The Bearded Lady of Circus Fame

      Giles Edwin Calvin and Grace Gilbert married in South Bend, Indiana, on 26 October 1910. Giles was 51 and Grace, 34. But the marriage was more unusual than just the age difference.

    Grace Gilbert was born 2 February 1867 to Giles Edward and Arosina (Hallock) Gilbert. At birth, Grace was covered with a fine layer of hair. Eventually, it thickened and grew longer on her chin. By the time she was a young adult, Grace had realized that she could support herself by joining the circus. So in 1901, she joined Ringling Brothers Circus.

    By 1903, Grace had moved to the Barnum & Bailey circus. The 1903-1904 Circus Route Book included a photo of Grace Gilbert, the Bearded Lady. She stayed with Barnum till around 1905 when she signed with various other circuses including Hagenback-Wallace. Although Grace was naturally a redhead, for a time, she bleached her beard and was known as "The Girl with the Golden Whiskers." But she got tired of the upkeep and went back to her natural color. 

 

    Grace and Gilbert were supposedly childhood sweethearts despite their age difference. They may have also been cousins. When Gilbert was widowed, he followed Grace from show to show, asking her to marry him often. Some stories even suggested that Grace and Gilbert lived together for a time after her father's death. She finally took pity on him and agreed to marry him in South Bend Indiana.

    Gilbert reached South Bend first and attempted to apply for a license, only to be told to come back with the bride. Their appearance, the next day, caused a stir in the license office angering the groom. The sheriff was called to provide calming assistance. On the license, Grace gave her occupation as "Circus Exhibitor, Bearded Lady". A newspaper article stated that "The bridegroom was smooth shaven, and wore a long ulster that concealed his bifurcated garments, and when the judge opened the ceremony he became badly mixed." He looked at Grace and asked if she would "take this woman to be her wife". The judge was set straight and the ceremony went on.

    Grace traveled wearing a heavy veil to cover her 18-inch beard. After the ceremony, she told reporters, "I am going to my husband's farm and try to make him a good wife."

    Articles about the wedding appeared in newspapers around the country including the one above, found in the Daily Times of New Philadelphia, Ohio. Dated 6 January 1911, the belated article was complete with a cartoon depiction of the bride and groom.

    Most articles discussed Grace's career with the various circuses and emphasized that Giles was a farmer. While Grace did try to be a good farmer's wife, the pull of the circus proved too great. By 1916, she had returned to circus life, working summers at Coney Island in New York. She and Gilbert spent summers in New York and winters in Kalkaska Michigan. They kept this up until January of 1924 when Grace fell ill and died suddenly. She is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in Kalkaska County, Michigan. When Giles died in 1936, he chose to be buried near Grace rather than his current wife, Katie Priestly Dunham.    

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Sources:

"Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019," database with image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZCG-4ZD : accessed 20 August 2021); Giles E. Calvin and Grace Gilbert, 25 October 1910: citing St. Joseph, Indiana, Marriage License, Indiana Commission on Public Records, Indianapolis, IN; FHL microfilm 5,206,299.

"Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952," Grace Calvin, 11 January 1924, Kalkaska County, Michigan; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 August 2021).

"Day by Day with Barnum & Bailey Season, 1903-1904," p. 72, Circus Route Book, Milner Library, Illinois State Library (https://digital.library.illinoisstate.edu/digital/collection/p15990col15/id/9749 : accessed 20 August 2021).

"Bearded Lady is Whiskerless Farmer's Wife," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (St. Louis, Mo.), 6 November 1910, p.61, col.2; digital image, newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 20 August 2021). Note: An ulster is a long man's coat.

"Bearded Lady of Circus Fame Weds," The South Bend Tribune (South Bend Ind.), 26 October 1910, p.10, col. 5; digital image, newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 20 August 2021).

"The Daily Times," (New Philadelphia, Ohio), 6 January 1911, p.7, col.5; digital image, newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 20 August 2021).

Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 20 August 2021), memorials 0973132 and 10915660, Grace Gilbert (1876-1924) and Giles E. Calvin (1857-1936), Maple Grove Cemetery, Leetsville, Kalkaska County, Michigan; gravestone photo by Steve Martin.

Not In the Kitchen

     Recently someone on Facebook asked people to talk about the words of wisdom passed down in the family. And I couldn't think of a single thing. You see, I come from a family that really hasn't passed much down - no family heirlooms, few family stories, no words of wisdom, and definitely no cooking in the kitchen.

    I didn't learn how to cook until I got married. One of my wedding or shower gifts was the ubiquitous orange-red Betty Crocker cookbook. I followed those recipes faithfully and eventually branched out to other cookbooks, even attempting various ethnic recipes. But one thing I realized early on - while I was a good cook, I enjoyed the cookbooks more than the cooking. Even today, I have a whole bookcase (and several boxes) of cookbooks - and I rarely cook.

    My grandmothers were very different cooks. My maternal grandmother tended to cook things very well done. She nonchalantly scraped off the burnt toast, cut off the very brown ends of a piece of meat. Yet I don't remember that her food tasted bad. I can't even remember much of what she cooked except that it seemed to be mostly chicken dishes. I still have a couple of her dessert recipes that were quite tasty. My grandmother was a working mother -- on the farm where there was always more than enough work to go around - and then as a single mother when my grandfather was killed in a mining accident. She was left to support two young children, and I never knew her not to work. Cooking may not have been a priority in her life.

