By William “Skip” Deegans
One-hundred years ago this month, the Gentry Brothers James Patterson Circus arrived in Ronceverte on 31 railroad cars. The largest circus in the United States, it set up 10 acres of tents on what is now known as Island Park. As was the circus’ tradition, a band with two steam calliopes, 500 employees and 300 horses likely marched with the circus wagons through town on their way to the island. Featured in the three rings were “Modoc,” the largest elephant ever imported in the USA; Miss Bessie Hollis, a noted equestrienne and “one of America’s foremost arenic stars;” and a whole tribe of Sioux Indians displayed in their “bizarre attire and war paint.”
Henry Gentry grew up on a farm in Indiana and at a young age saw a dog act in the Van Amberg Circus. Back on the farm, Gentry trained the family dog to do tricks, and the two began local performances. Those performances developed into a dog and pony show called “Gentry’s Equine and Canine Paradox.” Gentry’s three brothers joined his enterprise that became the Gentry Brothers Circus in 1895. By 1910, it was the largest circus in the country. The Gentrys sold the circus in 1916, but the new owners kept the name. James Paterson bought the circus in 1923, and it continued until the stock market crash in 1929.
Photo: Courtesy of the West Virginia Daily News.
Sources: The West Virginia News, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Public Radio, The Herald Times