Gerard Crane

From the list of elephant persons Family: Crane

Gerard Crane
Gerard Crane
Personal details
Spouse(s) Roxanna Purdy
Country United States
Locations
Title owner 1835-1837
Location at The Zoological Institute in United States
Title owner 1834-1835
Location at Crane & Eldreds Menagerie and Circus United in United States
Title owner 1833-1835
Location at Gregory, Crane and Co Menagerie in United States
Biography details

Gerard Crane , circus director in United States

Born 1791 dead 1872 , son of other Thaddeus Crane Sr. .

Gerard Crane married Roxanna Purdy, daughter of Isaac Purdy and niece of Mary (Purdy) Bailey who married Hachaliah Bailey, in October 1823. They resided in Somers, New York and called their home, "Granite Hall". Gerard was the Town Supervisor of Somers, New York from 1833 through 1837.

Gerard married his wife, Roxanna in 1823. She was the daughter of another menagerie owner, Isaac Purdy. The couple had seven children together and six of them survived into adulthood. (Williams, 137)

Records about Gerard Crane from A History of the Traveling Menagerie at https://classic.circushistory.org/Thayer/Thayer2b.htm
February 14, 1821, Miller sold what he called the “Exhibition of Animals.” This was accomplished in Virginia and the buyers were Thaddeus Crane Jr. and Gerard Crane of Westchester. They paid Miller $3,500 for a Brazilian tiger and tigress (again, jaguars), an African leopard and “leopardess,” a coatimundi, two English organs, a bass drum, an Italian cymbal, two wagons, five horses and harness, and all the signs, cuts and “apparatus.”

Stuart Thayer, A History of the Traveling Menagerie



The brothers Thaddeus Crane Jr. and Gerard Crane, came to Somers in 1807. They were entrepreneurs, who made their fortune in the early years of the circus industry. In 1807, Thaddeus Crane Jr. bought a large farm in Somers with his teenage brother, Gerard.

Their father, Thaddeus Crane Sr., was a prominent citizen of North Salem who served as a Revolutionary militia officer, a New York State assemblyman and a representative to the state convention that voted to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Before entering the menagerie business the brothers were farmers and Thaddeus Jr., was also a blacksmith.

The brothers were inspired to join the menagerie business by their neighbor Hachaliah Bailey. Beginning around 1815, they started to expand on their menagerie business and built a considerable fortune. The brothers collaborated with their neighbors to merge menageries and circuses. Some of these neighbors included Benjamin Lent and Lewi Lent, and members of the Brown, Purdy, Wright, Finch, and Ganung families.(Somers Historical Society) The American Traveling Circus industry was produced by combining the menageries, which exhibited exotic animals including elephants, rhinoceros, and large cats and the traditional circus, which focused mainly on entertainment including clowns, acrobats, trick riders and other performers. Horses were the only animals typically used in the traditional circus. (Willams, 137)

The brothers became members of the Zoological Institute in 1835 along with other 128 menagerie proprietors. Nearing his retirement in 1849, Gerard decided to construct a home and named it the Stone House.




Records about Gerard Crane from A History of the Traveling Menagerie at https://classic.circushistory.org/Thayer/Thayer2b.htm
1833: Gregory, Crane and Co Menagerie was a continuation of Birchard & Co, most likely as a result of its sale to Spencer Gregory (1802-1882) and Gerard Crane. The chief attraction of the collection was the elephant Flora, which was first advertised by that name with this company.

1834: Edward S. Eldred (1811-1850) owned and operated the American Circus in 1834. Beginning his tour in Mobile, Alabama, in January, he worked his way across the South until he reached Baltimore in October. The Gregory, Crane & Co. menagerie (36) had reached the same area at the same time. There then occurred the transfer we alluded to above, in which Crane joined with Eldred while Gregory joined with the Washburn’s and two new shows were created: Crane & Eldreds Menagerie and Gregory, Washburn and Co.

1835: In 1835, the menagerie became part of The Zoological Institute.

Stuart Thayer, A History of the Traveling Menagerie

Siblings

Siblings through the father Thaddeus Crane Sr. (1728-03-27 -- ):

  1. Thaddeus Crane Born 1779-12-31

Gerard Crane s ancestral Ahnentafel:
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Gerard Crane
Born: 1791

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Thaddeus Crane

Born: 1728-03-27

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Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2024). director Gerard Crane in United States. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 19 April 2024 at https://www.elephant.se/person.php?id=1555. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:


Selected publications

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Categories director | circus | The Zoological Institute | Crane family | Born 1791 | Dead 1872 | People from United States

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