Dan Rice's Circus in Sandusky

The Sandusky Register of August 17, 1872 reported that while the afternoon crowd was not very large for Dan Rice’s Circus, every seat was filled at the evening performance. One of the favorite parts of the circus was when Frank Gardner did a double somersault over ten horses. Dan Rice kept the audience entertained with his “lively witticisms.” A blind horse named Excelsior, Jr. was also very much admired by the audience. Prof. Menter’s band was “the best we have seen in connection with any circus.” 

Dan Rice had a long and interesting career in traveling entertainment. After he died on February 22, 1900, a lengthy article about him appeared in the February 27, 1900 issue of the Sandusky Star. The article reported that he had been a frequent visitor to Sandusky, Ohio. Born Daniel McLaren in New York City in 1823, his father nicknamed him “Dan Rice” after a well-known Irish clown. The new Dan Rice made his own way in the world as a young man. After working for a time in Pittsburgh as a stable boy and a hack driver, he began traveling around the Midwest with his trained pig. In 1845 he began performing with the Seth B. Howes Circus. Eventually he became known as the “Shakespearean Clown,” as he performed dramatic readings while with the circus. It is said that Dan Rice was the first person to train and perform with a trained rhinoceros. After traveling with several entertainment shows and circuses, he created his own traveling show. Though he achieved great prominence, he earned and lost three fortunes during his long career, and he died a poor man. A blog post from the New York Times stated that some believe Dan Rice was the model for “Uncle Sam.” To read more about Dan Rice, borrow the book Dan Rice:The Most Famous Man You’ve Never Heard Of, by David Carlyon available through the ClevNet system