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