Agnes Lake

From the list of elephant persons Family: Mersman

Agnes Lake
Profession	circus director
Personal details
Born	1826-08-23 in United States
Dead	1907-08-22 in United States

Spouse(s)	Bill Lake

Country	United States

Locations
Title	owner 1869-1880
Location	at Lake & Co in United States

Biography details

Agnes Mersman , circus director in United States

Born 1826-08-23 in United States dead 1907-08-22 in United States .

Records about Agnes Lake from the Circus Historical Society
Equestrienne, tight rope walker, showwoman. Born in Doehm, Alsace, and brought to America by her parents, 1829. While only 16, eloped with clown William T. Lake, of the Robinson & Foster Circus. Arriving at St. Louis to find that neither a clergy or justice of the peace would perform the ceremony, they continued on to New Orleans and subsequently to Lafayette, LA, where they were wedded. With her husband, performed with Rich’s for 2 years; with Rockwell & Co., 1848; Stokes’, 1849; Burgess’, 1850; followed by 7 seasons with Spalding & Rogers’ Floating Palace. Nixon & Kemp, Palace Gardens, Sixth Ave. and 14th St., NYC, fall 1858. 1859, “Bill” Lake went into partnership with John Robinson, a union which lasted 4 years; then took out the William Lake Circus. Fall, 1862, Agnes went to Germany and appeared in a number of continental cities in the horse drama Mazeppa. Following spring, was back with her husband’s circus, where she remained until his tragic death, 1869. Continued management under the title of Lake’s Hippo-Olympiad and Mammoth Circus until 1872. That season, was out with the Great Eastern (Dan Carpenter, R. E. J. Miles, Andrew Haight, George DeHaven, proprietors). Following, retired from the circus to operate a printing plant in Cincinnati; the venture was unsuccessful lost her her savings within a year’s time. James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok had seen a circus performance, July 31, 1871, when the show was exhibiting in Cheyenne, WY, and was “smitten” with Agnes. After having courted her for 4 years, the two were married in Cheyenne, March 5, 1876. Shortly after the wedding, Agnes went to Cincinnati to visit her parents, while Hickok went to Deadwood on business, only to be shot and killed while playing cards in a saloon. Agnes then returned to performing under the name of Lake and made a hit in the circus version of Mazeppa. 1880, retired to the home of her son-in-law in Jersey City, NJ, dying there, age 80. Was the mother of William, Jr., star equestrienne Emma Lake, and adopted daughter Alice, and mother-in-law of Gil Robinson. Said to have made a higher ascent on the wire than anyone in her day. With Spalding & Rogers, 1857, she performed an outside free-act by trundling a wheelbarrow up a wire to the peak of the tent.

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2024). director Agnes Mersman in United States. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 22 November 2024 at https://www.elephant.se/person.php?id=1740. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

http://www.classic.circushistory.org/Olympians/OlympiansL1.htm

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