July 1876
In the 1800s one of the most anticipated events of the summer in the St. Croix Valley was the arrival of the circus. In those early days circuses were of somewhat uneven quality, the term “dog and pony show” came into the lexicon to describe some of the early productions which indeed featured dogs and ponies doing rather unexciting tricks. Nellie Holmes who grew up in the Holmestead in the 1850s often mentions the circus coming to town in her diary, sometimes without much excitement but she was anxious to attend in 1852:
The circus did come in the morning and we went. We got a beautiful seat and they kept the people down in front very well except one man and it was not long before we did. I heard one country clown calling “Put him out,” and it sounded funny.
They passed around some molasses and water and called it lemonade. I saw a great many very strange and almost impossible things but they all looked like idle people who could find nothing else to do. I could not begin to tell half of the things that were done.
Either the clown was not so funny or I was more sensible, he did not seem as funny as he used to. There was a little bit of a boy stood on one foot on his father’s head and he looked so cunning I wanted to kiss him.
She returned the next day:
I went up this evening and listened to the music outside of the circus. One of the managers tried to kiss me. Bah!
By July 25th 1876 when P.T. Barnum brought the “Greatest Show on Earth” to Calais. The circus had come of age but still, except for the hippo and giraffe, it seemed to lack many exotic animals, there is no mention of lions and tigers. Not so the first recorded circus to visit the area at Robbinston on August 26, 1829. Richard Hayden notes in his diary entry of that day:
“Caravan exhibited at Gen Brewer’s, they had a lion, lioness, leopard, tiger, black wolf with a number of monkeys and a pony. 25 cents”
This caravan certainly came up the St Croix, probably on one of the very early steamships. General Brewer’s is the Mansion House.
Circus Parade – St Croix Hotel top left
Before the opening performance the circus held a parade through the streets of Calais and St. Stephen. It was designed to generate excitement and get folks under the big top later in the day. The photo above was taken on Main Street about 1885. The spectators are standing on the sidewalk about where Crumbs is now located. This may be the Stone and Murray Circus which played Calais for many years. Its ad for 1869 in the Courier claims:
THE REIGNING SENSATION!!
THE BEST EVER SEEN!!
The Press Teams With Laudatory Eulogies and of the EXALTED EXCELLENCE of the Mammoth Troupe and OVERFLOWING AUDIENCES , fashionable and critical, attest with rapturous applause and other manifestations of popular delight the PROLIFIC TALENTS of the Matchless Cluster of the LEADING CIRCUS OF THE WORLD.
Included in this “Matchless Cluster” of artists were Mlle Emilie Henrietta Cooke, The Premier Equestrian of the World; John Henry Cooke, The Champion Rider of the Universe; the Talleen Brothers; the Amazing Gymnasts from the Hippodrome, Paris, their first season in America; Sig Columbus, the inimitable Italian Contortionist, his first season in America; Den Stone, the popular American Clown; Sig. Ferdinand Sagrino, Champion Spanish Rider; Burt Johnson, Champion Leaper and Vaulter together with “Acting Dogs,” “Trained Horses,” and “Comic Mules.”
Quite an array of talent to be sure but again there is no mention of lions, tigers or the other exotic animals one would expect to find in a circus.
Still even without lions and tigers there were plenty of predators at every circus of this era. The Advertiser in the late 1880’s implies the circus came to town not to entertain but to supply a goodly number of “marks” for the troupe and its hangers on.
From the Advertiser:
A GANG OF THIEVES VISIT THE BORDER IN COMPANY WITH COOK AND WHITBY’S CIRCUS AND GIVE AND RECEIVE SOME LIVELY ENTERTAINMENT
To apply the term “fakirs” to the gang of hoodlums, thieves and pickpockets which accompanied the Cook and Whitby circus to Calais and which seems to make up the principal part of the show would be to insult the dishonorable fake fraternity. From the time their train arrived early Sunday morning until several of their number were safely housed within the gloomy walls of the Calais lockup Monday afternoon, they plied their numerous devices to cheat, they picked every pocket they encountered on their rounds and looked tempting to any degree, they openly snatched rolls of bills from the hands of those foolish enough to expose them, they did a thousand and one things to obtain money dishonestly; and the deadly weapons with which some of them were armed indicated that, under proper conditions, murder would not have been considered an out of the way proceedings.
