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| Beasts and Ballyhoo, The Menagerie Men of Somers by Terry Ariano, continued, page 4 |
| Town of Somers History |
| Timeline - Elephant Hotel - Hachaliah Bailey - Menageries - Wright-Reis Homestead - Historic Properties Somers Historical Society Home Page - Somers History Page |
| _______________________________________________________________________________________________ (23) Richard W. Flint, “Entrepreneurial and Cultural Aspects of Early Nineteenth-Century Menagerie Business,” Itinerancy in New England and New York (Boston: Boston University Press, 1984), 132. (24) The letters documenting this trip are in the collections of the Somers Historical Society. (25) Stuart Thayer, The Oldest of Showmen, The Career of Benjamin F. Brown, (by the author, 2000), 1. (26) Charles Culver, “Somers,” in J. Thomas Scharf, History of Westchester County, New York (1886), 481-482. |
| J. Purdy Brown was a great innovator in moving his troupe around and advertising their appearances in advance. A large part of the public’s circus experience was in the anticipation and arrival of the event. Menageries had traditionally paraded their animals into towns, either tethered or in cages on wagons that became increasingly ornamented. Circus proprietors had had little need for wagons prior to the introduction of the tent, but with the example of the menagerie showmen before them, and they soon joined the parade.(23) The brothers Benjamin, Christopher and Herschel Brown, cousins to J. Purdy Brown, were involved with the menagerie business in the early 1820’s. Benjamin Brown (1799-1881) worked for Hachaliah Bailey in the exhibition of Little Bet in 1823. He was employed by J. Purdy Brown and Lewis Bailey in 1825, the season that the first canvas tent was introduced. In 1826 Benjamin and Hershel operated the Royal Pavilion Circus, (“pavilion” being a euphemism of the time for the canvas tent). Benjamin, Christopher and Hershel operated a circus for their cousin, J. Purdy, in 1828. Brown’s company was in South Carolina performing when Charles Wright, another Somers native famed as a lion tamer, came into town with his menagerie troupe. The two companies appeared together, and as it seemed to be successful, they performed the rest of the season together becoming the first traveling combination of a menagerie and circus. At this time, circuses were perceived as crude and, often morally offensive. Menageries were considered educational and harmless, and added respectability to the combination. The combination formed the basis of the American circus, with this fortuitous beginning with two Somers companies. Benjamin Brown and many others traveled extensively exhibiting their animals, ranging as far as the West Indies and South America. Benjamin also traveled as an animal buyer for June, Titus & Angevine, from nearby North Salem, the largest menagerie company of the period. In 1838 Benjamin traveled to the Great Kalahari Desert in Africa with Stebbins June, to purchase giraffes. |
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| Brown & Co.’s Circus, Jan 23, [1830], Broadside
SHS 75.04.2 Gift of the estate of Florence Johnson |
| June left a written account of traveling with the animals and his illness resulting from being bitten by a lion. Brown also wrote of his various illnesses contracted while traveling in the desert. Copies of his correspondence are in the Somers collection. Brown & June returned to America with five giraffes, which were exhibited in New York in the summer of 1840.(24) In the fall of 1840 Brown took the giraffes to England with the Van Amburgh Menagerie where he met and married Mary Cops, the daughter of the Keeper of the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London. He resided with the Cops family in the Tower until 1844, the only American known to have done so. As a wedding gift, the couple received an elegant pianoforte, which they transported to Somers and is now in the Somers Museum. After returning from Europe, Ben Brown traveled one last season with Van Amburgh & Co., then sold his portion of the menagerie to Gerard Crane. Benjamin Brown was interviewed by the New York Sun in his 79th year, and was dubbed “The Oldest of Showmen” having spent the majority of his life in the business.(25) Daniel, James and Charles Wright represent another Somers family that was part of the “peculiar calling” of the menagerie business.(26) They were raised just up the road from the Elephant Hotel, where their father Micajah Wright |
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| “The Giraff”, D.W. Kellogg & Co., c. 1835, Lithograph
SHS 73.21.20 Dr. Hugh Grant Rowell Collection |
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| [man believed to be Charles Wright in cage], Detail
The Grand Caravan in Guilford, Connecticut, November 13 [1820] Wood engraving, W.W.Clapp, printer SHS 73.16.217 Dr. Hugh Grant Rowell Collection |
| operated a tavern and inn. Daniel Wright (1790-1864) toured the Midwest with menagerie companies, finally settling in Ohio. James Wright (1799-1864) traveled extensively in the south, and eventually made his home in Alabama. Charles Wright (1792-1862) gained renown as the first “Keeper of the Lions” in America. |