Mary (elephant)

Mary the elephant was hung on September 13, 1916 in Kingsport, Tennessee. Mary was part of the Sparks Brothers Circus. She was sometimes referred to as Murderous Mary and was said to have have killed 8 circus workers in her time with the circus. Tipping the scales at 5 tons, Charles Sparks claimed Mary the elephant was even larger than world famous Jumbo the elephant.

On September 12 Red Eldridge, a man who just days before was a drifter, walked on as elephant trainer in the Sparks Brothers Circus. The details of Eldrige's death have been lost through history but one thing is for sure, Mary killed her last circus worker that day.

A crowd of over 2500 people showed up to see this historic execution of course promoted by the Sparks Brothers Circus. The first attempt was to use guns. This method barely phased Mary. Second, they tried to electrocute her but this did not work do to the lack of large amounts of electricity. Their next thought was to either crush or dismember but this was considered too cruel.

Finally they decided to end the life of Mary the elephant by hanging. This turned out to be a little more difficult then expected. The first attempt ended in Mary falling and breaking her hip. The second attempt ended Mary's murderous behavior in the Charles Sparks Circus forever.