The article went on to describe a series of strong arm robberies from patrons who showed too much of the ready when playing the various crooked games of chance and the enormous losses incurred by several prominent citizens in the nutshell and pea game, one of the oldest swindles on the midway. These prominent citizens, or sore losers if you happen to side with the circus folks, took their grievances to Judge Rounds, then the City Magistrate, and had him swear out an arrest warrant against the operators of the “shell game” and owner of the circus. The article describes what happened next:
“Armed with a proper warrant they (The Calais Police) descended upon the shell operators. One concluded it would be better for them to move out. He did so rapidly with Officer McKay close on his heels. In flight he dropped a dirk knife and a loaded revolver. He was prepared to do business of any kind. After a desperate resistance he was lodged in jail.”
There followed other arrests including the owner of the circus who was charged with keeping a gambling house. Apparently the authorities were shocked to discover games of chance were being played at a circus in the City of Calais, a stain on the City’s reputation which Judge Rounds found could be removed only by the payment of $600 by the miscreants, funds which were returned to the prominent citizens who had made the complaint to their friend, Judge Rounds. It does pay to have friends in high places. Upon his release Cook, the owner, packed up and moved on to his next stop, Lincoln.
After the 1876 performance of Barnum’s circus, the St. Croix Courier remarked:
A large number of pickpockets seems to be accompanying Barnum’s circus. Several of our citizens were robbed of articles of value and pocketbooks containing large sums of money on Tuesday last. Mrs. GM Wentworth lost a valuable gold watch, Mr Nathaniel Higgins a pocket book containing seventy dollars in money and Mr. John Young his containing fifty dollars.
As anticipated Barnum’s Great Show was the cause of bringing into the city one of the largest number of people ever known here at one time-exceeding that of the recent Fourth of July celebration.
Ledger Emmans Hotel Calais 1879
For many decades the circus was held in Carver’s Field which is at the end of Carver Street off Union. Carver’s Field’s other claim to fame is as Calais’ largest brickyard of the 1800’s which, we understand, requires lots of clay. We didn’t know the clay was blue but apparently it was. Above is a portion of the June 10, 1879 ledger of the Emmans Hotel in Calais of June 10, 1879 when Barnum was making a return appearance. Some wag, probably the desk clerk, has written over “field” Mud Hole and over “Show” sell-apparently not a big circus fan. We’ll end with a description of how enjoyable the circus was in Carver’s Mud Hole on a very rainy day in about 1900.
The Pan-American Circus got wet. The street parade took place on Saturday forenoon about twelve, and was very good for what there was of it. After dinner it commenced to rain, and all afternoon it came down in sheets. Around the circus grounds things looked decidedly blue and damp. A fairly good crowd attended the afternoon performance, but the “water proof” tents which they advertised failed to prove water-proof, and people got considerably mixed up with blue clay and wet planer shavings. One enterprising peanut vendor had his lemonade crock located under a leak and during the whole performance did not have to replenish his crock. The seats of course got soiled. One young lady came up and sat next to us in a half inch of blue clay. She had on a pretty organdie muslin, that is it was pretty before she sat down. It didn’t look so nice when she got up. Taken altogether it was a most disagreeable and dirty sight underneath the canvas. After the performance the manager decided not to give an evening entertainment, so they folded their tents and like Arabs stole away.
Circus Street Calais 1872
The first circuses to come to Calais after the Civil War didn’t set up in Carver’s Field in the Union but in the field in the back of the Grammar School on Academy Street. In fact the lane which led to that field was named on the plans of Calais streets as “Circus Street”. Those who attended the Academy Street school will remember the road, more a lane in those days, connecting Academy and Lincoln Streets with the Scout Hall on the right at the corner of Lincoln Street. Lincoln Street was not laid out by the town for another decade.