Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Forepaugh-Sells c1900 #10


Scan000011023flipped, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

This is Bill Emory who was in charge of the elephants 1900-02 and had the most convoluted marching order I have seen. Howdahs on the first four elephants, two of which are collared together and bringing up the rear are two elephants in tandem pulling a tableau.
Emory joined the show in 1900 after the big male "Sid" (seen leading the herd above) killed Elephant Supt. Patrick Meager in Madison Sq. Garden.
Meagher's assistant William Badger in an interview, while petting "Sid" asked "What did you kill Patsy fer?". I wonder how Jack Ryan would have handled that.

SID
1878-95 Sells Bros. Circus (including 1890-91 Australian tour)
1896-04 Adam Forepaugh-Sells Bros. Circus
(Killed trainer Patrick Meagher in MSG in 1900)
(Killed attendant W.J. Meacher in the Columbus quarters and was executed Dec. 20, 1904)

Patrick "4-Paw Patsy" Meagher
1889- 92 Adam Forepaugh Shows
1898-94 Cook & Whitby Shows (Menagerie Supt.)
1895-96 Great Wallace Shows (Menagerie Supt.)
1897-00 Forepaugh-Sells Shows
(Died in MSG 1900)

William Badger
---- S.H. Barrett Circus
1883 Sells Bros. Circus
1892-95 Sells Bros. Circus (Supt. of elephants)
1898-00 Forepaugh-Sells Shows

William Badger was a black man, I have several Sells Bros. pictures of an all black elephant crew when he was in charge.
I also have a picture of him later with M.L. Clark handling "Ned" but the name written on the back is "Badger Black".

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good morning Buckles, would that be the picture of Mr. Badger sitting on Ned's tusk with Mena to the right? Great photo. In your convenience I would love to see a photo of his crew. Thanks.

Buckles said...

I thought those pictures would be right at hand but I'll have to look around a bit more.
Chang Reynolds sent them to me years ago, good clear shots.
The menagerie and elephant men are dressed like Zuaves.

Anonymous said...

I would assume this 4paw show was after the years of Adam Forepaugh direct ownership and would not include Addie Forepaugh Jr. [the GGW] of his day. Wonder what happened to him. Always heard that Bill Emery was A fine trainer and general expert in all phases of elephant handling. Would enjoy hearing more about him and his career. Thanks, Johnny

Anonymous said...

Where would Mike and Topsy have been at this time? Elsewhere in the parade, or ahead of Sid?

Johnny, the photo is indeed after Old Adam died [1890] and following young Adam Jr.'s retirement after 1893, the last big year of the original Forepaugh show. Forepaugh-Sells was largely the former Sells Bros. property, Bailey punching it up with two big bandwagons, cages, the Cleopatra barge and animals.

Anonymous said...

M.J. Meagher, best known as Patsy Forepaugh, was killed at the Columbus, Ohio, winterquarters ("Sellsville"), on Dec 20, 1899, per several newspaper accounts, and not in MSG. One account describes how Sid "hurled the trainer to the ground with his trunk. The elephant then fell on his victim, pierced Meagher's body with one of his tusks, on which was a brass ball six inches in diameter." That ball can be seen in this photo.

Buckles, hope you will have some luck finding those photos of the Sells elephant department!

Addie, Jr., quit the business the season after his father died (1890) and lived until 1919 in Philadelphia. He had some health problem, slight mental condition perhaps, as well. He was briefly married to an English rider in the early 1880s but soon separated and never divorced; they had no children and she outlived him by over 25 years. His Philadelphia rowhouse has since been demolished but he lived among the old record books of his father's show per a visitor who wrote to your father, Buckles, some years later.
Dick Flint
Baltimore