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.

---

[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.

The Williams House, Catlettsburg, Kentucky

compiled by Teresa Martin Klaiber

September 2011

Much has been written about Mordecai Williams of Catlettsburg, Kentucky.  Williams was born 20 December 1835 in Greenup [now Boyd] County, Kentucky, the son of Marcus Lindsey and Elizabeth Williams.  A lengthy biography can be read in History of Kentucky and Kentuckians by E. Polk Johnson [1912], Volume III pp 1206-8.  The biography has been copied at several url's.  The original volume contains the following photograph:

Portrait from History of Kentucky & Kentuckians, Vol. III

His biography mentions  a "narrow escape from losing his life."  The biography tells of two burglars who entered his home, shooting him twice and escaping.  They were later captured and sent the penitentiary.

Articles of the incident appeared across the country in September 1903.   Most say there was only one burglar.  The Emporia Gazette in Kansas ran an article "Kentuckians Hot After a Man who Shot Up a colonel Contrary to Law."  The Atlanta, Georgia paper headline read: "Shot Down By A Burglar. Kentucky Colonel Is Desperately Wounded by Night Prowler.  But the most descriptive and closest article I found to home was in the Portsmouth Times several days after the incident on September 12th.

"USED SABRE - Honorable Mordecai Williams Chases a Bold Burglar - And is Shot Down by the Thief - Ashland Man in a Thrilling Midnight Encounter.

Mordecai Williams, one of the most prominent citizens of Eastern Kentucky, was shot through the chest by a burglar at his home in Normal, just north of Catlettsburg, Monday night. Mr. Williams was defending himself with an old sword, valued as a relic, when the burglar fired the shot.

Mr. Williams was awakened by his wife, who heard the burglar in the room.  He saw the intruder, and as there was no other weapon in the room he secured the sword and struck the intruder with it.  the burglar then fired, the bullet striking Mr. Williams near the heart and passing entirely through his body.

After he was shot, Mr. Williams did not fall but continued his pursuit of the burglar, wielding the old sword, and the latter was finally forced to jump from a second story window, without securing any booty.  A search was made for him after the alarm was given but he had disappeared.

Although the bullet passed entirely through Mr. Williams' body, coming out near the spine, no vital organs were hit and he may recover.  

Mordecai Williams is one of the most prominent and best known citizens of Northeastern Kentucky."

For the record Mordecai Williams did survive and lived twenty more years.  He died 17 May 1923 and is buried in what today is Williams Section of Golden Oaks in Boyd County, Kentucky.  It was known as Williams Cemetery and was up the hill behind the home referenced in the attack.  

His wife at the time of the attack was Penelope, "Neppie" the daughter of John P. Savage and Margaret Frizzell.   The Williams married 25 August 1875 after they were both widowed. Neppie died 23 January 1920 and is also in Williams Section of Golden Oaks. 

I chuckled a bit at a mis-spelling in the Atlanta paper.  That article stated that Sheriff John "Henne", with a posse was hunting a burglar.  It did go on to say that  Sheriff "Henne" was the son-in-law of Colonel Williams.    "Henne" is John Fisher Haney who married Ann Dickinson Williams.  The Haney family lived right next door to the Williams family.

The marriage of Haney to the colonel's daughter caused commotion.  The news reached Ironton and was posted in the paper there.  Haney was born February 1870 in Ohio.

"Ironton Weekly Register, August 26, 1893
Runaway Marriage. - An event occurred yesterday in Catlettsburg that has created considerable stir in social circles, being no less than the marriage of Miss Anna D. Williams to John Haney, of Normal. It is said that the young couple have been attached to each other for some time, but their marriage was opposed by the grandmother of the bride. The father accompanied them yesterday and the marriage was solemnized at Catlettsburg, by Rev. Mr. Carnahan. Mr. and Mrs. Haney left for Chicago after the ceremony and are now enjoying the sights at the World's Fair. - Ashland Signal"

Annie Williams Haney died in October 1901 of typhoid fever.  on 14 January 1904 John Fisher Haney married Gertrude Minor.

The Williams home was full of laughter  in June 1903 when the Haney's daughter Anna Williams Haney celebrated her 9th birthday at her grandparents.  It was such a big social event that the Catlettsburg Daily Press made note calling Mordecai's home simply the "Williams House."

Even as late as the 1990's when I first learned of the Klaiber connection to the home it was simply referred to as the "Williams House."

Three years before Mordecai's death, John Fisher Haney's father Joseph, who had been living with the Haney family at Normal, died in Boyd County.  John Fisher Haney died in August 1925 and was buried in Woodland Cemetery, Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio.

During the early 1930's as people struggled with the Depression the James Matthew Klaiber family rented their own farm out on Big Garner and moved into the Williams home, renting from Gertrude Minor Haney.

The Klaiber family could make more money with this move during hard times.  James Matthew Klaiber plowed all the ground that now consists of Golden Oaks.    Son John Henry Klaiber drove a truck for the local feed company and helped his father farm.  In February 1931 they got a Federal Crop Mortgage for "all crops...now planted and growing...Boyd County...the farm of Mrs. John Haney located on the east end of Ashland near Catlettsburg...bounded on the north by school property...175 acres."  The Mortgage was filed by John Henry's sister Martha who worked as clerk at the Boyd County Courthouse in Catlettsburg.   The Klaiber family were able to return to their own farm by 1935.

John Fisher Haney's widow, Gertrude continued to live until 21 March 1970.  She also is resting in Woodland Cemetery, Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio.

The William's House was still standing in October 1974 when Evelyn Jackson wrote an article in the Press Observer [vol. 1 #35, 31 Oct.] on the Williams genealogy. Today nothing of the home stands except a set of cement steps going up the side of the hill.