by Jerry Apps
Henry William George Ringling
Born: 10/27/1868, McGregor, Iowa
Died: 10/10/1918, Baraboo, Wisconsin. Buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery, Baraboo, Wisconsin
Married: Ida Belle Palmer, 12/31/1902
Baby Boy/Girl
Born: Circa 1871, birthplace unknown
Died: Circa 1871, burial place unknown
Ida Lorina Wilhemina Ringling
Born: 2/2/1874, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Died: 12/21/1950, Sarasota, Florida. Buried at Ringling Museum Grounds, Sarasota, Florida
Married: Henry Whitestone “Harry” North, 8/11/1902
Based on data compiled by Fred Dahlinger Jr. and Donald Heflin. Not all primary documents are available.
APPENDIX III
Ringling Homes in Baraboo and Vicinity
Several Ringling homes still exist in and around Baraboo. Perhaps the most elegant and stunning is Al Ringling’s former home, which was built in 1900 and is one block off the Court House Square on Broadway. The house is now owned by the Elks Club, which has worked toward restoring the mansion.
August Ringling’s home is located at 210 Second Avenue. Gus Ringling’s home, now privately owned, stands at the northeast corner of Eighth Avenue and Birch Street.
Alfred T. Ringling’s first wife, Della, donated his spacious downtown home to the Catholic Church, and it became Ringling St. Mary’s Hospital. The home, formerly located at 103 Tenth Street, has since been razed.
Alf T.’s country chalet, located on his former farm between Baraboo and Portage, was demolished in 2002. The 350-acre farm, which is currently owned by the Aldo Leopold Foundation, now comprises a large carriage shop, a concrete swimming pool (likely built by a later owner), a barn, and other farm buildings. At one time the fields grew hay that was hauled to Ringlingville and fed to the circus’s several hundred horses and other hay-eating animals.
Charles Ringling’s Colonial Revival home on the corner of Ash and Eighth Streets was sold to Henry Ringling after Charles’s death. It boasts a nearby carriage house and servant quarters with spacious lawns. All the buildings were once white. A Ringling descendent still lives in the house.
The Ringling farm, on Lynn Avenue, includes a modest house and one of the Ringling horse barns. Most of the land has been sold and developed for other purposes.
All of these properties are privately owned and not open to the public, but several can be viewed from the street.1
Notes
Preface and Introduction
1. Henry Ringling North and Alden Hatch, Circus Kings (New York: Doubleday, 1960). Throughout this book, Brothers, upper case, is used to denote the five Ringling partners; brothers, lower case, is used when talking about the seven boys in general.
2. Fred Dahlinger Jr. and Stuart Thayer, Badger State Showman (Baraboo, WI: Circus World Museum, 1998); Dean Jensen, The Biggest, the Smallest, the Longest, the Shortest (Madison, WI: Wisconsin House, 1975); and Janet Davis, “Circuses,” in The Oxford Companion to U.S. History, ed. Paul Boyer (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 120–121.
Chapter 1
1. North Iowa Times, October 2, 1867.
2. Alfred T. Ringling in his book Life Story of the Ringling Brothers (Chicago: R. R. Donnelley & Sons, 1900) wrote that his father was twenty-one when he sailed to America. As August was born in 1826, he must have arrived in Canada in 1847. Alf T. also wrote that August spent “about a year” in Canada; thus he likely arrived in Milwaukee in 1848.
3. Ibid., p. 72.
4. J. J. Schlicher, “On the Trail of the Ringlings,” Wisconsin Magazine of History 26, no. 1 (September 1942): 9.
5. Quoted in Schlicher, “On the Trail of the Ringlings,” p. 10.
6. Richard Current, The History of Wisconsin, vol. 2, The Civil War Era, 1848–1873 (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976), p. 237.
7. Schlicher, “On the Trail of the Ringlings,” p. 11.
8. North Iowa Times, December 10, 1862.
9. Marian Carroll Rischmueller, “The Ringlings of McGregor,” Palimpsest (State Historical Society of Iowa), June 1944, p. 182.
10. North Iowa Times, October 2, 1867.
11. North Iowa Times, May 25, 1870.
12. Rischmueller, “Ringlings of McGregor,” p. 184.
13. Consolidation Circus, Mike Lipman’s Colossal Combination of Circus and Trained Animals, and Dan Castello’s Great Show, Moral Exhibition and Wonderful Wild Animals. Rischmueller, “Ringlings of McGregor,” p. 185.
