The Great American Water Shows Aka The Great American Water Circus

The Great American Water Shows

Aka

The Great American Water Circus

compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber Oct. 2012

 

The circus is always full of spectacles that leave us wide eyed and breathless.  But one of the most amazing shows winter quartered, for a few years, just across the river in Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio from 1902 until about 1905.

The Great American Water Circus was a floating show.  The show travelled along the Ohio River going up the Alleghany River [at least one trip] and along the Mississippi.  Sometime between the 1903 and 1904 season it changed the name from the Great American Water Circus to the Great American Water Shows.[i]

 The show was described as two or three barges bound together with a large tent that covered the entire length, depending on what news articles are read.   Several advance ads stated that the tent was 60x175 feet.   Still a lot of canvas over barges tied together in any formation. The tent was touted to seat 2000 people.  At least one article I read said that it seated about 1000.  The show cost adults 25 cents and children under eight 15 cents.  

Most newspaper articles reference it as a two ring circus. According to descriptions the show had 14 parade wagons and 40 horses[ii]  as well as a dog show at one point.  The show had approximately forty-two people.[iii]

 

I found a grainy photograph of the show docked at Marietta, Ohio in the December 1958 issue of Bandwagon.  The photograph is the property of the Circus Historical Society.  The best quality photograph is the property of the Public Library of Cincinnati with their wonderful river collection.  But I truly got excited when I found that they have a picture of the inside of the tent showing seating, horses and  pony.  I am left wondering if perhaps that is the owner in the foreground with a smoke in his mouth.  The library notes that it is from the {Frederick} Way Collection.

William P. Newman was the mastermind and owner of this floating circus.  He was born in Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio 27 March 1872[iv], the son of Valentine [born Germany] and Mary [born Massachusetts].  He was one of at least seven children.  Valentine Newman was a lumber merchant and by the time William was fourteen he left home and tried his hand at several jobs.  He married 25 November 1896 Carrie Haller and the family can be found renting in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio in the 1900 census.  His occupation at this time is listed as superintendent.  But, it does not clarify what he is supervising.   

There were many show boats plying the waters of the Ohio that stopped in Portsmouth, Ironton and Ashland.  They had theatrical stage shows and music. How Newman visualized and created this unique circus and convinced performers to bring their animals onboard is a wonder.

The overhead for a show of this type must have been high.  Besides barges, a steamboat was required to push all of the trappings up and down the waterways. In 1903 the Cricket was one of the boats utilized.  The first towboat that this writer found mention of being utilized for the show was the J.C. Reynolds in July 1902 where it began its journey from Liverpool, Ohio.[v]  In 1904 the Katie Mc brought the show into Indiana.  River news was reported in detail by newspaper produced in Brookville, Indiana called The Sun.  There is no doubt that the show struggled.  In 1904 “Col. Newman” talked with the owner of the Floating Palace while in Evansville.  Rumors were circulating that the show was then out of business but the news  corrected the rumor stating the show was reorganizing and had even bought a calliope.[vi]

Newman’s wife was the cashier for the show.  R. E. Stroup resigned his position, as advertising manager, with the Portsmouth Times in April 1903[vii] to become Great American Water Circus advance man.  Stroup had only held the position with the paper for a month.  The Portsmouth Times had announced his taking a position with them after leaving the “Ironton newspapers.”[viii]

The show left winter quarters and usually made the next appearance at Ashland then Catlettsburg if heading up river.

Newman’s father Valentine died 5 November 1909 and was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Ironton.[ix] By 1910 the Newman’s had moved back to Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio.  They resided with Carrie’s parents Jacob and Mary [nee Schaffer] Haller on Walnut Street.  William P. gave his occupation as “none.”  Jacob Haller was an engineer at the county courthouse at this time.  Jacob Haller was originally a tanner, born in Lycoming County, PA.[x]

By 1920 The Newman’s had their own place and W. P. gave his occupation as manager of a bakery.  In 1913 they had a daughter named Mary.  By 1940, still living in Bucyrus, William gives his occupation as a salesman of step ladders.  

Census records can be a bit deceiving, leaving huge gaps in a person’s life.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer gave more information about his life in entertainment in his obituary 12 June 1950.  The article stated that he was one of Bucyrus first motion picture theater owners.  It went on to describe a partnership in billboard advertising for many years.  Besides his wife, and only daughter [Mrs.  Robert W. Ferguson],  a brother, Louis also resided in Crawford County.

Carrie, widowed, lived until her death, 29 January 1967, in a care facility in Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio.

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[i] Breckenridge News, Cloverport, KY, 29 June 1904

[ii] Rain, D.A. The Water Book. A Compendium of Facts and Fables 1993

[iii] Memoirs of the Lower Ohio Valley, Vol. 1, page 135

[iv] Ohio, Lawrence County Birth Records

[v] Evening Bulletin, Maysville, Ohio July 18 1902

[vi] Breckenridge News, Cloverport, KY 13 July 1904

[vii] Ironton Register, Ironton, Ohio 3 April 1903

[viii] Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, OH 7 Mar 1903

[ix] Episcopal Church Burial Records, Ironton, Ohio http://www.lawrencecountyohio.com/churches/records/episcopal/Burials_1902_1911.htm

[x] History of Crawford County, Ohio. Baskin and Battey, 1881. PP 749.

