Benjamin Wallace

Benjamin E. Wallace (October 4, 1847 – April 7, 1921) was an American circus owner and Civil War veteran who founded the Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus, the second-largest circus in the United States.

Early life Wallace was born on October 4, 1847, near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to Ephraim and Rebecca Wallace. His family were of Scottish lineage and his grandfather fought at the Battle of Tippecanoe under General Harrison.

Wallace's father Ephraim brought his family of five daughters and five sons, first to Rochester, then to Peru, by wagon in 1863. His father died of malaria in 1864 and three of his brothers and a sister died soon thereafter. His sister, Alice, later married Pim Sweeney, director of Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Wallace enlisted in the American Civil War in the 13th Indiana Infantry Regiment in February 1865. The war was over before he got into any fighting in Virginia, though he made $250.00 from trading with other soldiers before being discharged.

Career

Wallace attended circus show sales including a sale of equipment of the W.C. Coup show in 1882 which had gone bankrupt. On January 25, 1884, a fire burned the furniture warehouse where the animals were kept and killed all of them. He kept the winter quarters and rented it to circuses until 1921 when he sold it to the American Circus Corporation. The winter quarters are now the site of the Circus Hall of Fame.