Paul Revere Williams (1894-1980) was a talented and dedicated man who overcame obstacles that would have daunted almost anyone else. He dreamed of designing buildings and went on to become the first certified African American architect west of the Mississippi.

For fifty years and over 3000 projects, Paul Revere Williams was extremely influential in helping to establish Southern California style. Despite the adversity, he became highly sought after for his architectural work.

He designed hundreds of public and private buildings in southern California.  Among his best-known works are iconic public landmarks like the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, and the “flying saucer-like” Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport (co-designed with Pereira & Luckman). He was also hired by many homeowners and provided design work for private estates for Hollywood stars including Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball.

Paul Revere Williams: Childhood

When Paul Revere Williams was four, both his parents died of tuberculosis. He and his brother were put into separate foster homes. Paul was fortunate that his foster mother was kind and supportive. As Paul began to show interest and ability in drawing, his foster mother encouraged him. Soon he never went anywhere without a sketchbook and pencil. Though he was the only African American in his elementary school, he was recognized for his artwork which helped ease his school years.

In high school, a guidance counselor tried to discourage his plan for becoming an architect. While the counselor could not see much value in Williams pursuing architecture, he was not totally discouraging. He noted that Williams should become a doctor or a lawyer “because the Negro people would need those types of professionals.” (In that era, those professions were not impossible, but far from welcoming to Blacks.)

Arts Education

Williams was not to be dissuaded. After graduation, he attended the Los Angeles School of Art and Design followed by a Los Angeles branch of the New York-based Beaux-Arts Institute of Design.

Williams needed to work while in school, so he used the telephone directory to create a list of architectural firms. He then went door-to-door offering his services. He had little luck until he approached a well-respected landscape architecture firm where they offered him a position as “office boy” at no pay. Though he needed the money, Williams saw it as an opportunity to learn the business.  He accepted. Fortunately, the firm recognized his talent relatively quickly. Soon he was earning $3 per week.

Even with balancing work and school, Williams carved out time to enter a national competition for students to design a civic center for Pasadena. His plan emphasized open space, which became a Williams characteristic that he used in much of his design work over the decades. It won first place.

More Education

As he attended classes, he saw that design was only part of what he wanted to do. Understanding the engineering for a building would be key. He applied and was accepted to the University of Southern California School of Engineering. He got his engineering degree in 1919, and in 1921 he became a certified architect–the first certified African American architect west of the Mississippi.

During these years, he married Della Mae Givens (1917) at the first AME Church in Los Angeles (co-founded by Biddy Mason). They had two daughters and a son. (The son died during infancy.) Williams was a devoted and caring family man to his children as well as his grandchildren.

To Be a Black Architect

In 1921, Louis Cass, a white high school classmate, hired Williams to build a house for him. Cass recognized his friend’s talent but also saw the challenges Williams would face in getting hired by an architectural firm. Cass encouraged Williams to set up his own firm, which he did when he was only 28.

Williams learned that clients and builders sometimes didn’t realize he was Black. When they arrived at the office, he wrote: “their one remaining concern was to discover a convenient exit without hurting my feelings.”

Writing Upside Down

Williams wanted the work, so he thought about how he could put his clients at ease. He saw that people were uncomfortable when he needed to sit by them to show them a floor plan or a drawing. That was when he came upon the idea of learning to write upside down. If he sat on the opposite side of the table and worked “upside down,” writing or drawing clearly so that the work faced the client, then client and architect could still have a collaborative, productive discussion. It worked.

Making Strides

One of Paul Williams’s early jobs was a big one in Washington, D.C. He was hired as co-designer on the first federally funded public housing project, Langston Terrace in Washington, D.C. The project was undertaken under FDR, and it was the first public housing project that was open to African American families.

Williams was delighted for the work, but his trip to the East Coast exposed him to what it meant to travel through the Jim Crow south.   

Los Angeles Work

Over time, he began to get major commercial commissions in Los Angeles. He designed the Beverly Hills headquarters of Music Corporation of America and the interior of the retail outlet in Los Angeles for New York’s Saks Fifth Avenue. The Beverly Hills Hotel hired him to oversee a restoration which included the famous Polo Lounge and the Fountain Coffee shop.

In 1945, he was hired to plan a unit of the L.A. General Hospital, thus becoming the first African American to design a major public building.

When the Los Angeles International Airport determined that their center property should feature a building that harked to the future, he and designer William Pereira came up with the flying saucer look that straddles Los Angeles International Airport.

