Old Bet

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Memorial of Old Bet in front of the Elephant Hotel, in Somers, New York. Elephant Hotel 2007.jpg
Memorial of Old Bet in front of the Elephant Hotel, in Somers, New York.
Marker of site in Alfred, Maine, where Old Bet was shot dead OldBetSlayingMarker.jpg
Marker of site in Alfred, Maine, where Old Bet was shot dead

Old Bet (died July 24, 1816) was the first circus elephant and the second elephant brought to the United States. [1] There are reports of an elephant brought to the United States in 1796, but it is not known for certain that this was the elephant that was later named Old Bet. [2] [3]

Contents

Biography

The first elephant brought to the United States was in 1796, an Indian elephant aboard the America which set sail from Calcutta for New York on December 3, 1795. [4] However, it is not certain that this was Old Bet. [2] Historical mentions of Old Bet begin in 1804, in Boston, as part of a menagerie. [1] [5] In 1808, while residing in Somers, New York, circus owner Hachaliah Bailey purchased the elephant for $1,000 and named her "Old Bet". [6] [7]

On July 24, 1816, Old Bet was shot and killed while on tour near Alfred, Maine, by local farmer Daniel Davis, who was later convicted of the crime. [8] His motives were believed to be either jealousy or being against the animal cruelty of the circus, with the latter being for religious reasons. [2] [6]

Legacy

In 1821, the Scudder's American Museum in New York announced that they had bought the hide and bones of Old Bet, and would mount the remains at the museum. [9] The elephant was memorialized in 1825 with a statue and the Elephant Hotel in Somers, New York, which is now a historic site. [1] [2] [6] In 1922, the elephant John L. Sullivan walked 53 miles to lay a wreath for the memory of Old Bet at her memorial statue. [10] [11]

In the 1960s, a monument was approved and laid outside of the York County Emergency Management Agency on Route 4, where she was killed. [5] [12] [13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hershenson, Roberta (December 8, 2002). "Under the Big Top". New York Times . Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Setting The Record Straight On Old Bet". American Heritage . Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  3. ↑ Crowninshield, Bowdoin Bradlee (1901). An Account of the Private Armed Ship "America" of Salem. Vol. XXXVII. The Essex Institute Historical Collection. p. 1. Retrieved March 3, 2013– via um.bookprep.com.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ Goodwin, George G. (October 1951). "The Crowninshield Elephant : The surprising story of Old Bet, the first elephant ever to be brought to America". Pick from the Past. Natural History . Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Old Bet: An elephant never forgotten". Press Herald. 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
  6. 1 2 3 "Old Bet". RoadsideAmerica.com . Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  7. ↑ Wiegold, Marilyn (May 15, 1977). "The Beast That Put Somers on the Map". Archives. The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017..
  8. ↑ Winship, Kihm (June 3, 2012). "Elephants". Faithful Readers: The writing of Kihm Winship. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016.
  9. ↑ "The Elephant Comes to America". HistoryBuff.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  10. ↑ "Namesake of 'John L.' Will Lay Wreath on Grave of Pioneer Sister Performer". New York Times . April 9, 1922. Retrieved 2010-01-08. An old, old elephant will start out this afternoon from Madison Square Garden on a pilgrimage to the grave of the first elephant that ever came to the United States.
  11. ↑ "Town Heaps Honors on Old Bet's Grave. But Pap Fellowes and His Cornet Inject a Little Discord in Memorial to an Elephant. But the Youngsters All Enjoy It and Feed Peanuts to Old John, Who Lays Wreath on Monument". New York Times . April 14, 1922. Retrieved 2010-01-08. The memorial services for Old Bet in Somers, N.Y., yesterday, solemn except for the part which old Pap Fellowes and the cornet played, were all that anybody, even Old Bet herself, might have wished. But it is true that Pap sort of gummed things up. Pap did something to the cornet out behind ...
  12. ↑ Sutherland, Amy (2013-02-27). "Never Forget". Down East Magazine. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
  13. ↑ "Memorial to America's First Circus Elephant". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2025-01-07.

Further reading

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