Topsy the Elephant
The unfortunate death of an "unruly" elephant at the hands of Thomas Edison
In January of 1903, an “unruly” elephant was sentenced to die via, hanging, electrocution, and even poison. But is that really the full story?
I’ll admit, I knew about Topsy, but I didn’t know much until a fantastic episode of Bob’s Burgers that tackles the situation in a nice little musical. In this episode, it is brought to the attention of the kids that Topsy was an elephant that was killed at Coney Island, public execution style. Louise, in an attempt to take the substitute science teacher, who’s a little too obsessed with Edison, enlists the help of her family to take part in a musical that showcases just what happened to Topsy.
This episode got me curious; what did happen to Topsy? Let me lay it out for everyone.
In 1903, during the World’s Fair, at Luna Park located in Coney Island, the Edison Manufacturing Company sent a film crew to document the execution of an elephant named Topsy. During rampages in training sessions, as well as shows, Topsy had killed three Luna Park employees over a 3 month period. The final sentencing was apparently decided by a trainer who called her “unmanageable”, while he was attempting to train her using a pitchfork.
Topsy was advertised as being the “first elephant born on American soil,” when in reality, she was born in Southeast Asia around 1875. In 1877, she was smuggled into the US by Carl Hagenbeck and then bought by an American circus owner named Adam Forepaugh. Forepaugh tried to maintain the tie that she was born in the US, but PT Barnum publicly accused him of fraud. Topsy was originally trained by Forepaugh using crowbars, red-hot pokers, and jabs using bullhooks and pitchforks. During one training session, Forepaugh beat Topsy so viciously that her tail remained crooked after.
The first death at Topsy’s feet was in June of 1902 when she crushed spectator James Fielding Blount. After Topsy knocked him over, she crushed him on the ground. Topsy had been angered because Blount burned her trunk with a cigar, all because Topsy didn’t want to drink his whiskey. This led Forepaugh to begin marketing Topsy as the “killed elephant.” Topsy’s handlers were usually drunk, which also led to many close calls. Because of her “unruly” personality, she was eventually sold to Luna Park at Coney Island, where the abuse not only continued, but was far worse. At one point, Topsy’s abuse was so bad, she began bleeding from her face and sides during a training session. Because of this training session, her handler was arrested for the abuse. However, when it was reported, the headline read “Topsy the Bad Elephant Makes Trouble at Coney.”
Topsy’s trainers would often encourage her to act more menacing toward police and some workmen. All of these incidents led to Topsy’s sentencing to death. However, they weren’t sure how to humanely take down such a large animal. At this time, most animals were “put down” by drownings or hangings, depending on size and species. However, the SPCA was looking for another way to more humanely euthanize animals, and the state of New York was looking for a new method to execute criminals who had been sentenced to death. In fact, only 13 years earlier, the first man was executed via electric chair, in August of 1890. His name was William Francis Kemmler. Thomas Edison was asked by the SPCA to figure out if electrocution would be a more humane way to “unwanted” animals, supplying him with dogs to test the theory.
Some people surmise that the execution had a little bit to do with the “battle of the currents,” however, the battle had supposedly been won before the execution even happened. The battle was between Edison’s DC, or Direct Current system, and the Westinghouse Tesla AC, or Alternating Current system. The outcome would apparently determine the course of electrification worldwide. However, the war of the currents is believed to have ended in the 1890s. The Westinghouse Tesla AC proved to be more efficient over large distances. The Edison Manufacturing Company sent a film crew to document the execution. The film was the company’s “opportunity to demonstrate the deadliness of the damnable current on the largest of land animals, a creature so much bigger enough to bend a great man’s fury and frustration at being bested to show who is truly boss.” However, at this point, Edison had little part in the local companies bearing his name, as the battle of the currents had already ended, and in 1903 he had no role in the direction of the Edison Electric Illuminations Company of Brooklyn, which was acting for the officials at Luna Park and in conjunction with the SPCA.
The Edison Electric Illuminations Company of Brooklyn supplied 6,600 volts relayed from new GE AC generators in nearby Bay Ridge, not DC currents. The company bore Edison’s name because they originally employed the Edison system of Electic Power generation under license from Edison Electric Light Company of New York. Considering all of this, Edison has little to nothing to do with the sentencing of Topsy, however, the SPCA enlisted the help of his companies because of the experiments that Edison and his associates held at West Orange Lake in the 1890s. It could also be likely that Topsy was a casualty of the “elephant wars” between circus proprietors. Topsy may have killed people, but she was also an animal that was under duress constantly. Can we really blame her?
Tickets to view Topsy’s execution sold for 25¢ a piece. Topsy was not only hung by rope, but she was also fed carrots with potassium cyanide, and her feet were placed on conductive copper sandals for her execution. It took 10 seconds for Topsy to pass.
Although the SPCA claimed that Topsy’s electrocution execution was in order to prove there was a more humane way to euthanize larger animals, it didn’t stop them from hanging Mary. In 1916, Mary was an elephant that killed her trainer, Red Eldridge, in a rage, in Sullivan County, Tennessee. Red was severely under-trained. On his second day, Red Eldridge was riding on Mary’s back during an elephant parade. She leaned down to nibble on some watermelon and Red prodded her behind the ear with a bullhook. Mary went into a rage, snatched Eldridge with her trunk, threw him against a drink stand, and then stepped on his head. This was the first, and only death that Mary was responsible for.
Considering all of this, while Edison himself may not have been involved, the guilty parties are circus proprietors, abusive elephant handlers, the SPCA, and so many others, but NOT the elephants, who were forced to live in these situations. Edison may be innocent in this situation, but so was Topsy.
#JusticeForTopsy
Thank you for reading yet another history newsletter! This one was a little dark, but I’ve always been interested! My next topic might be short because it’s actually surprisingly hard to research and I’ve only found a couple examples so far, but it is “Fake things that were obviously fake but were sold as real anyway.” Not really scams, but more just people taking advantage of naivity and ignorance. Make sure to subscribe to get emails for when I post! I’m hoping to post more often, (this article was posted about 10 months after my last one, I’ve been busy, I’m sorry!) And I’m still taking suggestions on subjects!
Sources:
Myth Buster-Topsy the Elephant (rutgers.edu)
Topsy the Elephant Was a Victim of Her Captors, Not Thomas Edison