Architect to the Stars

Celebrities saw the interesting work that Paul Williams was doing, and he soon was working for many of them. His portfolio included Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz, Tyrone Power, Lon Chaney, Bert Lahr and Zsa Zsa Gabor.  Though the homes of the stars were in locations like Bel Air, Beverly Hills, and San Marino, Williams knew that those locations would not yet welcome African Americans.

Designing for African Americans, Too

Though he was very successful working for white Californians, Paul Williams didn’t want to forget his roots. He often chose to accept jobs for African Americans. Among the buildings he designed were the Second Baptist Church and the 28th Street YMCA, Los Angeles’ first Y for “colored boys and young men.” Among the Williams touches were hand-carved images of Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass.

He served on several statewide commissions and for eleven years he served as president of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Commission. He gained influence and added awards, commendations, and honorary degrees and he continued to give back to Los Angeles.

Paul Revere Williams and His Legacy

His granddaughter, Karen E. Hudson, created a wonderful legacy about Paul R. Williams, Paul R. Williams, Architect, a Legacy of Style—Rizzoli. In the book, she includes a quote from an essay written by Williams about the racial divide: “Inevitably such contacts [client contacts between black and white] have influenced my beliefs about the relationship, present and future, between the races in America. I see a present which demands a closer bond of understanding. I foresee a future in which the two races, although forever divided, and rightly so, will work side by side toward the achievement of common goals which are not racial.”

While today’s readers might take issue with the added “and rightly so” that may have been necessary at the time Williams wrote it in 1937, most would agree that Williams was correct in predicting that over time more people would be working toward racial-free goals.

*** On the other coast, another Black family was making progress as architects and builders. To read their story, see Woman-Owned, Minority-Owned Construction Company: McKissack & McKissack.

Why is Election Day always on a Tuesday? This is a question I am often asked when I address groups about our election day history. 

In 1845, Congress chose the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November because it was the most convenient day for 19th-century farmers. They traveled on horseback or with wagons, so a Tuesday gave them travel time without interfering with Sunday church services or Wednesday market days.

That’s the simple answer, but there is more complexity behind it. 

Allowing for the Electoral College Timing

When voters cast a ballot for president every four years, they are actually voting for a slate of electors who meet in each state to cast their votes for a particular candidate. Those votes are then sent to Congress where they are officially counted, and the incoming president is announced. (This constitutes the Electoral College.)

The first effort for some sort of schedule and system began in 1792. At that time, electors met on the first Wednesday in December. Federal law specified that each state could choose its own electors, so long as it was within a 34-day window before the date when the electors would meet and cast their ballots.

Why a 34-Day Window?

The founding fathers picked 34 days out of respect for the lifestyles of the citizenry. Many landowners owned farms, and so they wanted to be sure the harvest was in. They also needed to allow travel time for people to arrive in town to vote.

But it was chaotic. States held elections at all different times. Government officials worried that if one state voted earlier than the others, then word of their vote might affect how people in other states voted. (We have a similar issue today, but they used to think they could control it.)

For that reason, Congress passed the 1845 law specifying that elections should take place the “first Tuesday after the first Monday…” keeping the date within the 34 days prior to the December Electoral College meeting date.  (The election of 1848 was the first time this new schedule was applied.)

However, like everything else in this world, “things change.” In 1887 the date of the meeting of the Electoral College was moved to the second Monday in January. Despite this, the states have maintained the “first Tuesday after the first Monday.”

More Changes: Earlier Voting and Mail-In Voting

As election officials evaluated voter turnout and listened to consumer feedback, states began coming up with changes that were intended to increase voter participation. (The Constitution specifies that states are in charge of elections.)  Administrators noted that citizens are more likely to vote if they don’t have to take time off from work or stand in a long line to cast their ballots.

As a result, states have tried offering many options over the last 20 years. Some states switched to more easily available mail-in ballots; others have broadened the opportunities for in-person early voting. Voting by mail or a more spread out time in which to vote also relieves the strain on poll workers.

In 2000, only about 14 percent of voters cast their ballots before Tuesday; by 2022, that number hit50 percent.

As of 2026, 47 states (plus Washington, D.C.) offer some form of early in-person voting. Three states—Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire—do not offer early voting for general voters though people with specific excuses can usually vote absentee.

In some areas, states are making mail-in voting easily available as a way to increase turnout.   In California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington, every registered voter is automatically mailed a ballot before the election.

Federal Push for Voter ID and In-Person Voting

Though some communities worry about the safety of our voting system, studies show that statistically voter fraud is not really an issue. Studies have been conducted by major non-partisan groups including the Heritage Foundation (leans right) and the Brennan Center (leans left), and there is very little abuse of the system.

Despite the low statistics on fraud, some states are working on change. Florida has just passed a bill that requires voters to show IDs to register to vote. (This change occurs in 2027.)

Other states, including New Hampshire, Wyoming, and Louisiana, have passed laws requiring proof of citizenship to register.

Until recently, Utah offered universal mail-in voting, but they just amended that law. By 2029, voters may still vote by mail, but they will need to “opt-in” instead of receiving a ballot automatically.

Another troubling change has been put forward by Ohio. Their state legislature passed a law that strictly limits the time for returning mailed ballots. This means a foul-up by the postal system could cause voters ballots to not be registered in time. Election administrators hope more people will vote in person as a result.

And while the current federal government continues to push for more alterations to tighten up the voting system, changes cost money. Most states are currently taking a “wait and see” approach. What will happen with the court battles in states like Florida and Arizona? (In Arizona, they have been wrangling over proof-of-citizenship laws for 20 years.)

Because studies show that the system is sound, many states figure they might as well wait.

So as you can see, Americans may still honor the first Tuesday after the first Monday as Election Day, but they actually vote at a wide variety of times and places!

Each year on December 31 at one minute before midnight (Eastern Standard Time), people from around the world welcome the new year when the shimmering 12,300-pound crystal Waterford ball drops slowly into Times Square.

As in most years, this year an estimated one million people are expected to be in Times Square, thought of as the “center of the universe” for this night. An audience of a billion more people are expected to watch via television or live-stream directly to their phones or other devices.

This year’s ball is a new one—the ninth iteration known as the “Constellation Ball.” It weighs more than 12,300 pounds and is covered with 5280 crystal discs (double the crystals used formerly). The discs are in three sizes and placed carefully to enhance the sparkle.  The ball is lighted by 32,256 Philips Luxeon LED lights.

The Double Drop

To kick off America’s 250^th birthday (the Semiquncentennial) there will be what is being called the “Double Drop.” At approximately 12:04 AM on January 1st, the ball will be relit in a unique red, white, and blue America 250 design. It will rise up the pole as pyrotechnics are set off to the playing of Ray Charles’s “America the Beautiful.” Those in Times Square will be showered with 2000 lbs of red, white, and blue confetti.

And for the first time in the 120-year tradition, the ball will make a second appearance. On July 3 at 12 midnight, the ball will drop in celebration of the Semiquincentennial.

The Party Tradition Begins

The first New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square occurred in 1904, just after the New York Times relocated to a new building in what had then called Longacre Square. Publisher Adolph Ochs successfully pushed to rename the area for his newspaper. The triangular area where the new building sat at the intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway, and 42nd Streets has since that time has been known as Times Square.

That year Ochs wanted to celebrate the new location and he threw a huge all-day street festival capped off with a fireworks display that night. An estimated 200,000 people were said to be in attendance.

Up until this time, many New Yorkers celebrated the new year at Trinity Church with the ringing of the bells. With Ochs sponsoring festivities in Times Square, customs changed, and Times Square was the place to be.

A few years later the city banned the use of fireworks. That led to the creation of a new tradition using lights. At the end of 1905, the “1905” lights were configured to read “1906.” These electric lights flashed from the tower of the Times building, reportedly visible from miles away. The Times tower was also festooned with electric streamers that lit the building’s four corners.

The Idea for the Ball Drop

The idea of a ball drop was first used by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. In 1833, the Observatory installed a ball at the highest point in Greenwich Park. At 1 p.m. each day, the ball dropped to mark the time and allow the captains of nearby ships to set their chronometers. (When the telegraph was invented, telegraphers communicated the exact time to ships and businesses that could not see the ball drop.)

This tradition is the one mimicked by the dropping of the ball in Times Square.

The First Times Square Ball

The first ball made for Times Square was iron and wood and weighed 700 pounds; it featured light from one hundred 25-watt light bulbs. It was made by an immigrant metalworker whose company, Artkraft Strauss, took responsibility for the creation and dropping of the ball for most of the 20th century.

The ball must have been ordered during much more optimistic times. By the time it arrived for its use in 1907, its introduction was met with little joy and less fanfare. The “Bankers Crisis” occurred in October of 1907, causing a 50 percent drop in stocks at the New York Stock Exchange and leading to the spread of a nationwide recession.

There was no central bank to avert the disaster, and there was little public feeling of optimism in late December. (The following year, Congress undertook a study of the country’s financial structure that led to the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank.)

As a result, that first drop of the Times Square ball was met by a subdued crowd. The New York Times put a decent face on it with its report: “The dropping of the illuminated ball on the tower of The Times was awaited by an expectant crowd with upturned faces. The square was thronged. As the ball dropped on the stroke of twelve an involuntary cheer arose from many thousands.” (NYT 1-2-1908)

Ball Drop Cancelled Twice

During World War II, the United States was adhering to a wartime “dimout” to prevent enemy forces calculating where people might gather.  As a result in 1942 and 1943, there was no ball drop.