14. Ibid.
15. North Iowa Times, May 18, 1870, and May 25, 1870.
16. Alfred T. Ringling, Life Story of the Ringling Brothers, p. 21.
17. Stuart Thayer, “The Circus That Inspired the Ringlings,” Bandwagon, May–June 1996, p. 25.
18. Ibid., p. 24.
19. James D. Allen, “McGregor and the Ringlings,” Annals of Iowa, October 1952, p. 458.
20. North Iowa Times, [1967?].
21. Sally Veit Scarff, interview by the author, McGregor, Iowa, July 2, 2002.
22. Schlicher, “On the Trail of the Ringlings,” pp. 17–18.
23. Frances Burt, “Brodhead Claims Beginning of the ‘Greatest Show on Earth,’” White Tops, November–December 1955, p. 37.
24. Ibid., p. 37.
25. Alvin F. Harlow, Ringlings, Wizards of the Circus (New York: Julian Messner, 1951), p. 47.
26. Stillwater, Minnesota, May 1, 1875, Minnesota Census.
27. Town and Country Business Directory, Sauk County, Wisconsin (Baraboo, WI: Woodman and Powers, 1881).
28. Ibid.
29. Schlicher, “On the Trail of the Ringlings,” pp. 18–19.
30. Jerry Apps, Cheese: The Making of a Wisconsin Tradition (Amherst, WI: Amherst Press, 1998).
31. Charles Bernard, “Old-Time Showmen,” Billboard, July 12, 1930, pp. 54, 83. In 1881 (and perhaps in 1882) Al Ringling was with the Parson and Roy Circus out of Darlington, Wisconsin.
Chapter 2
1. Richland Center (Wisconsin) Republican-Observer, December 7, 1882.
2. Schlicher, “On the Trail of the Ringlings,” p. 21.
3. Robert C. Nesbit, The History of Wisconsin: Urbanization and Industrialization, 1873–1893, vol. 3 (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1985), p. 280.
4. Ibid., pp. 476–477.
5. Alfred T. Ringling, Life Story of the Ringling Brothers, p. 88.
6. Ibid., p. 92.
7. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, Circus World Museum Robert L. Parkinson Library and Research Center (hereafter referred to as CWM Library), p. 1; and Charles E. Ringling, unpublished notes, ca. 1925, CWM Library. Trinkhouse was variously spelled Trinkhaus and Trinkaus.
8. Ringling Concert Company Program, ca. 1882, Circus World Museum, Baraboo, Wisconsin (hereafter referred to as CWM).
9. Alfred T. Ringling, Life Story of the Ringling Brothers, p. 94.
10. Ibid., p. 95.
11. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, pp. 1–4.
12. Spring Green (Wisconsin) News, November 30, 1882.
13. New York Clipper, August 11, 1883; Route Book of J. H. LaPearl’s Shows, p. 5, CWM Library.
14. Sauk County (Wisconsin) Democrat, August 25, 1883.
15. Sauk County (Wisconsin) Democrat, June 23, 1883.
16. Charles E. Ringling, unpublished notes.
17. Alfred T. Ringling, Life Story of the Ringling Brothers, pp. 133–134.
18. Charles E. Ringling, unpublished notes.
19. Schlicher, “On the Trail of the Ringlings,” p. 22.
20. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, pp. 5–10.
21. New York Clipper, February 9, 1884, p. 807.
22. According to circus historian Richard J. Reynolds III, the Yankee Robinson name had enough attraction that circus owner Fred Buchanan used it for his circus as late as 1920. Richard J. Reynolds III, correspondence with the author, November 27, 2002.
23. Gene Plowden, Those Ama
zing Ringlings and Their Circus (Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, 1967), p. 44.
24. Alfred T. Ringling, Life Story of the Ringling Brothers, p. 172.
25. Ibid., pp. 173–178.
26. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, April 16, 1884.
27. Sauk County (Wisconsin) Democrat, May 3, 1884.
28. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, May 14, 1884.
29. J. T. Walker, Baraboo City Clerk, to C. P. Fox, June 3, 1960, CWM Library.
30. North and Hatch, Circus Kings, pp. 79–80.
31. Charles Philip Fox, A Ticket to the Circus (Seattle, WA: Superior, 1959), p. 21.
32. Ibid.
33. Sauk County (Wisconsin) Democrat, May 24, 1884.
34. W. C. Coup, quoted in Stuart Thayer, Traveling Showmen: The American Circus before the Civil War (Detroit: Astley and Ricketts, 1997), p. 48.
