Sells Brothers Circus, located at Sellsville, in Columbus, Ohio, United States, was founded in 1871 and the first elephant arrived in 1873. Sells Brothers Circus closed down in 1896 in Columbus, Ohio, .
Peter, Ephraim, Allen and Lewis Sells (grandsons of german immigrant Ludwig Sells) founded a circus in 1871, initially based on Cannonball George Richards and some horse acts. Allen Sells was the manager; Lewis was assistant manager and superintendent, with Ephraim as treasurer and superintendent of tickets. Peter was the "front man" for the show. 1873: They bought their first elephant 1873. 1875: 7 elephants, the largest number of elephants on any show in USA. (Hoage, Deiss, From Menagerie to Zoological Park in the Nineteenth Century, page 103) 1883: Sells bros had eight elephants. (Hoage, Deiss, From Menagerie to Zoological Park in the Nineteenth Century, page 103) 1887: Sells bros offered six african elephants for sale, three of which were very large. (Richard Reynolds writes on William Woodcocks blog that 4 of them were: Mike, Topsy, Fannie and Zip) 1890: the Sells Brothers Circus was the second largest circus in America. 1891: 13 elephants. source. 1891: visiting Australia in 1891. 1895: James A. Bailey acquired one-third interest in the circus. 1896: The menagerie was large and included African elephants Mike and Topsy, Asian elephants Sid, Queen, Dutch, Babe, Rubber, Betts, Romeo, Vic, Dick and John. source (total 12) 1898: Ephraim, the eldest brother, died in 1898. After Ephraim's death, James Bailey of Barnum and Bailey and W.W. Cole (of Cole Brothers Circus) each acquired a quarter interest in the business. 1904: After Peter and Allen died in 1904, Lewis Sells sold the remaining shares of the show to Bailey for $150,000 cash in 1905. 1896: the Barnum & Bailey Show, already the owners of the Adam Forepaugh show, bought an interest in Sells Brothers show, and combined the two under the name of Adam Forepaugh & Sells Brothers Great Consolidated Shows.