The tradition was so strong, however, that people still gathered in Times Square. At midnight during those war years, a minute of silence was observed followed by the ringing of chimes from sound trucks parked in Times Square.

In 2021, the ball drop occurred but public officials barred the public from coming into Times Square. There were a few groups of invited first-responders who had been heroic in their actions during the pandemic. Otherwise, everything was staged to be virtual. The sentiment was that there were too many bodies in morgues across the country.

By this year, community life has returned to normal. Security is always high for these occasions, but there is little doubt that people enjoy gathering in Times Square — or watching via television or the Internet — to mark the beginning of a new year.

To read about why we sing Auld Lang Syne on New Year’s Eve, click here.

Happy new year to you all.

How did early drivers get gasoline before there were gas stations?

Until “horseless carriages” began traveling along American roads, there hadn’t been much need for gasoline.

 Gasoline was identified during the mid-19^th century, when companies began refining crude oil to extract kerosene. Gasoline was a byproduct of this process, but because it was highly flammable, it was generally discarded.

But with the development of gas-powered automobiles, Americans needed places to buy gasoline.

Early Retail

Sources for gasoline varied from community to community. The key factor was that it needed to be sold by establishments that were accustomed to handling flammable substances such as alcohol or kerosene. In some communities, pharmacies, hardware stores, and general stores tended to be the primary places. In smaller communities, motorists might need to stop at a blacksmith where they might have to scoop gasoline out of a barrel and then take it to their automobile.

In stores, gasoline was generally sold in five-gallon containers. The motorist then used a funnel or a long-necked container to pour it into the automobile gas tank.

Five gallons was generally enough for driving locally for a week or two. If a longer trip was planned, the driver might buy an extra container of gasoline to take on the trip. Some more expensive cars had permanently-installed compartments along the running board for storing extra gas. But because the fuel was highly combustible, any unexpected impact to the car could cause it to catch fire.

To avoid traveling with extra gasoline, some drivers called ahead to retail establishments on their planned route. They then requested that the store hold a supply of gasoline for their arrival.

Kerosene Led to Gasoline

This article would be incomplete if we didn’t take a step back to better understand how gasoline became a preferred fuel source for automobiles.

The process began with lighting. In the late 1800s, Americans had two primary sources of powered lighting.  As households graduated from whale oil, they moved on to kerosene, a fuel that was identified by Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner in 1846. Gesner’s kerosene came from coal.

As use of kerosene became more popular, oil drillers found that they could refine crude oil to make kerosene as well. The production of kerosene from crude oil resulted in a byproduct known as gasoline.

At first, gasoline was viewed as waste and was discarded.

More Progress in Lighting

While kerosene was gaining popularity throughout the country, including in more rural areas, another development was coming along in cities. Starting in London, the British were beginning to use natural gas. Pipes were installed under the streets, and the city was soon well-lit from natural gas. (It was such a novelty that people from the countryside traveled to London just to see this new phenomenon.)  

In the United States in 1802, inventor Benjamin Henfrey, a Baltimore native, suggested natural gas be used to light the streets of Baltimore as well as the nearby harbor lighthouses. While Henfrey suggested the plan, it took the wealthy Peale family (a family of artists who often worked in Baltimore) to help implement it.

As a result, Baltimore was the first city to implement natural gas for street lighting.

New Products Resulted

Some of the machinery and tools created for the use of natural gas turned out to be helpful later on with gasoline. 

One of the items was the Gilbert & Barker Gas Pump. In 1865, two partners, Charles Gilbert and John Barker, created the “Springfield Gas Machine” which was a way of dispensing measured amounts of natural gas. If towns installed the Gilbert & Barker gas pump, then there was a way to measure how much gas was being used, and therefore, how much the municipality would need to pay.

In the early 1900s, some of the early automobiles were made with gas-powered engines. When Gilbert & Barker saw this new development, mechanics in their company re-tooled their natural gas pump so it could be used for gasoline, too.

But Why Was Gasoline Preferred?

Gasoline turned out to be the “secret sauce” for automobiles because of the development of the internal combustion engine. Once the engine was refined so that it was spark-ignited, two German car makers (Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler) experimented with putting the motor in what would become early automobiles.

The success in Europe inspired American automobile inventors to experiment with combustible engines powered by spark plugs. Different fuels were tested, but the inventors soon saw that gasoline was best. It burned relatively cleanly and combined well with air-fuel mixture that was necessary to power the motor.

