| Menageries |
SOMERS, NY: THE MENAGERIES AND THE EARLY AMERICAN CIRCUS
In 1804 Hachaliah Bailey, an enterprising farmer and cattle merchant from Somers,
acquired an Asian elephant he named Old Bet, which he exhibited throughout the
northeast. His success in this venture attracted numerous partners and rivals from local
families, who joined in the occupation of importing and exhibiting exotic animals. The
resulting thriving menagerie business paralleled the development of the circus in
America, which in its earliest incarnations consisted of trick equestrian riders, clowns
and rope walkers. By the 1830's the two forms of popular entertainment merged to
become the uniquely American circus.
The majority of early 19th century circus proprietors as well as many performers came
from Somers and neighboring towns in northern Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess
Benjamin Brown - an early partner of Hachliah's, imported the first giraffes to
America, and later married the daughter of the Royal Keeper of the Menagerie and lived
in the Tower of London.
Charles Wright - believed to be the first performer to enter a lion's cage.
Benjamin Lent - an early partner of Hachaliah Bailey's in ownership of exotic animals.
Lewis Lent - son of Benjamin. Became the proprietor of the New York Circus, based in
New York City on 14th Street.
J. Purdy Brown - the first man to erect a canvas structure in which to perform. It
revolutionized the circus tradition.
The Elephant Hotel, built by Hachaliah Bailey in 1825, and the statue of an elephant in
front, serve as the symbolic center of early menagerie and circus in America. In 1835,
the Elephant Hotel hosted the first meeting of the Zoological Institute, an organization
of over 100 menagerie and circus proprietors, which maintained a building at 37
Bowery in New York City.
Hachaliah Bailey served as a role model to young P.T. Barnum, who tells a tale of their
meeting in his 1855 autobiography The Life of P.T. Barnum. Over 40 years later,
Mr. Barnum would team up with James Bailey, an adopted son of a distant relative of
Hachaliah's, to form the circus which continues to bear his name. Today Somers is
recognized as the Cradle of the American Circus. The Somers Historical Society and the
Museum of the Early American Circus, occupy the third floor of the Elephant Hotel.
In 1804 Hachaliah Bailey, an enterprising farmer and cattle merchant from Somers,
acquired an Asian elephant he named Old Bet, which he exhibited throughout the
northeast. His success in this venture attracted numerous partners and rivals from local
families, who joined in the occupation of importing and exhibiting exotic animals. The
resulting thriving menagerie business paralleled the development of the circus in
America, which in its earliest incarnations consisted of trick equestrian riders, clowns
and rope walkers. By the 1830's the two forms of popular entertainment merged to
become the uniquely American circus.
The majority of early 19th century circus proprietors as well as many performers came
from Somers and neighboring towns in northern Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess
Benjamin Brown - an early partner of Hachliah's, imported the first giraffes to
America, and later married the daughter of the Royal Keeper of the Menagerie and lived
in the Tower of London.
Charles Wright - believed to be the first performer to enter a lion's cage.
Benjamin Lent - an early partner of Hachaliah Bailey's in ownership of exotic animals.
Lewis Lent - son of Benjamin. Became the proprietor of the New York Circus, based in
New York City on 14th Street.
J. Purdy Brown - the first man to erect a canvas structure in which to perform. It
revolutionized the circus tradition.
The Elephant Hotel, built by Hachaliah Bailey in 1825, and the statue of an elephant in
front, serve as the symbolic center of early menagerie and circus in America. In 1835,
the Elephant Hotel hosted the first meeting of the Zoological Institute, an organization
of over 100 menagerie and circus proprietors, which maintained a building at 37
Bowery in New York City.
Hachaliah Bailey served as a role model to young P.T. Barnum, who tells a tale of their
meeting in his 1855 autobiography The Life of P.T. Barnum. Over 40 years later,
Mr. Barnum would team up with James Bailey, an adopted son of a distant relative of
Hachaliah's, to form the circus which continues to bear his name. Today Somers is
recognized as the Cradle of the American Circus. The Somers Historical Society and the
Museum of the Early American Circus, occupy the third floor of the Elephant Hotel.
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