Thompson in Signor Saltarino’s book the Artisten-Lexicon, taken in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Author: Bonnie Griffin
Art-based researcher and curator based in the United Kingdom.
Who was Eph Thompson?
Ephraim “Eph” Thompson (1859 – 1909), a man once called the greatest elephant trainer in the world, was born in Colchester, Ontario, a settlement on the north shore of Lake Erie. At the time of Thompson’s birth in 1859, Canada was a dominion within the British Empire. In 1807, Britain passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, which was supposed to end the slave trade. However, it was not until 1833 with the passage of Slavery Abolition Act, effective August 1, 1834, that slavery was officially abolished across the British colonies, including Canada. These laws shaped the environment into which Thompson was born. In Colchester, Ontario not only were Black people anxious to own their own land and have their children attend school, they were legally able to do so [1].
Between 1812 and 1816, Colchester, about 50 kilometres from the U.S. city of Detroit, became a destination for Black freedom seekers escaping enslavement in the US. Colchester was a well known stop on the Underground Railroad [2]. In fact, Park House, located in an area called Amherstburg near Colchester, was used as a refuge for Black freedom seekers. In 1856, Colchester was described as a “beautiful farming community” and was home to “450 coloured people [1].”
Colchester differed from the upbringing of Thompson’s parents, Frances and Philip Thompson, who, according to the Canadian census of 1861, were born in Kentucky, a southern state where less than 2% of Black people were ‘free.’ After moving to Colchester in the early 1850s, the census record shows they had 4 children: Sarah, George, Edward and Moses, later known as Eph. Thompson’s father, Philip, supported his growing family through work as a labourer.
It is unknown if Thompson’s parents were enslaved or were born free, but we do know that they arrived in Canada after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed. Thompson’s successes can be traced back to his childhood in Colchester and the incredible efforts of his parents to create a new life for their family. This post explores the rest of Thompson’s extraordinary life story, but there is still much unknown about his upbringing in Ontario that perhaps community can help uncover.
Life under the big top
“Go in the ring, Sullivan, and wait for me,” said Eph Thompson, as quoted in the Plainville Echo newspaper on July 8, 1885 during his performance in Kansas state. Sullivan, his little elephant, would waddle into the ring wearing a large white ruff and a boxing glove firmly attached to the end of his trunk. The circus crowd would applaud loudly in anticipation of the much celebrated Pugilistic Elephant Act, which was a four round play fight between man and beast. It was the highlight of American newspapers during the summer of 1885.
Fifteen years prior to this show, the 1870 U.S. census reveals the Thompson family had moved from Colchester to Ypsilanti, Michigan, a town on the outskirts of Detroit, many kilometres inland from the U.S.-Canada border. After the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865), during which American President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free enslaved Black people, Ypsilanti had the largest Black population in Michigan. The town also held anti-slavery and abolitionist sentiments.
This is where Thompson’s younger siblings, Charles and Sarah, were born and the family were noted as Baptists. Soon thereafter, Thompson, then in his early teens, “ran away” to join Forepaugh’s Circus in Philadelphia. Forepaugh’s spectacle was the only real rival to famed P.T. Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth. The two circuses competed fiercely.
During the Gilded Age (1870s to the late 1890s), the reach of the American circus was immense. Shops were shuttered, factory workers took a day off, and classes were canceled. The entire town would enjoy the show [4]. There are also many accounts of people of color who performed in circuses and vaudeville during the 1800s [4]. Circus was said to be a more inclusive space that celebrated the new, unusual, romantic and ‘exotic [4].’
Exoticism, while a draw for audiences, is steeped in appropriation, racial stereotyping and exploitation. The 19th century circus was a place where performers of color could achieve fame and fortune by wielding the double-edged sword of their perceived exoticism [4]. Circus often reflected colonial narratives in both America and Britain about people of colour, though this narrative quickly fell apart as performers of colour achieved equal or greater status to their white counterparts [4].
