Showmen's Rest: part 3

Welcome to the third installment of Showmen's Rest. This is a collection of photos from Mt. Olivet Cemetery's section of memorials to people who lived the circus life.

Dudley Warner Hamilton, born in 1929, was once a state highway patrolman, a bread truck driver, and he bred and showed champion Collies. He didn't actually get into the circus life until he was in his 50s! He began as a booking agent, then press agent. In his golden years, he became the groundskeeper of the winter quarters for the Kelly-Miller Circus in Hugo. He gave a very interesting oral history that you can read here:  https://www.loc.gov/item/2017655374/  His epitaph reads: May all your days be circus days.

"Big John Strong" has one of the biggest and most intriguing monuments in the cemetery. He got into the circus life the same way most others did back in the day - with a small animal act. John wanted to be an actor. Maybe that didn't work out or maybe his long desire to have his own circus took precedence. As newlyweds, the 6-foot-5-inch John and his young bride, Ruth, trained a dog and a pony and took their little show on the road from Hollywood in 1948. Within 15 years, they had one of the biggest 3-ring tented shows around. On the reverse side of the monument is etched: "Big John" The man with more friends than Santa Claus.

"Buckles" Woodcock was born in a circus family. His father was a legendary elephant trainer. The Anna May you see written on the center of the monument was not his wife or daughter. Anna Mae was one of the country's most famous elephants, acquired by William and trained by Buckles. She was even in the 1955 film, The Big Circus. His wife, Barbara, was an aerialist and leopard trainer. You can read more about this family of elephant experts and circus historians at this page: 

https://www.circusesandsideshows.com/performers/buckleswoodcock.html

John Carroll was an elephant trainer for many years. It seems he didn't have any family. When he died in an accident, his friends put his money into a trust fund. It was established to pay for funerals and burial plots for circus people.

Not all the headstones are elaborate. James O'Donnell's simply reads Acrobat and Clown.

Bonnie Warner's is just a flat stone in the ground. Underneath her photo it reads Chimp Trainer.

There are just a few more photos to show. Check back for the final post.