Kelly Morris Circus in United States


Kelly Morris Circus
Elephant trailer with Trilby/Troby
Elephant trailer with Trilby/Troby

Typecircus

Owner -: William Morris
-: Bernice Morris
-: Pat Kelly
-: Dan Kelly
Founded1914
Closed down1957
Place Oak Hill, Florida
Country United States

Directors

Key People

Veterinarians

Elephant department

Head keepers
of elephants

Elephant keepers
Record history
History of updates2022-05-16

Latest document update2022-05-16 04:30:39
Random literature
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases
Description

Kelly Morris Circus, in Oak Hill, Florida, United States , was founded in 1914. Kelly Morris Circus closed down in 1957.


Comments / pictures

The history of the Kelly Bros. goes back to Pat Kelly and his brother Dan Kelly who once had the circus ringbarn at Petersburg, Illinois about 1910 which was originally managed by the Shipp Family. The show was out as Kelly Brothers World\'s Greater Shows in 1914, and played in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. In 1922 it was Kelly Bros.and they did a number of fair shows. In 1927 & 1928 they went out under canvas again and called the show Singer Brothers. Dan was the clown and Pat was an acrobat. In 1946 & 1947 they played a number of indoor dates under Kelly & Morris, and had a winter quarters at Havanna, Illinois. For the 1948 season the show went out under canvas as the Kelly & Morris Circus. A few years later the show moved their winter quarters to Oak Hill, Florida and in 1956 & 1957 the title was changed to Benson Brothers. It closed that year. Pat Kelly then took their star attraction an elephant named Blanche and did elephant rides at the Circus World Museum for a season or two. Pat Kelly had a son named Paul Kelly who married Dorothy and they purchased the old Cole Bros. Winterquarters at Peru, Indiana, and had the pink elehants which were on the cover or Life or Look magazine. Pat had a daughter named Bernice who married William Morris. They had a son named Bill Morris who with his wife Cindy is currently booking his elephant act - The Elephant Encounter, and their son William Morris Jr. and his wife are also working an elephant act on various circuses.
John Polacsek, Detroit, Michigan

References for records about Kelly Morris Circus

Recommended Citation

Koehl, Dan (2024). Kelly Morris Circus, Elephant Encyclopedia. Available online at https://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=827. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:



Search more with Google for Kelly Morris CircusThe link will automatically include Kelly Morris Circus and open a new browser window.


Search more on the Internet Web for Kelly Morris CircusThe link will automatically include Kelly Morris Circus and open a new browser window

Categories circus in United States | United States Portal | northamerica Portal


About this documentThis document was updated: 2022-05-16 04:30:39 with valid HTML5 Valid CSS


Elephant Encyclopedia and database
ELEPHANT
ENCYCLOPEDIA

Established 1995
ELEPHANT
DATABASE
Established 2006
Your ip: 54.166.234.171
Kulen Elephant Forest