path," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, pp. 15-16. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Roger Barnes was a partner in the Beers-Barnes Circus starting in 1934 until the show closed in 1966. Died in September 1975 in Florida, age 79. Circus Report, October 13, 1975, p. 14. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Chester Barnett, "Bobo," joined Sells-Floto in 1920. He started as a white faced clown, later was a tramp clown. He trained dogs as part of his act He made his entrance in a tiny car, along with dogs, a suitcase and a live skunk. Was with a number of circuses. Died February 18, 1985 at Lovington, Illinois, age 74. Circus Report, March 18, 1985, p. 10. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Evelyn Irene Baronet (Reji) was an acrobat and aerial performer starting at age 12. She did acrobatics 100 feet off the ground and featured a head stand on a sway pole. She retired in 1956. Died September 12, 1987 at Cranston, Rhode Island, age 65. Circus Report, October 5, 1987, p. 10. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Arthur Barrett was a concession manager with the original Polack Bros. Circus, later with the Tarzan Zerbini Circus. Died January 5, 1989 at Sylmar, California, age 73. Circus Report, January 30, 1989, p. 26. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

S. H. Barrett, general agent of the Forepaugh-Sells Showd, died at the United States Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, May 16, 1900. His death was due to exhaustion, following a long siege of typhoid-pneumonia. His wife and her brother, Mr. Peter Sells, were with him when he died. His wife is the sister of Peter and Lewis Sells, his children - Lewis Sells Barrett, and Sheldon. Billboard, May 28, 1900, p. 5.

Sheldon Hopkins Barrett was born November 9, 1845, at Albion, N.Y., and removed with his parents to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1855. Here they became neighbors of the Sells family, the head of whom (the father of the Sells brothers) and the elder Barrett became fast friends. Young Barrett and the three younger Sells Brothers (Allen, Lewis and Peter), went to public school together and were playmates.
       When the Woodward avenue street railway was established as the first street car line in Cleveland, Ohio, S. H. Barrett, Lewis and Peter Sells were employed as conductors. After nearly three years of this sort of service, Mr. Barrett was taken into the office of the company and became the cashier, which position he continued to hold until 1880. Several years previously the Sells Brothers had removed to Columbus, Ohio, and in 1872 they began their career as showmen, putting a wagon show under their name.
       In 1878, the bought the majority of the property of the Montgomery Queen Circus which was sold at Louisville, Ky., and converted the Sells Brothers’ Show into a railroad show.
       They sent out also their old wagon show, to which other property was added, under the name and direction of James A. Anderson, of Columbus.
       In 1880, Mr. Anderson retired from the management of the show, and the Sells Brothers then induced Mr. Barrett to resign his position with the railroad company in Cleveland, and assume the management of the Anderson show, which was changed from a wagon show into a railroad show and became known as the S. H. Barrett and Co. Show.
       Charles Castle had been engaged as general agent for this venture, but he was taken ill immediately prior to the starting out of the show in the season of 1880. Mr. Eugene A. Weller, a well-known agent was appointed car manager and did good service with the company. The writer was also associated with Mr. Weller as his general assistant, having held a similar position under Weller with the Montgomery Queen Shows (which was the writer’s first experience, actively, in the circus business, 1878.)
       Mr. Barrett never having had any experience in the show business, assumed charge of the advance, and although the show continued under his direction for a period of six years, he always remained in advance of it.
       His success and natural ability as general agent was made clearly manifest under the circumstances.
       In the spring of 1888, the Sells Brothers and S. H. Barrett Shows were merged into one, and Mr. Barrett became the general agent for them (which in 1896 were further combined with the Adam Forepaugh Show), which position he held until his death.
       Mr. Barrett, at the time of his death, was a member of the York Lodge of Master Masons and the Webb Chapter, Royal Arch Masons of Cleveland, a charter member of the Aladdin Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and a charter member of the new Consistory of Knights Templars, Columbus, and was also a member of the Scottish Rite Masonry.
       In 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca F. Sells, a sister of the Sells Brothers, who, with two sons, survives him.
       Mr. Barrett died May 16, 1900, at the United States Hotel, Boston, Mass., from typhoid pneumonia. His remains were embalmed and taken to his home in Columbus, Ohio, for interment. This ended the worthy career of one more of nature’s noblemen. From Billboard, October 22, 1910, p. 20. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Marcos Manual Barrigan, "Zapatta,"clown. First worked in concessions on Ringling-Barnum, then attended Clown College, graduating in 1969. Worked with Ringling-Barnum, Circus Vargas, American Continental and Circo Tihany. His grandfather, Marcos Droughett was a clown with the Ringling Circus, his father a cloud swing aerialist with Ringling and Cristiani circuses. Died July 13, 1980 at Los Angeles, age 30, from a rare blood disease. Circus Report, August 11, 1980, p. 18A. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Joe Barris(?), animal trainer, Yankee Robinson's. Des Moines (IA) News, March 25, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Bartie Troupe, Sells-Floto, 1909. Daily Press (Sheboygan, WI), August 4, 1909; Yuma (AZ) Examiner, April 16 & 17, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Les A. Bartlett, musician and calliope player, trouped with shows for about 50 years.Was with Sells-Floto and a number of railroad circuses. In later years was with King Bros., Cristiani, and Wallace Bros. Died June 25, 1979 at Wichita, Kansas, age 93. Circus Report, August 6, 1979, p. 14. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Betty J. Bartok was co-owner, with her husband Milton, of Circus Bartok. She was co-owner and co-founder of the Bardex Radio Minstrels and daughter of T. C. Jacobs, owner of Jadex Minstrel Medicine Show. Betty died December 26, 1977 at Casa Grande, Arizona, age 58. Circus Report, February 13, 1978, p. 14. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Milton Bartok, owner of the Bardex Minstrels and Circus Bartok. Died on August 8, 1980 at Sarasota, Florida, age 71. Circus Report, September 22, 1980, p. 8. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

John Barton, privileges with Bunk Allen, Sells-Gray, 1900. Billboard, May 21, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Sam Barton, clown, John H. Sparks Shows.(1) There was aa Sam Barton, comedy bicycle rider, vaudeville, 1911.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Gettysburg (PA) Times, June 21, 1909.
2. Washington (DC) Post, January 8, 1911.

Charles Bartlow, assistant elephant keeper, killed by elephant at Ingersoll Park, Des Moines, IA, winter quarters of Yankee Robinson Circus. Had been with the circus for five years. Des Moines (IA), Capital, April 10, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Flying Barvards or Bovards, aerial bars, Cole Bros., 1909. Warren (PA) Evening Mirror, May 18, 1909; Daily Independent (Monessen, PA), April 28, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

W. H. Batcheller, the great leaper, entered the circus business in 1867, being at that time an apprentice of George H. Batcheller. Mike Lippman's was the first show with which he became identified, and it closed in Philadelphia. The same season Mr. Batcheller was engaged at the corner of Tenth and Callowhill streets in that city. In 1866 he went West with Forepaugh’s Show, but left in the middle of the season in Indianapolis, Ind., to join Col. C. F. Ames, with whom he continued the following season, closing in New Orleans. In 1870 he engaged with C. W. Noyes, who went as far as Houston, Texas, where the show collapsed. Batcheller then joined the McKnight or John W. Robinson Show, with which organization he remained only a short time, leaving it to join W. W. Cole, with whom he remained until Jan. 12, 1873. Next he was engaged with L. B. Lent’s New York Circus, terminating the season in Atlanta, Ga. In 1874 W. W. Cole again engaged him for the whole of the subsequent season. The campaign of 1876 he served with Howe’s Great London Show, and in 1877 returned to W. W. Cole. The latter allowed him to terminate his engagement in time to make the Australian tour with Cooper & Bailey, which party he remained with until they arrived at Auckland, New Zealand. Returning to the United States, he rejoined W. W. Cole in 1878, in St. Paul, Minn. After the close of that season he accepted an engagement from the Orrins for a season in Cuba. He joined Cooper & Bailey for 1879 and 1880. In 1881 the Barnum and London Shows were united, and Batcheller was included in the combination. For the coming season he has contracted with the United States Circus Co., Myers and Short proprietors. Clipper, February 11, 1882, p. 1. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Theodore H. Bauer, press agent, Hagenbeck Animal Circus, 1905.(1) This may be the same Theodore Bauer: now assistant manager of the Claridge, New York City (1915). At one time was with Barnum & Bailey.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Coshocton (OH) Daily Age, February 18, 1905.
2. Raleigh Herald (Beckley, WV), June 11, 1915.

Nellie Dutton Bausman was a life long circus performer and appeared as a rider on many shows, including the Dutton Shows. Died April 15, 1974 at Brandon, Florida, age 85. Circus Report, May 13, 1974, p. 9. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Foster Beam, advance, Hagenbeck-Wallace. Waterloo (IA) Semi Weekly Courier, May 21, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Ben Beckley, cowboy, Campbell Bros. Brownsville (TX) Daily Herald, November 29, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

George Beckley, boss bill poster, Welsh Bros., 1900. Billboard, June 30, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Fred Beckman, owner, age 87, died October 17, 1941 at Shreveport, Louisiana after a fall in his private car. Born Oskaloosa, Iowa, 1854, left home at age fourteen for employment in the circus. With W. W. Cole Circus, later agent for Barnum & Bailey Circus. Then eighteen years as manager of Wild West shows, including the 101 Ranch Wild West and Arlington & Beckmann Shows. Then joined with Ed Heinz in Heinz & Beckmann Shows, but partnership ended after the first season. Went with World at Homes Shows 1916-17, C. A. Wortham 1918. Beckmann, Barney S. Gerety and George E. Robinson purchased Wortham's unit, leased the title, and put out Wortham's World's Best Shows. In 1923, Beckmann and Gerety founded Geckmann & Gerety Shows. Was Chairman of the Board, Amusement Corporation of America until his death. Buried at Showman's Rest, Woodlawn Cemetery, Chicago. "Fred Beckman," White Tops, Vol. 14, No. 12 (Oct-Nov), 1941, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

W. H. Bedwards, advertising department, Forepaugh-Sells, 1905. A resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, March 28, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Miss Mary Bedina, equestrienne, Hagenbeck-Wallace. Newark (OH) Daily Advocate, April 30, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Bedinis, riders, Hippodrome, New York City, Bedini family, riders, Ringling, 1908.(1) Bedinis, Sells-Floto, 1911.(2) Also, Draper, John, "Equestrian Bedini Family," Bandwagon, 35, No. 5 (Sep-Oct), 1991. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

1. Salt Lake (UT) Tribune, February 23, 1908; Evening Tribune (Marysville, OH), April 23, 1908.
2. Oakland (CA) Tribune, April 28 & 30, 1911.

Flora Bedini, equestrienne, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1908, had just arrived in this country from Europe less than two weeks ago.(1) Flora, rider, ringmaster, Sells-Floto, 1909.(2) Equestrienne, Sells-Floto, 1910. (3) Equestrienne, Sparks World Famous Shows, 1918.(4) Flora married Walter Guice, she died in 1950.(5) According to the ship list, the Bedinis sailed from Southamton, February 21, 1903, arrived March 4, 1903. They were listed as circus artists, passage paid by Barnum & Bailey: Flora, age 17, English; Victor, age 35, Italian; Adelaide, age 29, English; Victoria, age 16, English. An Adelle (Addie) Hodgini (sister of Albert Hodgini Sr.) married Sir Victor Bedini had children Victoria (married Joe Coyle a clown) and Flora both were riders.(6) Madame and Victor Bedini have private training quarters with lighted arena and tan bark ring.(7) In the 1920 census, Aurora, Kane County, Illinois: Victor Bedini, age 52, born Italy, circus performer, immigrated 1905; Addie Bedini, wife, age 48, born Scotland, circus performer, immigrated 1905. 1930 census, Aurora, Kane County, Illinois: Victor Bedini, age 62, born Italy, horse trainer, immigrated 1903; Adey Bedini, wife, age 74, born Scotland, horse rider, immigrated 1903. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Newark (OH) Advocate, May 8, 1908.
2. Yuma (AZ) Examiner, April 16 & 17, 1909; Anaconda (MT) Standard, June 24, 1909.
3. Eau Claire (WI) Sunday Leader, July 31, 1910.
4. Grand Rapids (WI) Tribune, August 1, 1918.
5. Taber, Bob, "Walter Guice," Bandwagon, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Mar-Apr), 1963, pp. 10-11. Online at www.circushistory.org/Bandwagon/bw-1963Mar.htm.
6. http://marinahodgini.com/5.shtml
7. Sheboygan (WI) Press-Telegram, July 14, 1924.

Bobby Beech is the senior member of the firm of Beech & Bowers, and his fame as a minstrel performer and manager of minstrel enterprises is identical with that of Mr. Bowers. Mr. Beech originated the idea of organizing a minstrel company to take the place of the old-time circus concert. The character of the performance given by Mr. Beech and Mr. Bowers in this connection under the canvas of the Ringling Brothers, together with the novel ideas introduced by them into its composition, show that his ideas were well founded and equally well sustained in their execution. Bobby Beech has been in the minstrel profession a great many years and is a veteran whose specialties show the artistic finish resulting from years of experience and natural capabilities. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Raymond Behee was a member of the Aerial Behees with the Christ & Howe, Al G. Barnes and other circuses in the 1920s-1930s. Died February 2, 1981, age 74. Circus Report, February 23, 1981, p. 27. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Nita Belew (Irish) married Marritt Belew, circus horse trainer and they worked with Christy Bros. Circus for many years. Died October 2, 1979 at Phoenix, Arizona, age 86. Circus Report, November 12, 1979, p. 18. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Belford. Al. G. and Mazie Belford have signed with Frank A. Robbins' Circus for the coming season, 1906. New York Clipper, March 17, 1906, p. 114. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Belfords, seven in number, Norris & Rowe, 1909.(11) 1909: "More than ordinary interest attaches to the appearance of the Belford troupe of acrobats, now headlining the most expensive vaudeville bill ever given at the Temple theater, from the fact that the Belford aggregation is a northern Indiana product, and is proud of it. Waterloo is the home of the Belfords when they are not touring the country with the Ringling circus or playing vaudeville between seasons, and member of the troupe declare that playing Fort Wayne is like appearing among friends. And if the Belfords are proud of it, northern Indiana should be prouder, for this interesting group is really the premier acrobatic act of the country today. There is none better, and the fact that for four seasons the Belfords have been the stellar acrabatic feature of the great Ringling circus demonstrated the professional standing of the artists. The Belfords were with the circus when it appeared in Fort Wayne last summer. They are engaged for next season, opening early next spring, and the following year will undoubtedly take them to Europe. It's an interesting group - that bunch of seven - and all but two of them are Belfords. At the head is George Belford, who has been in the business thirty-five years - though he doesn't look it. He started as a circus rider when a mere boy with the Thayer-Noyes circus, when Alf Ringling, now one of the owners of the big circus, was playing a cornet in the little circus band. Belford soon discovered that riding was not to his taste, while acrobatic work appealed to him. He had talent in that direction and soon developed into a career that has been uniformly successful. He quickly reached the altitude of a top-notcher. and stayed there.
      "Then there is the qaurtet of boy Belfords - Webster, Dalbert, Arthur and Lester - all of them bright, quick-witted, versatile and enthusiastic, and all of them are destined to be acrobatic stars. All of them are Hoosiers save Lester - the smaller lad with the sunkissed hair. He is a native of Petaluma, Calif., the son of a widow there. George Belford came upon him four years ago, adopted him into the family, and the closest sort of attachment prevails in the circle, both socially and professionally. The two remaining members of the troupe are Bruce Sinclair, also from Waterloo, and Jack Wilhelm, whose home is but a short distance across the Ohio state line, so that he narrowly escaped being a Hoosier, also. During the long summer tour of the circus, Mrs. Belford travels in the special car with her husband to give motherly care to her boys, and despite the environment and the constant travel, the Belfords have a great deal of genuine home life, and the education of the boys is carefully looked after by a private tutor. Mrs. Belford, with a company of friends from Waterloo, is coming this week to see the act at the Temple.
      "When the circus season closes, the Belfords return each year to Waterloo. Here Mr. Belford has purchased an old building, formerly used as a brewery, and has fitted it up as a gymnasium. After a brief rest the troupe begins rehearsals and practice of new acts for the folIowing season - for the public constantly expects new acts - and there must be progress if one is to remain at the top of the profession. The appearance in Fort Wayne Monday was the first performance of the Belfords since the circus season closed last fall, and their work here embraces much that Is now being given to the public for the first time. While the work in vaudeville is enjoyed - and the Belfords always have more vaudeville time offered than they can fill - the members admit that they feel more at home in the sawdust ring beneath the 'big-top' of the circus and are anxious for the opening of the season. The Belfords give the fastest act known to the acrobatic profession. It is of but eight minutes duration, yet in that time a total of from seventy to seventy-five tricks are performed, so one can get something of an idea of the tremendous speed at which the performers work. In the program, also, are many stunts done by no other company. The feet-posturing is entirely original with Mr. Belford, and many of the other difficult and sensational stunts are attempted by no other company in the profession. Absolute genius, supplemented by tireless energy and persevering effort, has won for George Belford and his wonderful company of Hoosier lads the top-notch place in the profession."(2)
      "Kendallville, Ind., Nov. 30 [1910] - 'Don't let 'em kid you about this actors' colony,' said George Belford of the Seven Belford Brothers, famous circus acrobats, whose home is near Waterloo, when asked about his plans of starting an actor's colony on his farm recently purchased one mile north of Kendallville. 'That's good press dope, all right.' continued Belford, 'and somebody certainly started something when that story was put up, but, take it from me, that as far as I know now, all I'm going to do is to build a nice home on the farm for me and my wife and the boys, to stay when we want to 'lay off.' I may put up a training barn, but that's all I've got in mind now.' Mr. Belford was here with Ab Kelly of Waterloo and together they fixed up the final details of the deal whereby he becomes the owner of the additional twenty-two acres of the Frank Swanders farm, making a total of 122 acres that he now owns. He had just come from New York, where he and his company of acrobats had played a successful engagement at the Colonial theater. He was in a hurry to get back, as next week they open an engagement at Philadelphia."(3)
      1911: "While the Seven Belfords are giving their wonderful acrobatic performance as a farmer, Br Belford, as a theoreti-theatre this week, the eyes of the seven are figuratively turned northward toward a 160-acre farm near Kendallvllle, where, beginning next week, George Belford and his six marvelous boys will go into camp to rusticate and get close to nature after a strenuous season in vaudeville that began early last fall and has continued without a break until the present. The Belford troupe is a northern Indiana organization and is well remembered in Fort Wayne from its appearance at the Temple two years ago, as well as for prior performances here with the Ringling circus. The back-to-nature stunt on the farm, however, is new. Mr. Belford, whose home Is at Waterloo, purchased the farm near Kendallville last summer. It will be his permanent home when he finally retires from the world of acrobatics, and next to his wife and his boys it is the joy of his heart. While making no pretensions to practical skill as a farmer, Mr Belford, as a theoretical agriculturist, is planning his plowing and sowing and reaping with a touch of an artist. Anyhow he and his boys are going to have a lot of fun and some genuine relaxation as they dally with the soil, and money making is a secondary consideration in the enterprise. After years of circus life, the Belfords dipped into vaudeville two years ago. They liked It so well and the salary is so remunerative that they have remained in it, though confessing a longing for the sawdust ring again. The act is of so high a grade of merit that it is in constant demand in the top-notch circuits. The troupe is identical in membership with that which Mr. Belford presented In Fort Wayne two years ago."(4) Also see Slout's Olympianson this website. Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

1. Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada) Herald, June 2, 1909.
2. Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, January 6, 1909.
3. Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, November 30, 1910.
4. Journal-Gazette (Fort Wayne, IN), May 25, 1911.

John W. Bell, band leader, traveled with Robbins Bros., Lee Bros. and the C. R. Liggett shows. He was band leader for 101 Ranch, 1929-31; Gorman Bro., 1934; C. R. Montgomery, 1946; Polack Bros., 1947; King Bros., 1948, Biller Bros., 1949; Ward Bros. and Stevens Bros., 1950; and Cole and Walters, 1951-53. Moved to Seattle in 1954 and operated a donut shop and helped to sponsor the Wenatchee Youth Circus. Born in 1898, died November 23, 1972, age 74. Circus Report, December 11, 1972, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

George Benedict, euphonium and first violin, who is well known in the musical profession as an artist of rare ability on both instruments. He has successfully conducted several well-known orchestras, which attests his ability as a leader, while his pleasing manners have won for him many friends. His home is at Muskegon, Mich. Ringling Bros. 1893. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Arthur Bennett, advance, Sells-Floto, 1911. Nevada State Journal (Reno, NV), May 16, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

David Bennett, advance, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1911. Lima (OH) Daily News, May 15, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Irene Bennett, ring and web act, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. Ladder and double rings with Mrs. alma De Puy. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Sam Bennett, comedy mule riding, Shipp's Indoor Circus, 1902.(1) Sam Bennett, comedy bareback act on a mule, Dutchman act, Forepaugh-Sells, 1902.(2) See Slout's Olympians on this website, real name Rooney, may have been a clown rider. Comedy bareback act in guise of the wooden shoe Dutchman on a mule, Skillful rider, Forepaugh-Sells, 1903.(3) ". . . one of the funniest things ever seen in a circus is the burlesque champion bareback act performed by Mr. Sam Bennett in the guise of a wooden show Dutchman on a mule. Bennett is one of the most skilled riders in the arena in reality and this fact enables him to perform some of the most ludicrous tricks upon the back of his mule. He will be here with the Adam Forepaugh and Sells Brothers Enormous Shows United when they exhibit here on South Road, Monday, June 23, 1906."(4) Clown, comic baseball act, Shipp's Circus at local Opera House, 1906 [article headline says Baseball act of Sam Rooney].(5) Clown, Barnum & Bailey, 1910.(6) Rider, Forepaugh-Sells, 1911.(7) [Sam Bennett, Barnum & Bailey, 1912. Bennett, English vaudeville headliner, clown 1912.(8) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, January 23, 1902.
2. Portsmouth (NH) Herald, June 13, 1902.
3. Daily Eagle (Traverse City, MI) July 29, 1903.
4. Portsmouth (NH) Herald, June 13, 1906.
5. Cedar Rapids (IA) Republican, January 28, 1906.
6. Ogden (Ogden City, UT) Standard, July 22, 1910.
7. Warren (PA) Evening Mirror, April 29, 1911.
8. Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, July 15, 1912.

Bento Bros. and Rita, acrobats, head-balance, 1941. Formerly with Barnum-Bailey, Hagenbeck-Wallace. "Fan Notes," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 11. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Berre & Hicks, ladders, Campbell Bros., 1910.(1) Berre and Hicks were a husband and wife team according to Stuart Thayer.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources

Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons. 1. Brownsville (TX) Daily Herald, November 29, 1910. 2. Stuart Thayer, American Circus Anthology, Essays of the Early Years, arranged and edited by William L. Slout. On this website, www.circushistory.org/Thayer/Thayer3k.htm

Joe Berris, equine paradox, Rhoda Royal Show, 1900.(1) Jose Berris, probably a rider, Cole Bros., 1909.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Billboard, July 7, 1900. 2. Ad. Iowa City (IA) Citizen, June 28, 1909.

Fred Berthof, bill poster, John Robinson Show, 1894. New York Clipper, April 7, 1894, p. 71. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Bertik Troupe, Howe's Great London, 1911, 1912, 1916.(1) May be Bartik. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

1. Daily Independent (Monessen, PA) April 26, 1911; Chareroi (PA) Mail, April 24 & 26, 1911; Portsmouth (NH) Herald, August 7, 1912. Daily Independent (Monessen, PA) April 20, 1916.