So while electric cars were still being sold in the early 1900s, gasoline-powered automobiles were taking over the car market. They were much less expensive and very reliable. With that positive sign, inventors and business owners placed their money on new developments that eased the marketing of gasoline.

Invention of the Hand Pump and the Bowser

Stores that sold gasoline were perplexed by the higher demand for the product. It wasn’t safe to store the fuel in large quantities, and customers kept asking for better ways to buy the product. Drivers didn’t love having to come into stores to for their five gallons of gasoline and then having to take it out to pour it in the automobile themselves.

  An entrepreneur named Sylvanus Freelove Bowser (1854-1938) living in Fort Wayne, Indiana, had a solution. Bowser witnessed a similar problem when people wanted to buy kerosene for their homes and businesses. In 1885, he invented and patented a pump that dispensed kerosene. 

When a market for gasoline came along, S.F. Bowser already had the perfect apparatus. He also saw that since customers were using the gasoline for automobiles, it made sense to build storage tanks that could be located outside the store nearer the road.

Bowser started selling 50-gallon tanks (enclosed with wood for added safety) along with a pump that could dispense gasoline. Bowser referred to them as “Self-Measuring Gasoline Storage Pumps,” and introduced them in 1905. Store owners were delighted.

As these storage systems proliferated in the more populous parts of the country, they became known as “filling stations—a term that you sometimes still hear today. 

First Modern Gas Station

One of the first modern gas stations opened in 1913 on Baum Avene in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The street was known as “automobile row,” and the station was run by Gulf Oil (“Good Gulf Gasoline”).

The Texas Company (Texaco) was not far behind with gas stations of their own. (“Trust your car to the man who wears the star”) Other oil companies soon followed.

Initially the gas stations focused on selling gas. They offered free air and water for cars, but not much else.

This was primarily because the Model T initially dominated the automobile market. Henry Ford prided himself on creating cars that didn’t need servicing. Each new car was sold with a grease cup. Ford believed that any owner could grease their own car and keep it running. 

But competition entered the automobile market, and soon more complicated cars were on the road. The need for more service was created, so “greasing palaces” were added to gas stations.

That was the beginning of what we now call “service stations.”

By 1930, America had 15,000 gas stations plus approximately 7500 curbside pumps.  A decade later there were more than 100,000 gas stations. 

Today most gas stations have at least a dozen or so pumps. Some of the larger stations on interstate highways have up to 120 pumps. 

Self Service?

The first self-service gas station opened in Los Angeles in 1947, but drivers at that time showed little interest in getting out to pump their own gasoline. Finally, after the long lines for gasoline during the oil embargo, self-service stations caught on.  For a time, some states banned self-service gas pumps. Today the only state that prohibits self-service is New Jersey.

But today motorists face a new dilemma. Just as motorists used to wonder where they could buy gasoline once they were on the road, today many drivers are looking for where they can stop to charge their electric vehicle.

We’re back to the old dilemma: Gas or electric?

****

For more information on early cars, see “Auto Sales Stimulus, 1909.”

The first two elephants brought to the United States arrived separately. Both were newsworthy. One arrived in 1796; the other in 1804. What they had in common was the fact that they were destined for lives of travel so they could be shown to the public as curiosities.

At the turn of the 19^th century, there were no zoos in America, and circuses, also new to the country, were not yet presenting elephants. The owners of the elephants each had to figure out how to feed, transport, and make money on these exotic animals. The first elephant was sold several times; the second elephant found a single owner who kept her for the remainder of her life, using her as the first exotic animal in his menagerie.

The Crowninshield Elephant

The first elephant to arrive in the United States is known as the Crowninshield elephant. It is so called because the captain of the ship, The America, was Jacob Crowninshield. The Crowninshield family operated a shipping business out of Salem, Massachusetts.

The first documentation of the Crowninshield elephant was on November 2, 1795, in Captain Crowninshield’s own journal: “We take home a fine young elephant two years old, at $450.00. It is almost as large as a very large ox, and I dare say we shall get it home safe, if so it will bring at least $5000.00. We shall at first be obliged to keep it in the southern states until it becomes hardened to the climate.”  [From An Account of the Private Armed Ship America of Salem, by B.B. Crowninshield.]

The America, left Calcutta on December 3, 1795. One of the officers on board was named Nathaniel Hathorne. (His son, altering the spelling of the family’s last name to Hawthorne, would go on to write books including The House of the Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter.) The shipboard Hathorne’s journal makes note of the elephant.

