Orrin Davenport
3-22-1836 - John L. Davenport born
Savannah Georgia
Robinson and Eldred Circus
John Davenport - apprentice (1850)
Spalding and Rogers Show
John Davenport (1852-1856)
perch, traps, equestrian acts
singing and talking clown
ringmaster
1858 - built ring barn at Newport Kentucky
trained horses and coached riders
Howes and Cushing Circus
John Daveport (1860-1867)
show went to England
Robinson and Howes Champion Circus
John Davenport (1863)
John Robinson Circus
John Davenport (1865)
1967 - home at Toledo Ohio
1869 - John meet Ella Hollis
married and traveled until 1884
4-17-1885 - Orrin Davenport born in Chicago
to John Davenport and Ella Hollis
John Davenport - clown, rider
Ella Hollis - rider
1900 - Walter J. MacDonald Circus,
MacDonald Wagon Show
Orrin Davenport - rider, performer
Orrin with parents, brothers and sisters - riding act
Sells and Gray Circus, Sells and Gray
Railroad Show
Orrin Davenport (1901-1902)
Sells and Downs
Lulu Davenport joins (1903) - Orrin's sister
Orrin Davenport (1903)
Ringling Bros
Orrin Davenport and Lulu Davenport (1904-1906)
1906 - Star equestrian of Ringling Bros
Toledo's Winter Circus
Orrin Davenport - performs (1906)
1906 - Orrin marries Victoria Bedini
they have a son Orrin Jr.
1906 - Produced Indoor Circuses for Shrine Sponsors during Winter Quarters
1906 - one of the first Indoor show in the US
in Detroit
Royal Indoor
Circus
Davenport family riding act (1907)
Forepaugh Sells Circus,
owned by Ringling
Orrin Davenport - (1907)
Moslem Circus
Orrin Davenport - bareback rider (1907)
Barnum and Bailey
Orrin Davenport - (1908-1918)
Orrin Davenport (1908-1909)
2-3-1916 - John L. Davenport dies
3-2-1920 - honorary member of Moslem Temple
1920 - Orrin marries Dorothy Siegrist
she rides with Orrin in his acts
Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey
Orrin Davenport - (1919-1921)
Hagenbeck Wallace Circus
Orrin Davenport (1922-1928)
1925 - Manager of the Hagenbeck Wallace Circus
3-1925 - Orrin Davenport put on an excellent show
for the Shriners in Detroit for 2 weeks
1926 - Wild Animal trainer
1929,1930 - left Hagenbeck Wallace - full time Shrine Circus producer
Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey
Orrin Davenport - (1929-1934)
used acts for winter shows
Orrin Jr. breaks a kneecap (1929)
1934 - Ella Davenport dies
1935 - Stopped Family Riding Act, Fulltime Indoor
Route
last time Orrin was on a horse
1942 - Orrin is listed as Eddie Stinson's assistant
1951 - producing shows for 16 temples
12-17-1961 - Orrin Davenport dies (77 years old)
Pioneer of American Indoor Circuses
Mentor to May Wirth
Davenport an outstanding bareback rider who first performed with the MacDonald Wagon Show in 1900 and went on to become a pioneer in the production of the indoor circus. He was elected to the Circus Hall of Fame in 1966.
In 1906, Orrin was a star bareback rider with Ringling Bros. Circus and he began producing indoor circuses in the winters for Shrine sponsors. He and his family continued their riding act until 1937. In the meantime his indoor route grew, and he now devotes full time to it. The Orrin Davenport Circus, appearing under a different local sponsor's name in each city, plays Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Dakota and Canadian cities.