Charlie Besile was associated with the Hamid family for about 40 years and became their general manager and announcer in 1965. He also toured with Bob Atterbury's show. Died March 24, 1975 at Brielle, New Jersey, age 69. Circus Report, April 28, 1975, p. 8. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Oscar Bieloh, clarionet and alto, has just completed a satisfactory engagement with the Ringling Bros. organization. His home is at Bridgeport, Wis. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Flying Bifcards, Howe's Great London, 1910. Name may be misspelled. Charleroi (PA) Mail, September 26 & 27, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Jane Big Heart, Osage Indian, rider, 101 Ranch Wild West, 1908. Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada) Daily Herald, June 16, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

A. F. Biggs, Forepaugh-Sells, 1911. News (Frederick, MD), May 25, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Mlle. Fredricka Biggs, clown, John Robinson's 10 Big show, 1911. Alton (IL) Evening Telegraph, May 13, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Louis Bingham has been in the employ of the Ringling Bros. show for several years. He is the superintendent of the side show canvas and has general charge of the various mechanical requirements entering into its composition. The paintings are always up when the parade comes back to the lot and the show is ready to go on. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Allen Binkley, "Slim," started in the property department on Tom Mix Circus in 1935, he was on props and the calliope in 1936. In 1937 he was on the back door and was Tom Mix's personal employee. He also did a comedy act with George Hanneford, where he portrayed a candy butcher. Circus Report, February 16, 1987, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Sandor Biro, the Great Boros, was a break-away sway pole performer. Born in Budapest, Hungary and came to the United States in 1964 when he was with the Hamid-Morton Circus. He performed with a number of circuses and fairs. Died May 5, 1977 at Chicago, Illinois from injuries during a circus performance. Circus Report, May 23, 1977, p. 14. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bishop Brothers (Abel L., Elcain). Abe leaper, Al clown, Yankee Robinson, 1910, 1911.(1) Perry (IA) Bishop. Dare Devil Bishop, triple somersault over backs of six elephants and four camels, Yankee Robinson, 1911.(2) Bishop Brothers, Al and Abe, performers for past 15 or 20 years, retired circa 1912, returned 1914, signed with Col. Buchanan, Revolving ladder act, Al Bishop also did clowning, Abe did double somersaults over elephants and camels, lived Winterset, Iowa.(3) With Yankee Robinson, 1914, Al & Abe - Abe was double somersault leaper, Bishop Brothers did ladder act, 1914.(4)
      "October 30, 1945. A. L. [Abel L.] Bishop Died Here on Tuesday. For 38 Years He Had Been Nationally Known in Circus World. A. L. Bishop, a life-long resident of Winterset, and at one time one of the most famous circus performers in the nation, died at his home in Winterset Tuesday morning after a brief illness. He had been stricken suddenly on Monday and died early the next morning. He was 78 years of age. Mr. Bishop was born in Winterset Dec. 25, 1866, the son of William H. and Jane Bishop. As a young man he and his brother, Cain Bishop, entered the circus profession as a team known as Bishop Brothers, acrobats and aerialists. For 38 years they were associated with some of the outstanding circus troupes of the country, as acrobats and aerialists. Some of the circuses with which they performed were the Charles Taylor shows, Campbell Brothers, Yankee Robinson, World Brothers, and the Sells and 4-Paw circus. This latter show was one of the largest circuses on the road at that time, starting the season each year in Madison Square Garden in New York City. With this show he was featured performer, billed as the champion triple-sommerset artists of the world. He was offered a contract to show in London, England with this circus during the winter season. Since retiring from the circus business many years ago, he had followed the trade of painter in Winterset. Mr. Bishop was married Nov. 11, 1903 to Effie Snyder, who survives him. He also leaves two daughters, Mrs. Curtis Dowler of Decatur, Ill., and Mrs. Eva Rinehart of Blissfield, Mich.; one son, Robert Bishop of Springfield, Ill.; the brother, Cain Bishop of Winterset; and a sister, Mrs. Clara Hudson of Portland, Ore. Funeral services will be held this Friday at 2:30 p.m. from the Ramsey-Richards funeral home in charge of the Rev. W. A. Samp of the Winterset Methodist church. Burial will be made in the Winterset cemetery."(5)
      February 13, 1952. Elcain A. Bishop Dies at 88 Years. Winterset Man Ranked With Nation's Top Circus Stars Many Years. Elcain A. Bishop, formerly one of the top circus aerialists of the world, died at his home in Winterset Thursday, Feb. 7 at the age of 88 years. Death came to him during his sleep that night. He had been in failing health the last five years, and had suffered several strokes. Mr. Bishop was a native of Madison county, and this had always been his home, although during his active years he traveled throughout the United States with the nation's leading circuses, as a member of the famous Bishop Brothers revolving ladder act. He was born on Hoosier Prairie, southeast of Winterset, a son of William H. and Jane Bishop. As a young man, he was married to Winnefred Rhodes, who survives him. They were the parents of one daughter, now Mrs. Catherine Hartman of Wapakoneta, O. He also leaves a nephew, William F. Martin, whom he reared in his home and who has been with him the last 20 years; and four grandchildren in Ohio. Funeral services were held Sunday from the Richards Funeral home, in charge of the Rev. Clement Loehr, pastor of the First Presbyterian church. Burial was made in the Winterset cemetery. http://iagenweb.org/boards/madison/obituaries/index.cgi?read=104530 Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

1. Daily Chief (Perry, IA), April 29, 1910; Cedar Rapids (IA) Republican, May 9, 1911.
2. Cedar Rapids (IA) Republican, May 9, 1911.
3. Perry (IA) Daily Chief, April 25, 1914.
4. Perry (IA) Daily Chief, April 24, 1914.
5. Winterset Madisonian (Winterset, IA), October 30, 1945. Online: iagenweb.org/boards/madison/obituaries/index.cgi?read=104393.
6. Winterset Madisonian (Winterset, IA), February 13, 1952.

David W. Blanchfield was superintendent of the truck and tractor department for Ringling-Barnum during the days under canvas and when the show went indoors. Later associated with Circus World Museum at Baraboo, Wisconsin. Died November 13, 1980 at Rocky Hill, Connecticut, age 91. Circus Report, December 1, 1980, p. 13. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Joseph Blanco, known as "Specs" and "Injun Joe," worked a variety of wild animals as handler, trainer and presenter. Primarily an elephant man, he was with Ringling-Barnum, Kelly-Miller, Beatty-Cole, Hamid-Morton, Cristiani and Gran Circo Norte Americano over his 15 year career. Died January 30, 1978 in New York City, age 49. Circus Report, April 10, 1978, p. 8A. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Albert Bliss, Bliss Family Troupe. ". . . Albert Bliss, . . . and his sister, Mrs. Louise Murphy, . . . who were members of the Bliss family troupe, of which there were eight children and the mother and father. Four of the brothers were acrobats, and each of the others had specialities. They played for many years with Barnum and Bailey, Forepaw [sic], Carey, and Sells Floto circuses. In 1860 they came to Madison with the Carey circus and remained here for some time putting on variety shows at the old Burroughs opera house. One sister, Mrs. Mattie Robins, is still in the show business, managing the Frank A. Robbins circus at Jersey City."(1)
      November 18, 1932: "Albert Bliss, 82, who achieved international fame as a circus performer before the Ringling brothers were known to the show world, died Thursday night at a Madison hospital. Son of Charles A. Bliss, a noted American circus performer of the past century, Mr. Bliss and his two brothers became known as the outstanding circus leapers, performers who have almost disappeared from the modern circus. They performed in the central ring, jumping over the animals. One of the Bliss feats was to leap over 15 elephants. The Bliss brothers were with Barnum and Bailey's circus for years. They were born and raised as circus troupers. Albert Bliss retired from the circus nearly a half century ago and had lived in Madison since. For many years he lived with his brother, Charles, in a cottage by Lake Monona, but after the latter's death in 1926, he made his home with his niece, Mrs. John Wilkinson, 2305(?) Rowley ave. Besides his niece, he is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Louise Bliss Murphy, 602 Brittingham blvd.; and Mrs. Frank Robins, Jersey City, N. J., and a brother, Joseph Bliss, 402 Brittingham blvd."(2) Also see Slout's Olympians on this website. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI), May 4, 1930.
2. Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI), November 18, 1932.

Albert L. Blodgett, formerly in the advance of Harris' Nickel Plate Shows, now manager New Haven Bill Posting Company, 1900. Billboard, May 21, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Blondin, see Jean Francois Gravelle.

Bertha Pauline Blush was one of the Loretta Twins, triple horizontal bar performers (see Loretta Twins). The Loretta Twins routed with most of the famous mud shows of the early 1900s. Married aerialist George Novikoff and later vaudevillian Charles Smith. Her sister was Ora N. Ernst. Died October 19, 1981 at Los Angeles, California, age 83. Circus Report, December 14, 1981, p. 12. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ora Norine Blush was one of the Loretta Twins, triple horizontal bar performers (see Loretta Twins). She married John Ernst in 1912 and was residing in Texas at age 90 in 1983. John Ernst was one of the flyers out of Bloomington, Illinois, a member of the Flying Lafayettes, later with the Flying LaMars. In 1935, at age 41 when the Loretta Twins were no longer performing, she was doing a single horizontal bar act with no net. Her daughter, June Wattles Ernst, was married to Burt Lancaster for 11 1/2 years - when the marriage ended, she re-married. June died in 1977. Circus Report, October 3, 1983, p. 23; March 26, 1984, p. 14. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

The Loretta Twins were recorded in the Guiness Book of Records with their triple fly-away to the mat from fixed board, achieved at Los Angeles, California in 1914 with the Barnum & Bailey Circus. That year John Ringling North searched Europe but could not find another female bar act. Their father, Theodore Blush, searched for years, asking if there was another such act. Ora Norine Blush and Bertha Pauline Blush were born January 10, 1894 at Packwood, Iowa to Theodore Edward and Mary Minerva Craig Blush. They toured with their parents at age 6, playing parks and fairs around Denver, Colorado. They also toured with mud shows for 40 years, including: W. W. Cole Dog & Pony Show, 1906; Orrin Bros., 1907; Gentry Bros., 1908; Loretta Family Railroad Show (one car), 1908; Yankee Robinson, 1910; Mollie Bailey and Dode Fisk circuses, 1910; Tatalie Circus, 1912-13; Barnum & Bailey, 1914; Wirth Bros. Circus, 1916, Sells-Floto, 1917. When the twins went to Puerto Rico to be with Circus Tatali, they went with Ora's husband John Ernst and her sister's future husband George Stephen Novikoff, who taught the Loretta Twins to fly and the Flying Estonians were created. Circus Report, August 15, 1983, p. 14; March 26, 1984, p. 14. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Paul Edward Bohler worked on Hoxie Bros. in various capacities. In 1965 he was a clown and he and his wife worked the front end on this show in 1977. Created a miniature Bohler Bros. Circus, popular mall display. Died March 6, 1984, age 50. Circus Report, March 26, 1984, p. 18. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Boise Flying Act, Grotto Circus, 1941. "Conn. Fans Buck Snow to Attend Indoor Circus," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 8. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Marcel Boisvert was a high wire performer. At times he worked as a rigger and on props with Garden Bros. Circus and props at Marineland for John Cuneo. In 1980 he had a bike and wire walking act touring eastern Canada with Le Cirque International. He was featured as a star attraction at the Salon de Sciences Occultes in 1986. He also toured a season with Universal Circus. Died August 10, 1986 at Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Quebec, Canada, age 35, while performing on the high wire in his own circus, Le Cirque C.M. Circus Report, September 8, 1986, p. 20. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charlie Bolus (also called Chris Bolus), boss canvasman, was on Forepaugh, Montgomery Queen, Sells Bros., Main Circus, and others. Died in 1920, age about 80. Noted for patching a tent by cutting out a variety of shapes for the patch, such as a elephant head. "My Friend, Jimmy Whalen," White Tops, Vol. 15, Nos. 1-2 (Dec-Jan), 1941, p. 6. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Pecos Pate Boone (Thomas Payton Boone) and his family operated a wild west show for 22 years. Owned and operated a blacksmith show in Christoval, Texas and was author of Boone Boys - Frontiersmen and their Great Wild West Show." Claimed to be the great-great-grandson of Daniel Boone. Married India V. Boot in 1917 in Kansas. Died September 25, 1980 at Christoval, age 92. Circus Report, October 13, 1980, p. 30. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Curt Boquist, aerial performer, a native of Sweden. Curt and his wife, Melitta, performed as the Sikorskys, an aerial perch act, and as Melitta and Wicons, a ground perch act. They toured with Polack Bros. for several years and other major shows. Died July 11, 1980 at Naples, Florida, age 62. Circus Report, August 18, 1980, p. 6. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Arthur Borella, clown, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1910, 1926.(1) 1946: Arthur Borella, clown, currently appearing in a circus at the stadium comes from a circus family, 30 years under the big top, Borella spent five years each with Ringling Bros., Sells-Floto, Al G. Barnes, 12 years with Hagenbeck-Wallace, three years with Cole Bros. circus.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

1. Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, June 16, 1910; Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer, June 30, 1926. 2. Southtown Economist (Chicago, IL), May 5, 1946.

Borsini Troupe, company of five, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1908. Europe's wonderful globe act, vaudeville, 1911. Charleroi (PA) Mail, May 12, 1908; Daily Review (Decatur, IL), January 1, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Antonio Borza, "Charly," began performing at age 5 in his family's circus in Spain. He performed in Europe with his brother-sister trampoline acts and his impersonations of Charlie Chaplin. He was an acrobat, professional bull fighter and achieved the status of matador. Borza and his wife Thea, who was a bareback rider, came to the United States in 1940 to join Ringling-Barnum. He helped for the Sailor Circus in 1949. Later he and his wife opened a restaurant. Died May 13, 1987 at Sarasota, Florida, age 78. Circus Report, June 1, 1987, p. 23. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

F. A. Boudinot, "Babe," was general agent and traffic manager of Ringling-Barnum, retiring in 1955. Worked for some 42 years in advance advertising positions starting with Ringling Bros. Circus. Was famous for his opposition brigades. In later years was an executive with an outdoor advertising firm. Died March 18, 1981 at Chicago, Illinois, age 85. Circus Report, April 20, 1981, p. 21. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Firmin Bouglione was a member of the Bouglione circus family, show owners and wild animal trainers. Firmin was credited with having started several prominent animal trainers in the business. Died February 17, 1980 in Europe, age 75. Circus Report, November 24, 1980, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Joseph Bouglione, circus owner known as the French Barnum, was in the circus world for more than 50 years. He was also an acrobat and animal trainer. The Bouglione family owned the Cirque d'Hiver building and the Medrano Circus building. Died August 5, 1987 at Paris, France, age 83. Circus Report, September 21, 1987, p. 23. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Michelle Bourbon (Mike) was a white face clown with Hoxie, Clyde Beatty, Cole Bros., Ringling-Barnum and several carnivals. He died December 22, 1987 at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, age 51. Circus Report, March 28, 1988, p. 21. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bert Bower, lot superintendent, was shot and may not survive, at Frankfort, Kentucky, Howe's Great London, 1909. Van Wert (OH) Daily Bulletin, June 3, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Otis Bowers is too well known in the amusement profession to need any personal introduction or capitulation of his success in the calling of minstrelsy here. The popularity of the Beech & Bowers Famous Minstrels and the personal and magnetic drawing powers of its celebrated leaders are proverbial. Mr. Otis Bowers is a comedian of much versatility and laughter-provoking abilities and holds an enviable position among the leading minstrel men of this country. As one of the two leading members of the company bearing his name, jointly with that of Mr. Beech, his remarkable accomplishments and able directorship of the minstrel program have added to the lustre of his name in a field hitherto unexplored by him. Mr. Bowers is the owner of a number of famous running horses, among them being “Lady Nell” and “Bobby Beech,” the latter named after his famous partner. Ringling Bros. 1893. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Billy Boyd, Charles Boyd, performers, Cooper & Co. Circus, 1900. Billboard, June 30, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Marlene Bradbury and her husband, Floyd, were on the Famous Cole Circus and managed the Holiday Hippodrome show for nine years. Born in Illinois, Marlene Ewen married Floyd Bradbury in 1953. Died in November 1980 at Keokuk, Iowa, age 44. Circus Report, November 24, 1980, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Fred and Ella Bradna. But for an unfortunate accident under the big top six years ago, those grand troupers, Fred and Ella Bradna might still be on the road with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Hospitalization of Mr. Bradna for several months with a fractured right hip, influenced their decision to retire to the comparative quiet of their attractive Sarasota, Fla., bungalow, where they frequently entertain their friends of the circus world. It was during a matinee performance in Dallas, Texas, on September 12, 1945, that Mr. Bradna was incapacitated. A windstorm hit the show grounds, causing the tall quarter poles in the big top to dance, and this movement of supports for the great expanse of canvas alarmed the some 2,700 spectators witnessing the show. The crowd became panicky and made a rush for the exits, although a heavy rainstorm was in progress outside. Bradna and other officials of the show, assisted by policemen and firemen on duty in the tent, made vain efforts to keep the patrons in their seats. And in the scramble, Mr. Bradna was knocked down, suffering the hip injury. He had not recovered sufficiently to accompany the show when it left Sarasota for the 1946 Madison Square Garden engagement in New York, and since he and Mrs. Brandna were in their middle 70's with half a century of activity in the circus behind them, they reluctantly decided to conclude their professional careers.
          The Bradnas had come to America to perform in the Barnum & Bailey circus in 1903, upon its return from a five-year tour of Europe. In 1902, James A. Bailey, managing director of the show, saw the Bradna act in the London Hippodrome, and he contracted the couple to come to this country with his show the following season. Except for winter engagements in Europe, they were with the Barnum and Bailey Circus and the merged Ringling and Barnum & Bailey shows continuously for 42 years, and Mr. Bradna still holds the title of equestrian director emeritus, in recognition of his able and faithful performance of the duties of ringmaster for a third of a century.
          Mrs. Bradna was a bareback rider when she came to this country, her partner, Fred Derrick, an English equestrian. Some years later, she developed what was known in show parlance as an "act beautiful," more extravagantly described by press agents as "an altogether delightful display of color and charm in which thoroughbred horses and scores of dogs and doves assist Lady Dainty in the arena." This act represented an ingenious combination of features conceived by Mr. and Mrs. Bradna, varying from year to year and introducing new novelties, emphasizing grace and beauty of presentation. A gleaming white vehicle was drawn by teams of white horses while a highly trained winged horse rode on the cart. Clever white dogs walked in and around the rims of the wheels, balancing themselves as the vehicle was driven into the ring. A score or more attractive young women of the circus personnel, in handsome costumes added to the pretty picture, and Mrs. Bradna released a profusion of colored birds from a lofty cage, which circled the arena and alighted on the backs of the horses. This feature was presented in the center ring of the circus for a dozen or more years through the 1933 season. Thereafter, for 11 years, Mrs. Bradna matched her supreme horsemanship with that of famous equestrians gathered together from all over the world.
          Mr. Bradna was made equestrian director of the Barnuin & Bailey Circus in 1912, and he remained in that post when the show was merged with the Ringling circus. His principal duty was to assemble the acts contracted for the season into displays and to dovetail the numbers into a performance that had precision, variety and snap. Since there were often as many as 25 nationalities represented among the performers, many of them newcomers from abroad each season, his ability to speak English, French, German, Spanish and Italian, stood him in good stead in dealing with temperamental artists. With diplomacy and a knowledge of the temperaments of the profession, he kept peace among the great artists of the circus, and at the same time ruled with a firm hand to keep the program moving properly. Furthermore, he made a striking appearance in big top, sometimes immaculate in top hats and tails, sometimes impeccable in a red hunting coat, riding trousers and boots. A tiny whistle which he blew for the changing of acts was the law of the circus performers and hundreds responded promptly to its blasts throughout the show.
          The Bradnas' romance is a dramatic story. His family name was Ferbero, and he was born in Strassburg, Alsace-Lorraine, the son of a wealthy brewer. In his youth, he attended the public schools of his home town and became so proficient in vaulting that he held the record for all Europe three consecutive years from 1888 to 1890, clearing the bar at 11 feet, one-half inch, He also was an expert on the horizontal bars, an achievement which stood him in good stead in later years. Upon the completion of his schooling, he joined the French army and the end of eight years of service he held the commission of first lieutenant in the Eighth Regiment of Chevaux-Legers, or light cavalry.
          Ella Bradna is a Bohemian, was born on her father's circus. She and her brothers and sisters were trained as bareback riders, and while appearing in the Albert Schumann Circus in Vienna she first met Lt. Ferbero. Miss Bradna suffered a fall from her horse during a hurdle leaping number in front of the box in which Lt. Ferbero was sitting. He leaped to the arena and carried her from the path of other hurdle jumping animals. He returned to the circus the following day to pay his respects and learn that Miss Bradna had not been seriously hurt. Upon leaving the army, he joined two Rumanians in a horizontal bar act, performing under the title "The Poppescue Brothers" and it was while appearing at the Noveau Circus in Paris, that he and Miss Bradna met again and were married. That was the year 1900. Since the Bradna name was well known in European circuses, and Fred Ferbero knew he was destined for a circus career, he adopted his bride's family name to become known as Fred Bradna.
          During his career with the circus, Fred Bradna became acquainted with many prominent citizens and public officials. Prior to 1922, the circus staged a daily parade, and Mr. Bradna, as parade marshal, came to know thousands of police chiefs and other officers, with whom he consulted on parade routes through downtown areas. For a number of years, he spent the winter months producing indoor circuses in theatres, auditoriums and coliseums for Shrine temples, Elks lodges and other fraternal bodies, and these contacts added many friendships. And because he followed his hobbies so enthusiastically, he became acquainted with nearly every game warden in the country. He has fished and hunted in every one of the 48 states and in Canada and Mexico. He has thrilled to deep sea fishing near Boston and off the Florida coast, has angled for steelhead trout in Montana streams, big mouthed bass in Minnesota lakes and divers and sundry fish in Vermont creeks and Idaho rivers. He has cast among the stumps of the backwaters of the Calcasieu river near New Orleans, and has hunted deer in Texas and pheasants in the Dakotas.
          The friendships he and Mrs. Bradna have made throughout the country are evidenced by the more than 450 Christmas greeting cards they received the past Yuletide from all over the United States and several foreign [remainder of text missing]. - A. Morton Smith, "Circus Stars of Yesteryears, VIII. Fred and Ella Bradna" Hobbies, March 1951, pp. 26-27. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

William H. Brandon, well known for many years throughout the country as the keeper of the unruly elephant "Hannibal," connected with Van Amburgh's Menagerie, died suddenly on Sunday at Athens, N.Y., aged fifty-two years. New York Times, March 14, 1871, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Wm. S. Brandon has signed with the Great American R. R. Shows, as clown and for Dutch and Irish specialities in concert. New York Clipper, April 21, 1894, p. 102. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Charles Brady, superintendent of properties, Sells-Floto, 1911, had this position for several years. Colorado Springs (CO) Gazette, March 20, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Francis Edward Brann (Butch Siegrist) was an aerialist with Ringling-Barnum for many years. He was also with the Roy Rogers Thrill Circus. Died June 5, 1988 at Sarasota, Florida, age 95. Circus Report, June 27, 1988, p. 3. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ed. Brannan (E. L. Brannan), general agent, Sells-Gray Shows, 1900. Billboard, June 9, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Ed Brannon, animal trainer, 1941. "Circus Notes," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 16. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

C. W. Brasie, side show talker, last season with Ringling Bros., with Great Wallace Shows, 1900. New York Clipper, March 17, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Stephen Brenner was a clown who toured with circuses for three decades until he retired in 1943. Claimed he was the first "Bozo the Clown." After retirement, continued to clown for parties, parades, special events. Died April 3, 1982 at Baltimore, Maryland, age 87. Circus Report, April 26, 1982, p. 10. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charles Bricker, "Specks," Frank A. Robbins, 1910. McKean County Miner (Smethport, PA), December 22, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Don Bridwell, Whizzer the Clown, became a professional clown in 1950 on Cole Bros. Circus. After that he worked several shows, including Hagan Bros. and Shrine circuses. He was with Kelly-Miller, 1963. He put out his own show, Dawn Bros., in 1967. With Carson & Barnes, 1968; Shrine circuses 1969-71; Emmett Kelly Jr. Circus, 1971-73; Shrine circuses, 1974-75; Kelly Bros. and Garden Bros. circuses, 1977; Shrine circuses, 1979-83; TNT & Royal Olympic, 1984. Circus Report, October 28, 1985, n.p.n. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

John W. Brister, colored, Brister Band of Cincinnati, married Eva Hammond, a widow, snake charmer, on August. 18, 1900. One or both were with Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show, 1900. Billboard, August 25, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Bronze Troupe, acrobats, Howe's Great London, 1911, 1916. Daily Independent (Monessen, PA) April 26, 1911; Chareroi (PA) Mail, April 24 & 26, 1911; Daily Independent (Monessen, PA) April 20, 1916. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Leslie Brooks, clown, came to the United States in the early 1920s with a stilt walking troupe that toured vaudeville. He returned to England and returned to the US to tour with the Hamid-Morton Circus in the early 1960s. He worked for a number of circuses including the Gatti-Charles Circus. Died October 6, 1983 at Medford, Oregon, age 79. Circus Report, October 17, 1983, p. 9. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Brooks, Will and May Brooks, tattooed couple, have signed with the Pawnee Bill Show for next season, making their third season under the management of ??? ???. New York Clipper, March 25, 1893, p. 34. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for these persons.

Duncan Brown, bill poster, Cooper & Co., 1900. Billboard, August 18, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Emory C. Brown began his career in 1897 with the Forepaugh-Sells Circus as a teamster. Worked for Carl Hagenbeck Circus, M. L. Clark & Sons and other shows in a variety of jobs. At one time was a catcher in a flying act. Collector, donated his collection to Florida State University at Tallahassee. Died August 24, 1980 in Georgia, age 98. Circus Report, September 15, 1980, p. 23. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

George Brown, clown. see Marie Meers.

Harry Brown was a press agent for Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus for many years. He also worked in a variety of positions for Ringling-Barnum, Hagenbeck-Wallace, Hoxie Bros. and King Bros. Died December 29, 1982 at Bridgeton, New Jersey, age 63. Circus Report, March 15, 1983, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Howard Bruce, musician, drums, Gollmar Bros., 1910, resided Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Stevens Point (WI) Journal, March 19, 1910; Gazette (Stevens Point, WI), September 21, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Gloria Buchal was an acrobat with the Seven Ashtons risley act. Died April 23, 1982 in Australia, age 52. Circus Report, June 7, 1982, p. 12. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Fred Buchanan, proprietor, Yankee Robinson shows, changed name to Buchanan Bros. show, 1908. Des Moines (IA) Daily News, August 8, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

George Bulgaru, "Gheorghe," was an aerialits, gymnast and clown, featured for many years in Europe, South Africa and the United States. He was with Mills Bros., Krateyl, Kludsky, Togni, Boswell and other shows. Born in Romania, died May 17, 1988 at Sarasota, Florida, age 80. Circus Report, June 20, 1988, p. 29. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

E. M. Burk, railroad contractor, Great Wallace Shows, 1900. Resided Dayton, Kentucky. By June he was reported to remain in very serious condition. He was moved from Detroit to Chicago, at the Leland Hotel, suffering severely. E. D. Colvin, Jack Holland and Ralph Peckham are looking after him. By late June, he was convalescent. Billboard, June 2, 1900; June 23, 1900, p. 5; June 30, p. 5. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

William E. Burke, "Billy," many years singing clown with old Forepaugh Show, several seasons with Sells Brothers. Now in England with a comical educated mule, 1900. Also see Slout's Olympians on this website. Billboard, June 2, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Foster Burns, advance, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1909; treasurer, Sells-Floto 1910. Perry (IA) Daily Chief, May 22, 1909; Yuma (AZ) Examiner, April 23, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this person.

