#historyofcircus

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Elephant in the (Hotel) Room: An Old Bet Lost too Soon

It was the early years of the 19th century and Hachaliah Bailey arrived on New York City’s Bowery Street to find the familiar city bustling. Even though the scene was simmering with hundreds of faces his purpose was similar to many others there. Bailey, a farmer from the New York town of Somers, was visiting the city with a herd of cattle to be sold to slaughter in order to supplement the fickle finances of his profession. It was one of several trades he held, also partially owning a sloop used to transport cattle to the city from Ossining and serving as one of the directors of the Croton Turnpike Company. 

Portrait of Hachaliah Bailey, artist unknown. Picture via Somers Historical Society http://www.somershistoricalsoc.org/menageries2.html

While in town for their grisly task a favorite spot for the cattle drivers was the appropriately named Bull Head Tavern. Here they gossiped, drank, and networked inside their own busy herd while behind the tavern the livestock was corralled, inspected, haggled over, and bought. It was a regular haunt of Bailey’s and it was here that his typical day, and typical life, took a turn toward the extraordinary. 

When he walked outside it was impossible to miss her in the tavern yard. Although young, she towered above the other livestock. Gray, leathery, and imposing. The elephant had traveled far from her home in Africa, but on this day, after an exchange of $1,000, she was going back to Somers with Bailey. 

 He named her Old Bet. 

A painting of the Bull Head Tavern as it would have appeared in the late 1700s.

Purchasing an elephant after work one day sounds like a risky impulse buy but it is possible that this was not the first time Bailey and Old Bet met. Old Bet is first documented as arriving in Boston harbor as early as 1804 after which she was exhibited up and down the northeast by artist Edward Savage. Now, unexpectedly appearing in Bailey’s second home of the Bull Head Tavern approximately two years later, he may have recognized her and seen an opportunity he simply could not refuse.

Bailey may have purchased Old Bet with the intention of using her for work on his farm but soon an entirely different possibility revealed itself. Old Bet was only the second elephant to ever walk on American soil, and wherever her large feet stepped many smaller ones followed hoping to catch a glimpse of this strange and amazing creature. Bailey, forever looking for a way to make money, realized he may be able to profit from simply allowing people to see his new friend. The pair boarded Bailey’s sloop and traveled home in Somers where he ushered Old Bet into his barn.

It was simple. If you wanted to see the grandest creature on the planet you only needed to pay Bailey a small fee of twenty-five cents and mentally prepare yourself to be amazed. The farmer saw early on that people were completely fascinated by Old Bet and he came up with a plan to take her on tour so others could delight in her (and line his pockets). But the biggest problem was obvious, Old Bet was a three-ton elephant and in order to charge money to see her she would have to be hidden from everyday views. Bailey’s solution lay in a shift in schedule, he traveled with her at night keeping her from eager eyes and the spotlight of the sun. The tactic worked. By 1808 Old Bet had proven to be so profitable to Bailey that he took on two partners, Benjamin Lent and Andrew Brunn who each agreed to pay Bailey $1,200 for an equal two thirds of the earnings brought in by Old Bet for one year.

Advertisement for an appearance of Old Bet.  Picture via Somers Historical Society http://www.somershistoricalsoc.org/menageries2.html

Bailey and Old Bet’s huge success was not lost on his neighbors. Seeing that unusual animals brought in money other farmers in the region began to purchase any unique animal they could find. Although circuses did exist at the time what developed from these collections were an entirely new creation, animals on display for education and experience rather than pure entertainment. What Bailey and Old Bet brought on was the development of the traveling menagerie and Somers became home base for this new platform. Within a short time menageries gained steam and enterprises like June, Titus, Angevine & Co. and Van Amburgh’s Menagerie grew large enough to set up permanent establishments in larger cities. 

From 1809 to 1816 Bailey and Old Bet toured extensively along the east coast with audiences finding them from Georgia all the way up to Maine. It was in Maine where their lives again took an unexpected turn. On July 26th, 1816 Bailey and Old Bet were traveling through the town of Alfred when they were confronted by another farmer allegedly named Daniel Davis. Davis was irate with the presence of Old Bet with accounts varying as to exactly why this was. Some say he was jealous of Bailey’s financial success, some report that the farmer was livid that hard working poor people were spending money looking at the creature before him, others say the source of his anger was that Old Bet was being exhibited on the sabbath and it was sinful to view her. Regardless of the reasoning, his actions were uncalled for and purely despicable.

 The farmer shot Old Bet where she stood.

 She did not survive her wounds.

The loss of Old Bet was devastating to Bailey and in 1820 he began construction on a structure to keep her memory alive for generations. Situated at Croton and Peekskill Turnpikes, Bailey built a hotel that became the economic and social center of the Somers, New York region. It also became an active meeting place for owners of menageries and circuses, a stage coach stop for travelers to and from New York City, and a stopping point for cattle drivers bringing livestock to the place where Bailey and Bet met. The name of the establishment was prominently painted on the front of the building for all to see: Elephant Hotel.

Photograph of the Elephant Hotel in 1885. Photograph via Somers Historical Society http://www.somershistoricalsoc.org/menageries2.html

In 1827 Bailey had a fifteen-foot-tall granite pole installed outside the Elephant Hotel topped with a wooden elephant in honor of Old Bet.

Wooden elephant outside the Elephant Hotel.

Although she began her life in the spotlight with Bailey in Somers, New York it is believed that Old Bet was not buried there instead being interred where she died in Alfred, Maine. Despite not having her body Somers and the Elephant Hotel honored Old Bet sixty-two years after her death with a wreath-laying ceremony. The bearer of the wreath was John L. Sullivan, aka Old John, the head elephant in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. On April 9th 1922 Old John set out on the fifty-three mile walk from Madison Square Garden to the Elephant Hotel bearing a wreath with a message reading “To Old Bet from Old John and the Ringling Brother’s Elephant Herd.” Although Somers had only approximately 300 residents, it was reported that over 2,000 people stood along route to see Old John make his way to the ceremony. On April 13th 1922 The wreath was placed as a chorus of 600 children sang and the elephant knelt in recognition of his beloved predecessor.

Old John at the wreath laying ceremony for Old Bet in Somers, New York on April 13th 1922. 

Although the original has been replaced due to wear, an elephant statue in honor of Old Bet still stands outside the Elephant Hotel today. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 7th,1974 as Somers Town House and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2005 as Elephant Hotel.

The Elephant Hotel in the early 2000s.