    We visited my paternal grandparents in southern Illinois three or four times a year and I usually spent some time with them each summer. Each time we came to visit, my grandmother would make roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, which I still love today. She was a great pie baker. I especially remember her peach pie as being amazing. The peaches would have been fresh peaches from nearby Cobden, a town known for growing peaches. We were always well-fed whenever we visited.

    I didn't inherit my maternal grandmother's burnt edges or the great pie baking ability from my paternal grandmother. Still, those meals were definitely a big part of my childhood.

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MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER

Stella Mae (Edwards) Butzek, born 23 July 1912, Corinth, Williamson County, Illinois, daughter of George Elmus and Olive Isabel (Pogue) Edwards. Died January 1, 1989, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois. Married  9 May 1931, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois to Anthony Butzek (Martinek). Had two children, both living, including my mother.

PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER

Florence (Halliday) Martin, born 15 February 1897, What Cheer, Keokuk County, Iowa, daughter of Robert and Margaret (Clark) Halliday, died 10 July 1967, West Frankfort, Franklin County, Illinois. Married 1) 25 January 1916, Albia, Monroe County, Iowa to Harold R. Edwards. Divorced. Married 2) 12 September 1925, Albia, Monroe County, Iowa to George Michael Martin.

Children: 

1. Richard Eugene Edward, 1916-1934
2. June Lorraine Martin 1926-1978
3. George Robert Martin 1929-2015

Brave and True - A Namesake

     One of the earliest lessons learned in genealogical research was paying close attention to people's names. Naming patterns, middle names - these can be good clues to understanding the person you are researching. 

    Middle names frequently point to a mother's maiden name or some other family name. But not always. I encountered a really odd middle name once. I was sure it must have been a family surname but found no proof that it was. And then I looked at a plat map for the neighborhood - and right next door lived a man with that last name. That told me something about the friendship between the two families.

    Often the same names keep cropping up like people named after the evangelist Lorenzo Dow. But recently, I came across Elmer Ellsworth McClaran. This name seemed to come out of the blue - there was no other Elmer in the family, no connection to an Elsworth family that I could find. And then I found the probable connection.

    Elmer Elsworth McClaran was born in 1877 in Henry County, Iowa. It turns out, he was likely named after Elmer Ellsworth, the first Union officer casualty of the Civil War. Elmer Ellsworth was a friend of Abraham Lincoln, studying law with him in Springfield, Illinois. His death on 24 May 1861 was publicized throughout the country with the slogan "Remember Ellsworth." He even had a song written for him -- Brave Men, Behold Your Fallen Chief by H.C. Ballard and J.P. Webster, written in 1862. The song starts out:

"Dead! Dead! Dead at the dawning of the strife! Dead! Dead! and late so loyal, brave and true; When high hopes center'd in his life, And fond eyes had his fame in view, Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Ellsworth, the noble, brave and true. Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Dear departed, brave and true."

     As genealogists, we never know where our search will take us. By following the names, we can often learn what was important to our families.

NOTE: A copy of the sheet music can be found at: 

http://alplm-cdi.com/chroniclingillinois/items/show/22839

Family Legends

     There are two family legends I grew up hearing. The first was that our family came west with Daniel Boone. The second was that someone in the family killed the last Native American in southern Illinois. One to be proud of and one not so much. Through the years I've kept these two legends in the back of my mind, wondering if there was truth to either one.

   It turns out that there are nuggets of truth in the Daniel Boone rumor. First, there may have been confusion about a man named John Rains, an early Tennessee settler and comrade of Daniel. There are several John Rains in my family who settled in Tennessee and it's possible there is some distant relationship. However, my John Rains was not the famous John Rains. 

    Some of my family followed Daniel Boone's trail as they moved wast. There are several places where they could have been in the same place around the same time. My daughter-in-law has a closer connection. Her family was at Strode's Station. Built by John Strode who was related to Daniel Boone's wife, the station was about 10 miles from Fort Boonesborough.  It turns out my son married into the legend.

    The second family legend has no basis in truth that I can find. I do have family who moved into southern Illinois very early but most of the Native Americans had moved on by the time they got there. The Trail of Tears came near their homes but there is no evidence of any incident. This is such an odd family legend that I wonder how it got started? Did it start a long time ago when people in the area still feared and hated Native Americans? Was it some boast made in jest or over one too many drinks? This is one family legend that I am happy to discard.

    Sometimes family legends can be true or partially true. But family legends can be like the game of telephone. They start out as one thing and by the time they get to the end, they have morphed into something entirely different. 

Beginnings

    Every year I think about participating in Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blogging challenge and every year life gets in the way. But I'm hoping this year will be different. This post is the "beginning" of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (We'll see how long I can last.)

    I've been researching for more than 40 years and every day seems like a beginning. Every day I learn something new, every day I stumble on an unknown website. and every day I learn a new piece of information about someone I'm researching. Sometimes these facts take me right back to the beginning again and sometimes they propel me forward.

    My genealogical journey started when I took a class through the local school district. I was in class while everyone else in America was at home watching Roots. I had a good teacher who got me started on the right foot. I had majored in History in college and genealogy helped me understand what I learned in college. 

    I've continued to learn. This week is the beginning of my 2021 education, participating in NGSQ study groups - reading and dissecting Q articles. And next week is the beginning of 2021 SLIG - Advanced Methods. Normally I'd be finishing up my laundry about now and packing my suitcase for a trip to Salt Lake City and research time in the Family History Library. While I'm sad to not be able to do that this year, I am excited to be able to take TWO SLIG courses and a SLIG Academy course.

    Each new course, each new article, each new webinar, each new conference, each new blog post -- these are all beginnings of a new adventure in learning.