Dexter Fellows
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1871
- Showman
- press agent
Dexter Fellows | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Dexter William Fellows 1871 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | November 26, 1937 (aged 65–66) Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Other names | Dean of Circus Press Agents |
| Occupations |
|
| Employer | Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus |
| Relatives | John B. Fellows (brother) |
| Awards | Circus Hall of Fame (1965)[1] |
Dexter Fellows (1871 – November 26, 1937) was an American showman and circus press agent for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus who was inducted into the Circus Hall of Fame in 1965.
Dexter William Fellows was born on July 26, 1871, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.[2] His name came from the famed racehorse Dexter and a beloved uncle named William.[3]
Dexter's father was a native of Nova Scotia, and his mother was from a New England Puritan background.[4]
As a child, he moved to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, with his family. Growing up, he attended Buffalo Bill's Wild West show during a stop in Fitchburg.[5] He had the privilege of holding the reins of the horse belonging to Buck Taylor, the king of the cowboys.[4]
Circus life
When a Pawnee Bill show arrived in town seeking men "to work on the program," Fellows wrote a letter to William H. Gardiner calling himself the "best program man" in the nation. He was soon invited to join the show in Hagerstown, Maryland.[2] He started as press agent for Pawnee Bill's Original Wild West show at the age of 23.[5] At $20 a week, he publicized the activities of "bronco busters, bearded ladies, sword swallowers, and trapeze artists."[6] He held the role from 1893 to 1894.[7]
Fellows left his previous post in 1894 to join Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World, a move that took him to Europe.[5] He spent eleven years working alongside Buffalo Bill. He traveled abroad with the show to England, where he discontinued his work at Burton upon Trent in 1903.[8]
Returning to the United States, he moved on to the Ringling Brothers Circus, where he spent a single season in 1905.[5]
In 1906, during the summer, Dexter Fellows succeeded Dan W. Fishell and joined Barnum & Bailey, the "greatest show on earth," under James A. Bailey.[9] Following the 1919 merger of the Ringling Brothers show and Barnum & Bailey, he was retained as a press agent for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.[5] From early spring to late October, Dexter Fellows was on the road ahead of the circus, starting with its New York debut.[8] Every year, he traveled about 15,000 miles, moving either in advance of the show or alongside the main troupe.[10]
By 1933, his career as a circus press agent had spanned three decades.[10]
On his way to the circus winter quarters in Sarasota in 1937, he became sick in Oklahoma, pushed on to New Orleans, and was later hospitalized in Hattiesburg.[6]
Personal life
Fellows married Signe von Breitholtz in 1913.[11]