Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 490 – Yankee Robinson and the Ringling Brothers

Part 490: Yankee Robinson and the Ringling Brothers

While examining the Ringling family’s Masonic activities, I wondered about the key individuals who may have introduced the Ringling brothers to the Fraternity. After a little digging, I came across a vague reference to Fayette L. Robinson, or “Yankee Robinson,” who was a Freemason. Robinson was described by the Ringling Brothers as the man who taught them how to run a circus.

Fayette Lodawick “Yankee” Robinson (May 2, 1818-Sept. 4, 1884) was a showman and clown. He was born near Avon Mineral Spring in New York. First working with his father as a shoemaker in West Richmond, New York, he later opened his own shop in Medina, Michigan in 1837. After his young wife suddenly died within a few short months of their marriage, he moved to Dansville, New York, in 1838. He continued as a shoemaker, but he also entered the entertainment business. In Danville, Robinson changed careers by 1845, exhibiting two oil paintings by S. C. Jones representing “The Raising of Lazarus” and the “Baptism of Christ” while lecturing on Biblical subjects.   Each painting measured 12 feet by 15 feet. By the end of the year, Robinson was performing in “Richard III” for a theatrical troupe in St. Louis. By 1846, he organized the Olympic Serenaders and performed with a few other troupes in Cincinnati. By 1848, he was traveling with a new wife and Charles Gibson, a musician, in a two-horse wagon and later on a river boat. After many trials and tribulations, the small group expanded and continued until 1851. From 1852 to 1853, Robinson was first billed as “Yankee” when he leased Frank’s Museum in Cincinnati. He then toured “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and “Sam Patch.” During the winter months, he managed a theater in Dayton, Ohio.

In1855, the “Wisconsin State Journal” reported, “Robinson’s Atheneum,” that was originally established on August 5^th, 1845, was now elegantly refitted for the Campaign of 1855! Embracing over 100 Men and Horses!” (Madison, Wisconsin, 10 July 1855, page 2). The advertisement continued, “This vast establishment – the only one of the kind in the world- will give their varied performances at Madison, Wednesday, July 18, Afternoon Performance at 1 o’clock, Evening Performance at eight. A grand colossal marquee of the largest size, which will accommodate nearly 4000 persons.” Yankee Robinson was referred to as “son of Momus” and “the people’s funny man. Gymnastic, dramatic and pantomimic.” Prior to the show, his Atheneum Band played music as they paraded through the principal streets in their “mythological car, followed by a train of over 20 vehicles, forming and imposing and grand procession.” This was the exact sane formula that the Ringlings would later use in their circus. The admission Robinson’s circus during 1855 was 40 cents, with children half price. Today’s buying power equivalent is $11.59 for adults and $5.79 for children, a reasonable price for entertainment and in some cases cheaper than seeing a movie today.

Some of Robinson’s history was passed along over a century later in 1958 by Samuel G. Barker. Barker attended the first performance of the Yankee Robinson-Ringling Bros. Great Double Show May 19, 1884 in Baraboo, Wisconsin. In 1958, he was interviewed by the “Des Moines Tribune” about the life and legacy of Yankee Robinson (30 May 1958, page 16). Standing next to Robinson’s grave in Jefferson, Iowa, Barker explained “Yankee was the first man to put on ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ as a traveling tent show. About 1850, Yankee Robinson owned a 175-horse circus – a circus which required 175 horses to move it from town to town. In 1860, he owned the richest circus in America – a 225-horse affair.”

Robinson discovered a successful formula during the 1850s that drew people into his show. It was a variety show that consisted of “equestrianism, acrobatic and gymnastic exercises, and herculean feats, &c., that were interspersed and enlivened by the comicalities of the CLOWN” (Edgefield Advertiser, 1 Dec. 1858, page 3). Robinson’s ads explained that their “entertainment differs materially from old fogy Circuses.” It reported as having “SCENERY and FIXTURES ample to present the GREAT MORAL DRAMA of the Days of ’76: or the Times that Tried Men’s Souls!’ On which Yankee Robinson will ‘Stand down’ the Hall. This great Drama is founded on incidents which occurred during the settlement of the Scioto Valley. It excels anything over introduced in public amusements.” Two companies performed in the same tent with “Yankee Robinson” on a “regular elevated stage with splendid scenery.”

The “Reading Times” from 1859 included an advertisement about Yankee Robinson’s “Double Show, Circus and Theatre” (18 June 1859 page 3). Robinson now boasted over 150 men and horses, with six lady performers and five clowns. His spacious touring pavilion (tent) accommodated “nearly 3,000 persons” to see his spectacle “Days of ’76.”

Over the years Robinson’s shows included Burt & Robinson’s Old-fashioned Circus, James Melville and Jerry Mabie’s Australian Circus. In 1866, he erected Yankee Robinson’s Coliseum and Zoological Garden in Chicago. During the early 1870s, Robinson worked along the west coast and organized a hippodrome, menagerie, and a circus with a stage. He was an incredibly busy showman, simultaneously working on a variety of projects during this time. Al Ringling worked for the “Yankee Robinson Circus” before starting his own theatrical troupe in 1882. He then joined forces with Robinson to create the “Yankee Robinson and Ring-ling Brothers Great Double Shows, Circus and Caravan” in 1884.

In 1884, Robinson became very ill at and died shortly thereafter on August 27, 1884. Robinson always wore a Masonic pin. It was this small piece of jewelry that ensured care during his final days and a Masonic burial. Cemetery Stories published in “Iowa Living Magazines” reported, “There’s the great circus entertainer and owner who landed in his deathbed in Greene County named Fayette Yankee Robinson, who took ill on the train between Bagley and Lohrville and was taken off the train in Jefferson by the conductor as no one thought he would make it to the next stop. He died in Jefferson and was buried in the Jefferson Cemetery in 1884. No one knew his name at the time he took sick, and he wasn’t able to tell them. However, amongst his belongings was an item [Masonic pin] that identified him as belonging to the Masons. Members of the local Masonic Lodge helped take care of Robinson until he died and paid for his burial in the Jefferson Cemetery. At the time of his death, he was partnered with the Ringling Brothers. Numerous years after his death, the Sells Brothers and the Ringling Brothers circus companies had a huge monument made for his grave. The marker bears the date 1890. As late as 1996, circus and tent performers coming through the area would visit the grave, leaving flowers and other memorabilia.” (http://www.iowalivingmagazines.com/2013/10/09/cemetery-stories-5/).

“The Evening Bulletin” reported the “Death of ‘Yankee’ Robinson” in 1884 (Maysville, Kentucky, 6 Sept 1884, page 4). “New Jefferson, Iowa, Sept. 6. – Fayette Ledawick Robinson, better known as ‘Yankee’ Robinson, the famous circus and theatrical showman, died here Thursday afternoon, aged sixty-six years. He had devoted nearly fifty years to the show business. He was a lineal descendant of Dr. Robinson, the eminent divine who came to this country with the Pilgrims in the Mayflower. ‘Yankee’ Robinson was a prominent Freemason, and the fraternity here will have charge of the funeral.”

Additional details about Robinson’s career and life can be found at the Circus Historical Society’s webpage “Olympians of the Sawdust Circle.” Here is the link: http://www.classic.circushistory.org/Olympians/OlympiansR2.htm

To be continued…