Burrell Bros., double ring act, Howard Damon Australian Shows, 1909. Charleroi (PA) Mail, May 25, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

W. H. Burt. To guard the patrons of the Ringling Bros.’ Show against crooks, pickpockets and fakirs is the difficult and sometimes perilous work of Mr. W. H. Burt, the popular and wide-awake superintendent of our Pinkerton Detective force. Few, even of those experienced with the details of show life, know the many difficulties that Mr. Burt has to contend with in keeping away from the show and towns it visits, the army of dishonest people who, but for his untiring and constant attention, would infest our route with their disagreeable presence. That he is eminently successful in his work is proven by the fact that patrons of the Ringling Bros. are so thoroughly protected from these causes, that no single instance of any dishonest depredation has occurred since his incumbency of the position he occupies. Mr. Burt is a man of wide experience in his profession and possesses the happy faculty of making many friends among the officials of the cities visited by the show. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Guy A. Buswell, "Buzzy," joined Al Wheeler's Dog & Pony Show when he was 16. He was with Wallace Bros., Sparks, Sells-Floto, John H. Robinson, Walter L. Main, the old King Bros., Hagenbeck-Wallace and with Ringling-Barnum in the 1930s. He was first a laborer, then worked with horses handling the teams for loading and unloading the circus. He left circus life in 1941 and did not return until he signed with the Great American Circus at age 82, later with Hoxie Bros. as a maintenance man, still with this circus at age 87. Circus Report, July 6, 1981, p. 18. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Albert W. Butler,"Silent Al," died November 4, 1973 at the age of 84. He was best known as a contracting agent for the Ringling-Barnum Circus, a position he held for 27 years. Between seasons he handled publicity for Rogers & Hammerstein. In recent years he was associated with the Morris Mechanic Theater in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended the Milwaukee parade in 1972. Bandwagon, Vol. 17, No. 6 (Nov-Dec), 1973, p. 43. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

    I saw your entry on Al W. Butler. I don’t think he was called “Silent Al.” I think that was someone else. [I have] his draft registration card from 1917. He was [a press agent] with Sells-Floto then. He was my grandfather. My mother, Betty Jean Butler (died 1994), was born in Venice, Ca. She studied dance as a child and was a dancer and bit part actress at MGM during the Depression. They lived in Woodland, CA at the time this enlistment card was made. My grandmother, Fanny Butler, his first wife, was born and raised in Woodland. - Tony Knight.

Isabelle Butler, was in vaudeville, performing on skates. Due to ill health she changed to ice rink performances. Miss Butler was with Barnum & Bailey three years, did the "dip of death" in an automobile, taking the place of Madame de Teirs (Mauricia de Tiers), the French woman who originated the act and was killed in a fall from a defective machine. Miss Butler has done trick bicycle riding. Isabelle Butler did the dip of death, driving a car loop upside down that lasted four seconds, performing her act twice a day. Manitoba (Winnipeg, Canada) Morning Free Press, January 10, 1911; Women Daredevils by Julia Cummins. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Evelyn Byron (Robson) joing the Bessie Valdare troupe of lady cyclists in 1907 and was with them for six years. She then joined the Barnum & Bailey Circus as an aerialist, cyclist, bareback rider, etc. she was also a partner in the acts of Dooley & Evelyn and Evelyn & Dolly. She married Roy Byron in 1919. After his death in 1943 shoe was a dental clerk. Died December 13, 1977 at Northfield, Massachusetts, age 88. Circus Report, January 16, 1978, p. 11. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

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Rev. John H. Callahan was a chaplain with Ringling-Barnum, Cole Bros. railroad circus and Clyde Beatty Circus. Died March 25, 1987 at Rock Island, Illinois, age 82. Circus Report, April 20, 1987, p. 17. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Campbell & Johnson, bicycle act, Great Floto Shows, 1905. Galveston (TX) Daily News, March 28, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charlie Cambell was advance man for Carson & Barnes and the Davenport shows, operated the Marie O'Day Palace Car for a number of years, and was with various other shows. Died February 13, 1984 at Atlanta, Georgia, age 72. Circus Report, March 5, 1984, p. 3. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

James Campbell, owner, Campbell Bros., 1908. Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, September 19, 1908. Also see Bardy, Ed, Story of the Campbell Bros. Circus, , Traverse City, MI: Ed Bardy, 1981. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

P. B. Campbell, press agent, Campbell Bros. Waukesha (WI) Freeman, August 18, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Virgil Campbell. Fairbury, Neb., July 4 - Virgil Campbell, 84, former partner in operation of Campbell Bros.' Circus, died here Tuesday (30). He had broken a hip and wrist in a fall and was in a hospital at the time of his death. Funeral services were conducted here Wednesday (1). He is survived by a daughter, Gertrude Campbell. A native of Augusta, Ill., Campbell and three brothers lived in Fairbury when they framed a medicine show with Fred Hatfield and Lee Greer in 1894. The show was converted into a wagon circus and later moved by railroad. It was closed in 1912. After that, one of the group, Al G. Campbell, continued in circus business, largely with small shows built at the William P. Hall farm, Lancaster, Mo. Fairbury was the site of Campbell Bros.' winter quarters, and Virgil Campbell made his home here since the show closed. The show, nicknamed the "Hump Show," used music of "The Campbells Are Coming" as bally. In 1951, the Jefferson County Fair here honored Campbell with a "circus day," and several former employees of the Campbell circus attended. (Copied from the Billboard) Bandwagon, July, 1953, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Oreste Canestrelli, equestrian, a member of the Canestrelli circus family, traveled in Europe with his family's Circus Canestrelli. He came to the United States in 1956 for Ringling-Barnum, doing an unsupported ladder act, later presenting a chimp act. In later years he trained horses for the circus. Died circa 1988 in Naples, Italy, age 59. Circus Report, March 14, 1988, p. 12. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Canto, the Demon, dives from top of tent, lands on his chest on a chute, slides the entire length, is shot off end and lands on his feet. John Robinson's, 1910. Possibly the same as Carbo below. Iowa City (IA) Daily Press, June 20, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Feofilo Carbo, slides downward on a wire from dome of tent, Sells-Floto, 1911. Oakland (CA) Tribune, April 28 & 30, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Henry E. Carderry was an electrician with the Ringling circus. Died December 29, 1984 at Loma Linda, California, age 78. Circus Report, February 25, 1985, p. 19. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Addie G. Carlson was a trapeze artist who toured for nearly 30 years. She was a member of the Stubblefield Trio with her mother, Annie Stubblefield and step-father George Lowe. She began performing at age 10 and was with Barnum & Bailey in 1906, remaining with that show when it became Ringling-Barnum until she retired. Born in 1892, she died in April 1982 in Dallas, Texas, age 89. Circus Report, May 3, 1982, p. 16; May 17, 1982, p. 15. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

La Belle Carmen Troupe, Wallace Bros. Circus 1898.(1) Spanish high wire artists, Forepaugh-Sells, 1902.(2) Carmen Troupe, five in number, vaudeville, 1905.(3) La Troupe Carmen, four people, Great Wallace, 1905.(4) La Carmen Troupe, Barnum & Bailey, 1907.(5) Carmen Troupe, Three Carmens, high wire, acrobats, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Couderc, Pierre, Truth or Fiction, Legend or Fact, Bandwagon, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Mar-Apr), 1965. Online www.circushistory.org/Bandwagon/bw-1965Mar.htm.
2. Ad. Waukesha (WI) Freeman, August 14, 1902.
3. Washington Post, January 3, 1905.
4. Alton (IL) Evening Telegraph, June 24, 1905.
5. New Castle (PA) News, April 12, 1907.
6. Newark (OH) Daily Advocate, April 30, 1910; Evening Telegram (Elyria, OH), May 24, 1910; Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, June 16, 1910.

Fred Carmichael, advance, Campbell Bros., 1910. Oxnard (CA) Courier, April 22, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bertha Carnihan is a little lady whose gigantic height does not exceed 32 inches. She is 21 years of age and, as can be seen by her picture, a very comely and bright little lady. She does not share any of the childlike habits usually found in little people, but, on the contrary, possesses an independence commensurate with several times her diminutive height. Miss Carnihan is a very well-educated and highly accomplished little lady and has been one of the attractions of the Ringling Brothers’ Museum for the past three years. She lives in Benson, Minn., where she has a host of warm and admiring friends. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Carlosa, only name by which he is known, balances an unsupported ladder on a table, climbs it, walks down the other side backwards, then walks up backwards, turns ladder around while at the top, then climbs down again, Shipp's Indoor Circus, 1901-1902.(1) Perpendicular ladder, Van Amburg Shows, 1904.(2) Carlosa and Silverton, wire act, Frank A. Robbins, 1906-1907.(3) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, January 30, 1901; Cedar Rapids (IA) Republican, February 3, 1901; Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, January 27, 1902.
2. Spirit Lake (IA) Beacon, July 29, 1904.
3. Bandwagon, Sep-Oct, 2001, p. 30, Nov-Dec, 2001, p. 33, 34; Portsmouth (NH) Herald, June 6, 1907.

Bill Carpenter, clown, Norris & Rowe, 1908. Woodland (CA) Daily Democrat, April 20, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Sid Carpenter, trainmaster, Sells-Floto, 1909, was with Sells-Foto for last three years. Stevens Point (WI) Daily Journal, August 14, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Will Carpenter, ponies, Gentry Bros., 1908. Austin (MN) Daily Herald, June 26, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Hallett and Carroll have signed with the New Great Syndicate Shows for next season. New York Clipper, February 1, 1896, p. 761. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

John Carroll, elephant trainer and handler. Was a cage boy for Terrell Jacobs, then joined the Kelly-Miller Circus circa 1948 and remained with the Miller organization. Died at age 54 on April 25, 1980, at Jacksonville, Texas while with the Carson & Barnes Circus. Circus Report, May 19, 1980, p. 3. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Nettie Carroll, "Deft and Dexterous Exercises on a Frail and Swinging Wire Thread," flying rings, husband Charles Carroll, ticket seller, calliope player, Ringling Bros., 1900, 1901.(1) Nettie Carroll rides a bicycle on a cable, Ringling Bros., 1902.(2) Shipp's Indoor Circus 1903, 1905: Charles treasurer for Mr. Shipp in winter, next season will play the steam calliope for Barnum & Bailey, in show business 15 years; his wife Nettie Carroll, tight wire, flying rings, in the business since she was 2 1/2, formerly one of the Stirk Family, bicycle riders, also goes with Barnum & Bailey.; they live in Petersburg, IL. Mrs. Carroll, tight wire, flying rings.(3) Nettie, high wire, Forepaugh-Sells, 1906-1907.(4) Nettie and Nettie Carroll Troupe, Barnum & Bailey, 1908, 1910, 1911.(5) Nettie, Nettie Carroll Troupe, wire artists, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1914, 1915, 1919.(6) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Cedar Rapids (IA) Republican, July 28, 1900; Ringling Bros. Route Book, Ringling Bros.' World's Greatest Shows, Season 1900; News Democrat (Uhrichsville, OH), June 28, 1901.
2. Fort Wayne (IN) News, May 24, 1902.
3. Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, January 27, 1903; Cedar Rapids (IA) Sunday Republican, February 1, 1903; Daily Review (Decatur, IL), January 6, 1905; Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, February 21, 1905.
4. Semi Weekly Reporter (Waterloo, IA), June 29, 1906; Middletown (NY) Daily Times-Press, July 30, 1907.
5. San Antonio (TX) Gazette, October 7, 1908; Van Wert (OH) Daily Bulletin, July 11, 1910; Logansport (IN) Reporter, May 31, 1911.
6. Evening Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), June 30, 1914; Newark (OH) Advocate, April 23, 1915; Iowa City (IA) Citizen, June 23, 1919.

Nettie Carroll troupe, Hagenbeck-Wallace circus 1914. From Mike Rammer, Oshkosh WI.

John Carroll, horse trainer, ringmaster, Sells-Floto, 1908; trained ponies, Great Floto Shows, 1905. Reno (NV) Evening Gazette, May 12, 1908; Ogden (UT) Standard, May 14, 1908; Galveston (TX) Daily News, March 28, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

William Carroll and wife, trick mule, Frank A. Robbins, 1905. Bandwagon, Jul-Aug, 2001, p. 37. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Gwen W. Carsey, performer, appeared with Sells-Floto, Sparks and other show. At one time managed the concession department on Polack Bros. Died January 5, 1980 at San Antonio, Texas. Wife of circus band director Bee T. Carsey. Circus Report, January 21, 1980, p. 19. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Jean P. Carson, "Miss Jeannie," was a wardrobe mistress, dancer and elephant rider with Ringling and Ringling-Barnum from 1916 to 1974, retiring at age 82. Died November 24, 1981 at Sarasota, Florida, age 89. Circus Report, December 14, 1981, p. 8. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

James E. Carter, one of Michigan's oldest showmen passed away at Big Rapids, Michigan, on October 16th, age 75 years. Jim as he was known by everyone who knew him was a real trouper and a true friend regardless of weather or financial conditions. He was always ready to do his best that the show might go on. He was a versatile performer and musician, being able to play any part, either Comedy or Straight and could play any musical instrument including piano and calliope. In the late nineties he organized a Dramatic Show under canvas and travelled by wagon in the early part of 1902. The show had grown and a railroad car was purchased. The performances now presented were "Uncle Toms Cabin" and "Ten Nights in a Bar Room." At the outbreak of the First World War, the show was sold and he joined the Side Show Band of Ringling Bros. This was the first and only time that they had an all white band in the Side Show, which was then under the direction of the late "Lew Graham." At the termination of his contract with the Ringling Show, Jim again engaged in the operation of his own show which this time went out on trucks playing halls in the winter and canvas in the summer, travelling through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. During the late 1920's Jim and his family travelled with various shows and circuses, some of which were Adkins Dog and Pony Show, Tiger Bills Wild West Show (then owned by the late "Col. Emmet Snyder"), Lewis Bros. Circus and Fisher Bros. Circus. From 1948 until a few weeks before his death, Jim was again active in the operation of his own show. During World War II, he purchased a home and established a Winter quarters at Morley, Michigan, where his wife and son now reside. Jim will be missed by all who knew him. Bandwagon, Vol. 1, January, 1954, p. 12. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Lucille Carter and her husband, H. Nick Carter, toured as the Skating Carters with Shell Bros., Russell Bros., Dailey Bros., Joe B. Webb and several carnivals. She died May 14, 1979, age 71. Circus Report, July 2, 1979, p. 16. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Maude Carter. Vandevere Female Zouaves, under direction of Captain Maude Carter, Lemon Bros., 1905. Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, April 30, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Hazel William Case, aerialist, bareback rider and wire walker, was the first performer to take a trapeze act into a New York night club. She appeared at the Atlantic City Steel Pier, with leading circuses, and the May Wirth riding act. She married Marvin Case, and in the 1940s-50s she performed on the slack wire with her husband. Her mother was the sister of Charles T. Hunt, owner of Hunt Bros. Circus and she was affiliated with the Hunt Circus for many years. Circus Report, December 26, 1983, p. 14. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Jas. Casey, excursion brigade, Ringling Bros., 1900. Billboard, June 30, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Philip Castang. "Phil Castang, who has resigned as manager of the Swope Park zoo, will leave June 21 to take charge of the Memphis Zoological Gardens. Castang has become almost a part of the Kansas City zoo during the year and ten months that he has had charge at Swope Park. His desk in the southwest corner of the zoo building often was thronged by visitors seeking information about the lions, monkeys and Gila monsters and Phil Castang and his cockney dialect always was ready to explain. 'Oy always tike pines to tell them all they want to knaow about the animals,' said Castang. 'What's the goud o' 'avin 'm if the people don't know wot the're lookin' at. That's wot Oy sye.'
      Lion Cubs His First Playmates. But Phil Castang has been offered a better job, and no doubt the animals, from the reptiles to the bears, all of whom had learned that the short, stocky man with the jaguar claw scars across the left side of his face and the straight stem briar pipe always between his teeth had no fear of them, but knew how to minister to their every want, will miss him, too.
      Castang was born almost within arm's length of a cage of lions, in a circus wagon while the circus was showing in London, forty-three years ago. His first playmates were bear and lion cubs. He learned the business of animal trainer under his father, Harry Castang of Leadenhall Market, London, a partner of the famous Carl Hagenbeck. Later he became head animal trainer for Hagenbeck at his 800-acre zoo In Hamburg, Germany.
      Castang came to this country with one of Hagenbeck's shows nine years ago. He had charge of Hagenbeck's animal exhibit during the St. Louis World's Fair, where he worked in eleven acts each day with performing elephants, lions, tigers, polar bears, goats and dogs. After the World's Fair he traveled with the Hagenbeck circus until that outfit was purchased by B. E. Wallace of Peru, Ind. He remained with Wallace four years, and then trained chimpanzees for a circus man named J. E. Edwards, leaving this job to take charge of the Swope Park zoo.
      Memphis Offers a Decent Wage. It had been the dream of Phil Castang to build a cageless zoo at Swope Park, like the cageless zoo of the Hagenbeck's in Germany, where the animals are confined in the open by ditches, but lack of funds made even minor improvements impossible. Memphis, which has commission government, has a zoo containing more than four hundred animals, including three pairs of breeding monkeys, the only ones in the country. Memphis will pay Mr. Castang $1,800 a year besides furnishing him a house and all living expenses for himself and family. His salary here was $85 a month and no house or living expenses."(1) Philip Castang with Hagenbeck-Wallace 1908, performing elephants with Dode Fisk Shows 1910.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Kansas City (MO) Star, June 11, 1913.
2. Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, February 4, 1908; Marshfield (WI) Times, July 13, 1910; Marshfield (WI) Times, July 13, 1910, and July 27, 1910.

Castello Family. When the members of the Castello family of bareback riding and aerial fame, got together in Henderson, North Carolina, their home town, to put on their final performance for the American Legion circus in 1935 - 16 years ago - the outdoor show world lost more than a dozen stars and promising young performers. For just as they reached the top of their profession under the big tops, the Castellos have been equally successful in the business and professional world, with Henderson as their base of operations.
          The Castellos today consist of five brothers and sisters and their eight children, of the third and fourth generations of circus riders. The family dynasty began with Dan Castello, the famous clown and rider of Racine, Wisconsin, who had his own circus on the road in the 60's. He teamed up with W. C. Coup, an enterprising young outdoor showman, to operate Coup and Castello's Circus. Ambitious to make their show the largest in the country, they successfully induced P. T. Barnum to join them in a larger operation, which made its debut in 1871 as P. T. Barnum's Great Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Hippodrome, which eventually became the world's largest, Barnum & Bailey Circus.
          Young Dave Loughlin, who had the urge to be a circus performer, apprenticed himself to Castello, as was the custom of beginners in those days. Castello took a liking to the youth and taught him to be an all-around performer, at the same time legally adopting him as a son. Dave teamed with two brothers to present circus acts for several years. Then he met and was married to Ada Wallett, a native of England and daughter of Madame Jeffreys, famous English tight rope artist. Miss Wallett was a descendant of William Wallett, last of Britain's court jesters, and she came to this country as Zazel, the first woman to be shot out of a cannon, in the late 70's. Unlike the present-day human projectiles who land in a net, Miss Wallett was propelled to a trapeze, where she went through an act after her trip through space. Once she was in the cannon barrel awaiting the signal for her departure, when she readied up to make sure her hair was in place. That movement caused her to suffer serious injury and thereafter she never liked to see a mirror, because, as she said, "it reminded me of the vanity that caused me to get hurt."
          Dave Loughlin taught his wife to ride and they had their carrying act on the Adam Forepaugh-Sells Bros., Norris & Rowe, and other circuses for years. Meanwhile their five children, Dave, Jr., Charlie, Fred, Edward and Edith, learned to ride while the family was living in Cortland, New York. Today, Dave, the elder member of the family, and head of the troupe after his father's death in 1923, owns a hardware store in Henderson, is a director of the First National bank and has served as a member of the city council. Charlie owns a smoke shop and a taxi business and Edward is in the jewelry business under the firm name of Loughlin and Goodwin, with stores in Henderson and Warrenton. Fred was killed in a fall from a fire truck in Henderson in 1917. Sister Edith is now Mrs. Edith O'Lary of Kissimee, Florida, and an adopted sister, Ruth, is now Mrs. Nicholas Jeffreys, a school teacher in Clayton, N. C.
          But for many years, the magic name "The Riding Castellos" was to be found in the programs of leading circuses, and on the bills of principal vaudeville circuits, grandstand shows, and amusement parks throughout the country. The Castellos worked in various combinations through the years as circumstances dictated. In the beginning the youngsters were members of their parents' family troupe. But Dave. Sr. fell under a passenger train he was boarding at Henderson, and lost a leg. Realizing his performing days were over, he purchased a hotel in Henderson. Other members of the family carried on in the best traditions of the circus. Mrs. Castello and son, Dave, had their carrying act on Ringling Brothers circus in 1912, and daughter, Edith, did a principal riding act. That same year, the Alpine family of high wire artists was featured in the performance. On the Ringling lot, Dave Castello met Pearl Alpine, who became his bride, and learned to be a rider under her husband's tutelage. Meanwhile, Edith Castello, her sister-in-law, Bessie Castello, widow of Fred, and Lulu Davenport, of another prominent circus family, formed a riding act known as The Riding Waltons, which was with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus in 1919. The name of the act was from Edith's husband, Edward Walton, who also learned to ride. This act was with circuses for several years, and was revived in the 30's to play at Coney Island, with Edith, sister-in-law, Bessie, and her adopted sister, Ruth, as members.
          When the elder Mrs. Castello gave up riding to keep house for her granddaughter, Bebe Castello, who was attending public school in Henderson, Dave, his wife, Pearl, and brother, Edward, formed a trio using the family name, and they were together for 13 years, playing principally in parks and at fairs and in vaudeville. Eddie was the comedian of the act. Charlie Castello preferred aerial acts to the family's traditional riding, and he produced a single high act, in which he did swinging perch, cloud swing, roman rings and loop walking.
          The third generation of Castellos had only begun to take part in the family acts, when the Castellos retired from show business. The Dave Castellos' only child, Sylvia, learned to ride, and when she was 15, substituted for her mother in the act, while the latter was ill. She is now Mrs. Thurston Hoyle, a housewife in Henderson. Charlie Castello had five children, three of whom were performers. Charlie, Jr. learned his father's aerial act and alternated with him on occasion. Daughters, Zazel and Margie were acrobats. They are now Mrs. Woodrow Johnson of Fuquay Springs, N. C., and Mrs. Margie Cooper of Henderson. Fred and Davada were too young to be performers when their father quit the road. The Edward Castellos have two sons, Edward and Davis, neither of whom was old enough to be a performer, when their father wrote finis to his circus career.
          Only the late Fred Castello's descendants have continued in circus work. His wife Bessie, who started her career with the Gregory family of acrobats, continued in show business after her relatives had retired. Her brother, William Skelton, entered the insurance business and now is the highly respected and capable resident vice president of Loyal Protective Life Insurance company in Toronto. But Bessie, like her brothers and sisters-in-law, quit the circus at the end of the 1935 season. Her daughter, Bebe, married Joe Siegrist, aerialist, and they have their own high act. The Siegrists' daughter, Joan, married Eldon Day, also an aerialist, and they have a flying act.
          Retirement from the circus field has not kept the Castellos, or Loughlins, the family name they use in their home town, from enjoying some of the aspects of trouping which appealed to them most. The Dave Loughlins, who enjoyed their travels with circuses over the United States, Canada, Mexico and Cuba, now have a house trailer, and they take it with them to Florida during the winter months and make other trips over the country. "Reminds us of the old days," says Mrs. Loughlin. Charlie Loughlin, the former aerialist, still likes aerial thrills, and owns and operates his own airplane. Once while performing in Maine, he fell from his rigging and suffered a broken leg. The next day, with the leg in a cast, he drove his equipment truck back to Henderson. In 1947, his plane crashed and he was laid up in a hospital with broken bones for months. But he was flying again as soon as his doctor dismissed him.
          Charlie's most exciting experience, however, occurred while he was fishing off the Carolina coast. He discovered his boat was in close proximity to a bombing target of the U. S. navy. He sent word to the Coast guard of his predicament, but before word could be relayed to the navy, bombers came over and began peppering the target with explosives. Charlie clung to his boat as it bounced and floundered, but he escaped unhurt.
          While the Loughlins display a lively interest in the careers of their niece and grandniece, Bebe Siegrist and Joan Day, they have no regrets that they quit the circus. For they have since led such busy lives in Henderson, that they have had no time for other than pleasant memories of their show world days. - A. Morton Smith, "Circus Stars of Yesteryears, X. The Castello Family" Hobbies, May 1951, pp. 26-27. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bessie Castello. Fred Castello convinced his father Dave, head of the famous Castello family of bareback riders, that he had located a promising rosinback horse in Detroit. And since the success of bareback riders largely depend on sure-footed, broad-beamed equines, the elder Castello yielded the wherewithal for the round trip from their home town of Henderson, North Carolina, and the purchase price of the animal. But was he surprised when Fred came home on Christmas eve, 1908, minus the horse, but with a pretty bride. He had been married to Bessie Gregory of the Gregory family of acrobats two days before.
          Thus began Bessie Castello's transition from an acrobat to a bareback rider of note and today as she sits in her cozy cottage in Henderson which has been her home since her marriage, she reflects on 40 years of trouping with the big shows and little ones, and the three generations of her descendants who are carrying on in the sawdust arena. And while she has been retired from show business some 15 years, she may turn up most any time in the circus arena. For though Mrs. Castello quit riding in 1935, she appeared 10 years later at the St. Louis Police circus, as a character clown, and was such a hit that Roy Rogers contracted her for a 13-weeks' tour with his troupe. Mrs. Oastello, although a grandmother, impersonated a little girl who had "lost" her father at the circus, and she prowled through the seats, screaming for "Daddy" to the hilarious amusement of the spectators.
          Bessie Gregory was born January 30, 1888 in Ottawa, Canada, the daughter of John and Mary Skelton. Curiously enough, while her parents were both members of theatrical families, neither of them took to acting. Her father was a building contractor in Ottawa. His brother, Charlie, who took the professional name of Gregory, headed the Gregory family of acrobats, while Mrs. Skelton was the former Mary Brown, sister of the Six Brown Brothers troupe, of vaudeville fame, who got their start in Ringling Brothers circus concert.
          Bessie made her debut as a performer when she was eight years old as a member of the Gregory acrobatic troupe. Other members were her uncle, Charlie, and his two daughters, Bessie and Marguerite. And with two Bessies in the act, Charlie's daughter was known as "Big Bess" and her cousin, newly initiated, was "Little Bess." The latter's first appearance was in an Ottawa theatre, since her uncle wanted to make sure of her stage presence before he took her on the road. In the years that followed, Bessie not only took part in the acrobatic act, but she was also a topmounter for her uncle's balancing perch act, and participated in a triple trapeze act with her cousins. They were with various circuses, including Adam Forepaugh-Sells Brothers, and it was in 1903 while with the Morris and Rowe circus, that she met Fred Castello of The Riding Castellos.
          The Castellos came from a pioneer family of American circus artists. Dave Castello, Fred's father, whose family name was Loughlin, was apprenticed to the famous Dan Castello of bareback riding fame, who was a partner in the P. T. Barnum Circus and Menagerie, when it went on the road for the first time in 1871. Dave Castello was married to Zazel, the human cannonball, said to be the first woman to be shot out of a cannon in a circus arena, featured by the Batchellor and Doris circus as early as 1881. Fred was one of five children of this couple who became riders and aerialists. After his marriage to Bessie Gregory, the couple had their own riding act on the Yankee Robinson Circus in 1909 and 1910. Between those seasons, their daughter, Bebe was born at Henderson.
          From the Yankee Robinson circus, the Castellos went to the Sparks Circus operated by the late Charlie Sparks and it was in the fall of 1917 that Fred Castello was accidentally killed. Between circus seasons, when the family spent their winters in Henderson, Mr. Castello was a deputy sheriff and volunteer fireman. He was mounting a fire truck to answer an alarm, when his pistol in a holster on his hip, was accidentally discharged, causing a wound that soon thereafter took his life.
          Mrs. Castello joined her sister-in-law, Edith Castello, and Lulu Davenport, of another famous family of bareback riders on the Ringling Brothers Circus in 1918. The trio of feminine artists were known as The Riding Waltons. When Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circuses were combined for the season of 1919, Mrs. Castello joined the Orrin Davenport family of riders, who were with the Ringling show for three years and then moved to Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, where they were a center ring feature for the next five years.
          In the latter years, Mrs. Castello was joined during the summer months by daughter, Bebe, who was attending school in Henderson, and she rode with her mother in the Davenport family act, and later with the Poodles Hanneford and May Wirth riding acts. Mrs. Castello left the Davenport troupe to join the Hannefords in 1927, and during the next eight years, she was with Poodles Hanneford's riding act several years on the Sells-Floto circus, and with the George Hanneford act on the Downie Brothers circus.
          In 1934, she joined her sisters-in-law, Edith and Ruth Castello, in a revival of the Riding Waltons troupe, and they were featured at Steeplechase park, Coney Island, New York, throughout the season. The next year, the act played amusement parks and fairs throughout the country, and at the end of the season, Mrs. Castello retired from the circus arena. It was the same season that her brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, gave up trouping to become substantial business people of their home town of Henderson.
          It was too much for Bessie Castello, however, to disassociate herself entirely with show business, and she went to the John Benson Wild Animal Farm at Nashua, New Hampshire, in the spring of 1936, as an instructor for juvenile aspirants to learn bareback riding. For the next four years, Mrs. Castello spent the outdoor seasons demonstrating the art of bareback riding to youthful novices.
          Meanwhile, daughter Bebe had been married to Joe aerialists, and they were the parents of a lovely blonde daughter, Joanne. In 1940, when Joanne was ready to enter junior high school, her grandmother gave up tutoring at the Benson farm to keep house in Henderson so her granddaughter could attend school there while her parents were on the road with shows. Joanne was graduated from high school in 1944 and joined her parents with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus as an aerialist.
          Mrs. Castello's yearning for show business was revived and she conceived the kid character and sold the idea to the producer of the St. Louis Police Circus. Since her engagement in 1946 with the Roy Rogers troupe, she has remained at her home in Henderson except for occasional visits with her children and grandchildren. Granddaughter Joanne, was married to Elden Day, an aerialist and now they are the parents of blonde, bright-eyed Dolores, Mrs. Castello's great-granddaughter. The four generations of Mrs. Castello's family were united during the summer season of 1950 and tiny three-year-old Dolores already has received a booking agent's contract as a performer, when she is ready for her circus debut.
          Mrs. Castello, who was once described by a magazine writer as "a cyclonic French doll in ruffles, ribbons, vermillion lips and a mop of curls" certainly belies the fact that she is a great-grandmother. She is still youthful in appearance with blonde hair, flashing brown eyes and dimples, and dynamic in her actions. It would not surprise her family if she takes another fling at show business. Daughter Bebe, on the other hand, looks forward to her retirement. She and her husband have a high aerial act, performing on trapeze bars 100 feet above the ground. Mrs. Siegrist is planning for the time when they will have a home of their own, so they may send Dolores, their granddaughter, to school, just as Mrs. Castello kept house for Joanne, Dolores' mother. - A. Morton Smith, "Circus Stars of Yesteryears, VII. Bessie Castello" Hobbies, February 1951, pp. 28-29. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Dave Castello, Sr. (Dave C. Laughlin). “Wagon Show Organized. Will Leave Cortland In May to Travel In the East. Cortland, March 18. - The Costello & Graves circus, which has been in progress of formation here for the past few months, will be launched forth on May 5th, the opening taking place at Homer. On the following day the show will be given in this city. The new circus will travel by wagon and will be composed of about sixty people, as many horses and a large number of wagons. Places of 2,000 to cities of 40,000 will be visited. The central, northern, and eastern parts of this State will be first in the line of the new company. The New England States will then be visited. A 100-foot round top tent that was used for a few weeks last summer at Newport in the giving of a society circus has been secured for the show. This will seat 3,000 people. Other tents have been purchased and will arrive the early part of April. A fine aggregation of performers been gotten together. No animals except ponies and dogs will be carried. Mr. Costello is a veteran showman and has for the past few years been the proprietor of the Kremlin hotel. Mr. Graves is a fine wire drawer at the Wickwire factory.”(1) Castello & Graves, winterquarters, Cortland, NY, circa 1906.(2) See Slouth's Olympians on this website and Draper article in Bandwagon, Sep-Oct, 2003. This circus variously titled Costello & Graves or Castello & Graves. Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Syracuse (NY) Herald, March 19, 1905.
2. "Tent Show Winter Quarters," Billboard, n.d., p. 38. Probably 1906.