35. Darlington (Wisconsin) Republican, June 13, 1884.
36. Dodgeville (Wisconsin) Star, June 1884.
37. Route Book of the Ringling Brothers, 1882–1914, pp. 11–14.
38. W. C. Coup, quoted in Thayer, Traveling Showmen, p. 49.
39. Frank Parkinson to Circus World Museum, CWM Library, ca. 1954.
40. Alfred T. Ringling, Life Story of the Ringling Brothers, p. 204.
41. Charles E. Ringling, unpublished notes, CWM Library.
42. Route Book of the Ringling Brothers, 1882–1914, pp. 11–14.
43. Ibid., pp. 15–17.
Chapter 3
1. Otto Ringling to the Bank of Baraboo, May 15, 1888, CWM Library.
2. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914.
3. Waterford (Wisconsin) Post, September 17, 1885.
4. Richland (Wisconsin) Rustic, May 30, 1885.
5. 1885 advertising poster, CWM.
6. Alfred T. Ringling, Life Story of the Ringling Brothers, p. 210.
7. The November 24, 1886, Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic reported Evansville, Indiana, as the source for the animals, but Evansville, Wisconsin, would have been more likely, as it was much closer to Baraboo and a circus was located there.
8. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, pp. 28–31.
9. Shullsburg (Wisconsin) Pick and Gad, October 7, 1886.
10. Darlington (Wisconsin) Republican, October 8, 1886.
11. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, pp. 32–33.
12. Fond du Lac (Wisconsin) Daily Reporter, May 23, 1887; Juneau (Wisconsin) Telephone, May 27, 1887; Stoughton (Wisconsin) Hub, May 20, 1887. The Interstate Commerce Act became effective February 4, 1887, and was supposed to stabilize rates and eliminate price discrimination. American Source Documents, http://www.multied.com/documents.
13. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, pp. 34–38.
14. Ibid., pp. 39–48.
15. Reynolds, correspondence with the author, November 27, 2002.
16. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, p. 45.
17. Otto Ringling to Bank of Baraboo, May 15, 1888 (on Mason House [a Waukon, Iowa, hotel] stationery). Courtesy of John Ringling North II. Copy at CWM.
18. Bank of Baraboo Loan Records, 1880–1919. Courtesy of Baraboo National Bank. Abstract at CWM.
19. Ibid.
20. Otto Ringling to Bank of Baraboo, May 25, 1888 (on Plainview [Minnesota] Hotel stationery). Courtesy of John Ringling North II. Copy at CWM.
21. Otto Ringling to Bank of Baraboo, June 14, 1888. Courtesy of John Ringling North II. Copy at CWM.
22. Otto Ringling to J. Van Orden, Bank of Baraboo, August 8, 1888 (on Boyd Hotel [Wayne, Nebraska] stationery). Courtesy of John Ringling North II. Copy at CWM.
23. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, p. 44.
24. Prairie du Chien (Wisconsin) Courier, October 2, 1888.
25. Sauk County (Wisconsin) News, October 1888.
26. Sauk County Register of Deeds Office, Baraboo, Wisconsin, November 25, 1887, bk. 56, p. 561.
27. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, p. 48; Sauk County (Wisconsin) Democrat, October 18, 1888, and November 29, 1888.
28. Handbill reprinted in Fox, Ticket to the Circus, p. 32.
29. Hartford (Wisconsin) Press, May 17, 1889.
30. Columbus (Wisconsin) Democrat [May 1889?].
31. Brodhead (Wisconsin) Independent, June 21, 1889.
32. Reynolds, correspondence with the author, November 27, 2002; Fred D. Pfening III, correspondence with the author, December 1, 2002.
33. New York Clipper, November 16, 1889.
34. Richard E. Conover, “Notes on the Early Ringling Railer,” Bandwagon, March–April 1967, pp. 4–8.
35. Sauk County (Wisconsin) Democrat, October 10, 1889.
36. Sauk County (Wisconsin) Democrat, December 12, 1889.
37. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, January 29, 1890.
Chapter 4
1. Part of a clothing store ad that offered free tickets, with a $5.00 purchase, for the Ringling circus opening in Baraboo. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, April 23, 1890.
2. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, p. 54.
3. William Grant and Ken Dvorak, “The American 1890s: A Chronology,” Bowling Green University, http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/1890s/chronology.html.
4. Information Please, “Inventions and Discoveries,” http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004636.html.
5. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, April 16, 1890.