Thompson’s rise to fame started with his first role at the circus as a ‘chore boy.’ By 1880, he was an assistant steward in the circus cook house. A historical chronicle of elephant training published in 1984 reveals that after setting up the big tops, Thompson would spend time in the elephant house, where he “fell in love with the big beasts [5].” Just three years later, Thompson was listed in the 1883 Circus Route Book as a solo elephant performer, presenting no less than 10 elephants in the third ring.
His American career was stifled by oppressive Jim Crow laws, which upheld racial segregation, and by scientific racism, which distorted biology to ‘prove’ that Black people were an inferior race. Despite his popularity and blockbuster performance, Thompson was prevented from performing in the main ring of the circus [6]. However, in Europe, his talents did not go unnoticed. In 1885, Thompson sailed to Hamburg, Germany to start his own show in partnership with German businessman and equestrian Leo Weste [6]. But Black performers still faced hostility in Europe through stereotyping, fetishisation and exoticism. Though this may have played a role in Thompson’s popularity with audiences, it was his sheer talent and innovativeness that made him the most sought after, successful and celebrated elephant trainer of his time.
For more than 20 years, his incredible show featured elephants performing in an orchestra, as acrobats, nurses, firemen, and even Spanish dancers. On August 9, 1902 the Blackpool Times wrote that, “the marvellous state of perfection to which animal training has now been brought is seen in the splendid performance which is now being given by Mr. Eph Thompson’s troupe of elephants.”
Thompson’s acts sparked new conversations in the press about elephant intelligence. Historically, elephants were only lauded for their immense size, but once Thompson’s act hit the road, audiences were astonished at what the elephants could do. The Inter Ocean reported on June 6, 1885 that, “in the hands of his trainer, Eph Thompson, the little animal [elephant Sullivan] appears to have almost human intelligence.”
On December 28, 1900, the Mount Barker Courier reported that Thompson “has no equal as an animal trainer, and there are no elephants in the world as clever as those with which he performs.” The Harrisburg Daily Independent further asserted that Thompson was the “greatest elephant trainer in the world” on February 19, 1908.
While the newspaper media continued to publish its opinions of Thompson, he discussed his own identity in the Evansville Courier on September 10, 1905, saying,“I was born in America and ran away with a circus. My people belong in Kentucky. As for me, I am cosmopolitan. I can only hope that I shall live to see the day when race prejudice will be quite effaced.”
An ask from the author
Three years ago, I stumbled across Thompson while researching nineteenth-century celebrity elephants. Since then, I’ve investigated his life and legacy and written a detailed biography of Thompson. After scouring many archives and receiving help from various researchers, archivists and curators, as well as Thompson’s living descendants, there are still aspects of his life in Colchester, Ontario that remain unknown.
Are there any traces left of the Thompson’s in Colchester? What was Eph/Moses’s early life like, especially as it relates to church, school, and recreation? Why did Thompson’s family move to Michigan? Any additional insights into the Thompson family, and Eph/Moses Thompson’s life in Colchester, that could help me solve this mystery would be greatly appreciated. Please use the contact form at https://mobaprojects.ca/contact-moba/ or contact Bonnie Griffin directly at bonnieandthebeasts@gmail.com.
About the author
Bonnie Griffin is a research based artist and curator, originally from the UK, whose work focuses on animal/culture intersections, legacy and death, and novel approaches to archiving. The Eph Thompson Project, which you can follow on Instagram @eph_thompson_project is part of her volunteer work supported and inspired by the Uncle Junior Project.
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References
[1] Drew, B. 1856. A north-side view of slavery. The refugee. Jewett, Proctor and Worthington.
[2] Jenson, Carole, “History of the Negro community in Essex County 1850-1860.” (1966).
[3] Sullivan the Slugger, 6th June 1885. Inter Ocean, Chicago, IL
[4] Ward, S. 2021. Artistes of Colour. Modern Vaudeville Press
[5] Zapff, G. 1984. Jumbo auf dem Drahtseil. Berlin: Henschel Verlag.
[6] Weste, L. 1925. Aus Einem Bunten Leben. A.S. Verlag GMBH, Hannover.