Copyright © 2018 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1914, Sosman & Landis delivered scenery for the Ringling Bros. grand circus spectacle, “King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.” By that year dozens of Scottish Rite stages had been constructed and held massive scenery collections to stage Scottish Rite degree productions, many that told of events surrounding the reign of King Solomon. Masonic backdrops depicted the private apartments, throne room, courtyard and the Temple of King Solomon.
To look at the sixty-one Scottish Rite scenery collections solely produced by Sosman & Landis (Chicago) and Toomey & Volland (St. Louis) from 1896-1914 puts the Ringling Bros. “King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba” spectacle in perspective. These 61 scenery installations include Scottish Rite Theatres in Little Rock, Arkansas; Tucson, Arizona; San Francisco, Stockton and Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Springfield, E. St. Louis, Quincy and Bloomington, Illinois; Davenport and Dubuque Iowa; Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, and Evansville, Indiana; Fort Scott, Fort Leavenworth, Wichita, Kansas City, Lawrence and Salina, Kansas; Louisville and Covington, Kentucky; Portland, Maine; Bay City, Michigan; Duluth and Winona, Minnesota; St Louis and Joplin, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; Butte and Helena, Montana; Clinton and Jersey City, New Jersey; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Rochester and Buffalo, New York; Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina; Grand Forks, North Dakota; Toledo, Davenport, Youngstown and Canton, Ohio; McAlester and Guthrie, Oklahoma; Bloomsburg and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Yankton, South Dakota; Memphis, Tennessee; Dallas, El Paso and Austin, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Danville, Virginia; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Wheeling, West Virginia; Tacoma, Washington; and Cheyenne, Wyoming. There were also those produced by lesser-known studios too. The point is that Masonic membership was dramatically increasing during the early twentieth century.
All of the Ringling brothers were a Scottish Rite Masons and members of the Scottish Rite Consistory in Milwaukee. By 1913, the Milwaukee Scottish Rite boasted a Sosman & Landis scenery collection, one specifically supervised by Thomas G. Moses during its production.
The Ringling family all began their Masonic journey in Baraboo Lodge No. 34. There were two other circus families who also belonged to that lodge, the Moellers and the Gollmars. The Ringlings, Gollmars, and Moellers were all related through marriages to the three Juliar sister. Marie “Salome” Juliar married August Ringling (Rüngeling), father of the Ringling Brothers. Her sister Katherine married Gottleib Gollmar, father of the Gollmar Brothers. Mary Juliar married Henry Moeller, father of the Moeller Brothers who became famous as manufacturers of circus wagons and materials.
Gottlieb G. Gollmar (1823-1914) was the son on of Joachim Gollmar & Franziska Caroline Wolf, born in Baden-Würtemmberg, Germany, arriving in the United States at the age of 9 and settling in Valley City, Ohio. He married Mary Magdeline Juliar in Chicago on 17 Nov 1848 and moved to Baraboo in 1851. He and was one of the seven charter members for Baraboo Lodge No. 34 and patriarch of the Gollmar Brothers circuses.The Gollmar Bros. Circus was operated by brothers Walter, Fred, Charles, Ben and Jake Gollmar and lasted until 1926, finally touring as the Patterson-Gollmar Bros. Circus.
Katherine Juliar married Henry Moeller, an immigrant born in Saxony. He learned the trade of a wagon maker in Milwaukee after arriving in the United States. Moeller founded a blacksmith shop in June 1856, a business later operated by his sons Henry and Corwin as the Moeller Bros. Wagon Co. (Wisconsin State Journal, 265 April 1937, page 12). First cousins to the Ringlings and Gollmars, their shop was located at Third Avenue in Baraboo where they built many of the ornate wagons for the Ringling Brothers’ circus, including the famous Bell Wagon of 1892. For many years, the wagons used by the Ringling Brothers were made exclusively in the Moeller Bros. shops, costing as much as $800 each, exclusive of painting.
Marie “Salome” Juliar married August Rüngeling, and their children formed the Ringling Brothers circus. August and his seven sons all joined the Fraternity between January 1890 and August 1891; each being raised in Baraboo Lodge No. 34. This is not unusual, as Freemasonry was often a “family affair” for fathers and sons. Here is when each Ringling brother became a Master Mason: Alf T. (January 22, 1890), John (March 1, 1890), Al (March 29, 1890), Charles (April 9, 1890), Otto (April 9, 1890), Gus (Feb. 4, 1891), Henry (March 18, 1891), August Rüngeling (August 9, 1891). However, it was their combined roles as Masonic officers during 1891 that caught my eye. In the minutes of a meeting on April 8, 1891, Alf T. was listed as Worshipful Master; August “Gus” was listed as Senior Warden; Al was listed as Junior Warden; Charles was listed as Senior Deacon; Otto was listed as Junior Deacon; and Henry was listed as Senior Steward.
In 1900, “The Buffalo Courier” included the story of the Ringling family in a section called “Travelers Toward the East” (9 Dec. 1900, page 25). The article reported, “A Masonic journal says that the Ringling brothers are known all over the country as the proprietors of the Ringling Circus. Seven of these brothers are members of Baraboo Lodge No. 34 of Wisconsin jurisdiction, and after the seven were all members of the lodge the petition of the father was received. The Ringling brothers qualified themselves to confer the degrees were assigned to the several positions in the lodge, received the father into the lodge and conferred the degrees upon him.”
Baraboo Lodge No. 34 was almost four decades old by the time the Ringlings became members. Besides belonging to Baraboo Lodge No. 34, the seven brothers also belonged to Baraboo Valley Chapter No. 49, R.A.M (Royal Arch Masons); St. John Commandery No. 21 K.T. (Knight Templars) of Baraboo, and the A.A.S.R. (Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite) in Milwaukee. The lodge rooms were above McGann’s Furniture in the building at the Northwest corner of Oak and Second Avenue, but a new building was in the making in 1891. The same month that their father was raised, the “Wisconsin State Journal” reported that the corner stone for the Baraboo Masonic Temple was “to be laid with great ceremony” that Thursday (25 August 1891, page 1). A formal procession was formed and consisted of the Baraboo lodges, Eastern Star Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Knights Templar, members of the Grand Lodge, the members of the city council, and led by the Baraboo military band.
The three Juliar sisters who married Ringling, Gollmar and Moeller also had a brother, Nicholas Juliar (1841-1920). Nicholas collected his sisters’ circus memorabilia and his personal effects are now part of the Memorial Library, Southern Minnesota Historical Center, Minnesota State University – Mankato. Unlike his famous relations, Juliar was a banker, auctioneer, and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for two terms. To be continued…