6. H. D. Barretta, Route Book, Season of 1890 (Cincinnati, OH: Donaldson Lith. Co., 1890), p. 6.
7. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, April 23, 1890. According to circus historian Richard Reynolds III, the elephant was really Asian and had been acquired from the Forepaugh show, where she was named Juliet. Calling the elephant “umbrella-eared (African)” was likely carelessness on the part of the circus press. Richard Reynolds III, correspondence with the author, November 29, 2002.
8. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, April 23, 1890.
9. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, May 7, 1890.
10. “The Late James E. Cooper,” New York Clipper, January 9, 1892, p. 730.
11. Barretta, Route Book, Season of 1890, p. 12.
12. Ibid., p. 22.
13. Ibid., p. 17.
14. Ibid., p. 19.
15. Ibid., pp. 11–15.
16. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, p. 64.
17. Barretta, Route Book, Season of 1890, p. 21.
18. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, August 29, 1890.
19. Barretta, Route Book, Season of 1890, p. 29.
20. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, October 15, 1890.
21. Sverre O. Braathen to Chappie Fox, November 7, 1964, Fred Pfening III, private collection, Columbus, Ohio (hereafter referred to as Pfening collection).
22. “Ringling Bros. Circus Car Shops,” Car shops, Reference Docs, CWM.
23. Fred D. Pfening Jr., “Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows: The 1890–1891 Seasons,” Bandwagon, July–August, 1993, p. 11.
24. Sauk County (Wisconsin) Democrat, November 13, 1890.
25. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, December 24, 1890.
26. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, April 8, 1891.
27. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, p. 59.
28. H. D. Barretta, Official Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows: Season of 1891 (Buffalo, NY: Courier, 1891), pp. 27–43.
29. From the Grand Forks (North Dakota) Daily Plaindealer, quoted in the Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, October 15, 1891.
30. From the Galesburg (Illinois) Daily Mail, quoted in the Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, October 15, 1891.
31. Ringling Daily Ledger, 1891, Pfening collection. Data compiled by Fred Pfening III.
32. Ibid.
33. Ringling Salary Ledger, 1895, Ringling business records, CWM.
34. Thayer, Traveling Showmen, pp. 20–21.
35. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, November 26, 1891.
36. Best known as the Malayan tapir. It has striking white saddle markings on a black body and is also called a saddle-backed tapir. It is found in Sumatra, Thailand, and Indonesia, as well as Malaysia. Mature Malayan tapirs will grow from three to three and a half feet tall and weigh from 551 to 1,100 pounds. Sheryl Todd, “Tapirback Homepage,” http://www.tapirback.com; Richard J. Reynolds, correspondence with the author, December 1, 2002.
37. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, October 29, 1891.
38. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, February 4, 1892.
39. Sauk County (Wisconsin) Democrat, March 24, 1892.
40. Ibid.
41. The bell wagon is now on display at Circus World Museum in Baraboo, on loan from Kenneth Feld and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
42. O. H. Kurtz, Official Route Book of Ringling Brothers: Season of 1892 (Buffalo, NY: Courier, 1892).
43. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, April 28, 1892.
44. Ibid.
45. Duluth (Minnesota) Herald, June 27, 1892.
46. Waupaca (Wisconsin) Post, July 14, 1892.
47. Kurtz, Official Route Book of Ringling Brothers: Season of 1892, p. 90.
48. Ringling Ledger, 1892, Pfening collection. Material compiled by Fred Pfening III.
49. Fred Pfening III and Richard Reynolds III, conversation with the author, July 10, 2001.
50. The Route Book of Ringling Bros. Shows: 1882–1914, p. 71.
51. Reynolds, correspondence with the author, December 1, 2002.
52. Baraboo (Wisconsin) Republic, January 26, 1893.
53. Sauk County (Wisconsin) Democrat, January 1893.
54. Gary B. Nash, John R. Howe, Allen F. Davis, Julie Roy Jeffrey, Peter J. Frederick, and Allan M. Winkler, eds., The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society (New York: HarperCollins, 1996), pp. 427–428.
55. Ibid.
56. According to Richard J. Reynolds III, the Panic of 1893 ultimately forced the Adam Forepaugh Circus out of existence. It lost heavily in 1893, went out as a small twenty-one-car, one-ring show in 1894, and was off the road in 1895. Its name reappeared in 1896 as the Forepaugh-Sells show, which was mostly the Sells Circus with some Forepaugh animals and equipment added. Reynolds, correspondence with the author, December 1, 2002.