| Beasts and Ballyhoo, The Menagerie Men of Somers |
| Town of Somers History |
| Animals, Horses &c. at Auction, 1837, detail Notice of sale to be held at the Elephant Hotel SHS 75.5.15 Gift of Laura Howe Nelson |
In neighboring towns other menagerie and circus companies came to the forefront. The June Titus and
Angevine organization with whom Lewis Lent and Gerard Crane were connected, was from neighboring
North Salem. Out of this area entrepreneurs Epenetus, JR & William Howe of North Salem, James
Raymond, Chauncey Weeks, Hiram Waring and Daniel Drew from Carmel, Nathan and Seth Howes from
Brewster, a lion tamer named Isaac Van Amburgh from nearby Fishkill, and from across the border in CT,
often, wealth.
Advertising and ballyhoo about the companies kept the audiences coming. The Grand Caravan is now
announced as on its march a month before its arrival. Tremendous showbills, on which the whole array is
set forth as large as life proclaim everywhere the coming entertainment; and to cap the show we have a
grand procession in which man and beast, some on foot and some on wheels, martial music, trains of
carriages, cars and omnibuses, clouds of dust and oceans of popular amusement, all lend their aid.
Brattleboro Messenger, 24 Aug 1834.
These menagerie owners played a significant role in shaping the American circus into its traditional form.
According to Stuart Thayer, "They imported the rare animals, hired lion tamers who soared to fame,
combined the circus and menagerie elements which formed the basis of the American circus. They
introduced the posters and couriers of modern advertising and with them the effusive language that is still
part of the entertainment business. It was their wagon shows that created the circus season, and in their
visits to the towns and hamlets they educated an audience for the circus that still exists today."
In 1839, profits from the menagerie business being plentiful, the second banking institution in
Westchester County was formed. Given the prosaic title of the Farmers and Drovers Bank, it opened at
the Elephant Hotel, with a list of officers that made up a who's who of the menagerie business. The 2000
pound safe from the bank, painted with lovely pastoral scenes, is still in the ground floor office, presently
occupied by the Somers Town Clerk. The bank went national in 1865, and closed in 1905. Horace
Bailey, Hachaliah's first cousin, served as the president of the bank. Horace purchased the hotel from
Gerard Crane in 1837, and except for a brief period between 1868 and 1874 his family retained
ownership of the property until it was sold to the Town of Somers in 1927.
Angevine organization with whom Lewis Lent and Gerard Crane were connected, was from neighboring
North Salem. Out of this area entrepreneurs Epenetus, JR & William Howe of North Salem, James
Raymond, Chauncey Weeks, Hiram Waring and Daniel Drew from Carmel, Nathan and Seth Howes from
Brewster, a lion tamer named Isaac Van Amburgh from nearby Fishkill, and from across the border in CT,
often, wealth.
Advertising and ballyhoo about the companies kept the audiences coming. The Grand Caravan is now
announced as on its march a month before its arrival. Tremendous showbills, on which the whole array is
set forth as large as life proclaim everywhere the coming entertainment; and to cap the show we have a
grand procession in which man and beast, some on foot and some on wheels, martial music, trains of
carriages, cars and omnibuses, clouds of dust and oceans of popular amusement, all lend their aid.
Brattleboro Messenger, 24 Aug 1834.
These menagerie owners played a significant role in shaping the American circus into its traditional form.
According to Stuart Thayer, "They imported the rare animals, hired lion tamers who soared to fame,
combined the circus and menagerie elements which formed the basis of the American circus. They
introduced the posters and couriers of modern advertising and with them the effusive language that is still
part of the entertainment business. It was their wagon shows that created the circus season, and in their
visits to the towns and hamlets they educated an audience for the circus that still exists today."
In 1839, profits from the menagerie business being plentiful, the second banking institution in
Westchester County was formed. Given the prosaic title of the Farmers and Drovers Bank, it opened at
the Elephant Hotel, with a list of officers that made up a who's who of the menagerie business. The 2000
pound safe from the bank, painted with lovely pastoral scenes, is still in the ground floor office, presently
occupied by the Somers Town Clerk. The bank went national in 1865, and closed in 1905. Horace
Bailey, Hachaliah's first cousin, served as the president of the bank. Horace purchased the hotel from
Gerard Crane in 1837, and except for a brief period between 1868 and 1874 his family retained
ownership of the property until it was sold to the Town of Somers in 1927.
| Farmers and Drovers National Bank of Somers, Five dollar currency, 1885 SHS collection |