Gentry Brothers Circus in United States

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Gentry Brothers Circus
Local name	Gentry's Equine and Canine Paradox
Type	circus
Founded	1885
First elephant arrived	1899
Last elephant left	1916
Closed down	1916
Country	United States
Related persons
Owner	1885-1916: Henry B. Gentry 1885-1916: Wallace Gentry 1885-1916: William Gentry 1885-1916: Frank Gentry

Unspecified persons
1885-: Richard Gentry (other)

Zoological department
Elephant department

Elephant Trainer	1910-1915: Joe Metcalf

Record history
History of updates	2025-03-30: text

Latest document update	2025-03-30 21:51:54

Description

Gentry Brothers Circus, circus United States , was founded in 1885 and the first elephant arrived in 1899. The last elephant left in 1916.. Gentry Brothers Circus closed down in 1916.

Comments / picturesThe Gentry Brothers Circus was developed by four Gentry brothers from Bloomington, Indiana and was probably the greatest dog and pony show ever developed in the United States. The brothers father was Richard Henry Gentry - number 202 in the 1909 book on the family. Richard Henry Gentry was born in Stokes County, North Carolina, September 23, 1825.
1825; moved to Indiana with his father William when he was a child, and later married Frances Umbarger. The children of this marriage were Wallace Gentry, Henry B. Gentry, William Gentry, Frank Gentry, Lillie Gentry, and Jesse Gentry. Henry B. Gentry was the moving force among the brothers.
1899: Bought the elephant Pinto.
1900: acts using humans and elephants were added to the program. Purchased Gentry Babe, claimed to be born 1897 and imported to USA 1900.
1902: the Gentry Brothers Circus switched from a car show setup to flat cars. Twenty baby elephants were purchased in this period which allowed a distribution of five for each of the units. An elaborate route book for 1902 was published which listed a total of 72 railroad cars, 22 elephants, 12 camels, 12 sacred cattle, and 50 big horses.
1910: the Gentry Brothers Circus was considered the largest traveling show in the U.S. It had 7 elephants and 4 camels.
1915: The Gentrys lost control of the show.
1916: the circus had new owners: Ben Austin and J. C. Newman, operating as Gentry Brothers Circus (Austin and Newman).
1922-23: James Patterson purchased the circus during the winter and operated it as the Gentry-Patterson Circus to 1925.

References for records about Gentry Brothers Circus

Recommended Citation

Koehl, Dan (2026). Gentry Brothers Circus, Elephant Encyclopedia. Available online at https://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=629. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

Gentry Brothers Circus , article by Richard Gentry Paxton of Tarpley, Texas (first published in the June 1983 issue of Gentry Family Gazette & Genealogy, http://www.gentryjournal.org/archives/jgg04a.htm
https://www.circusesandsideshows.com/circuses/gentrybroscircus.html
https://gentrycircus.angelfire.com/history.html

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