Hubert Castle, see Hal Smith.

Blanca Escalante Caucia was a member of the original Escalante Family. Toured with Al G. Barnes, Hagenbeck-Wallace and other shows. Then became a night club singer. Died April 23, 1978 at Foster City, California, age 60. Circus Report, May 8, 1978, p. 18. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Jack Cavanaugh and wife, animal act, riders, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. Mrs. Cavanaugh also did swinging ladder. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Don Cavilla. Mr. Cavilla was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on January 6, 1849, the son of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Cavilla He followed in the footsteps of his father before him, graduating from the University of South Carolina Medical School set up practice in Gastonia, Dr. Cavilla saw some acrobats perform one afternoon, and made the boast he could do everything they could and more. That night Dr. Cavilla opened in a blackface acrobatic act and thereafter traded the 'Doctor' for 'Mister.' This was much against his father's and mother's will. His mother, Irene, was the youngest sister of the great South Carolina statesman, John C. Calhoun.
       The same year Mr. Cavilla joined the orginal P. T. Barnum Circus as one of the orginal twenty-five clowns used by the great showman. That was the beginning of his 81 year career as a clown and aerial acrobat. He was an active performer until the age of 103. The Big Top has been Mr. Cavilla's life - his heartaches - his happiest moments.
       In 1888, Mr. Cavilla witnessed a great tragedy when his bride-to-be, Miss Adeli Gaffney, went into the cage of six of her pet tigers and they became vicious and attacked her. Mr. Cavilla went into the cage fearless and brought her out, and she died in his arms. This was one of the saddest experiences in the life of Mr. Cavilla. Later Mr. Cavilla married Miss Clara Bottcher of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and had four children. His two daughters followed the medical profession at their father's wish.
       Mr. Cavilla's first sight of blood was not in medical college but in the Civil War, when he entered on the side of his native south as a dispatch runner under General Beauregard. He was 13 years old. Later he was transferred to General Pickett's army and remained with that outfit until the close of the war. In addition to his own part in the Civil War he has felt the effects of four more wars; the Spanish-American, the trouble on the Mexican border, the World Wars One and Two.
       Mr. Cavilla's fabulous career under the big top stretches over eight decades and took him around the world several times. He said he learned the advice for long life from a 136 year old Chinese philosopher on a visit to Canton, China, in 1900. He recalled he told the venerable Chinese sage that he had "a mania for living" and desired to attain a greater age than his father, who later died at 104. The philosopher offered his Counsel, but at the cost of the Chinese equivalent of $400. Mr. Cavilla said he forked over the sum, and was surprised to hear the simple reply: "Mind your own business." "But, it's been good advice," he declared.
       Mr. Cavilla has suffered two serious accidents. The first came in Richmond, Virginia, in 1930. He was 81 then and still in show business. The other one was also in Virginia at the age of 103. He was brought to Albany shortly afterwards by an old friend who found him a place to live. Since then, be has delighted school children all over southwest Georgia with his clown antics and facial contortions.
       Mr. Cavilla came to us on December 14, 1955. After convalescence in his room for a few days from his trip from Albany, Georgia, he has been active in coming out for his meals regularly. - From the January 15, 1955 issue of "The Good Samaritan," a publication put out by the Bethany Homes, the Bethany Home for men in Millen, Georgia. It was sent in the fall of 1956, by Don Cavilla himself. Bandwagon, Vol. 1, May-June, 1957, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources
       Don Cavilla, reputed to have been the World's Oldest Clown, died at Millen, Georgia, in December of 1957. He was said to have been born in Charleston, South Carolina, January 6, 1849, although the authenticity of this is in question. We saw him perform about 25 years ago, and at that time he was supposed to have been 100 years old. Bandwagon, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan-Feb), 1958, p. 8. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bud Chandler, properties, 1941. "Los Angeles Shrine Had One Night Circus," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Theodor Chandler, "Ray," animal trainer, was with Ken Maynard's Wild West, Tom Mix Circus, Siebrand Bros. Circus, Clyde Bros. Circus, Capell Bros. Circus, Turner Bros. Dog & Pony Show, Ken Jensen Circus and with Gene Holter for 9 years. He also worked in movies. He worked for Louis Goebels at Thousand Oaks, California for a number of years, as general manager trainer and importing. He last worked for the Rio Grande Zoo Park in Albuquerque in 1986, training camels. Died June 29, 1987 at Tucson, Arizona, age 72. Circus Report, August 10, 1987, p. 24. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Al Chanel, and his son Edward, leased Sun Bros. Circus, 1909. They resided at Findlay, Ohio. Van Wert (OH) Daily Bulletin, January 6, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Chapman & Berube, acrobats, Great Dode Fisk Shows, 1910. Marshfield Times (Marshfield, WI), July 27, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Mrs. Charles Chapman, advance car manager, Frank A. Robbins, 1910. Tyrone (PA) Daily Herald, July 30, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Danny Chapman, clown, spent most of his life in the circus with a number of shows, including touring with Ringling-Barnum for several years and the George Hanneford Family Circus. He authored the book, "Circus Buffoon." Died October 9, 1983 at age 70. Circus Report, October 24, 1983, p. 15. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Lyle Chappell was a trapeze performer and clown who also worked on the high wire and performed trained dogs. He traveled with Campbell Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. Died February 25, 1974 at Fairbury, Nebraska. Circus Report, March 11, 1974, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Mabel Chipman. Few youngsters realize their childhood ambitions to be circus stars, but Ma Belle Chipman is one of them. And few retired artists of the circus remain so enthusiastic about the big tops as Ma Belle Chipman. After spending 48 years in the profession as one of the most versatile circus performers of all time, Ma Belle is as enthusiastic as in the days when she practiced trapeze stunts in an apple tree at the home of her parents in Monmouth, Illinois, 65 and more years ago. Circus folks and fans are her hobby, and she is a member of half a dozen troupers' and circus fans' organizations, while she spends a good part of her spare time with her son, Harry Burton Chipman, constructing in miniature, a scale model of the old John Robinsons 10 Big Shows Combined. It was while a performer with this show in 1904 that Mrs. Chipman's son was born, and both have a fond feeling toward the Robinson circus. Mrs. Chipman was born Mabel Garrard, daughter of Jacob and Mary E. Garrard in Monmouth on September 20, 1878. Her father was a structural engineer, who built spans across the Mississippi and Ohio rivers a good part of his life.
          Mabel was so enthusiastic about show business from the time she started to school that she spent most of her time practicing acts when she was not in classes. When she was nine, she became acquainted with the neighboring Davis family, which operated a medicine show, and in their home she cultivated an alto or "peck" horn. So proficient did she become that the Davises sought to take Mabel on the road with them as a member of their family band, but the Garrards declined.
          Fate decreed, however, that Mabel would spend nearly half a century in the circus field. When she was 11, her father fell from a bridge he was building at Quincy, Illinois, and was drowned in the Mississippi river. Mabel then convinced her mother that she could help with the family finances and received permission to join the Davis family, which had by that time joined forces with Murray Childs in operating Davis and Childs Medicine show. From this enterprise she went to the Joe Bennett tent show and at the age of 19, she realized her ambition to become a high trapeze performer, having become quite a versatile performer in the eight years she had been a trouper.
          Her first circus engagement was with the Frank C. Bostock show, later known as the Bostock-Ferrari shows. It was in 1898 with the latter organization, that she met Bert J. Chipman, and following their marriage, in 1899, the Chipmans had their own show on the road and played a number of fairs and street celebrations, which had become popular at the turn of the century. They received an offer to go with Lemen Brothers World's Best shows, a 20-car railroad show at that time, with Mr. Chipman selling tickets and announcing the acts in the circus performance. Mabel, who had acquired the professional name of the Original Ma Belle, had become particularly skilled on a balancing trapeze, which was her feature act. She performed her trapeze act and rode a high school horse in the performance. While with the Lemen Brothers circus, Mrs. Chipman became acquainted with Rose Marietta and Edwin (Pop) Baldwin, who were veteran performers and saw fit to give Ma Belle their professional tutoring skill and attention. Mr. Baldwin had riding and acrobatic troupes in the show and Miss Marietta gave much of her time to tutoring youngsters who later became famous performers. The Chipmans remained with the Lemen Brothers show through its change of title to the Great Pan American Circus, and with Martin Downs, who purchased the equipment and changed the name to Sells & Downs Circus.
          Rose Marietta had become so fond of Ma Belle, that they teamed up under the name of "Marietta Sisters" with much success on winter circuits of music halls and vaudeville theatres. They presented a double trapeze act and did posing after the fashion of the "human statuary" which later became widely used in circuses. Through this association, Ma Belle became known to booking agents and she created her own act, using the title "Ma Belle", appearing in vaudeville for a number of years. Her act became known as one of the best dressed in the business, since she created her own costumes and built her own elaborate rigging. Her appearances as a featured performer attracted the attention of the larger circuses and in 1904, the Chipmans were with the John Robinson Circus. Mr. Chipman was ticket seller for the sideshow and did the announcing for the circus proper. Mrs. Chipman had branched out, and was now doing five acts. In addition to her balancing trapeze feature, she was performing on the Spanish web, in the aerial butterfly act, during which she hung by her teeth, rode high school horses, and drove one of the four-horse Roman chariots in parade and in the hippodrome races, which concluded each performance.
          In 1904, the Chipmans' son was born, and when they named him Harry Burton Chipman, Uncle John Robinson, colorful owner of the circus, ruefully commented that he would have given Harry a Shetland pony if the parents had named him John Robinson Chipman. In the years that followed, Mrs. Chipman became one of the outstanding balancing trapeze performers in circusdom, and she was featured in the performances of Ringling- Brothers, Sells-Floto, Yankee Robinson, Campbell Brothers, Gollmar Brothers, Patterson and Gollmar circuses. During the winter months, she played vaudeville dates and indoor circus engagements. These engagements including routings over the Keith-Albee, Orpheum, Pantages, Sullivan & Considine and Ackerman and Harris vaudeville circuits, thus playing the principal vaudeville theatres in all the major cities of the United States. Eventually, she turned her talents to appearances at fairs and celebrations, working for Barnes & Carruthers and Ethel Robinson booking agencies.
          After 48 years in show business, Mrs. Chipman retired from the road in 1936, and for the past 15 years has devoted herself to her real estate investments and her hobby, shows and show people. In Los Angeles, where she has maintained her home, she operates two apartment houses and a theatrical rooming house, which were acquired from her savings during the many years she was on the road with circuses and other shows. And as might be expected, her apartments and rooms are a haven for troopers. She is an active member of the Pacific Coast Showman's Association and the Regular Associated Troupers club of Los Angeles, in which she is serving now as an officer. There she likes to reminisce with the oldtimers who drop in at club meetings. She is also a member of the Troupers Club of Hollywood and an ardent member of the Circus Fans Association of America and the Circus Historical society, two of the largest organizations of circus enthusiasts. Mrs. Chipman enjoys getting out her voluminous scrapbooks and reliving her many years of trouping when former associates in show business come around. Some years ago, son Harry, presented her with several elephant figures, and now she has one of the largest collections in the country, numbering into the thousands.
          As might be expected, the Chipmans' son, Harry, who grew up with the John Robinson circus, entered show business, and was a press agent with various shows until he entered the U. S. army in 1942 during world war II. Upon his return to civilian life, he began the operation in 1944, of "The Circus Inn" in Yakima, Washington, with his wife, Marge, who passed away last October. Now he and his mother are engaged in building a scale model of the first circus he remembers.
          Harry collaborated with his father in the writing of a circus book in 1983, known as "Hey Rube," taking its title from the rallying cry of circus troupers back in the days when they often had to fight the "towners." Now the Chipmans, father and son, are preparing a sequel to their previous literary venture, which consisted of memoirs of the elder Chipman, dealing with circuses and circus personalities with whom he was acquainted during his long years in the business. Thus it may be seen, that the Chipman family is deeply steeped in circus lore and love for the big tops and their people, after a lengthy stint in the profession. - A. Morton Smith, "Circus Stars of Yesteryears, IX. Ma Belle Chipman" Hobbies, April 1951, pp. 26-27. Information should be checked with additional sources

Bert J. Chipman, who has been advertising manager for the Acme Amusement Co. the past winter, has resigned his position and will leave the first of the month to accept a similar position with the Sells-Floto shows, and will meet them at Wichita, Kansas. Mr. Chipman thoroughly understands the advertising game and has proven himself a valuable man in his line of work. We regret to see him Leave Lincoln, but as it gives him a better position in his chosen line of work we take pleasure in recommending Mr. Chipman to his new employers and congradulate them upon securing his services, as he will sure make good. [Hand dated 1917.] From a clipping without source or date, pasted into the Pan-American Route Book 1903. Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Harry B. Chipman, press agent, car manager, advance man and performer. Born on the John Robinson 10 Big Shows to Bert and Mabel Chipman. Harry was with Sells-Floto, Lemen Bros., Hagenbeck-Wallace, Sells & Downs, Barnum & Bailey, Gollmar, Howes Great London, Hugo Bros., F. J. Taylor, World Bros. and other shows. His last tour was with Wallace & Rogers Circus in 1976. Born 1904, died March 11, 1984 at San Gabriel, California, age 80. Circus Report, March 26, 1984, p. 13. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

June Malko Christ had a flying act with her husband, Mike Malko. They were featured with Hamid-Morton, Orrin Davenport and other shows. After Mike died, she married Kenneth Christ. Died October 8, 1979 at Corona, California, age 54. Circus Report, November 12, 1979, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Gene Christian began as a waiter on Barnum & Bailey Circus when he was a teenager and trouped for two seasons. He left show business for a number of years, then joined Beers & Barnes as an agent, touring with them for many years. Later was with Dailey Bros, Floyd King, Clark & Walters and various Bob Couls shows. He was last ahead of Royson Bros. Circus. Died June 17, 1978 at Bradenton, Florida, age 76. Circus Report, July 24, 1978, p. 8; August 28, 1978, p. 17. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Christian Christiansen, musician, tuba, Buffalo Bill Wild West, 1908. Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, April 12, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

George W. Christy owned Christy Bros., Lee Bros., Golden Bros. and Heber Bros. circus. He also operated the Texas Ranch Wild West Show and Shrine circuses. He was mayor of South Houston for 19 years. Died August 7, 1975 at Corpus Christi, Texas, age 82. Circus Report, September 8, 1975, p. 13. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Carl Clair, bandmaster of the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, at Rotunda, Vienna, Austria, received a cablegram from London, Eng., Dec. 8, 1900, announcing the arrival of a ten pound daughter. New York Clipper, January 19, 1901, p. 1046. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Maggie Claire, "Queen of the Air" (1800s), age 85, died July 1941 at a home for the aged. Married Harry K. Long, who died circa 1931. Debuted as performer at age 10, crippled by a fall from a flying ring at age 35. White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 10-11 (Aug-Sep), 1941, p. 23. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Carl D. Clancy was a circus cook on a number of shows, including Ringling-Barnum. Died April 19, 1974 at Newport News, Virginia, age 75. Circus Report, May 20, 1974, p. 12. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

George Clancy, for most of his life a seaman and ship captain, trained bears for Campbell & Fairbanks Circus and sold programs on Ringling-Barnum in the 1930s. Died January 24, 1982. Circus Report, February 15, 1982, p. 16. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Belle Clarke (or Clark), menage, high school horse, Frank A. Robbins, 1906-1909,(1) Madam Clarke, high school horse with doves, Frank A. Robbins, 1910; Belle Clark, educated horse, dogs, and pigeons, Frank A. Robbins, 1911.(2) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Bandwagon, Sep-Oct, 2001, p. 31; Portsmouth (NH) Herald, June 6, 1907; Bandwagon, Nov-Dec, 2001, p. 33; Bandwagon, Jan-Feb, 2002, p. 25; Bandwagon, Mar-Apr, 2002, p. 37.
2. Bandwagon, May-Jun, 2002, p. 23; Bandwagon, Jul-Aug, 2002, p. 28.