Jomar

Jomar

Compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber

March 2012

When John Geer Martin was just a little boy he told his mother he had a dream. He was going to own a big horse farm.  He housed his horses in the detached garage by his house on Waller Street in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio.  He went out to Scioto fairgrounds regularly. As he grew he knew that whatever he did it must involve horses. His father sent him to Blacksburg to VPI where he studied engineering.  But he really wanted to be with his horses. 

When World War II started he was one of the first to register.  He became a cargo pilot and flew the Hump.  His daughter and this compiler have all the letters he wrote home to his mother. Among them he told her he would name his farm “Jomar” for John Martin.  He could already visualize what it would look like.  He also acknowledged that engineering was not for him and that he truly wanted to be a veterinarian.   When the war was over, he went to Ohio State University, married, dabbled in journalism and finally with a DVM degree in hand moved across the river to Kentucky.

His wife, Mary Helen Feyler had made a childhood friend with a circus that had been in Portsmouth.  By the time they married she was taking him to meet her friends.  She often joked that his dream farm Jomar stood for John and Mary not just John Martin.  And over the next few years the network of circus associations grew along with his reputation as a circus animal doctor.

In 1961 the dream became a reality.  Martin  had purchased acreage in Boyd County, Kentucky at Cannonsburg.  With the help of his dear friend Michael Polakoff, aka Coco the Clown, they cleared the land.  I remember huge stacks of brambles and sticks and fires.  One of the funny incidences was when “Uncle” Mike was sent to get a tractor just down the road.  By dusk he was nowhere to be found and the call came “Doc I am in a town called Catlettsburg and I am lost.”  He had driven that tractor all afternoon when it should have been a ten minute ride. 

Painting by John Geer Martin

As the house was being built my father ordered brass plaques for the gates he designed.  JOMAR on one side and his name on the other.  His dream became a reality.  To celebrate he invited many of his circus friends.  It must had been the first time that the circus community knew he was calling the farm JOMAR.  They were quick to ask if it was named for John Ringling North’s circus car Jomar.  The car had been named for John and Mable Ringling.  My parents, surprised were quick to tell everyone their story and agreed it was a serendipity moment to tie his loves together.  The county named the newly graveled road Jomar Road.

For a while the train car was used by Rudy Bundy and in the 1960’s my father toured the “graveyard” of circus wagons and old trains rusting and off the track in Florida. There is a short grainy film he shot showing the burning of beautiful circus wagons and the train standing abandoned in the background.

Jomar in Boyd County, Kentucky was full of laughter, horses and circus friends

for many years.  Besides the wonderful saddle bred horses that we showed, several retired circus horses lived out their lives on Jomar.  Ringling boarded a beautiful stallion named Royal resplendent with his Kings Range brand.  Royal, retired from the circuit, lived out a happy life with our family.  Hanniford’s left two retired horses to pasture.  Robin who was notorious for scratching his huge back, breaking the fence, usually when my father was out of town; leaving mother to chatter away at him as he followed her back across where he belonged.  The second horse Sherry was a gentle white and my son John got the honor of taking a ride when he was small.

My husband and I were excited when an auction in the Zanesville, Ohio area advertised circus items.  Circus Fans came from all over to bid on what appeared to be mostly posters.  However, my eyes quickly found the familiar Jomar china in one lot.  I remember my husband and I wondering if Circus Fans would realize the value and history of the china but resolved we would add the items to Jomar in Kentucky.  As we began to bid I realized that the group was all looking my way.  Apparently, while I thought I was unknown, these fans knew Jomar and in honor of my parents nodded and did not bid. 

One of the items my parents did not have in the hodgepodge of china was any coffee cups.  Jennie Howerton, mother of Dr. Paul Savage, in Ashland, Kentucky matched the burgandy lettering color perfectly creating a set of six porcelain cups.  While a bit more dainty than the heavy original Jomar china it is a nice addition.

This is not genealogy but is the provenance of something that our family treasures and is as much a part of our history as our lineage.   The provenance of artifacts in history are as important as the people who utilized them.

Today Jomar in Kentucky sits quietly, in need of fence repair and laughter.  My father passed away in 1999.  My mother is still matriarch at Jomar but Alzheimers has stolen her memories. There is talk of restoration of the Ringling rail car Jomar that was in such disrepair so many years ago and its history is well documented.  

The history of Jomar in Kentucky and the legacy my parents left will continue.  My father loved many things in life including flying and journalism.  When he retired from veterinary medicine he decided to write. He wrote two war histories and two books about his life as a veterinarian.  Doc My Tiger’s Got An Itch tells a few of the many tales he had as an assistant veterinarian with Ringling and as veterinarian of many other small shows including Mills Brothers now also only a memory. So many beloved friends – human and animal. 

Our first son is named for his grandfather.   John’s wife is Marina.  Serendipity!  Jomar lives on.