During a replenishment stop at St. Helena Island, due west of the African country of Angola in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Hawthorne wrote: “greens for the elephant.” According to George G. Goodwin in Natural History magazine, Hathorne then wrote in capital letters: “ELEPHANT ON BOARD.” Some have interpreted this to mean that Hathorne was surprised to discover the elephant midway through the journey, but it is hard to believe that Hathorne wouldn’t have observed a large animal in cargo and that none of the men would have talked about it.

Elephant Arrives in Salem

After they docked in Salem, Captain Crowninshield sold the elephant. From there, historians trace the elephant’s whereabouts via newspaper advertising: On April 23, 1796, The Argus and Green Leaf Advertiser ran an ad that described the exhibition of an elephant in New York at the corner of Beaver and Broadway. Other ads put the elephant in Boston, Marblehead, and Beverly, Massachusetts. His appearance in Philadelphia was in the spring. This may have been after a trip south to avoid the colder weather in New England.

The elephant may have been returning south that following autumn, as we have documentation from President George Washington himself. George Washington always kept careful track of information, and in his Philadelphia Household Account Book (11/16/1796), he noted that he paid to see the elephant. (For a Short Time Only by Peter Benes.)

Old Bet Arrives in the U.S.

Another elephant, eventually known as Old Bet, arrived in Boston harbor in 1804. Some have speculated that the Crowninshield elephant and Old Bet were one and the same. However, contemporary descriptions of the two elephants make it clear that the two differed substantially in size and appearance.

The second elephant’s future owner was destined to be Hachaliah Bailey (1774-1845), a farmer and entrepreneur in Somers, New York. (There is much confusion over this Bailey exhibiting an elephant, but he was not a relative of James Bailey or Barnum & Bailey.) Bailey and other farmers saw that despite their hard work, farms were very dependent on the weather. Without other enterprises, it was difficult to change one’s lot in life. Bailey was a part owner of a Hudson River shipping sloop. He also became a partner in the Croton Turnpike Company, collecting tolls on what is now Route 100 in Westchester County.

Later, Hachaliah Bailey owned the Red Bird Stagecoach line. His most lasting legacy is the Elephant Hotel. In 1807, he bought land at a crossroad point in Somers, New York. It’s now the center of town, and known as Route 202. In 1820, he began constructing what would become the Elephant Hotel. The tavern and inn opened in 1825. (Today the building still stands and is used as the Somers municipal building. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.)

Acquiring Bet

The story goes that Hachaliah Bailey took cattle to New York City, planning to sell the cattle at the slaughter yards located in lower Manhattan. Somers historian Terry Ariano, writing for The Westchester Historian (summer 2008) dates this particular trip as either 1805 or 1806. Farmers often drove the cattle on foot but because Bailey owned a sloop and used it for other goods, he may have loaded his cattle on to the boat to take them down the Hudson to the slaughter yards.)

Slaughterhouse business was often conducted at the Bull’s Head Tavern in lower Manhattan. It was near there that Bailey saw the elephant and decided to buy her. Some say that he intended to use the elephant as a beast of burden to help with farm work. Others think he always saw the possibility of exhibiting her.

As Bailey led the elephant to the sloop to transport her to Somers, he saw that Old Bet attracted a lot of attention. Once back in Somers, he offered viewings, charging 25 cents to see Old Bet. After the people of Somers saw her, he took her to other towns. Bailey and Bet visited Putnam and Dutchess Counties, traveling at night so that people along the road would not get a “free look.”

Once he arrived at a new location, he rented a barn where he could keep Bet out of sight. Then he advertised that people should come to see her.

Exotic Animals Attract Attention

As a result of Hachaliah’s success, his neighbors realized the potential in exotic animals. As they saw Bailey add other animals to his collection, several of them did, too. Somers residents purchased everything from a rhinoceros to camels, monkeys, and parrots. Somers soon became the center of the menagerie business.

People today associate elephants with circuses. (However, Ringling retired all its performing elephants in 2016 after public pressure.) In 1812, Old Bet is thought to have appeared with the equestrian performers in the Pépin & Breschard Circus. But a menagerie animal performing with a circus was unusual for the 19^th century.

Circuses were considered risqué, making them more challenging to promote. Menageries could be advertised as educational, which indeed they were. With no television or movies and at a time when few people could travel, the menageries offered the public a rare opportunity to see and perhaps learn about animals from other lands.

Travels Continue

In 1816, Hachaliah Bailey and Bet visited Maine. They sailed up the Kennebec River to Augusta and Hallowell. After visits to Lewiston and New Gloucester, they proceeded to the town of Alfred, Maine.

As they left Alfred, they were stopped by a local farmer named Daniel Davis. Davis shot and killed Bet. The stated reason for Davis’s anger was that he found it sinful for poor people to spend money to see an elephant. (Locals of the time describe Davis as a “miserable vagabond,” according to the book, For a Short Time Only.) He may have just been a troubled soul.