C. A. Clarke, press agent, general contracting agent, Cooper & Co. Circus, 1900. Billboard, June 30, 1900; Billboard, August 18, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Elizabeth Hanneford Clarke. Mrs. Elizabeth Clarke of North Hollywood, Calif., sticks to her knitting a good part of the time. And quite an avid knitter she is by her own admission. But let a circus raise its big top on any vacant lot within a couple of hundred miles of the Clarke domocile and the household goes into action. Mrs. Clarke likes to putter about the house when she isn't knitting, but when there is a circus around, she and daughter, Ernestine, and son-in-law, Parley Baer, take off to revel in the realm of sawdust and spangles. "Our automobile," says Mrs. Clarke, "can find a circus lot all by itself if there's a show within a hundred miles." And when the Clarkes arrive on a circus lot, it's like a homecoming celebration. For there are few circus performers in America whom Mrs. Clarke does not know, and in most cases she has been acquainted with their families for generations.
          Mrs. Clarke was born on a circus lot, began performing in public when she was 10, managed her father's No. 2 show in Ireland when she was 15, and has spent 37 of her 57 years in the ring as a bareback rider, retiring in 1941. But she is the only member of her family who has given up the circus profession. Her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Hanneford, now past 30, carries on as ringmistress for the bareback riding act of her son, Poodles Hanneford and family, and another son, George Hanneford, also has a family riding act of renown.
          Mrs. Clarke's father was Edwin Hanneford, known to intimates as Ned. He was married to Elizabeth Scott in Leeds, England, in 1889. Both were members of well known circus families of that period. Mrs. Hanneford was a tight rope walker and did a variety of riding acts, including jockey, principal and a carrying act with her husband. In addition to being a rider, Mr. Hanneford did a knife throwing act. But Mrs. Hanneford gave up tight rope walking, her daughter recalls, "because father refused to be a rigging man." Bareback riding was more difficult in those days for women than in 1950, Mrs. Clarke points out, because "women rode fully clothed - no skimpy costume in England and Ireland before the turn of the century."
          Mrs. Clarke, second child of the Hanneford family, was born in a living van when the E. H. Bostock Circus was exhibiting in Shaftesbury, Dorsetshire. And she has never been back there. It was when she was 10 years old in 1903, that her parents, after years of scrimping and saving, took out their first show. It was formed in Ireland and never left the Eire boundaries during the first nine years of its existence. The same year, Elizabeth made her debut in public as a performer as Mrs. John Bull in the pantomime, "Cinderella" for Algy's Circus. Algy was a top flight clown of the era. Later she did "Cinderella" in Poole and Bosco's circus in Belfast. In 1908, when Elizabeth was 15, her father put out a No. 2 circus which she managed. "I can still vividly remember," Mrs. Clarke recalls, "coming to a cross roads and going on by myself with my little show while Mother and Father and the rest of the family kept on with the No. 1 show. The pride of having my own living wagon and an illustrious title was nearly lost in my tears and the lump in my throat." She kept the show on the road all season and the next year, the two were amalgamated to form a circus that had 350 horses, about 40 ponies, an elephant, camels, lions, zebra and a cage full of monkeys.
          Elizabeth was quite a performer in her father's show. She did a Roman ladder act, worked an elephant and her horse act, appeared in the family riding act, walked a tight wire, did some juggling, presented a high school horse, and performed on a rolling globe. In addition, she helped her mother make wardrobe and received two shillings, six pence a week for maintaining the costumes. In 1912, Hanneford's Circus and Monagerie left Ireland and toured England and Scotland. As in the past, the circus was stored during the winter and the Hannefords played the indoor circuits.
          Mr. Hanneford died in June, 1913, and son Poodles took over as head of the family. It was that winter the group played their first vaudeville date with misgivings that turned into triumph. Performing in Hengler's circus at the Olympia in Liverpool, the Hannefords accepted an engagement in vaudeville at the Hippodrome theatre. Mr. Hengler was so upset he predicted the Hannefords "would fall on our collective faces right in the orchestra pit," and Mrs. Clarke says "we almost believed him." Theatre stages in those days slanted as much as a foot from proscenium arch to backwall. "What our horses would do, going alternately up hill and down hill, we didn't know," Mrs. Clarke says. But the engagement was successful and the family played many vaudeville dates in England and America thereafter.
          While appearing in the Christmas circus at the Agriculture Hall in London, during the winter of 1913-14, the Hannefords were approached by John Ringling for an engagement with the Barnum & Bailey Circus in America in 1914. But the Hannefords were committed to take their show out that season, in spite of the flattering offer. And Mrs. Hanneford managed the show that season, while Poodles, Elizabeth and George performed in the Blackpool Towers Circus in Blackpool, England. It was a difficult season for the family show, however, with Great Britain in the throes of World War I. Many of the circus horses were commandeered by the government, and Mrs. Clarke says "Soon our show that we loved and took such pride in was just a shell of its former self." So the Hanneford circus was disbanded for the last time and in March, 1915, the family sailed for the United States. They remained in New York until they opened with the Barnum Circus in old Madison Square Garden on April 1. For four years, the Hanneford family riding act was a feature of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, while the family played winter seasons of 1916 and 1917 with Santos and Artigas Circus in Havana, Cuba.
          In the winter of 1918, the Hannefords appeared at the Hippodrome theatre under the direction of Charles Dillingham and in the Spring of 1919, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circuses were merged. That was the year that Elizabeth Hanneford met her future husband, Ernest Clarke, aerialist and bareback rider, who had been a performer in the Ringling show continuously since 1906. Ernest Clarke was the eldest son of Charles Clarke, owner of Clarke's Continental Circus in England, and was of the fifth generation of the Clarke family of circus owners and artists in that country. He and his brother, Charles F. Clarke perfected a two-people flying return act and with their younger brother, Percy, presented a bareback riding act. The appeared with the Lord Sanger Circus in England for a number of years and joined Barnum & Bailey Circus, then in the last year of a five-year European tour, during the winter of 1901-02 in Paris.
          When the Barnum & Bailey Circus returned to the United States for its 1903 tour, the Clarkonian aerial act and the Clarke Family of riders came with it. For versatility, Ernest Clarke is acknowledged to be one of the greatest flyers who ever mounted a pedestal and he was the first to complete a triple somersault and a number of other difficult feats. After the 1903 season, the Clarkes went to Cuba with Pubillones Circus and to Mexico with Orrin Brothers Circus, re-turning in 1905 to New York to open at the Hippodrome theatre. From 1906 to 1918, the Clarkes were featured in the Ringling Brothers circus. The Ringlings, who had owned the Barnum & Bailey Circus since 1906. Alternating the two great circuses over routes on American tours year after year, decided to combine the two shows into one - the largest ever to take the road, in the spring of 1919. The Clarke family of the Ringling show and the Hanneford family of the Barnum & Bailey show figured in the merger in more ways than one.
          For on November 21, 1920, Ernest Clarke and Elizabeth Hanneford were united in the Little Church Around the Corner in New York City. The courtship of Elizabeth Hanneford and Ernest Clarke, members of two royal families of the circus, took place during the two seasons they were together on the merged Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus, Miss Hanneford appearing in her family riding act and Mr. Clarke as the flier in the remarkable Clarkonians' flying return act. But after their marriage in the fall of 1920, bookings of the family acts separated the newly-weds during the 1921 season. That year, the Hannefords were featured by Sells-Floto circus owned by the American Circus corporation, while the Clarkes remained with the Ringlings, their flying act having been a fixture in the show since 1906. Since Mrs. Clarke was a bareback rider and not an aerialist, she went with the Hanneford family act that year. However, after the birth of their daughter, Ernestine, Mrs. Clarke joined her husband on the Ringling show, where they remained through the 1926 season, playing indoor dates during the winter months.
          The Hannefords were engaged to present their bareback riding act on the stage in "The Circus Princess," a musical comedy at the Winter Garden in New York in 1927, and Mrs. Clarke joined the troupe for that engagement. Her brother, Poodles, had a small speaking part in the production and he and Mrs. Clarke did a dance specialty together. When Charlie Chaplin produced his feature picture, "The Circus", the management of Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood arranged for a circus prologue on the stage. The Hanneford family riding act took part, as did Emil Pallenberg's bears, Ed and Jennie Rooney, aerialists, and several others who had been headliners with the Ringling circus and were friends of the Hannefords and Mrs. Clarke. The engagement stretched into an eight months' stint, and thereafter, the Hannefords and Clarkes joined forces to form a unit. Under this merger, the bareback personnel included Poodles Hanneford and his wife, Elizabeth; Ernest's brother, Percy Clarke, and the elder Mrs. Hanneford, ringmistress. Ernest and Charles Clarke continued their flying return act together, and the Charles Clarke family had a juggling number. The unit quit the American circus field for two seasons to appear at the Olympic theatre in London and the Empire theatre in Paris.
          About this time, the American Circus corporation, owner of the Sells-Floto show and four other large railroad circuses, arranged for Tom Mix, then at the height of his popularity as a western motion picture star, to make personal appearances in the arena, and anticipating a heavy drawing power, proceeded to contract outstanding acts to support the movie personality. So the Clarke and Hanneford families with their feature acts were with Sells-Floto show for the second time, that year. At the conclusion of the 1929 season, John Ringling purchased the five circuses owned by the American Circus corporation, and began their operation in 1930. That season, the Hanneford-Clarke unit forsook the circus field to appear in grandstand shows at fairs and exhibitions in amusement parks, but they returned to the Sells-Floto fold in 1931, the final year of the Tom Mix three-year engagement.
          In 1932, the families shifted to another Ringling-owned circus, Hagenbeck-Wallace, where they remained two years, and thence to another Ringling property, the Al. G. Barnes circus in 1914. During these years, two new members had joined the Hanneford riding act, Gracie Hanneford, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Poodles Hanneford, and Ernestine Clarke, daughter of Ernest and Elizabeth Clarke, both in their early teens. The season 1935 saw the Clarkes and Hannefords grouping with an eastern motorized show, Gorman Brothers circus. It was the first time since they had disposed of their wagon show in England a score of years previously, that the Hannefords and Mrs. Clarke had traveled with an overland circus. The Clarkes and Hannefords went their separate ways in 1936 and were not reunited except for a brief period in the winter of 1942.
          The Clarkes were with Cole Brothers-Clyde Beatty circus with Mrs. Clarke and daughter, Ernestine, appearing in principal riding acts, while Ernest and Percy Clarke collaborated in another bareback number. The family, made what Mrs. Clarke describes as "the one really great mistake we made in show business" in 1937. That season, they went out with a small motorized circus originating on the West Coast, which had a brief and unsuccessful tour. Meanwhile, Tom Mix had organized his own circus which had been growing rapidly since its formation in 1934, and he engaged the Clarkes for the 1938 season. That year, Mrs. Clarke, daughter Ernestine, and Percy Clarke did principal riding acts, the Clarkes produced a big 12-people bareback number, and the Flying Clarkonians closed the performance with Ernestine making her debut as a flier. That was the last year for the members of the Clarke family together on a circus.
          In 1939, they played grandstand shows at fairs and in amusement parks as they had done in 1930. and in the fall, went to the Hawaiian islands to appear in a show produced by E. K. Fernandez, who annually imports American talent. The following year, the Clarkonians’ flying act was the free attraction of the Ira C. Huggins carnival attractions in the Pacific Northwest, and also the act appeared on Treasure Island at the World's Fair in San Francisco. It was at the Western Washington State Fair in Puyallup, Washington, that Ernest Clarke became ill and he passed away on January 10, 1941. Like, the good troupers they are, Mrs. Clarke and daughter carried on that year, joining Russell Brothers motorized circus. Ernestine was a baton spinner in the opening tournament, did a principal riding act, participated in the big riding act in the flying return number with her uncle, Charles. Mrs. Clarke was ringmistress for the riding acts, and she did a finish trick that always surprised the audience and elicited extensive applause. Dressed in a formal evening gown, Mrs. Clarke concluded the act by discarding her whip, gathering up her skirt, and making a fork jump to the horse. She also took part in the Charles Clarke family juggling act. It was her last season as an active performer, although she remained with daughter, Ernestine, with circuses until 1946.
          In 1942, Mrs. Clarke and "Ernie" were under the Cole Brothers banner, where the latter demonstrated her versatility. She appeared in the opening spec, did a principal riding act, performed on the Spanish web, rode a high school horse, and was in the Reiffenach family bareback number. Mrs. Clarke was ringmistress for the principal act, her only appearance in the performance. During the winter of 1942-43, the Clarkes joined her brother Poodles and his riding act for vaudeville dates and Polack Brothers Indoor circus. The Clarkes went back to the Ringling show for the first time in 17 years in 1943, when Ernestine appeared in production numbers and one of Art Concellos flying return acts. During the following winter, Mrs. Clarke and Ernestine trained two bareback riding horses and in 1944, Ernestine was a featured bareback rider, as well as having her own flying act on the Ringling show.
          A beautiful girl, Ernestine was picked for the cover of the Ringling program in 1944, and her picture on one of her fine bareback horses, with Clown Lou Jacobs, was featured. Her flying act brought back the "Clarkonians" title to the Ringling circus for the first time since 1926. It was in 1948, while Ernestine was still a featured Ringling performer that she was married to Parley Baer, California radio artist, and she gave up her circus career at his request. Thus she and her mother retired to the comparative quiet of housekeeping and homelife in North Hollywood.
          They were the first of the Hanneford troupe to ewe up trouping as the Poodles Hanneford and George Hanneford riding acts are still going strong, with another generation of their families joining their parents in the arena. Even so, the Clarkes have not forgotten the art of the circus. When Ernestine's cousin, Kay Frances Hanneford, daughter of George Hanneford, was injured during a circus engagement in Chicago recently, Ernestine flew to the Windy City from California, and went into the act without a rehearsal. Last season, when Mrs. Clarke was vacationing with brother George and family, who were appearing in their riding act in a Montreal, Canada, amusement park, her niece and nephews, Kay Frances, George and Tommy, dared her to mount one of their rosinback horses. Mrs. Clarke took the dare, removed her shoes, vaulted on the horse, and stood up without a mechanic for a few laps of the ring to the plaudits of her admiring young relatives. "And why not?" asks Mrs. Clarke. "Hadn't I been a bareback rider 37 years - from 1904 to 1941?" - A. Morton Smith, "Circus Stars of Yesteryears, VI. Elizabeth Hanneford Clarke" Hobbies, December 1950, pp. 26-27; "Circus Stars of Yesteryears, VI. Elizabeth Hanneford Clarke" Hobbies, January 1951, pp. 28-29. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ernest Clarke, aerialist, equestrian, died January 10, 1941. Born in England, joined Barnum & Bailey in Paris 1902. Did a triple somersault in a flying act. Formed a flying return act with his brothers Percy and Charles. The Clarkes were with Barnum & Bailey in 1904; Pubillones and Orrin Bros. winter 1904-05; Ringling Bros. 1906 - 1926. Thereafter with various circuses. Married Elizabeth Hanneford. "Ernest Clarke," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 11. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Harry Clarke, clown, Cole Bros., 1908. Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, May 18, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Al Clarkson, Kay Bros. Circus, 1941. "Gainsville Circus to Open in April," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 9. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Deward Clemens, "Dick," wild animal trainer, began his circus career in 1914. He was featured on a number of shows, including Hamid-Morton, Polck Bros., Tom Packs, Bring 'Em Back Alive Frank Buck Series, Circus Atayde and for several years a feature in the Ueno Zoo at Tokyo. He retired in 1958. Born in 1898, died July 30, 1979 at Hayward, Wisconsin. Circus Report, September 3, 1979, p. 16. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Cliffords, aerial rings, trapeze, Great Floto Shows, 1905. Galveston (TX) Daily News, March 28, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Dan Cline, advance, Shipp's Indoor Circus, 1903. Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, January 24, 1903. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

John C. Cloutman was first a magician. He was then a timekeeper on John Robinson, 1926; press with Russell Bros., 1935; several years on Hunt Bros. staring in 1953 when he was ghost writer for owner Charles T. Hunt; advance press on Cristiani Bros., 1957; office manager on Sells & Gray, 1963-67; office manager on Bob Snowden's Cavalcade of Starts, 1968; timekeeper, Ringling-Barnum blue unit, 1969; press and office on Circus Bartok, 1970; and press and novelties on Roberts Bros. in 1974. Circus Report, February 6, 1984, p. 17. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Alfredo Codona, born in 1893 in Hermosillo, Senora, Mexico, has been credited with being one of the greatest flyers the world has ever known. His specialty was a triple somersault high in the air which he performed day after day with finesse and rhythm that was a sight to behold. It was said that when Alfredo performed all other performers who could, stopped what they were doing just to watch his act. He worked with several circuses, first with Wirth Brothers in 1913 and finally with Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus where he was headliner for several years. As a headliner it was natural that he should be attracted to another headliner in the aerial field. Miss Lillian Leitzel and Codona fell in love and were married in 1928 between performances in Chicago amid much fanfare and publicity. Codona loved Lillian with a consuming devotion but all did not go smoothly due to the temperamental status of both stars. Tragedy struck in 1931. Lillian Leitzel, performing in Copenhagen, fell, receiving fatal injuries. Codona was inconsolable and in his sorrow become melancholy and morose. This physiological condition caused him to lose ground professionally and as his timing become less exact he one day fell in Madison Square Garden and tore a ligament in his shoulder which grounded him permanently. Later he became equestrian director on the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus and later worked with the Tom Mix Show. He never overcome the emotional condition brought on by the death of Lillian Leitzel, although he later married Vera Bruce, an old time member of his flying troupe. Tragedy struck again in 1937. Codona died by his own hand July 1, 1937 and was buried, at his own request, beside the ashes of Lillian, his great love. "Elected to Circus Hall of Fame," Bandwagon, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Mar-Apr), 1961, pp. 22-23. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Victoria Codona was an aerialist and wire walker, one of the Flying Codonas with her brothers Lalo and Alfredo. Was a featured aerialist at age 15. She last performed in 1924. Her family migrated to Mexico and established their show, Circo Codona. Was with Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1909, remaining for four years. With Sells-Floto in 1919-20. She retired in 1921. Died circa 1983 at Palm Springs, California, age 94. Circus Report, August 29, 1983, pp. 8, 9. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Joe Colby, "Odie Dodie," was a pitchman who worked with a number of circuses. Born in 1905, died March 28, 1981 at Los Angeles, California. Circus Report, April 20, 1981, p. 21. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

King Cole, side show manager. 1917: "Side Show Manager at Liberty with five first-class side show acts. Strong, intelligent opening and announcements, and A-1 ballyhoo. King Cole and wife are open for immediate offers for side show for the coming season. Would consider offers to put on entire side show for small circus or Wild West. King Cole, 1802 State Street, Chicago, Ills." Billboard, March 24, 1917, p. 143. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

M. T. Cole, manager, Cole Bros., 1909. Marshall (MI) News, June 25, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Coleman's Dogs, Cats, Doves, Hippodrome, New York City, 1908. NY Times, January 26, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Elbert Eugene Coleman was a circus owner and theatre operator. He owned or leased titles of circuses from 1928 to 1946, such as Jesse James Shows, E. E. Coleman, Seils-Sterling and the M. L. Clark & Sons. Died February 20, 1982 at St. Petersburg, Florida, age 91. Circus Report, March 29, 1982, p. 23. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Horace Coleman, musician, Ringling Bros., 1910. Austin (MN) Daily Herald, August 27, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Con Colleano died November 13, 1973 at the age of 73. The famous tight wire artist was born in Australia of a circus family. He came to America for John Ringling in 1924 to join the big show, where he stayed for seventeen years. He later appeared with Cole Bros, and other shows and in 1959 appeared with Cristiani Bros. Bandwagon, Vol. 17, No. 6 (Nov-Dec), 1973, p. 43. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Winifred Colleano performed by assisting and styling her husband Con Colleano's wire act from the 1920s to the 1960s. They were with Ringling-Barnum, Cole Bros., Beatty rail show and other circuses. Died January 5, 1986 at Sydney, Australia. Circus Report, January 27, 1986, p. 6. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charles Collins, musician, clarinet, joined Fred Jewell band with Barnum & Bailey, 1910, was with Barnum & Bailey last year, with Ringling Bros. one season [no date]. He was from Mansfield, Ohio, with Sells-Floto, 1911. Mansfield (OH) News, March 12, 1910, March 15, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

John Collins was a truck operator with the Clyde Beatty Circus for many years. Died January 13, 1982 in Florida. Circus Report, March 1, 1982, p. 20. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Aquie Comez, wild west rider, trick roping, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Fred Cone is one of the recent additions to the roster of the Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest hippodrome talent. He is a great rider all around the track, but on the home stretch he never fails to cover himself with glory, and if occasionally he dues not win it is not because he don’t want to. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Mrs. Catherine Conklin, mother of Peter Conklin, clown, and George Conklin, animal trainer, died April, 1891, at the residence of her daughter, at Chicago, aged eighty two years. New York Clipper, May 9, 1891, p. 150. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Edward Conklin, juggler, has entirely recovered from his sickness and has signed with the McCormick Bros.' Silver Plate Show for next season. New York Clipper, February 1, 1896, p. 761. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Peter Conklin, Jr., re-engaged with Barnum & Bailey, Ltd., sailed to London, England, March 17, 1900. Son of famous clown, Peter Conklin. New York Clipper, March 17, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Conklins (Conklings), contortion, Harris Nickel Plate Shows, 1900. Billboard, May 21, 1900; Billboard, June 16, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Jim Conley began in in vaudeville at age 18 with partner Fred Conley, doing a wire walking act. The act became the Conley Trio when Fred Conley married Frieda Melillo of the Melillo Sisters. Later he added iron jaw, menage, juggling, bareback and a dog, pony and monkey act to the repertoire. Jim married Virginia Hill in 1938 and they became the Conley Family act that included their children. The Conleys were featured on Dailey Bros., Al G. Kelly-Miller Bros., Hunt Bros., King Bros., Robbins Bros., Hamid-Morton and Von Bros. In later years Jim traveled on his son Carl's show, Circus Williams. His daughter Anita married Albert Vonderheid of the Von Bros. circus family. Jim died March 3, 1982 at Kent, Ohio, age 81. Circus Report, March 29, 1982, p. 23. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bertha Conners, her husband Albert, and son Jimmy performed with circuses with their tightwire, iron jaw, wagon wheel and dogs acts. Died October 9, 1984 at Gainesville, Texas, age 83. Circus Report, December 10, 1984, p. 26. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Connors Family, Riding Connors, six in number, riders, English jockeys, acrobatic riding, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1910-1912.(10) Riding Connors, Miss May Conners, equestrienne, Robinson's Famous Shows, 1915.(2) Riding Connors, vaudeville, five in number, men & women, 1914.(10) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Evening Telegram (Elyria, OH), May 24, 1910; Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, June 16, 1910; Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, May 21, 1911; Daily Courier (Connellsville, PA), May 7, 1912.
2. Olean (NY) Evening Herald, June 17, 1915; Marshall (MI) News-Statesman, July 21, 1915.
3. Lincoln (NE) Daily News, January 23, 1914.

Dolly Connors worked with her husband, Jimmy, on the tight wire, rolling globe and animal acts, performing in circuses, night clubs and theaters. Died July 20, 1977 at Gainesville, Texas, age 70. Circus Report, August 29, 1977, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

George Connors, equestrian director, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Billie E. Constantine was a high wire and trapeze performer who toured with Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. Died July 18, 1984 at Tampa, Florida, age 85. Circus Report, September 17, 1984, p. 10. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Edna Cooke, bareback rider, Lemen Bros., 1900; Anna Cooke, four and six horse rider, Edna Cooke, somersault bareback rider, Pan-American Shows, 1901, 1902.(1) Cooke Sisters, Anna and Teresa, equestriennes, Lemon Bros., 1905; ad says Anna & Teresa, article says Anna & Edna.(2) Cooke Sisters, four and six horse riders, Chief Hale's Fire Fighters, 1906.(3) The Cooke sisters had four children, were with Lemon Bros. several years; Edna Cooke was the youngest, a bareback rider; others were Anna Cooke Somers and Theresa Sommers.(4) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Billboard, June 30, 1900; Manitoba Morning Free Press (Winnipeg, Canada), August 16, 1901; Idaho Daily Statesman (Boise, ID), April 23, 1902.
2. Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, April 30, 1905; Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, April 29, 1905.
3. Ad. Stevens Point (WI) Daily Journal, June 20, 1906.
4. Bierly, Paul E., Hallelujah Trombone!, 2003, p. 16.

M. C. Cookston, agent, B. B. & H. Circus (Burns, Boldt & Hanus), 1900, Billboard, June 9, 1900.; manager advance car No. 1, Cooper & Co., 1900, Billboard, August 18, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Chas. F. Cooper of Cooper, Jackson & Co. died in Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 18 (as we are written) of consumption, which he contracted years ago in malarial districts of the South. Deceased was born at Greenfield, Mich., in 1849, and has been twice married. His second wife, we believe is living, but there are no children. Before he became interested in circuses he was by trade a butcher. He was with Yankee Robinson (interested in the sideshow) when Robinson made his Kansas tour, years ago. Before and after that he worked privileges with several well-known shows. From 1870 to 1875 he was with various shows. In 1876 he took a river-show down the Mississippi; from 1878 to 1880 he managed Van Amburgh's sideshow; in 1880 (Winter) he, together with Tom Haley, started a show down the river from St. Louis. They were quite successful, and, coming North in the Spring, he, with Linas A. Jackson, organized what was called the Cooper & Jackson show. He managed that for two years. In the Spring of 1882 they took J. Ferguson in partnership, under the title of Cooper, Jackson & Co., and they ran the show until it was levied on by sheriff Dec. 1. Clipper, October 10, 1885, p. 677. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

James F. Cooper, the sole owner of the Adam Forepaugh Shows, started in business for himself at the age of fifteen, at his native city, Philadelphia, Pa. He was at that age proprietor, and ran the line, of omnibuses from Philadelphia on the old Second Street Pike to Fox Chase. After three years he sold this line and purchased the Germantown Road Omnibus Line, and shortly afterward sold the same to Joseph Singerly for three times what he paid for it. He then went to Washington, D. C., started an independent omnibus line, and inside of three months controlled every line in that city. He remained at Washington until 1863, when he returned to Philadelphia and entered the circus business at National Hall, corner of Twelfth and Market Streets, in partnership with Dan Gardner, Dick Hemmings and John O'Brien. After five weeks on the road, Mr. Cooper bought Mr. O'Brien's interest, the firm then being Gardner, Hemmings & Cooper. That season they visited Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, and had a most successful trip. In 1864 the show continued under the same management, touring about the same territory. It was in that season that Mr. Cooper originated the cook tent, blacksmith shop and horse tents on the lot. He was also the first manager to ever give a concert under a circus canvas. In 1865 the show started out in the Spring, greatly enlarged. That same season they hired the Van Amburgh animals, and made considerable money. The Fall of 1865 W. H. Gardner purchased an interest in the show, and that Winter Dan Rice was engaged to travel with it for the season of 1866, at a salary of $1,000 per week and all his expenses, this being the largest salary ever paid to any single performer. Dan Rice furnished his two great performing horses, X L Sor and Stephen A. Douglas, and the famous trick mules, Pete And Barney, these being the first mules that had ever been broken. At Milwaukee Mr. Cooper bought Dan Gardner's interest in the show, and in the Fall of 1866 W. H. Gardner sold his interest to Harry Whitby. It was in that season that Mr. Cooper first met James A. Bailey, who was then the general agent for the Lake Show. Mr. Bailey, that season, did what Mr. Cooper considered the cleverest bit of advertising that had ever been done. During the seasons of 1867, 1868 1869 and 1870, the firm was Hemmings, Whitby & Cooper, James A. Bailey being the general agent in 1869 and 1870, at a salary of $100 per week. At that time this was the biggest salary that any agent had ever received. In1870 Harry Whitby was shot and killed by a desperado, at Raymond, Miss. Mr. Cooper, at the time, was at his home, Philadelphia, very sick, and barely able to dictate a telegram to have the entire show shipped to Philadelphia, where it wintered and went out the next Spring (1871), under the name of Hemmings & Cooper. In 1872 James A. Bailey purchased Mr. Hemming's Interest, and the show was then known as Cooper & Bailey's International Ten Allied Shows. This firm continued until the Fall of 1880. The Winter of 1875-6, the show put up at St. Louis and in the Spring of 1876 It opened in that city, combining with Howe's London Circus for one week only, and turning people away at every performance. Later the show started across the continent, with J. B. Gaylord as general agent. The business of the entire season was marvelous. At San Jose the door receipts amounted to $6,600, the largest amount the show had ever taken up to that time. After a two weeks' stay at San Francisco, they sailed on the Pacific Mail Co.'s steamship City of Sydney, Nov. 9, 1876, en route for Australia. They stopped at Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, one day (the King's birthday), exhibited the animals on board the steamer, were visited by King Kalakaua and the Royal Family, And thouands of visitors. They also touched at the Fiji Islands, and arrived at Sydney, Aus., twenty-eight days out. They toured Australia and New Zealand twice; visited Souraba, Samarang and other prominent cities in the East India Islands; sailed from Auckland New Zealand on the ship Golden Star, for Callao, Peru; arrived there in May, 1878, after a voyage of fifty-two days; visited the principal cities in Peru, Chili, Argentine Republic and Brazil, and arrived at New York City Dec. 10, 1878, after a very stormy passage from South America. During the Winter of 1878-9 the show was enlarged by the addition of Howe's Great London Circus and Sanger's Royal British Menagerie, one of the largest (if not the largest) American circus at that time. The show wintered at Twenty-third Street And Columbia Avenue, Philadelphia, and opened the season early in April, 1879, at Philadelphia; 1879 and 1880 were two of their most prosperous seasons, 1879 being the "Baby Elephant" and "Electric Light" season. Mr. Cooper disposed of his interest to James L. Hutchinson, and retired from the firm in the fall of 1880. But he re-entered the circus business in 1886, his partners being P. T. Barnum, W. W. Cole and James L. Hutchinson. For two years the show was known as "P. T. Barnum & Co.’s Greatest Show on Earth." The Fall of 1887 Mr. Cooper disposed of his interest to James A. Baily, retiring to his home at Philadelphia, and, as every one supposed, to bed farewell to the circus business; but in this all were mistaken, for on the death of Adam Forepaugh, Mr. Cooper purchased that show, and is now in the business on a larger scale than ever. He has expended over $100,000 this past Winter in refitting his show. His private car is truly the most magnificent that has ever been built. It is 70 ft. long, and is fitted up regardless of cost. The parlors, bedrooms, dining room, smoking room and kitchen are complete in every appointment. A grand piano occupies a position in the parlor of the car. This is for the especial benefit of Mr. Cooper’s charming and beautiful daughter, Linda. Mr. Cooper lives in a palatial residence on North Broad Street, Philadelphia. He is a kind and generous man. He owns four farms in Philadelphia County and two hundred houses, and is reported to be worth about $1,800,000. Since Mr. Barnum’s death he is the oldest active showman now living in this country. Clipper, April 25, 1891. Information should be checked with additional sources [Note: James E. Cooper died at Philadelphia, January 1, 1892.] Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Dolly Jahn Copeland was an aerialist, performed with elephants and horses and was in the film "Greatest Show on Earth." Was with Ringling-Barnum. Died September 1, 1984 at Sarasota, Florida, age 63. Circus Report, September 17, 1984, p. 20. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Corell Trio, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1908. Indiana (PA) Weekly Messenger, May 13, 1908. Possibly Corellis? Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Johnny Correia, Correia Family (Correia/Corriea/Coreia/Correa). Senorita Correa, equestrienne, Forepaugh-Sells, 1901.(1) John Coreia, somersault rider, Hargraves' Big Railroad Shows, 1904.(2) 1905: Mme. Correa, equestrienne; Jahn and Miss Correa, equestrians and Correa Company, riders; Johnny, rider, 1908; 1911: Corriea, Edith, rider, said to be from England - Forepaugh-Sells, 1905, 1908, 1911.(3) Correia Family of Spanish riders, Gollmar Bros., 1913; Correia Family, riders, Barton & Bailey, 1915.(4) John Correia and Miss Amelia, riders, Howe's Great London, 1916.(5) Rose Correia, trapeze, sister of Johnny Correia, noted riding clown, 1906; Johnny Correia and his troupe of American riders, 1906.(6)
      John Correia, ". . . born about 1861 in Portugal as Jao Correa de Almeida. Known in the U.S. as John Correia, he was a circus cloud swing performer, equestrian and ringmaster and married another circus performer, Marrietta Lowande (b. 1871). He died July 4, 1907 in Canyon City, CO while on a circus. He and Marrietta made their home in Petersburg, Illinois, where he was buried." (undocumented)(7) Also see Slout's Olympians on this website. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Daily Palladium (Benton Harbor, MI), August 20, 1901.
2. Bucks County Gazette (Bristol, PA), April 28, 1904.
3. Janesville (WI) Daily Gazette, May 13, 1905; Cedar Falls (IA) Gazette, June 15, 1906; Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, August 11, 1908; Warren (PA) Evening Mirror, April 29, 1911; Newark (OH) Advocate, May 1, 1911.
4. Oelwein (IA) Register, May 21, 1913; Ogden Standard (Ogden City, UT), May 21, 1915.
5. Daily Democrat (Monessen, PA), May 9, 1916.
6. Lima (OH) News, June 25, 1928; Burlington (NC) Daily Times, September 11, 1928.
7. Almeida Family Genealogy Forum, posted Aug. 17, 2000, http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?circus::almeida::54.html.

