Fabulous Beard Fact: Is it a possibility that John “Grizzly” Adams’ beard made him look tougher than the bears he trapped and trained, thereby contributing to his long standing legacy of masculinity.
But John Adams did not start out as the epitome of Western mountain manliness. He was born in 1812 in Medway, Massachusetts, a member of the prominent Adams family of New England. He was a distant cousin of two presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, as well as Revolutionary War patriot Samuel Adams. At the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed as a cobbler, but he left the trade at the age of twenty-one to sign on with a company of traveling showman as an animal collector and trainer. He hunted and trapped the vast wilderness of Maine, Vermont, …show more content…
Adams would often give impromptu shows with his animals. This lead to his opening a menagerie and show in San Francisco, California. He eventually became so successful that he was referred to as the “Barnum of the Pacific.” But his health was failing, due to his head injury, and he wanted to provide a secure future for the family he had left behind in New England. To this end, he moved his menagerie and show to New York City, hoping to secure a position with P. T. Barnum’s organization. He contracted with the showman for a six week run, and was a huge success. Knowing that the end was near, Adams sold his menagerie to Barnum, with the proviso that he was to perform, with his animals, for an additional ten weeks, against his doctor’s advice. Grizzly Adams made it through the entire ten week run, allowing him to provide his wife and family with the secure future he …show more content…
He died peacefully at the home of his wife and daughter a mere five days after he arrived home. P. T. Barnum was deeply saddened, but I can imagine that his wife and daughter were very grateful that he hadn’t bought the bears home with
But John Adams did not start out as the epitome of Western mountain manliness. He was born in 1812 in Medway, Massachusetts, a member of the prominent Adams family of New England. He was a distant cousin of two presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, as well as Revolutionary War patriot Samuel Adams. At the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed as a cobbler, but he left the trade at the age of twenty-one to sign on with a company of traveling showman as an animal collector and trainer. He hunted and trapped the vast wilderness of Maine, Vermont, …show more content…
Adams would often give impromptu shows with his animals. This lead to his opening a menagerie and show in San Francisco, California. He eventually became so successful that he was referred to as the “Barnum of the Pacific.” But his health was failing, due to his head injury, and he wanted to provide a secure future for the family he had left behind in New England. To this end, he moved his menagerie and show to New York City, hoping to secure a position with P. T. Barnum’s organization. He contracted with the showman for a six week run, and was a huge success. Knowing that the end was near, Adams sold his menagerie to Barnum, with the proviso that he was to perform, with his animals, for an additional ten weeks, against his doctor’s advice. Grizzly Adams made it through the entire ten week run, allowing him to provide his wife and family with the secure future he …show more content…
He died peacefully at the home of his wife and daughter a mere five days after he arrived home. P. T. Barnum was deeply saddened, but I can imagine that his wife and daughter were very grateful that he hadn’t bought the bears home with