The marker notes that Old Bet was co-owned by Hachaliah Bailey and George Brown Company os Somers. As Bailey continued to show Bet and add other menagerie animals, he accepted investors to help defray his costs.

Later that year, Hachaliah Bailey displayed Bet’s remains in New York City, but he knew his income from Old Bet was at an end. He invested in other animals, including other elephants, and continued to tour a menagerie.

In 1821, Bailey sold Old Bet’s remains. The next record of her being on display is in the American Museum in New York City. While some report that P.T. Barnum made the purchase, he did not own the American Museum until 1841. Chances are good that a member of the Scudder family, who owned the American Museum at that time, purchased her remains. Barnum would have acquired them when he purchased the museum.

Keeping Bet’s Memory Alive

In 1825, Hachaliah Bailey’s Elephant Hotel was finished. Bailey erected a tall granite pole in front of the hotel with a wooden statue of Old Bet atop it. The location of the hotel was at the intersection of the Croton and Danbury turnpikes. This was an important stagecoach stop and offered a perfect resting place for travelers. The statue of Bet was a lovely commemoration of her. It would have also been a memorable attraction for travelers.

The original carved statue of Bet deteriorated over the years. In 2024, a local family paid for a replacement statue made of bronze. It should last for many years, continuing to mark Somers as the “cradle of the American circus.”

Bailey Moves On

In 1837, Bailey sold the hotel and bought land in Fairfax, Virginia. It became known as Bailey’s Crossroads.

Some of Hachaliah’s family remained in Somers. In 1845, Bailey came back for a visit. While there, he was kicked by a horse and died.  The family buried him in Ivandell Cemetery near Somers. His inscription reads: “Enterprise, Perseverance, and Integrity.”

Note: James Bailey who became P.T. Barnum’s circus business partner in 1881 when the two men combined their circuses is not directly related to Hachaliah Bailey. James was an orphan who joined circus man Frederick Bailey—a very distant relative of the Baileys who lived in Somers. James took his mentor’s last name.

Old Bet Remembered

Even after P.T. Barnum was no longer living, the men who ran the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus understood the importance of promotion. In 1922, Dexter “Pap” Fellows, a business manager and press agent for the circus, latched on to an idea for promoting the circus during its New York run. Fellows heard about Old Bet, by now thought of as the “first” elephant in the U.S. (probably due to the Somers statue). Fellows decided to stage a wreath-laying ceremony. A Ringling Brothers elephant would present a wreath to decorate Old Bet’s statue/memorial.

As the details were worked out, Old John, a tuskless male elephant, was chosen for the promotional stunt. Old John had been in several circuses before becoming part of Ringling in 1896 when Ringling Brothers acquired the Adam Forepaugh Circus. Old John was known as the “boxing elephant” and was named after pugilist John L. Sullivan. He wore a boxing glove on his trunk and regularly knocked out his trainer.

The Promotional Tour

Dexter Fellows wrote a book on his work with the circus. Readers must keep in mind that Fellows was a press agent, but it does provide some idea of how the trip worked out.

For the trip from the old Madison Square Garden to Somers, Old John wore a banner promoting the circus and the destination. Fellows also arranged for special leather boots to be made for John to wear on the 50-mile journey. (John did not much care for the blue boots, according to contemporary reports.)

John was to walk up Fifth Avenue where, for the sake of the news photographers, he turned and bowed to Patience and Fortitude, the two stone lions that guard the New York Public Library. From there, he was bound for the Bronx, where there was a nice barn to stay in.

Reports on his other stops vary. He definitely stayed at the Agricultural Building at the White Plains fairground. He eventually turned toward Somers.

Elephant Nears Somers

On April 11, 1922, a youngster acted as town crier and ran through Somers shouting that the elephant was near. People were indeed excited. Even if they had seen an elephant before, Old John was the first who had ever come to town. The New York Times reported:

“After a triumphal circle of the [Somers] City Square, the veteran was led to Wesley’s garage. … Old John lost no time in consuming a bale of hay, topped off with twenty buckets of water. He then settled down for a good night’s rest, parked between a motor truck and an automobile.” (The New York Times, April 12, 1922.)

The next day dawned, and The New York Times reporter writes of Old John being readied for the ceremony at the Brady Farm just outside Somers. Either the above story about the garage was inaccurate, or they moved Old John to the farm the next morning so that he could bathe and be fed again.

The Ceremony

In that day, Somers had a population of about 300 people. The reporter writes that there were about 300 cars and 2000 people along the route from the Brady Farm to the inn where Bet’s statue awaited its wreath.