Mariette Correa, equestrienne, Sells-Floto, 1908. Reno (NV) Evening Gazette, May 12, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).
    Comment: The correct spelling is Marrietta Correia. Part of the Lowande circus and family. - Dot

Miss Marietta Corres, rider, Forepaugh-Sells, 1900. Probably Marrietta Correia above. Fitchburg (MA) Sentinel, June 1, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charles Cory, Wallace Shows, 1900. Billboard, May 28, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Hazel Cotter, trapeze artist. See Belva Schrader

Margaret Coulter (or Marguerite Coulter), rider, high school pony, daughter of W. H. Coulter, W. H. Coulter's, 1911. Adams County Free Press (Corning, IA), May 13 & 17, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

W. H. Coulter, proprietor, W. H. Coulter's Famous Railroad Shows, 1911. Adams County Free Press (Corning, IA), May 13, 1911. Note: W. H. Coulter, proprietor Cole Bros. Circus, 1912-1913, Parkinson's Directory of the American Circuses. Real name may be Wade Coulter. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Joe Cousins, performer, Cooper & Co. Circus, 1900. Billboard, June 30, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

W. C. Cox, Campbell Bros., 1909, had been with this circus for 4 years and was contracted for the next year. In charge of lighting department, Campbell Bros., 1910, had been in lighting department for past 15 yrs. Said to be “of LaGrange, Indiana.” Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, November 12, 1909; Van Wert (OH) Daily Bulletin, April 1, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

W. D. Coxey, whose scholarly countenance appears here, is the press representative of the World’s Greatest Show. To him is left the very important task of arranging for and writing the various newspaper advertisements and notices which fill columns of the local papers for weeks prior to the appearance of the show. Mr. Coxey is a thorough newspaper man in the strictest sense of the word. He began life as a printer and at the age of twenty was a reporter on the Philadelphia Times. He subsequently held positions of trust on the Philadelphia News, the Philadelphia Press, Chattanooga Commercial and various Chicago papers. His advent into the amusement profession was as a playwright, his first theatrical production being an original play entitled “Her Sacrifice,” which was successfully produced. He has written a number of other plays and filled various important positions in the theatrical profession. In 1889 be was press agent with the Forepaugh Show, and since 1800 has held his present position as press representative with the Ringling Bros. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Joseph Coyle, postmaster, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1917, speaks French, German, Spanish, Hindoostani and Polish, knows enough Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese and modern Greek to make himself understood.(1) Joseph Coyle, Jr., four years old, youngest clown on the road, John Robinson's 10 Big, 1911.(2) Joseph Coyle, clown; Mrs. Joseph Coyle and two children, said to have died on relief train. Hagenbeck-Wallace 1918 train wreck.(3) Revised death list: Mrs. Joseph Coyle, Joseph Coyle Jr., 11, Charles Coyle, 3, all of Cincinnati. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Iowa City (IA) Citizen, August 4, 1917.
2. Alton (IL) Evening Telegraph, May 13, 1911.
3. Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, June 24, 1918; www.gendisasters.com/data1/in/trains/hammond-circustrainwreck1918.htm.

Joe Coyle, clown, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Mike Coyle, advance, Forepaugh-Sells, 1900. Replaced the late S. H. Barrett. Coyle had been with the Buffalo Bill Show. Also see Slout's Olympians on this website. Billboard, May 28, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

William Craig, "Max," began as a boy, doing blackface on Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1926. His family was witht he J. B. Henry Bros. Circus, where his father was a musician. Later Max worked double traps with Clifford Henry and they took the act to the Polack show, where Max met and married Gertrude Hammond in 1937. Max and Gertie had two acts, hand balancing and roling globes. They were with Seabrand and Arthur Bros. shows, then Clyde Beatty in 1945. Then with C. R. Montgomery and Howard Suesz, then Gil Gray from 1948 to 1966. During the years they did their acts with Gray, Max was prop boss, manager and built wagons, including the Cinderella Pumpkin. He was with the Dr. Pepper Circus where he built the front banner line. From 1967 to 1974 the Craigs were with Hamid-Morton, Rudy Jacobi, Ruth Repine, and Shrine and fair shows. Their acts became Craig's Guanacos, Princess Kandra and Cimarron (dressage horse) and the Podunk Fire Dept. comedy act. They raised miniature horses starting in 1975. Circus Report, October 17, 1988, p. 20. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Fred Crandall and wife, riders, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Stewart Craven, an old showman and famous elephant trainer, brief mention of whose death at Dalas, Tex., was made in this column two weeks ago, was a native of Wooster, O., and has reached his fifty-sixth year at the time of his demise. His first appearance in the circus ring was with the Van Amburgh Menagerie in 1857, and while with that show he broke the celebrated elephant, Tip Osage [sic Tippo Saib]. Mr. Craven trained him to hold a perch, while the former climbed to the top and performed a number of wonderful gymnastic tricks. He also stood on the elephant’s great tusks and did a juggling act, the elephant meanwhile traveling around the ring at full speed. Later Mr. Craven broke the two elephants, Anthony and Cleopatra, who created much excitement at the old Broadway Theatre this city. In 1859 he joined the Nasby [Mabie?] Circus and Menagerie, and it was with that show that he proved his great ability as an elephant trainer by conquering Canada, afterwards known as Romeo, said to be one of the meanest and most brutal elephants that ever lived. Mr. Craven also broke and trained the famous elephant Empress, owned by the late John O’Brien, and later he trained a half a dozen elephants for Kelly’s London Circus. Afterwards he was engaged by the late Adam Forepaugh to break in a large herd of pachyderms, and in the work he succeeded admirably. Mr. Craven was of a somewhat retiring disposition, and was possessed of much patience and kindness. For several years prior to his death he had been a resigned victim of consumption. Clipper, February 8, 1890. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Lilly Martin Craven. Eighty-one years ago Lilly Martin Craven was a performer in Adam Forepaugh's Noachian Menagerie, Gigantic Museum and Classic Circus. And today, the same Lilly Craven, now Mrs. Lilly M. Larwill of Kansas City, Missouri, retains her penchant for travel she acquired as a trouper, though 65 years have passed since she left the big tops for good. Despite the fact that she will observe her 98th birthday September 15, Mrs. Larwill this summer enjoyed an extensive vacation tour, just as she has every summer for many years. She spent part of the season in Tucson, Arizona, after visiting in Dallas, El Paso and Albuquerque, attended a family reunion in Long Beach, California, and thence to Los Angeles for the Shrine convention. A short stay in Colorado concluded her travels for 1950 and she is back home again.
          As the wife of the late Stewart Craven, one of the most successful and famous elephant trainers of all time, she was hostess in their Philadelphia home to a parade of the circus greats of the golden age of circuses in the 70's and 80's - Dan Rice, P. T. Barnum, Col. William F. Cody. James E. Cooper, James A. Bailey, Tom Thumb, and many others.
          Mrs. Larwill did not come from a circus family. She was born Lilly Mondena Martin in Philadelphia on September 18, 1852, the daughter of John and Jane Elizabeth Martin. It was the close proximity of her home to the winter quarters of the Adam Forepaugh and John E. (Pogie) O'Brien circuses, that brought about the meeting with the handsome six-foot-two Stewart Craven, who was a native of Chester, Wayne County, Ohio, and who was training elephants for the Philadelphia circus owners. She was 12 years old and Craven was 31 when they met in the neighborhood of the circus quarters. At that time Craven already had 15 years of circus experience with Van Amburgh's Menagerie, the Mabie Brothers Circus, and the Dan Rice Circus, owned by O'Brien. Craven courted his future wife in the shadow of the barns where circus wagons, tents, seats and other equipment were stored during the winter months. And when Craven came to Philadelphia at the end of the 1868 season in October, to begin the customary training of elephants for Forepaugh, the couple were married in Calvary Episcopal church. They established a home in Gwynedd, Pa., where their only son, Charles Stewart Craven, was born December 27, 1869, and today he is his mother's former business partner in a jewelry firm in Kansas City, and her frequent companion on their numerous trips about the country.
          Craven, Jr., at 81, is probably the only eye witness living today of one of the most remarkable events in American circusdom, in which his father was a principal participant, and which was largely responsible for the uniting of P. T. Barnum and James A. Bailey in a circus partnership which brought about the Barnum & Bailey Circus, "the greatest show on earth." This unique circumstance was the birth of a baby elephant in the Cooper and Bailey Circus quarters at Columbia Avenue and 23rd Street in Philadelphia, on March 10, 1880, to Hebe, a member of the elephant herd. Two years previously Craven had joined the Cooper and Bailey circus in Philadelphia quarters, after its return from a tour of Australia and South America, and had bred Hebe to a male elephant. When the baby elephant was born at 2:30 a. m. there was consternation in the animal barn. The mother went on a rampage, tossing a red hot stove some 20 feet, and pushing her infant around with her trunk. Stewart Craven, Jr., then 11 years old, followed his father to the animal barn when helpers came to tell him the news, and hid behind a cage wagon to take in the proceedings, unknown to any of the men, who were struggling with the elephant herd, aroused by the mother beast's tantrum. The baby elephant was named Columbia, and it was the principal attraction of the Cooper & Bailey Circus during the 1880 season. On several other occasions elephants had been bred at the P. T. Barnum winter quarters in Bridgeport, Conn., and the Sells-Floto quarters in Denver, Colorado, and while several babies were born, none lived more than a few weeks. Columbia, named for the street on which the quarters were located, was quite healthy and lived to the age of 25.
          That same winter season Craven, working in secret behind barred doors of the elephant barn, trained two groups of five elephants each to perform in a ring together. While there had been other cases in which elephants were brought into rings together, they did their acts separately, whereas Craven had his charges cooperating in pyramids and group stunts, revealing a training triumph previously unknown in the American circus world. P. T. Barnum was so impressed with the baby elephant as an attraction, and the trained elephant acts, that he offered to purchase the Cooper and Bailey Circus from its owners, J. E. Cooper and James A. Bailey, and to make Bailey his partner in the show business. The deal was consummated in 1881 and Bailey took over to make the Barnum show the leader in the field.
          When Mrs. Craven was married to the elephant trainer, 19 years her senior, in 1868, few women participated in circus performances. At that early day in the evolution of one-ring shows into multi-ringed arenas of later years, the ratio of women in a circus troupe was about one to every 50 men. Because her husband was a famous animal trainer, Mrs. Craven was content to play a small but useful part in the show. Her young son, Stewart, Jr., lived with his grandparents in Philadelphia during the first five years of his life, while his parents trouped. Mrs. Craven was the Egyptian princess in the circus spectacle as her first assignment, and she recalls riding in a gilded chariot drawn by a dozen Shetland ponies, with no less than Johnny and Willie O'Brien, sons of owner Pogie O'Brien, as her slaves, waving large bamboo fans during the procession. She also became fascinated by the art of the glass blowers in the circus sideshow, and learned this art, which she practiced with troupes of glass blowers traveling with the various circuses her husband was associated with from time to time.
          During the 70's, the Cravens were with the P. T. Barnum circus, under the O'Brien regime, Howe's Great London and the Adam Forepaugh shows, before he went with Cooper and Bailey in 1878. The year before his marriage, Craven had gone to Europe when a physician recommended a sea voyage for an ailment from which he sufferred, and while there he arranged to bring a collection of wild animals back to the states. He placed his collection on exhibition in Cleveland, Ohio, and New York City, while disposing of them. And when he left the circus business, he operated similar museums in New York, Chicago, Cleveland and at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Mrs. Craven plied her glassblowers’ trade and sold tickets for these exhibitions.
          His health impaired by injuries sustained when he was mauled and bitten by a lioness, causing blood poisoning, Craven and his family went to Texas, settling near Dallas, then a small village on the Trinity river, and engaged in the cattle and horse shipping business. He died January 16, 1890, and Mrs. Craven was married seven years later to George M. Larwill, whom she survives. Mrs. Larwill has since engaged in several business activities, including the management of a cooperative home for business girls in Dallas. But for the past 35 years she has been vice-president of the jewelry firm operated by her son in Kansas City, although she retired from active participation in the store's affairs in 1937 at the age of 85. Despite her advanced age, Mrs. Larwill never voices fatigue and during the Shrine convention it was not unusual for her to retire at 1:30 a. m. after a full day of activity. There is probably no one else alive today who participated in such circuses as the P. T. Barnum, Adam Forepaugh and Cooper and Bailey shows, when these great shows were in their infancy, and remembers so vividly the incidents which marked Mrs. Larwill's career in circus-dom. - A. Morton Smith, "Circus Stars of Yesteryears, III. Lilly Martin Craven" Hobbies, September 1950, pp. 34-35. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Creata Bros. and Helene Hartzell, bar act, 1941. Had been with Wallace Bros. circus for several seasons. "Fan Notes," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 9. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Adolph Cristiani, "Tripoli," acrobat and ground tumbler. Died at Sarasota, Florida on March 15, 1980 at age 70. Circus Report, March 31, 1980, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ernesto "Papa" Cristiani died on October 21, 1973 at the age of 91. The patriarch of the famous riding Cristiani Family came to America in 1934 for the Ringling interests and first appeared with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus that year. With Papa Ernesto and Mama Emma Victoria came six sons and four daughters. They continued with the Hagenbeck-Forepaugh-Sells show in 1935 and then moved to the Al G. Barnes show for two seasons. In 1938 they were featured with Ringling-Barnum and remained on that show for a number of years before going to the Cole show. Later in association, first with Floyd King, with the King-Cristiani Circus and then with Big Bob Stevens and the Bailey-Cristiani Circus, they entered the ranks of circus owners. In 1956 they first toured the Cristiani Bros. Circus, which grew to be one of the largest on the road in 1959. Ernesto retired from riding after the Ringling show, but continued in full command of the family. Survived by 10 children, 25 grandchildren and many great grandchildren. Bandwagon, Vol. 17, No. 6 (Nov-Dec), 1973, p. 43. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ortans Cristiani performed with her family in teeterboard and bareback riding. When she was 14, she became the first woman to do a triple somersault from a teeterboard, creating a four high number in 1937. She also performed on the trapeze, tumbling acts and bareback ballerina. She married Fred Canestrelli in 1950. She retired in 1974 but continued as a teacher and trainer. Died November 12, 1987 at Sarasota, Florida, age 64. Circus Report, January 25, 1988, p. 3. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Oscar Adolfo Cristiani came to the United State with the Cristiani Troupe of acrobatic horse riders to join Ringling-Barnum in 1934. They were with this show until 1943. At one time they operated their own circus. Oscar remained active in animal training and for several years had his own elephant act. Died December 15, 1987 at Sarasota, Florida, age 82. Circus Report, January 11, 1988, p. 19. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Cromwell, Cahill & Cromwells, aerial iron jaw, John H. Sparks, 1910. See Cahill. Correctionville (IA) News, June 9, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

John T. Crone, secretary and auditor, John Robinson's Ten Big Shows, 1910. Evening Tribune (Marysville, OH), April 4, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

S. L. Cronin, long time manager of the Al G. Barnes circus spent nearly half a century with the White Tops. He passed away at his home in Arcadia, California, November 16, 1958. From his large collection of circusiana he left, it is learned he was with the Walter L. Main circus before he had the advertising banners on the Howes Great London Show in 1912. He was with all the shows controlled by Mugivan & Bowers. He sold banners for both the John Robinson and the Hagenbeck & Wallace shows. However, Mr. Cronin was best known to circus fans for his long connection with the Al G. Barnes Circus as manager. Bandwagon, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Mar-Apr), 1960, p. 24. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Dr. Theodore S. Crosby, chief surgeon, McCaddon European shows, 1905. Last season with Walter L. Main show. Titustville (PA) Herald, March 25, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Laurence Cross was in show business starting in 1924 and was known for his clowning. He toured with Russell Bros., Clyde Beatty Circus, Lee Bros., Christy Bros., Robbins Bros., Barnett Bros., Cole Bros., Rudy Bros. and the Paul Kaye circus. Died November 6, 1973 at Pittsburg, California. Circus Report, November 12, 1973, p. 9. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Floy Crowell, rider. Norris & Rowe, 1908. Centralia (Washington) Daily Chronicle, June 1, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

W. H. "Cap" Curtis, circus general superintendent and boss canvassman died in Cuevas, Miss., on April 2. He was 82 years old and had been in show business since 1890. Services were conducted at Gulfport on Monday, the 5th. Only known survivors are a niece and a nephew. "Cap" Curtis gained fame in the circus business for being the first person to move circus wagons with a motor vehicle and in 1910 he first built the Curtis patent seat wagon. These were in general use for about 15 years. During the time that he was with the Hagenbeck Wallace show he perfected and put into use the Curtis spool wagons for rolling the big top. The last circus he was with was Cole Bros. in 1950 but he trouped as a lot superintendent with Royal American Shows in 1952. His last work with the Big Top was as boss canvassman when a Pennsylvania city borrowed a Ringling tent to house a Birthday Party for President Eisenhower in September, 1953. Bandwagon, April, 1955, p. 3. Information should be checked with additional sources
      William Hanford "Cap" Curtis, born December 10, 1873 on a farm near Hazelhurst, Mississippi began his circus career with the Andress (or Andrews) Circus about 1889. Beginning with titles such as superintendent of canvas, lot superintendent and general superintendent he soon became well known for his extraordinary qualities as a man of indomitable spirit, great courage and resourcefulness. An outstanding example of a typical American circus executive, "Cap" set foot on circus lots all over the United States. A man with an inventive turn of mind, "Cap" contributed much to the safety, stability and security of circuses during their development in the early twentieth century. While with the John Robinson Circus from 1902 to 1907 he designed a cable truss system to hold seat stringers firmly in place which soon come into general use by other canvasmen when they realized its advantages. As superintendent of canvas for the Sells-Floto Circus in 1915 he was granted United States patent number 1184672 for his canvas spool-wagon, a new system of handling the tent which saved time getting off the lot and made it easier to spread the canvas the following day when the tent was put up. Still with Sells-Floto, "Cap" become the first man to use a tractor on the lot. From 1917 to 1926, as boss canvasman and general superintendent on the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, he designed and developed a group of folding seat wagons which were patented in 1919 and used for many years. William Hanford "Cap" Curtis died April 9, 1955 near Cuevas, Mississippi. His ideas and inventions will always live with the big top. "Elected to Circus Hall of Fame," Bandwagon, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Mar-Apr), 1961, p. 22. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Jack Cousins hails from the Antipodes. Though an Australian, he has been riding in this country for several years. Mr. Cousins is a great traveler, and has seen almost every country on the face of the globe. This has been his first season with the Ringling Brothers’ Show. He is a very finished and clever jockey and hurdle rider. His home is at Sydney, Australia. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

G. C. Crowley, "Doc," owner of the largest motorized carnival in the middle west in the 1930s that originated in his home town of Richmond, Missouri. Died September 20, 1980 at El Cajon, California. Circus Report, October 6, 1980, p. 18. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Edward Cullen, was with Robinson shows since a child, past several years was general manager, now general manager Hagenbeck Animal Circus, 1905. Was connected with Robinson circus 35 years, died at Cincinnati, Ohio, 1909. Cullen, business manager, died at home in Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, many years business manager with John Robinson shows, recent years excursion conductor railroad. Coshocton (OH) Daily Age, April 14, 1905; Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, June 7, 1909; Portsmouth (OH) Times, June 12, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Walter Curler, billposter, home Perry Iowa, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1909. Perry (IA) Daily Chief, May 22, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Daisy Curtis, rider, Forepaugh-Sells, 1911. Warren (PA) Evening Mirror, April 29, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

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1. Anaconda (MT) Standard, August 23, 1900.
2. Oakland (CA) Tribune, August 3, 1901.
3. Cedar Rapids (IA) Sunday Republican, February 1, 1903.
4. Galveston (TX) Daily News, October 21, 1906.
5. Phillips, Fred H., "A Circus Parade Which Has Taken Over Half a Century to Wend Its Way Through a Small Town in Eastern Canada," Circus Scrap Book, No. 15 (Jul), 1932, pp. 31-40.
6. Decatur Daily (Decatur, AL), June 3, 2007.

Paul Daemmrich, musician, clarinet, lived Pittsville, Gollmar Bros., 1910. Grand Rapids (WI) Tribune, May 18, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Wm. M. Dale, advertising manager, John Robinson Circus, 1909 (John G. Robinson) Evening Telegram (Elyria, OH), June 24, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Thomas Dailey has charge of one of the most important departments of the advertising of the show. As Manager of Car No. 3, he accomplishes the wonderful excursion billing of the Ringling Brothers’ Show. The enormous crowds that daily come by special excursion trains to visit the Big Show are the best proof of the efficiency of his work. On him and his score or more of bill posters, programmers, etc., depends the work of heralding, on the different railroad lines centering at the exhibition stand, the excursion rates, arrivals and departure of trains, the posting of cloth banners and dates, etc., and the rebilling of the work done by the previous cars. Mr. Dailey commenced his career at the foot of the ladder, and from a bill-poster has worked his way to his present position by his own energy and ability. He has been manager of the excursion billing with the Ringling Bros. two years, before which time he filled similar places with the Barnum and other shows. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Carl Dalton (or Earl Dalton), owner, Yankee American Shows, 12 wagon show, from LaCrosse, Wisconsin, son of George Dalton, left La Crosse for performance at Stoddard tomorrow. La Crosse (WI) Tribune, June 5, 1908. Note Yankee American Shows: Sturtevant lists Earl M. Dalton, owner; other sources list the Lindemanns. 1920 census La Cross, Wisconsin: Carl M. Dalton, owner road show; Florence Dalton, actress, road show. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Howard Damon, manager, Damon's Australian Aggregation, Damon's Big Australian railroad circus, Howard Damon Australian Railroad circus. Howard Damon circus, 20 railroad cars. Charleroi (PA) Mail, May 18 & 19 & 20, 1909; Portsmouth (OH) Daily Times, April 15, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Dare Troupe, aerial bars, Hargraves' Big Railroad Shows, 1904. Bucks County Gazette (Bristol, PA), April 28, 1904. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

"Dan" Darleigh. "Castello & Graves Circus, which has been on the flat since Monday says the Utica Observer has traveled in hard luck ever since it started in May. Bad weater kept the people from the tents and the money from the treasury, and there has been some little delay in paying the help. Yesterday, the circus people filed six bills of the sale in the County Clerk's office, covering practically all of their effects. To-day, 'Dan' Darleigh, who is known in Utica through his appearance at the theatres in different companies and who has been the clown with the circus, secured a writ of attachment and levied on two horses to secure a bill for something like $40 for services for himself and his wife. It is probable that the matter will be settled and the circus will proceed after a few days. The legal work has not been permitted to interfere with the presentation of the shows. 'Dan' will not be with the show when it goes out." Oswego Daily Times (Oswego, NY), June 24, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Nancy Darnell, performer with Ringling Brothers, retired 1941. Operated an acrobatic school at Canton, Ohio, teaching youth to perform on the rings and flying trapeze. White Tops, Vol. 15, Nos. 1-2 (Dec-Jan), 1941, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

"Dinky" Darrow, woman clown, Sells-Floto, 1909. Daily Press (Sheboygan, WI), August 4, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Homer C. Davenport, clown, cartoonist. "San Francisco, January 2. - Homer C. Davenport, cartoonist, is serious ill . . . in San Francisco. . . . suffering from a complete nervous breakdown. . . ." Atlanta (GA) Constitution, January 3, 1910. Clown McMahon's one-ring circus. Wrote an autobiography The Country Boy. Died of pneumonia in 1912. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Lillian Davies, Hagenbeck-Wallace, rider, 1907-1908. Weekly Press (St. Joseph, MI) July 11, 1907; Racine (WI) Daily Journal, May 13, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bert Davis, press agent, Forepaugh-Sells, 1900. Billboard, June 2, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bill C. Davis, wild west rider, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charles Davis and family, see Alzanas.

