I've just joined your list and I hope you won't think me cheeky for asking some questions straight away about my gggrandfather, an African American called Joseph Ledger, supposedly born in Philadelphia in about 1844. Joseph, if that's his true name has become a family mystery. I won't bore you with too many details but getting to the point, I can't help but notice how similar his life story is to Sargano Alicamousa, the lion tamer from St Vincent. So much so that I'm wondering if they are the same person. The date of birth is slightly different, Alicamousa being born in 1859, however as I cannot confirm Joseph's date of birth I can't yet discount Alicamousa from my research. The one date I can confirm is that Joseph married in Norwich,England in 1866. If I could confirm that Alicamousa was definitely born in 1859 I think I might have to accept that they are two different people. The similarities are that Joseph left a hand written biography, as did Alicamousa, detailing events in their lives. Both were lion tamers, both worked in the north of England and both worked with Wombwell's Circus. Joseph used the stage name of 'Ledger Delmonico' and worked in Paris at the 'Folies Bergere', Alicamousa worked in Paris. Joseph says that in his early years he went to school in the USA, then joined the 27th Pennsylvania Regiment in 1861 before being disbanded in 1862/3. He then travelled to Africa where he purchased lions for his stage act. Alicamousa relates that he went to England with a British Naval Officer who had befriended him on St Vincent. That they went to Africa and they hunted for Lion cubs to bring back home to England. When Joseph first went to England, he married a German menagerie owner's daughter and gave up the circus life to run a tobacconist's shop in Southampton. He soon grew bored and says that he went to France and fought at the Battle of Sedan during the Franco German war. He says that the French government offered him a pension and that he won medals. Alicamousa says that he performed [in the circus] at Sedan. In the photographs I have seen of Alicamousa his jacket is covered with medals. It's odd that no-one seems to know what became of Alicamousa... ..Joseph died in England in 1901, having spent many years away from his family, travelling with various circus, eventually turning his hand to acting in Bolton,England. In the census returns of 1871 and 1881 he appears to be 'married' or accompanied by different women who claim to be his wives. On the 1881 census he uses his stage name on the census, instead of his proper name. This leads me to believe that there must've been reasons why he did this, although at the moment I have no clue as to why this might be. I realise that Joseph may have elaborated and even misled his family with tales of his exploits, however there are so many similarities between these 2 men and the 'biographies' they left behind that I have to ask if anyone can throw any light on Alicamousa, other than the details that I've found on the SVG website. Best wishes Lyn