I've always been told "the truth is stranger than fiction". This story and the photograph on the link page certainly do lend credence to that statement. Po' Mary the elephant - all she wanted was some watermelon. Edgar -----Original Message----- From: Morom01@aol.com <Morom01@aol.com> To: TNCHAT-L@rootsweb.com <TNCHAT-L@rootsweb.com> Date: 14 June, 2000 9:16 PM Subject: [TNCHAT] Lynched Elephant With Photo >We got eight new subscribers tonight (fifteen for the day) and I'm told I >sent the story too early. So here it is again. And for all you people who >read it earlier, I found a link to the lynched elephant photo. It's at the >end of the story. > >This story is told many different ways. What I offer here is my version with >facts that I have read since childhood. I'm not sure any official version is >available in a book, but the newspaper archives give the story very similar >to this. Regardless of the details here and there, that have been lost in >time, the story itself is true. Somewhere in some time past I remember >someone showing me a picture of the hanging. If I find it and get permission >from the person I'll display it somewhere. > >In the year 1916 many changes were taking place in the world. War was >ravaging Europe, the country was in an economic decline. America was >beginning to face issues that would plague us eighty years later. But in East >Tennessee and Virginia, in the area most people know as the Appalachians, it >was a good time to see the circus. > >The town was Erwin, Tennessee a railroad town and home to the Cincinnati, >Clinchfield, and Ohio Railroad's repair shop. There were only two main >employers in the town, the railroad and a pottery factory. This meant that >most of the town had the same days off and spent them together at town >picnics and other functions. Any meeting was a time for the whole town to >come together and the execution of an elephant on September 16th, would be no >different. > >Mary, was a five ton elephant owned by the Sparks Brothers Circus. Mary was >their main attraction as she was billed as the largest animal to ever walk >the face of the earth. Her owner claimed she was three inches taller than >Barnum's Jumbo. She was rumored (by her owner) as to have killed eight men. >How much of this was true, nobody knows, but it probably helped to seal >Mary's fate with the public. > >September 11th, the circus played a town in Virginia, (I can't remember the >town's name) where a man named Red Eldridge asked for a job. Red was a >drifter and rode the rails of America as was very common at the time. Why Red >decided to seek employment at this time is not understood, but he asked the >circus and was hired. Red was put in charge of a broom and made clean up. But >on the next day, after the sudden departure of another man, Red was promoted >to elephant handler. Not quite experienced at this job, Red made up for it >with a big stick. It is said that Red tried to intimidate the animals. A >small man with a big stick may strike fear into the hearts of hobos, but >elephants aren't impressed with such nonsense. > >On September 12th the circus came to Kingsport, Tennessee. As was the custom >the animals were unloaded at the train yard and paraded through town to the >delight of the crowds that gathered to watch. This day Red led Mary the five >ton prize elephant of the show. Along the way Mary saw a half eaten >watermelon left on the street by one of the spectators. Mary reached for the >watermelon with her huge trunk. Red decided that Mary shouldn't have the >watermelon and gave a jerk on Mary's chain. According to witnesses, Mary gave >a loud trumpet and went for the melon again. This time Red decided to strike >Mary in the side of the head with his large stick. What happened next, (the >manner of Red's death) is debated to this day. Oh, nobody says the elephant >didn't kill Red, it's just that some say, she gored him with her tusks, >others say she squeezed him to death with her trunk, some say she trampled >him, and other say she kicked him. No matter what, Red was as dead as a >doornail and Mary had her melon. > >The owner of the circus, Charlie Sparks realized the publicity this would >cause. It was one thing for him to claim that Mary had killed eight people, >but if it were true and in the papers that was different. No town would allow >his circus to come with a real certified rogue killer elephant. Charlie >decided that with Mary around his circus was finished. Mary had to go. > >First it was decided that Mary would be shot. A local man shot Mary five >times with a shotgun while she was chained. The shot hardly phased her. Later >that day the sheriff shot Mary repeatedly with a 45 pistol. Still no good. >Mary was simply too thick hided for bullets to kill her. > >Next the town of Kingsport decided that they would electrocute her. A trunk >line ran the length of the railroad track that supposedly carried 44,000 >volts. Mary was chained and the voltage applied. She jumped a little each >time, but never seemed to be injured by the voltage. (Chips note: I doubt >this part of the story because electricity wasn't that common in the area. I >doubt that there would have been that much voltage in the town pre TVA.) > >Other options were discussed including hooking Mary to two train engines and >allowing them to pull her apart. Another said to put her between two engines >and let them crush her. Both of these were ruled out. > >It was decided that Mary should be hanged. But how do you hang a five ton >elephant? The heaviest crane in the area belonged to the Clinchfield >railroad. It was kept in their shop at Erwin, Tennessee. Mary was taken to >Erwin on a train to await her fate the next morning. > >The next morning Mary stood tied to a rail in the train yard. Witnesses say >that Mary seemed nervous and paced back and forth like she knew her fate. The >crane was brought out and a steam shovel dug a hole right beside the track. A >chain was placed around Mary's neck and the winch began to hoist Mary >skyward. As she left the ground a crack was heard. It was then discovered >that Mary was still chained to the track and her leg was breaking. Quickly >the chain around her ankle was cut. Mary began to thrash. > >Another crack was heard and Mary plummeted to the ground. The chain around >her neck was too small and it broke. The crowd scattered, fearing an enraged >elephant stampeding loose in the town. But Mary's hip was shattered and she >couldn't move. A railroad worker climbed Mary's back and attached another >chain. Mary was again lifted by the crane. > >Mary was held in the air for two hours as crowds gathered for a look. Then >later that day, the crane took Mary down the track to the hole that had been >dug and placed her body in it. It was covered with dirt and Mary's body is >buried there today. > >Some of the tracks are gone today, others are in bad repair. The area is >seldom used and the railroad long out of business. But there in Erwin lies >the only elephant found guilty of murder in America and publicly hanged. > >Chip's Comment: >Was Mary guilty of murder? No. I would say the circus was more guilty than >Mary. They put this untrained man in charge of a five ton animal and allowed >him to strike her with a stick. Common sense says this man is going to die. >Mary was never ill tempered and had never hurt anyone before. She wanted a >watermelon and Red paid with his life for his own stupidity. > >To see the photo use the following URL. I can't vouch that it's a real >photograph as it differs from the one I've seen. >http://www.blueridgecountry.com/elephant/elephant.html > > >==== TNCHAT Mailing List ==== >To subscribe or unsubscribe to this list please visit: >http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnunion/tnchat >This list is generously donated by Rootsweb for our use. >Complete rules for TnChat may be found at: >http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnunion/tnchat > >