Ed F. Davis, trained barnyard quadrupeds, 1900. Billboard, May 1, 1900, p. 6. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

F. E. Davis, advance manager, Cooper & Co., 1900. Davis was let go circa August 1900 due to his carrying his wife, son and dog with him and that he was "adverse to over-exertion." Billboard, May 1, 1900; Billboard, August 18, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Jack Davis promoted circuses and other events, starting when he was 21 as a billposter with Hagenbeck-Wallace. He was with Ringling-Barnum, Cole Bros., Beatty-Cole and Sells & Gray circuses. In 1959 he had 16 elephants walk across the Mackinac Bridge during its dedication. Died November 23, 1985 at Bay City, Michigan, age 79. Circus Report, December 23, 1985 (No. 50), n.p.n. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

James Davis, caterer (cook tent), Hagenback-Wallace. Newark (OH) Advocate, May 8, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

James R. Davis, better known as "Jumbo" Davis was in the show business most of his life, the greater part of his time as an agent for Barnum, and was known to circus and show people the world over. He got his nickname of "Jumbo" from the fact that he purchased the big elephant for Barnum and had it brought ot this country. In his boyhood he was for a time a page in the Capitol Building, but very soon afterwards drifted into the show business, which he stuck to for the rest of his life. He was for many years one of Barnum's most trusted agents, and traveled all over the world seeking and purchasing curiosities. In his capacity as Barnum's agent he crossed the Atlantic nine times. He also acted for a time as Manager of the Curiosity Syndicate, by which Circus Proprietors hired out their freaks for a tour of the Dime Museums connected with the syndicate, which extended throughout all of the principal cities of America. He was for a while connected with the Doris Circus as railroad contractor. Shortly after C. E. Kohl and George Middleton left the employ of Barnum to start in the Dime museum business, Davis joined them and became manager of the West Side Museum in New York city. He later went to Cincinnati to manage the Vine Street museum, which belonged to the same firm, and was at this work when he died, still a very young man. He had been in rather poor health for several months, being affected with bronchial and lung trouble which left him badly emaciated. The cause of his death, however, is said to have been heart disease. He was at work right along until the museum closed, feeling as well as usual. He left a wife, but no children. Mr. Davis was well educated and was an exceedingly able man in his line of business. He was very popular with the profession and had many friends in Chicago, and in Washington, D.C., his native city. Circus Scrap Book, January 1929, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 14-15. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

John Davis was a knife thrower who traveled with John Robinson, Hagenbeck-Wallace and Ringling circuses. Died July 1975 at Worcester, Massachusetts, age 93. Circus Report, August 25, 1975, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Mr. Davis, show detective, John Robinson's, 1911. Alton (IL) Evening Telegram, May 11, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Thomas H. Davis, now a theatrical manager, was at one time a circus agent after the manner of his brothers, "Jumbo" [James R. Davis, above] and Charley. Tom is now also the publisher of a literary home journal, and the only one in the country giving a bottle of whisky with every fifty-cent subscription, and as an offset to the booze premium, will shortly present John Kernell as a lecturer on temperance. Mr. Davis is versatile as well as entertaining. Billboard, May 21, 1900, p. 5. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Sam Dawson, now in charge of the No. 1 car of the Buckskin Bill's Wild West, 1900. Billboard, June 30, 1900, p. 5; August 18, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Skinny Dawson, press agent, Parker & Watts Circus. "Gainsville Circus to Open in April," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 9. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Stanley Dawson, Cole Bros., 1941. "Los Angeles Shrine Had One Night Circus," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

John DeAlma [D'Alma], veteran circus trouper, died in Chicago Tuesday, May 16, of heart disease. Mr. DeAlma had trouped with practically every large circus, including the Scribner & Smith and Walter L. Mains shows, during his career. He was 70 years old at the time of his death. Besides his career with the large shows, Mr. DeAlma had a dog and pony circus of his own that was successful for ten or more years. In his early days Mr. DeAlma was an acrobat, coming from a well-known family of acrobats. For a number of years Mr. DeAlma was employed at the Columbia Amusement Company and was also superintendent of the Haymarket Theatre Building in Chicago. His widow is also generally known to veteran outdoor troupers.
    John DeAlma, or "Mooneye" Wilson, as he was known in Clearfield before he became a showman, was an employee of the Clearfield Fire Brick Works. "Jacketschy" or Mooneye" first tried tight rope walking, practicing in private evenings and Sundays in Murray's Woods. His tight rope walking ended following an attempt in the early '80s to walk a rope stretched across Market street. He made great preparations for the event, employing an orchestra - a fiddle and an organ. At the proper moment "Mooneye" stepped out dressed in tights, with a balancing pole in had. When he reached the center of the tight rope, he nerve failed, he let go of the balancing pole, dropped to the rope and hung on for dear life. A spring wagon was brought out and placed under the rope walker, who was dangling ar arm's length from the rope. With the aid of a box and a couple of strong armed citizens, he was rescued from his perilous position.
    Mr. D'Alma married Lottie Barger, a local girl. They had two children, Harry and Maude. D'Alma continued his efforts to get into show business and became quite an acrobat. He trained his family and they all became creditable performers, traveling all over the United States and Europe with their own and other circuses. Harry died in Australia while on tour. Their daughter, who was a bareback rider, married and now lives in Chicago. From Clearfield (PA) Progress, June 13, 1922. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bernice Dean, western performer. Married Frank Dean while with a wild west show in Japan. Bernice and Frank always worked as a team, roping, riding, whips, knives, etc. They appeared with all the major circuses, and often went overseases on tours. Died on February 14, 1980 at Indio, California. Circus Report, March 3, 1980, p. 13. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Frank Dean, western performer, was first on a rodeo in 1926, thereafter in rodeos, circuses, vaudeville, etc., up to his death. Started the International Trick & Fancy Ropers Association. Died January 24, 1985 at Lancaster, California, age 77. Circus Report, February 4, 1985, p. 34. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bill DeArmo (real name Wilbur Graham) was a juggler, clown and trapeze artist in circuses and vaudeville. After he retired he performed for benefit shows and church programs until he was in his 80s. Died in July 1981 at Dimondale, Michigan, age 94. Circus Report, September 21, 1981, p. 20. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

L. Debonnaire is so well known, both in and out of the profession, that more than casual notice of him would appear as a waste of words. “Deb,” as he is generally called among the people of the show, is an all-round performer and clown. In the latter capacity he has furnished auditors of the Ringling Brothers’ Show laughter to their hearts’ content for the past two seasons. He resides at Cincinnati. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893.
    Louis De Bonnaire, the circus clown, is dangerously ill at his home, Cincinnati, O., 1895. He is in great need of financial assistance. He was engaged for King & Franklin's Circus in 1891. New York Clipper, February 21, 1891, p. 795; March 30, 1895, p. 55. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

DeBurry, bicycle death leap, John Robinson's, 1905. Coshocton (OH) Daily Age, April 21, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

De Carlo and Stockes family, horizontal bars, Great Floto Shows, 1905-1906. De Carlo, Stoke and Clemmings, trio of flying comedy meteors. Galveston (TX) Daily News, March 28, 1905, September 22, 1906. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Oscar Decker joined the John Robinson Circus as billposter in 1919. He was brigade manager, concession superintendent, cookhouse manager, and other jobs with Hunt, Downie, James M. Cole, Mighty Haag, Eddy Bros. circuses. In later years sold novelties at parades, fairs and ballparks. Died December 2, 1981 at Newburgh, New York, age 85. Circus Report, January 25, 1982, p. 24. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Harry DeCleo. See Forrest Snider.

William Dedrick owned the Dedrick Dog & Pony Circus and was a sign painter who lettered and put scroll on many show trucks. Died January 28, 1975 at Riverside, California, age 82. He was probably the Capt. William Dedrick who had pony and dog acts, 1941. Circus Report, February 17, 1975, p. 6; "Los Angeles Shrine Had One Night Circus," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

John Deere, rider. Norris & Rowe, 1908. Centralia (Washington) Daily Chronicle, June 1, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Howard Deetz, aerial performer with Hugh Kirk, Sells-Floto, 1908. Evening Times (Cumberland, Maryland), March 27, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Juanita Deisler started on Cole Bros. in 1937. In 1940, she and her husband, Roy, joined Ringling-Barnum as the Flying Royals. She did two and a half somersaults and double pirouettes. They also toured in shows around the world. Died January 8, 1975 at Gibsonton, Florida, age 58. Circus Report, February 17, 1975, p. 6. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

DeKoch Trio, equilibrists, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1909. Ogden (UT) Standard, June 21, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

De Koek company, gymnasts, acrobats, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1910. Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, June 16, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Delamedes, eight in number, statue act, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1910. Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, June 16, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Dr. Alex Delavin, veterinay specialist, Ringling Bros., 1908. Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, August 4, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Delavoye, clown, Delavoye and Fritz, policeman trick house act, Shipp's Indoor circus, 1905. Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, February 21, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Chas. Deline, billposter, Yankee Robinson, 1910. Humeston (IA) New Era, April 6, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Fred Delmont, clown, Hagenbeck-Wallace. Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, June 16, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Delmont Troupe, Great Wallace Shows, 1906, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1908. Waterloo (IA) Times-Tribune, June 5, 1906; Charleroi (PA) Mail, May 12, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Delno Troupe, Delno & Garnell. Delno and Garnel(?) live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the business about nine years, horizontal bars, about 40 ft. in the air, last four years with Barnum & Bailey in England and Paris, next season with Forepaugh-Sells, with Shipp's Indoor Circus, 1903.(1) Delno Garnell Troupe, Wallace Show, 1906.(2) Delno Troupe, acrobats, aerial bar, eight in number, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1907, 1908, 1910.(3) Delno Troupe, European comedy bar performers, Ringling Bros., 1911.(4) Delno Troupe, Sells-Floto, 1918. (5) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Cedar Rapids (IA) Sunday Republican, February 1, 1903.
2. Waterloo (IA), Semi Weekly Courier, June 19, 1906.
3. Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette, May 4, 1907; Lake County Times (Hammond, IN), August 19, 1907; Colorado Springs (C)) Gazette, July 8, 1908; Newark (OH) Daily Advocate, April 30, 1910; Evening Telegram (Elyria, OH), May 24, 1910; Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, June 16, 1910.
4. Nevada (Reno, NV) State Journal, August 15, 1911.
5. Indianapolis (IN) Star, March 16, 1918.

De Louvre Troupe, statue act, Sells-Floto, 1911, 1912. "Troupe De Louvre, now one of the features of the Sells-Floto circus, . . . give presentations of heroic Roman, Grecian and latter day statuary, . . . Such famous masterpieces as 'The Fountain, The Passing of the Seasons, The Tribute to Cupid,' . . . are in their repertoire . . . will appear on the center stage, and in the rings on either side of them will be a pair of snow-white Arab horses, which will also pose in heroic numbers representing famous battle scenes." Oakland (CA) Tribune, April 28 & 30, 1911; Woodland (CA) Daily Democrat, May 8, 1912. (5) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Capt. Demetri (Dimitri?), Russian Cossack, said to be fatally injured at Musactine, Iowa, September 23, Campbell Bros. Circus, 1908 & 1910; death denied September 24. Capt. Demetri, leader, Russian Cossacks, at Iowa State Fair, 1909. Sioux County Herald (Orange City, IA), September 23, 1908; Austin (MN) Daily Herald, September 24, 1908; Adams County Free Press (Corning, IA), September 1, 1909; Brownsville (TX) Daily Herald, November 29, 1910. (5) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Alma De Puy, ladder, menage, elephant act, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Edwin Derious, an old equestrian manager, died in Philadelphia, July 19, aged eighty years. Mr. Derious was born in Philadelphia, and while very young was apprenticed to a showman named Hunt. Under his Instruction, young Edwin soon became a fine athlete and equestrian, and later on was connected with Joseph Palmer's Circus, traveling with it for about ten years. In 1842 be went to England with Van Amburgh's Circus, which was first American show of its kind to visit that country. After six years' stay, Mr. Derious returned to his native country, and engaged as equestrian manager with Rnfus Welsh, who had the Amphitheatre at Ninth and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, on the site of the Continental Hotel. About 1851, in partnership with Charles and Richard Rivers, two well known theatrical men, Mr. Derious organized a circus of considerable merit, among whose members were the late Daniel Gardiner and Edward Woods, with their wives. After extensive tours through the South and West, the company disbanded in New Orleans, at the breaking out of the war. At the opening of the Paris Exposition of 1867 Mr. Derious was retained as equestrian manager by a Paris circus, and it was while performing there that he was gored in one of his arms by a Buffalo. Not many years after this accident Mr. Derious. was stricken with paralysis, and for the last ten years had been an invalid. He was a very good rider, vaulter and tight rope performer, and was at one time very popular, although not remembered by the present generation of circus goers. "Deaths in the Profession," New York Clipper, July 28, 1888, p. 315. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Rex de Rosselli, 61, press agent and spectacle producer, Cole Bros., died July 21, 1941 at the Broadview Hotel, East St. Louis, Illinois. Had been with the show since 1936. Born at San Juan Capistrano, California. Fist connected with a dramatic stock company, then with Al G. Barnes Circus for ten years. In the Orient for three years with Pathe Freres. With American Circus Corporation, John Robinson Circus in 1930; Hagenback-Wallace, 1931-32. Had also been with Ringling and Sells-Floto circuses. Burial at Bloomington, Illinois. "Rex de Rosselli," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 10-11 (Aug-Sep), 1941, p. 22. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Eddie De Van, double somersault leaper over animals, lives in Philadelphia, age 24, is middle man with Da Coma Family, the trick ground tumbler. With Shipp's Indoor Circus, 1903. Cedar Rapids (IA) Sunday Republican, February 1, 1903. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

William De Van, equestrian, bareback rider, Ringling Bros., 1901, Forepaugh-Sells, 1903, Great Floto Shows, 1905. Courier (Connellsville, PA), April 19, 1901; Cedar Rapids (IA) Evening Gazette, May 20, 1903; Galveston (TX) Daily News, March 28, 1905. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Delevoye, English clown, Howe's Great London, 1910. Charleroi (PA) Mail, September 26 & 27, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charles Devere. C. N. Devere and his wife died in an explosion in the grocery store of Michael Newman, St. Louis. Sleeping in the house were C. N. Devere and wife. "Mr. Charles Devere was well known to circus show people, being an old and popular advance agent in that business. He had lately closed the season with Howe's London show at Dallas, Tex., and came here to spend the winter. He is a brother of the well known poet and actor, Will Devere, of Leadville, Col." Massillon (OH) Independent, November 4, 1887. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Devlin's Zouaves, Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Colorado Springs (Co) Gazette, August 17, 1908; Ogden (UT) Standard, September 9, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Signor Devori, daredevil dive, Dode Fisk Great Combined Railroad, 1909. Austin (MN) Daily Herald, June 8, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ted De Wayne Lybarger, known as Ted De Wayne, was the owner of the DeWayne Bros. Circus. Born in 1912, died March 27, 1973 at Los Angeles, California. Circus Report, April 9, 1973, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

James De Wolfe, advance, Forepaugh-Sells, 1900. Billboard, June 23, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

A. E. Diggs, advance, Forepaugh-Sells, 1911. Newark (OH) Daily Advocate, April 11 & 25, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Leo Dignan, advance, home Perry, Iowa, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1909. Perry (IA) Daily Chief, May 22, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Feruccio Dini, musician, probably resident of Woodland, California, Campbell Bros., 1910. Woodland (CA) Daily Democrat, May 24, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Diovolo (Diavolo?), bicyclist, 140 foot incline, rides across 'chasm' high above herd of elephants, Leon Washburn's Circus, 1908. Middletown (NY) Daily Times-Press, July 18, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Sam Dock. Reading, Pa., July 18 - Sam Dock, 89, a veteran of 69 years of trouping, died at his home here July 3. He had been ill several weeks. Dock was on the road every season from 1883 thru 1951. He joined French & Company's Circus, a boat show, then moved to Howe, Pullman & Company and French & Monroe. Subsequently, he was a performer with Harris Nickle Plate, Orrin Barber, and Forepaugh. Starting his own shows, he had Dock & Jordan in 1887 and Dock and Sallade in 1889. For the next three seasons he was superintendent of Welch Bros.' Circus and owned a one-third interest in it. He and Al F. Wheeler left Welch to start the Wheeler Circus in partnership in 1893. Starting in 1894, Dock operated his own show, sometimes using his name as the title and sometimes calling it the Great Keystone Show. He continued this operation until the 1920's, From about 1929 until 1942, the show was usually known as Brison Bros. Dock worked dogs and ponies on Bond Bros., Reo Bros. and Dix Bros. from 1942 to 1946, when he joined Raymond-Lee Circus, owned by his nephews, Ray and Lee Brison. His final season was 1951, when the Brisons' show was Lee Bros. for the first half and the Sam Dock Circus for the second half of the season. Bandwagon, July, 1953, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Researcher note: The Raymond-Lee Circus was owned by Sam Docks's grandsons Raymond and Lee Brison, not his nephews as stated. Sam Dock was my great-great grandfather, his daughter Claire Dock Brison was my great grandmother and his grandson Raymond Brison was my grandfather (my mother's father).

Rose Dockrill, equestrienne, also her husband George Holland, rider, Norris & Rose, 1905.(1) Rose, Norris & Rowe, 1908.(2) Rose, equestrienne, George Holland, rider, Holland Dockrill trio, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1910.(3) Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Reno (NV) Evening Gazette, April 21, 1905.
2. Anaconda (MT) Standard, June 30, 1908; Centralia (Washington) Daily Chronicle, June 1, 1908.
3. Newark (OH) Daily Advocate, April 30, 1910; Evening Telegram (Elyria, OH), May 24, 1910; Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, June 16, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Rudy Docky was an animal trainer, tumbler, aerialist, musician and was in management. He had his boxing dogs on the Cole show in 1949, clowned on Polack Bros., and appeared with Super Circus, E. K. Fernandez, Marineland, Circus Sarrasani and Mexico's Circus Union. He played four instruments, was a mountain climber, ski instructor and owned a restaurant in Germany. He died in Medford, Oregon. Circus Report, February 23, 1987, pp. 14B, 18A. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Robert Dohn, strongman, lifts an automobile with his teeth, Barnum & Bailey, 1908. Oxnard (CA) Courier, September 11, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Daisy Doll, see Hilda Emma Schnieder.

Michael S. Donohue, sideshow performer. Worked as a sword swallower, fire eater, ticket seller and canvas man with Sells & Gray, Ward Hall and Circus Vargas. Died at age 23 on May 7, 1980 in a car accident in Germany where he was with the U.S. Army. His father was Jack Donohue, human balloon, his mother was Rose Eakin, Serpentina. Circus Report, June 9, 1980, p. 16. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

R. Dooley (Bernard Dooley?), equestrian director, dancing tight wire, trapeze head stand, Frank A. Robbins, 1907, 1910. Bernard Dooley of the Six Ortons. Portsmouth (NH) Herald, June 6, 1907; Bandwagon, Nov-Dec, 2001, p. 34.; Bandwagon, May-Jun, 2002, pp. 23, 25. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Bill Doris and wife, sideshow, Cooper & Co. Shows, 1900. Billboard, May 1, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

John Doris, "John B. Dorris [sic], of Boston, whom many people will remember as a famous circus man a score of years ago, is in the city in advance of May Robson, who is soon to appear in Fort Wayne in 'The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary.' Mr. Dorris came to Fort Wayne from Toledo . . ." Also see Slout's Olympians on this website. Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, January 31, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

W. J. Doris has signed with the Adam Forepaugh Circus for this season. New York Clipper, April 7, 1894, p. 68. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Hughey Dougherty (Hugh?), triple somersault, Howe's Big London Shows, 1909. Oil City (PA) Derrick, July 6, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Martin J. Downs, owner, Cole Bros., died at Toronto, result of blood poisoning and amputation of a leg as a result of a kick from a circus horse five months ago, 1909. Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, October 19, 1909; Manitoba Free Press (Winnipeg, Canada), October 20, 1909. Information should be checked with additional sources

Fritz Drahn, zebras, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1908. Daily Courier (Connellsville, PA), May 16, 1908. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1893: The work of Mr. B. M. Drake, whose picture is given here, is that of contracting agent. When the agents of a big show strike a town the various people with whom they must do business, or at least a part of them, usually prepare to give them, to use a slang phrase, “the roast.” That is, they are going to get all they possibly can for the services they can render the show, and it is the difficult task of Mr. Drake and his assistants to make the many contracts for license, feed, livery, billboards, grounds, hotels, etc., etc., and at the same time to keep the expenditure within certain well-defined limits. Mr. Drake has filled this position for four years with the Ringling Bros.’ Show, prior to which time he occupied similar positions with Frank A. Robbins’ and other shows. Mr. Drake is one of the most successful contracting agents and advance managers in the circus business. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893.