Dexter Fellows arranged for a well-labeled circus truck to be visible along the route. (Later, the truck would convey Old John back to New York…John’s work was done.)

The Parade

Dexter Fellows (1871-1937) (spelled Fellowes in the NYT) led the parade. He had a cornet and invited some locals to join him to create a band. When the cornet “didn’t work very well,” Fellows led the parade using the cornet as a bandleader’s baton.

They arrived at the Elephant Hotel, and the group paused. Fellows walked over to Old John and gave a command. Old John let out a wondrous trumpeting sound and started for the inn. It took a little coaxing to slow him down and bring him back to the monument where he was to lay the wreath.

The crowd grew quiet, speeches were made, and the wreath was placed at the bottom of the pole. Then Fellows goofed up: “I see this once modest hamlet has grown to be a city of thousands of happy people—I see the influence of the Grand Old Party of which I am also an unworthy member, and I take pleasure in saluting you in this stronghold of Republicanism. Three cheers for the Grand Old Party.”

But that was as far as he got. An uproar from the crowd let Fellows know that it had been a very long time since the residents of Somers voted a Republican into office.

When the crowd calmed down, the event concluded with the singing of “Should auld acquaintance be forgot…” (Auld Lang Syne).

On to the Tavern!

Afterward, one would presume that everyone, except the youngsters and Old John, went off to the tavern to raise a glass to Old Bet, Old John, and most of all to Ringling Brothers for what was a generally successful multi-day circus promotion.

For the purpose of accuracy, we’ll hope that someone at the tavern knew that the Crowninshield elephant had preceded Old Bet to the U.S., and that this whole event was just a bit of circus fun and flim-flammery.

***

Thank you to circus historian and author David Carlyon for providing some background on the beginnings of menageries and circuses. Carlyon is author of Dan Rice: The Most Famous Man You’ve Never Heard Of (2001).

To read more stories of circus, see P.T. Barnum: Extraordinary Showman or James A. Bailey, Circus Impresario, or Mabel Stark: First Woman Tiger Trainer.

Election results have yet to come in as I write this. We are all wondering whether the election will be resolved in a day or two or if something will occur that drags this out.

Participatory Democracy

I write to remind you that no matter what the results, we live in a participatory democracy. If your candidate(s) don’t win, there will be the temptation to curl up in a ball and try to shut the world out. But that won’t help.

No matter how the election turns out, the new president is not sworn in until January 20, 2025. There may be lots of talk about what the winning candidate wants to do when he or she takes office, but nothing official can happen until that time. What’s more, the founding father established a system of “checks and balances” so that no one section of the government has too much power. A divided Congress will indeed make it more difficult for the winning candidate to accomplish goals, but it also assures us that both parties are represented to decide our way forward.

We will need to address issues like these:  How can we manage immigration? What’s to be done about prices? Climate change means sacrifice. Are we ready to make changes so we can give a healthier world to our children?

Do women truly deserve to have their medical decisions made by others. For fifty years, women showed that they could be good mothers and contributing members of society. Why don’t we give them back that power?

Deeply Unsettling Election

This election will long be remembered for its chaos, its change of candidate for the Democratic Party, and of course, its acrimony and unacceptable name-calling of people who have put aside their lives in order to run for different positions in local, state, and national government.

Americans on both sides stepped forward to participate in the campaign process from attending events to making phone calls, knocking on doors, and sending postcards. Not since women worked long and hard for the right to vote has there been so much organized, [mostly] non-violent energy invested in our election process.

Voter turn-out may be record-setting as well.

Treasure What We Have Though it is Imperfect

We all must remember to treasure what we have— a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” We do not want it to “perish from this earth.”

Once this election is settled, there is still so much to do. This is our country. No matter who becomes president, violence or shutting out the world is not the answer. Our energy needs to go into work that makes us better. Whether it’s ladling out soup at a homeless shelter, cleaning up a local park or working through government channels to address local, state, or national issues, we can all find a place to invest our energy.

Don’t waste it on anger or regret. No matter who wins, our communities still need us.

And if your candidate wins, reach out to others in the community who might have voted differently. Wait a few weeks, so tensions may ease, but our country needs all of us to move forward together. If you’re packing lunches for the homeless at your church or synagogue or community center, it doesn’t matter how you cast your ballot. There are plenty of things we can all do together.

The election on November 5 provides a “chance for change.” It’s up to us to help bring about the change we want. This is the very essence of a participatory democracy. Americans have died in wars and on our own streets fighting for the rights that should be a “given” in a country like America.

We cannot let them down.