Friday, November 30, 2018

MORE GRAVES


6 comments:

Roger Smith said...

Mount Olivet Cemetery's Showmans Rest, in Hugo, Oklahoma. It is known that long-time elephant man, John Carroll rarely, if ever, went to the Front End for his pay. It accumulated there, and he asked D.R. Miller to assist him in using the money to arrange burial places for show guys like himself, who may not have family for final decisions. There are other American cemetery sections known as Showmans Rest, and John Carroll's good heart began this one.

Cheri Valentine and I are searching for the final resting place for Bandleader Vic Robbins. From listings I can find, he is not here. He died in Porterville, California, on October 28, 1970, according to Ancestry.com. They do not provide a place of interment, and neither does Find-A-Grave--so far. Anyone with this information is asked to kindly contribute this man's closing history.

Charles Hanson said...

Roger: Do you recall if John Carroll was from Macon, Georgia? Thanks....

Roger Smith said...

CHARLES: I regret I have no history for John. I visited him 2 weeks before his sudden death on Carson & Barnes. Let me see if I can find something for him.

Roger Smith said...

CHARLES: In my Obituary book, I found this for John Carroll, from the May 19, 1980 issue of CIRCUS REPORT:

"JOHN CARROLL, 54, who was known as "Elephant John", and had been an elephant trainer and handler all his life, died suddenly at Jacksonville, Texas, on April 25, 1980, while with Carson & Barnes Circus. He was a cage boy for Terrell Jacobs, then joined Kelly-Miller Circus 32 years ago and stayed with the Miller organization throughout his life. Last year, he lost an eye when it was struck by a bull hook. Services were held in the circus big top in Denison, Texas, and burial was at Showman's Rest in Hugo, Oklahoma."

Regretfully, this item did not have details of his origins.

Charles Hanson said...

ROGER; Many thanks for the bio info on John Carroll. Being from Macon, Ga a Maconite named John joined the circus working with elephants. Recall his last name as Carroll but may be wrong. The guy I am talking about worked on Cristian Bros Circus for awhile, so looking at the above bio...it must not be the same person. Many thanks for taking the time to research this question. At the time, The Macon Telegraph & News did a story about this guy joining the circus....and it stuck in my mind.....

Charles Hanson said...

Make that CRISTIANI