    1896: B. M. Drake, so long with the Ringling Bros., has been engaged as general agent and railroad contractor by the Syndicate Shows for next season. New York Clipper, February 1, 1896, p. 761. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Drew Family, riders, Forepaugh-Sells, 1911. Warren (PA) Evening Mirror, April 29, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Karl Dubsky was one of the orginial Dubsky risely act with 12 members in the original troupe. His father framed a circus in Arabie and Turkey in 1910. They also had circus in Hungary and came to the United States in 1922, remaining until 1930. It is said that the family was in the circus business since 1750. Karl died January 8, 1982. Circus Report, March 29, 1982, p. 17. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Dan Ducrow, "a Californian by birth in 1855, a member of the famous family of clowns. Dan Ducrow began his circus career in the Civil War days. He was a lad of nine when he started with the Great World Circus as a trick-mule rider. For nine years he toured the Orient, Hawaii, Australia, China and the East Indies with this pioneer circus outfit. As he worked he studied and in due course of time he became a somersaulter and joined the Montgomery and Queen Circus. When Mclntrye and Heath were minstrel men with Sells Brothers' wagon show, Ducrow was one of the chief clowns. He was a prized entertainer in Cuba for twelve years with the Pubillones Circus. In more recent years, attached to the Barnum, Bailey and Ringling Brothers circuses, he joined with his brother, Tote [sic], in a clown act that won national recognition. Ducrow was seventy-five when he died in the attic of a rooming house in Sarah street, Pittsburgh. His last appearance was a few weeks before, one made against the advice of friends and physicians. But he had been advertised to entertain the youngsters at the Shriners' picnic at Kennywood Park and he worked in the blazing heat for their amusement. At seventy-five such exertion was too much. He fainted after the performance and died a few weeks later." Oakland Tribune (CA), August 31, 1930. Dan Ducrow, clown, Shipp's American Circus, 1909. Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica), February 9, 1909. Also see Slout's Olympians on this website Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Toto Ducrow. ". . . I am a Californian said he referring to that portion of his life. A native of Watsonville of French and Spanish descent. My father and mother separated when I was a child my mother taking the girls of the family while the boys remained with my father. He apprenticed me to a show man. Why exclaimed I thereby displaying an appaling amount of ignorance on a very important subject - do you mean to tell me that in your day the children of this country were bound out? Certainly. Until a comparatively recent period when prohibiting laws were enacted concerning children. He was eight years old when he left Watsonville to travel with the oldest show man of this country. John Wilson was a great friend of my mother's and he apprenticed my brother and myself to him. He had a wagon show and we traveled everywhere with him - way up even into the Blue mountains. . . . This apprenticeship lasted for two years and twice during that period Totius Ducrow ran away. God but he was a brutal man exclaimed the clown of John Wilson. Adding as if in extenuation but then he wanted us to become great artists. Brutal in what way? The question brought a flash to Ducrow's eye. He is nearly fifty years old now but the memory of the early days spent in the ring is with him still. For originally he was not intended for a clown. He was destined to become one later in life after years devoted to learning how to do bare back riding dancing trapeze work and things of like nature. Whey do you know said he of that early time my master used to stand in the middle of the ring with a bag of rocks while my brother and I were riding around. When our work didn't please him and he couldn't reach us with a long whip he'd throw stones at us. That was only one way that Wilson had of training his charges.
      " 'I hated the work' continued Ducrow 'always was a coward and afraid of getting hurt. Two or three bad falls had made me timid and all this time I was crazy to become a clown. We had one with us. A big fat man always laughing. I used to steal into his dressing room and copy his make-up. One day they caught me at it. Soon after my master quizzed me about it before them all. I can see the whole crowd sitting about laughing. They knew what was up. My brother wasn't like me. He was fond of his work and said so. When it came my turn I was afraid to speak. Finally when I did speak Wilson patted me on the shoulder. 'All right, clown you shall be.' Never continued Ducrow 'shall I forget my first appearance. My master stood there with folded arms watching. I saw him gritted my teeth and felt sure that if I could only make him laugh I'd be all right. He did laugh was the conclusion.
      "With Wilson's show Ducrow traveled the world over. It was in Melbourne that he ran away for the first time. 'And it was six months before they found me. I fell into terrible company down on the water front. Used to go with all the street famis ragged news-boys peddlars thieves. At night I slept in the hull of an old ship. I was ragged and unkempt. One Sunday afternoon in company with a lot of these waifs I was bending over playing upon the esplanade when I heard a voice saying 'That look like Totius Ducrow. It is Totius.' 'I knew the voice. It was John Wilson speaking. They made a grab for me sent for a carriage and took me to a hotel. There I was taken into the barber shop and such a scrubbing they gave me. . . . After that he was pretty kind to me. . . . I ran away once more.' This second runaway occurred at Calcutta, India. 'I was almost as dark as the native boys and it was rather hard to distinguish me from them. . . . One day I was . . . swimming with a lot of the native boys when I heard calling. 'Here you Totius you blankety blank blank. Come out of there. John Wilson again.' This time they tok me home in a palanquin. . . .
      "Since those adventurous days of childhood Totius Ducrow has traveled with many big combinations such as [Ringling?] Brothers circus. . . . I was making money hand over fist' said he 'when that big mountain began to smoke. I didn't like the looks of it a bit, and one day I said to a friend of mine a Frenchman Monsiour aren't you afraid of that mountain? He replied, five years ago he smoked like that and nothing came of it. 'But the ground under our feet got hotter and hotter so I told my company I was going to get out. Asked them if they wanted to come along. Everyone of them said yes. The next evening with only our gripsacks we left. The authorities wouldn't permit the removal of trunks or baggage for fear of creating a stampede. . . . later the company heard this rumbling which gave token of the destruction of thirty thousand lives. I tell you' recounted Ducrow. I got down on my knees and prayed. The reat of them too. And they gathered about me saying 'God Almighty must have told you to leave.' There was an item in the Clipper saying that I was among the victims, and from where we were at [Point a Pete(?)] it was impossible to get word. Cables had been destroyed, the sea was a boiling mass. It was three months before I got away. Meantime I got a . . . as interpreter at a hotel. I speak four languages - English, Spanish, French and German.' After that experience Ducrow came to America and now he is in his own country - 'God's country he calls it.
      ". . . he stopped clowning and went into vaudeville. He orignated the song and dance act known as the Happy Hottentots which he gave up when down in South America his partner died. 'For the next three years I was second clown to the great Ricardo Bell(?) he recounts the favorite clown of the Republic of Mexico. From Mexico Ducrow got his first engagement as leading clown. This was at Cuba before the . . . circus called the grande Circo Publiones. After several years spent in Cuba came life in New York on the dramatic stage. And now, after forty years of traveling Totius Ducrow is again in the land of his birth. Idora is the only amusement park in the country employing a company of clowns. . . ."(1)
      Toto Ducro, clown, featured the burlesque bull fight, the rabbit hunt, the burlesque menage horse act, had a clown dog, Norris & Rowe, 1907, 1908.(2) Ducrow and his clowns were performing in 1910.(3) Al G. Barnes, 1912 ". . . Toto Ducrow led the Barnes circus clowns . . ."(4)
      Toto Ducrow was with Al G. Barnes, 1912, ". . . 'It takes brains to play the part of a fool and the hardest work In the world is to get a laugh out of people,' says Toto Ducrow, one of the best known of the old school of clowns, as he sat on the ring bank following a performance of the Al G Barnes Circus in Los Angeles the other day. No one seemed to doubt the statement of this veteran of the flapstlck and firecracker. 'Clowning is a science, just as medicine,' he continued 'It must be studied just as the ministry or law. Some people have an idea that a grotesque makeup and a few silly actions will take you through. Well, not much. A clown has to work and work hard. He must be an originator, one quick to grasp a new point. Each act of a clown is a little drama all in Itself. A sort of pantomime. Actors will tell you that pantomiming is the hardest of all work to do.' For more than fifty years Ducrow has been a jester. For many years he was a contemporary of Dan Rice. Ducrow is the last of the old school of clowns. In his early life he was a contortionist and an acrobat. When he began to age he got stiff and the alternative was clowning. There is scarcely a village of any size In the United States or Canada where Ducrow has not appeared. He has instilled joy and gladness into the hearts of millions of little tots, both in this country and abroad. Fourteen years ago while Ducrow was appearing in London he was presented with a gold medal by the late Queen Victoria. Ducrow was the flrst to Introduce Shakespearian clowning which is nothing more than puns on the bard of the Avon. . . ."(5)
      Toto Ducrow, former circus clown, played a part in a movie "the Prairie Pirate." Same role he encacted with Douglas Fairbanks in the move "Don Q."(6) 1920 census, Los Angeles, California: Ducrow, Tote, age 58, immigrated 1846, actor motion pictures, born Spain, parents born France; wife Agatha, age 50, born Spain; daughter Blanche, age 15, born NY. All information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. “Clowns - Their Life, Sorrows and Work,” Oakland (CA) Tribune, June 13, 1901.
2. Woodland (CA) Daily Democrat, April 3, 1907, April 20, 1908.
3. Lowell (MA) Sun, June 11, 1910.
4. Oakland (CA) Tribune, April 1, 1912.
5. Oakland (CA) Tribune, March 26, 1912.
6. Galveston (TX) Daily News, March 7, 1926.

Jimmy Duffy was one of the seven brothers who operated the Duffy's Irish Circus in Ireland. He was an all-around performer who had been a clown, trapeze performer, rider and ringmaster. Died December 29, 1972. Circus Report, February 5, 1973, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Jerry Duggan, boss bill poster, Cooper & Co., 1900. Billboard, August 18, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

James Duggar, single trapeze, clown, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Raymond Duke was in the circus business for 52 years, first with John Robinson Circus in 1924, there after working as elephant and camel man, clown, contracting agent or billposter. He was with Ringling Bros., Hagenbeck-Wallace, Ketrow Bros., Barnett Bros., Seils-Sterling, Harry Haag, Bud Hawkins, Haag Bros., Mighty Haag, Tom Mix, Parker & Watts, Cole Bros., Bailey Bros., Clyde Beatty, Bradley & Benson, Stevens Bros., Eagle's Indoor, St. Louis Police, Ayres & Kathryn Davies, Hagen Bros., Fred J. Mack, Al Jones, Barr Bros., Leonard Bros., Famous Barnes, Adams Bros., Adams & Seils, Famous Cole, Penny Bros., Sterling Bros., Sells Bros., Birnam Bros., Clark & Walters, King Bros. and Fisher Bros. In 1976 he was with Fisher Bros. and Mid-America. Died January 22, 1977 at Donna, Texas, age 70. Circus Report, February 7, 1977, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Duncan, animal trainer, Mighty Haag, 1910. Gettysburg (PA) Compiler, May 4, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Lee Dunn, musician, former resident of Shobonier, Illinois?, died this week of quick consumption at Springfield, Barnum & Bailey, 1910. Decatur (IL) Review, June 10, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Tom During, trainmaster, known as "Hog Face Dutch." Killed by a switch engine at Danville, Illinois, January 6, 1910. He worked as a switchman in the winter. Was with Barnum & Bailey for years, trainmaster with Wallace-Hagenbeck the last few seasons. A native of Danville, Illinois. Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, January 12, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Woodrow F. Dutton was a lecturer and inside man on the 1941 Enginge and Hutton whale show unit. He worked various world fairs, Clyde Beatty, Ringling Bros., E. K. Fernandez, Capell and Siebrand shows, Conklin Shows, Amusements of America, James E. Strates, Royal American and Foley & Burke shows. He was a partner with Mimi Garneau, a partner and manager with Lou Dufour. Died August 8, 1985 at Denton, Texas, age 71. Circus Report, November 11, 1985, p. 16. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Mdme. Duval, cake-walking horses, Hargraves' Big Railroad Shows, 1904. Bucks County Gazette (Bristol, PA), April 28, 1904. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charles Dwyer, "Dooley," was a carnival and circus man who at one time worked for Dailey Bros. and Downie Bros. Died June 18, 1975 at Gardiner, Maine. Circus Report, July 21, 1975, p. 11. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

M'lle D'Zizi, bicycle leap, somersault act "Spanning Death's Arch," "leaps the chasm" from platform 80 feet high, down an incline, leaps a herd of elephants at the end, Cole Bros., 1908, 1909. Elyria (OH) Chronicle, May 25, 1908; Daily Courier (Connellsville, PA), April 29, 1909; New Castle (PA) News, April 23, 1909; Manitoba (Winnipeg, Canada) Morning Free Press, July 19, 1909. D'Zizi is said to have been a man - McClintock, P. M., "Cole Circus 'Curse' and the Erie Lithograph Co.," Bandwagon, Vol. 10, No. 4 (Jul-Aug), 1966, pp. 8-10. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

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Harry Earl, press agent, Hagenbeck-Wallace, 1908. Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, August 13, 1908. Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, August 13, 1908. Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Earl Sisters, contortion act in midair, Wallace Shows, 1900. Billboard, June 16, 1900. Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, August 13, 1908. Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Aerial Earls, double trapeze, rings, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Flying Earnests, trapeze, Dode Fisk Shows, 1910. Marshfield (WI) Times, July 13, 1910, and July 27, 1910. Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, August 13, 1908. Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Eddy Family, acrobats, high wire. With Walter L. Main, 1898.(1) Eddy Family, six in number, acrobats, performed in full evening dress, three women & three men, Rhoda Royal Shows, 1900.(2) Eddy Family, acrobats, said to earn $1,000 a week, eight people, Sells & Gray's, 1901 (William Sells and James H. Gray's circus).(3) Eddy Family, Wallace Shows, 1902.(4) Eddy Family, seven men and women, perform in evening dress, Forepaugh-Sells, 1903, 1904.(5) Sells-Floto, 1906-1908.(6) Gentry Bros., 1909.(7) Howe's Great London, 1910-1912.(8)
      Ancestry.com, Fournier Message Board, Feb. 8, 2003, Subject: Rosa (Freund) (Eddy) Fournier, CT. ". . . my great-aunt Rosa was adopted by the Eddy family along with her brother Philip and were circus performers. Rosa did acrobatics and Philip walked the high wire. Rosa lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut until her death in the 1960's. . . ." All information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. Phillips, Fred H., "A Circus Parade Which Has Taken Over Half a Century to Wend Its Way Through a Small Town in Eastern Canada," Circus Scrap Book, No. 15 (Jul), 1932, pp. 31-40.
2. Naugatuck (CT) Daily News, September 11, 1900.
3. Idaho Daily Statesman (Boise, ID), June 21, 1901.
4. Semi Weekly Iowa State Report (Waterloo, IA), July 4, 1902.
5. Fort Wayne (IN) Sentinel, June 5, 1903; Newport (RI) Mercury, May 21, 1904.
6. Tom Moran and Tom Sewell, Fantasy by the Sea, Peace Press: Culver City, CA, 1980; San Antonio (TX) Daily Light, September 25, 1906; Advocate (Victoria, TX), Sejptember 29, 1906; www.paultanck.com/venicefirsts/thecircuscomestotown.htm.
7. Anaconda (MT) Standard, July 5, 1909.
8. Charleroi (PA) Mail, September 26 & 27, 1910; Daily Independent (Monessen, PA) April 26, 1911; Chareroi (PA) Mail, April 24 & 26, 1911; Daily Review (Decatur, IL), May 2, 1912.

George Edgerton manages the ring and the Edgerton Sisters (trapeze performers) are the features, Sutton's Circus, 1891. New York Clipper, May 9, 1891. Edgerton Sisters, Gollmar Bros.' Circus, 1891, from Iowa newspaper: The Edgerton Sisters, two of the best aerial artists traveling, gave a daring act on the double trapeze. Freeborn Country Standard (Albert Lea, MN), August 19, 1891, p. 1.
    The Edgerton Sisters and George Edgerton and his trained stallion have signed with Baldwin & Young Bros. Shows, 1892. New York Clipper, April 2, 1892, p. 50. May Edgerton, listed as one of the Edgerton Sisters. New York Clipper, January 2, 1892, p. 712. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ada Bell Edwards, strongwoman, Forepaugh-Sells, 1910. Bedford (PA) Gazette, April 29, 1910; Charleroi (PA) Mail, April 28, 1910; New Castle (PA) News, April 29, 1910. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

George Edwards was a horse trainer, boss hostler for Ringling Bros. Circus, 1900-1910. He was still training horses up to a week before his death. Died January 6, 1985 at Jackson, Michigan, age 81. Circus Report, February 4, 1985, p. 34. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Elliott Family, Forepaugh-Sells, 1911. Charleroi (PA) Mail, May 4, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charles Ellis, while occupying various positions of trust and importance with the World’s Greatest Show, is also an experienced and efficient car manager and agent. During the present season he has acted in various capacities, both in advance and with the show. Mr. Ellis is a thorough business man in every way and has served in official capacities with the show for the past four years. His systematic business methods, great experience and splendid education fit him for performing the various duties he is often called upon to undertake. “Wherever France most needs a man,” is an expression eminently fitting his case in connection with the Ringling Bros.’ Show. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ellite Troupe, Howe's Great London, 1911. Daily Independent (Monessen, PA) April 26, 1911; Chareroi (PA) Mail, April 24 & 26, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Effie Ely, performer, Ely's Combined Shows, 1900. Billboard, June 30, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

G. D. Ely, proprietor and manager, Ely's Combined Shows, 1900. Billboard, June 30, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Mrs. K. D. Ely (probably G. D.), treasurer, Ely's Combined Shows, 1900. Billboard, June 30, 1900. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ralph Emerson, Sr. was press agent for 25 years for the Hartford, Connecticut Sphinx Temple Shrine Circus. It was his camera that caught the 1944 Ringling-Barnum Hartford fire, with the classic photograph of Emmett Kelly. At one time he owned a private zoo in Newington, Connecticut. He and his sons had a business providing horse supplies and western wear. Died in December 1982, age 76. Circus Report, February 1, 1983, p. 18. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Robert Emmons, animal act, Ed. F. Davis Shows, 1900. Robert O. Emmons, animal trainer with the Davis Shows, was drowned at Jackson, Michigan, while attempting to rescue a boy. Billboard, June 9, 1900; June 23, 1900, p. 5. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Gee Gee Engesser, The Blond Bombshell of the Circus World
August 6, 1926 – July 15, 2008. A Biographical Snapshot
(From Feld Entertainment, Inc.).
      The circus world mourns the passing of one of the most unique and memorable performers of the 20th century. Gee Gee Engesser was born into the circus business and mastered a wide array of talents; from training arctic sled dogs to the great Asian elephant, she was a natural at whatever she accomplished.
      When asked about her life she noted three factors that defined her work. She was first and foremost a circus artist, animal lover and trainer of many different species. Second, she was a fiercely independent woman who raised a family, owned a business and sent her son to college while performing - long before "women's lib" was even on the horizon. Third, she was a passionate advocate for "genuine animal welfare" and the rights of humans and animals to work together. It was this magical combination of heritage and hard work that made Gee Gee Engesser a one-of -a-kind for the history books.
      Early Years - Born Georgedda Zellmar Engesser on August 6, 1926 in St. Peter, Minnesota, the middle daughter of George Engesser and Vates Swenson, she was literally raised in the circus. George and Vates were vaudevillian performers and owners of traveling repertory shows and circuses. At one time in the mid 1920’s the Engesser Family owned and operated six traveling theatre shows and Schell Bros/Zellmar Bros. Circuses. To young Gee Gee this was her playground and early circus education. It was on this backdrop that Gee Gee grew up. At the age of three, she performed swinging aerial ladders and acts with elephants and ponies on her parents’ circus.
      During her early teens she performed with dogs, goats and learned trick riding and roman riding on Barker Bros., Attabury Bros and Kelly Miller Bros. shows. During this time she also served the civilian war effort making toys for children of military families during World War II.
      The Incredible 16 Horse Roman Riding Hitch - In 1945, at the age of 18 Gee Gee joined the great Cole Bros. Circus as a featured equestrienne. While on Cole Bros. she performed jumping horses, ménage horses, swinging ladder and rode with the Loyal Repenski bareback riding act. However, her greatest accomplishment was riding the difficult and daring 16- horse roman post hitch. Standing astride two horses hitched to 14 in front she raced around the hippodrome track at breakneck speed thrilling young and old alike. To this day she is one of a handful of people to successfully master this feat. In doing so, she became know as the blond bombshell of the circus world and received national media attention culminating with a full-page cover photo on This Week Magazine (the predecessor of Parade Magazine).
      In 1946, she met and married Bill Powell Sr., an accomplished center ring wire walker, and they toured and performed together on the Cole Bros., Cristiani Bros., Daily Bros, and Clyde Beatty Circuses.
      The Alaskans - In 1951, her son Bill Jr. was born while she was busy preparing for her next uncharted venture. Alaskan malamute sled dogs and arctic wolves had always fascinated Gee Gee. After doing extensive research on sled dogs she reasoned that they potentially could become a great circus attraction. There were three problems; these animals were large, possessed vicious temperaments and were considered largely untamable in a circus act setting. Not to be discouraged she personally selected eight large Malamute/Wolf mixture pups and hand raised them for over two years during the training process. The results were nothing less than spectacular. The animals large size (120 lbs.) and aggressive nature combined to make an explosive presentation that captivated audiences nationwide.
      From 1953 until 1970 “Gee Gee’s Alaskans” toured as the feature attraction on every major sports and recreation exposition and Shrine Circus engagement in America. She also toured and performed the Husky act with Gil Gray/The Show Beautiful, Clyde Bros., Tom Packs, Cowboy movie star Gene Autry’s stadium spectaculars, Pollack Bros. and Atayde Bros. in Mexico City. She was also featured on the television shows What’s My Line and You Asked for It. Her image, a fur clad beautiful blond bombshell posing with Alaskan Huskies, graced covers of numerous of major newspapers around the country. But this was only the beginning.
      Lions and Tigers and Bears and More - In 1968, Gee Gee married her second husband, elephant trainer Robert “Bucky” Steele, and together they acquired 6 elephants, 12 mixed cats, 6 black bears and 12 white Willmar ponies. For the next ten years they toured Gatti Charles, Hamid Morton, George Matthews Great London circuses and numerous major indoor Shrine dates.
      In 1970, Gee Gee and husband Bucky’s five elephants were featured performers in the Disney television movie Runaway on Rogue River/The Great Elephant Chase, starring Slim Pickens and Willie Aames. In 1986, her mastodon clad elephants were featured in another major motion picture, Quest for Fire.
      Upon retiring from active performing in 1983, she turned to producing a circus in Montreal, Quebec at Parc Safari, a well known theme park in Canada. It was during her tenure at Parc Safari that she conceived a totally new live theatrical animal attraction when A Town Called Justice debuted in 1987. As the producer of “Justice” she combined the best elements of musical theatre, circus acts, movie stunts and animal attractions. This unique blend of animals and musical theatre ran successfully for seven years to standing room crowds at Parc Safari.
      Giving Back - In 2002, Gee Gee Engesser opened yet another new chapter in her life long dedication to the circus. She organized the first recognized charitable event for animal and circus industry causes at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s dress rehearsal in Tampa, FL. As a result of her efforts, she raised approximately $75,000 for a variety of pro-circus animal organizations including the International Elephant Foundation, the Outdoor Amusement Business Association and other worthy causes.
      Awards and Recognition - In 2007 Gee Gee Engesser was inducted into the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art as Circus Celebrity. She was one of 30 circus artists worldwide to receive this recognition. In 2008 Gee Gee received one of the highest honors in the circus arts with her induction into the Ring of Fame on Sarasota’s historic St. Armand’s Circle.
      Gee Gee Engesser passed away July 15, 2008 three weeks shy of her 82nd birthday. For over eight decades she personified the circus and remained active in promoting the circus arts to the rest of the world. She was and always will be an inspiration to all who knew and loved her. Gee Gee is survived by her son Bill Powell Jr., an executive with Feld Entertainment; grandson Cory Powell, a student at the University of South Carolina and a sister Roxy Luce Engesser of Trenton, Florida.
      A celebration of her life will be held at 3 p.m. on August 9th at Showfolks of Sarasota Club, 5204 Lockwood Ridge Road North, Sarasota, Florida

Vates Lola Engesser and her husband George formed both Shell Bros. and Zellmar Bros. circuses. She was a bookkeeper, musician, circus performers, vaudeville performer, advance agent, and toured the Orpheum, Pantages and Keith circuits. She started in show business at age 4. Died September 13, 1984 at Steubenville, Ohio, age 88. Circus Report, October 22, 1984, p. 13. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

W. E. English, musician, bass horn, formerly leader Yuma band, Sells-Floto, 1910. Yuma (AZ) Examiner, April 23, 1910. W. P. English, band leader, Sells-Floto. Mansfield (OH) News, March 15, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

George Eno, Eno Troupe, performers, 1941. "Fan Notes," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 12. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Gene Enos and Mary Enos, globe, perch, Hagenbeck-Wallace 1924. White Tops, Vol. 16, Nos. 3-4 (Feb-Mar), 1943, p. 7. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Leo Entwhistle was an elephant man with Hoxie Bros. Circus for 14 years. Died September 4, 1981 at Highland, Indiana while on tour with the circus, age 60. Circus Report, September 28, 1981, p. 20. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Karl Erikson (Schneider) came to the United States with his partner, Hans Schumann, during World War II. They were with Ringling-Barnum before they went out on their own. Known as the Incredible Eriksons, the act consisted of gymnastic stunts. Karl married Conchita Morales in 1948, an iron jaw performer form the Morales family. She joined the Eriksons act and died in 1979. Hans Schumann died in 1983. Karl died June 24, 1988 at New Port Richey, Florida, age 84. Circus Report, August 8, 1988, p. 10. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Pansy Erickson was an aerialist with Ringling-Barnum, Lamont Bros. and other shows. She performed as part of the Smiletta Family Troupe. Died January 1, 1976 at Ketchikan, Alaska, age 85. Circus Report, January 26, 1976, p. 2. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ernesto Sisters, Ringling Bros., 1906; wire artists, three in number, vaudeville 1909. Ernesto Family, three women, wire walkers [probably Ernesto sisters], Howe's Great London, 1911. Lima (OH) Daily News, June 8, 1906; Manitoba Morning Free Press (Winnipeg, Canada) June 8, 1909; Daily Courier (Connellsville, PA) April 19, 1911. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ora Ernst (Ora Blush Ernst) and her sister, Pauline Ernst, the Loretta Twins. Vaudeville, 1905: ". . . the Loretta Twins Trio, the most remarkable athletic exhibition ever given on the stage by mere children. The twin sisters, 14 years old, performing on the triple horizontal bars, everything that has been done by full grown gymnasts; including flying leaps by the hands and feet, from bar to bar, and a triple somersault before alighting in the safety net. The brother of the little girls does the clown part."(1) Dode Fisk, 1910: "The stamp of approval has been placed on the Loretta Twins by all the crowned heads of Europe before whom they have performed during the last two years. The Loretta Twins are bar performers par excellence, doing many wonderful and perilous feats never before attempted by any other artists, thus making them a particularly enchanting feature with the Great Dode Fisk Snows, which will exhibit at tne fair grounds at Marshfield, Saturday, July 30."(2) Barnum & Bailey, 1914.(3)
      Ora and her sister Pauline were the Loretta Twins, famous during the teens and twenties for an aerial bar and trampoline act and horizontal bar. Ernstonian aerial troupe, the twins and their husbands. Ora was with Barnum & Bailey, performed on high single bar with no net. Ora's daughter June Ernst performed on the horizontal bar.(4) Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

1. San Antonio Daily Light (San Antonio, TX), October 29, 1905.
2. Marshfield Times (Marshfield, WI), July 27, 1910.
3. Galveston Daily News (Galveston, TX), October 3, 1914.
4. Buford, Kate, Burt Lancaster An American Life, DaCapo Press, 2001, p. 39.

Billy Escalante, bull fight act, 1941. "Los Angeles Shrine Had One Night Circus," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Esther Escalante was known for her heel and toe trapeze act. She started her act at age 6 in her father's Escalante Bros. Circus. She then was with Al G. Barnes, Hagenbeck-Wallace, Cole Bros., Clyde Beatty and a number of other shows. Died April 30, 1988 at West Covia, California. Circus Report, May 23, 1988, p. 8. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Ishmael Escalante, properties, 1941. "Los Angeles Shrine Had One Night Circus," White Tops, Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5 (Feb-Mar), 1941, p. 4. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Phil Escalante came to the United States from Mexico with his family in 1909. The family operated their Escalante Bros. Circus until 1932, then touring with Al G. Barnes, Hagenbeck-Wallace, Cole Bros., Clyde Beatty and Shrine circuses. In 1957 Phil and his wife Betty were with Musical Enterprises and Theatre in the Round in 1957. Phil was rigger in charge of tents and Betty had concessions. Died January 11, 1988 at Glendale, California, age 81. Circus Report, February 1, 1988, p. 17. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Walter Evans, owner, Evans Circus killed at Maben, Mississippi, December 20, 1909. Evans said to have had a street battle with Harry and Rock Johnson, citizens of Maben, 25 persons arrested, most of them members of the circus troupe. Commerce (TX) Journal, December 17, 1909; Lima (OH) Daily News, December 19, 1909. Note: Parkinson's Directory of the American Circus doesn't have a circus with this name until 1914. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

Charles Ewers is shown here in a portrait taken some seven or eight years ago. Mr. Charles Ewers is another one of the long array of riders thut grace the roster of the Ringling Bros.’ Show. He has ridden jockey and hurdle acts for a great many years, and every season has found him producing innovations in his unique and pleasing acts. Mr. Ewers resides in Columbus. Ohio, where he has an unusual number of friends, who invariably entertain him, whenever he comes to town, with princely hospitality. Offical Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Information should be checked with additional sources Can you add information? Email your documented information for this/these person(s).

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