Moment in Time (July 27, 2021)

Lewis Sells was in the auction business in Columbus when in 1871 he partnered with his brothers Ephraim, Allen and Peter to start a traveling circus. According to the Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio (1904) “they began with one tent and a few side-show features and traveled in wagons. It was in 1872 that they organized, investing altogether about thirty-five thousand dollars, which represented their savings and all that they could borrow. Their first performance was given in Columbus, April 27, 1872, and the receipts were fifteen hundred and forty dollars, although it was a wet day.” The circus was formally known as the Sells Brothers' Quadruple Alliance, Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Circus. They were later advertised with different titles, including the "Great European Circus and Menagerie” shown on the elephant train car in the bottom right inset of this photo.

The Sells Brothers Circus started in Columbus and wintered in Sellsville, just

north of King Avenue near the Grandview boundary. At one point they were the

second largest circus in the nation, with tours that took them all over the country

and overseas.

Hanna’s death was significant, in that it pushed Columbus politicians and city engineers to pay attention to the pressing need for clean water. A group of scientists and MIT-trained sanitary engineering individuals were mobilized to study the problem, resulting in what became known as the Great Columbus Experiment of 1908 (documented in a book titled "The Great Columbus Experiment of 1908: Waterworks that Changed the World", by Conrade Hinds). In spite of disagreements among city politicians, the result of the ‘experiment' was a water- treatment system that virtually eliminated the scourge of typhoid, cholera and many other waterborne diseases.

However, gate receipts for the following performances were poor, partly because they had no elephant, which audiences were clamoring for. Over the winter of 1873, they bought an elephant and created new posters featuring it. But the elephant died in transport from Philadelphia to Columbus and hard times continued for the circus as a result, until they bought another. They continued to add more elephants and by 1881 had eight, and became known for their collection of pachyderms. Besides the elephants, their menagerie also included lions, tigers, hippos, seals and sea lions, ostriches, and other miscellaneous animals

Early transport was by wagons, but they started using rail resources, and at their peak used 47 custom railroad cars. (One article indicated that they also had another 50 or so non-custom railroad cars.) In October of 1882, they suffered a serious train wreck while they were running down a mountain side near Paintlick, Kentucky. Several people and some horses and animals were killed; some of the most vicious animals escaped, including a Bengal tiger. They rounded up most, and continued the tour.

During the early years of the circus it was housed during the winter months on Main Street between Grand and Washington Avenues, but as Columbus grew it was forced to move. Approximately 1000 acres bounded by the Olentangy River on the east, between Fifth Avenue and King Avenue, were part of the original Hamlet of Marble Cliff, and would become the unincorporated area called Sellsville. This area was in close proximity to the railroad, with connections both north and south, so the circus moved and wintered there for years.

Allen Sells left the circus after they returned to Columbus in 1882, leaving the other three brothers to run the circus for the next decade or so. In the fall of 1891 they sailed for Australia and spent one year in that country. Unfortunately, many of their animals suffered from a disease and didn’t survive the trip abroad and they again faced hard times.

At the same time, Adam Forepaugh was a notable circus proprietor who owned and operated several circus shows and was a major competitor of P.T. Barnum and Ringling Brothers. After his death Forepaugh’s circus was purchased by James A. Bailey, and was operated as an independent show for three years. In 1896 Bailey entered into partnership with the Sells Brothers to form the Adam Forepaugh and Sells Bros. Circus.

Ephraim Sells died in 1898, after which Peter and Lewis continued the partnership. Peter (at the left in the lower left inset) was the "front man" for the circus and built a mansion, designed by Frank Packard (upper right inset) at the edge of Goodale Park on Dennison Avenue. As the front man for the circus, he travelled extensively, and discovered that in his absence his wife Mary had several affairs, including one with Billy Bott (middle right inset), one of the owners of the Clock Restaurant downtown and a Grandview resident (his home was on Broadview in what is now the Grandview Terrace.) The Sells' divorce proceedings in 1900 was one of the most spell-binding events of the year in Columbus. Peter died in 1904.

After the death of his brothers, Lewis Sells sold the assets at public auction, one- half interest being purchased by James A. Bailey and the other half by Ringling Brothers. In 1906, Bailey died and the Ringlings bought the entire circus. They sent the Sells act on tour until 1911, the last year that the circus toured under the name Sells Brothers. The Sellsville quarters was closed by 1910, and the circus eventually became part of the conglomerate Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth.