Tiger Boy Memorial Headstone
Donation protected
Grave site of young man who ran away with the Circus and meets his demise by a startled tiger in 1899 has remained unmarked for 117 years. Let’s change that!
"Felled by an unfortunate, if not altogether avoidable, incident with a tiger named Old Ben,
the dream of running away with The Great Wallace Circus came to an end;
Sans headstone, but with proper burial by Robert Cook with pity,
internment was bestowed in our Capitol City;
As the Ringmaster's All Out, All Ova' would proclaim,
this headstone depicts one Charles Siegert by name"
Charles Siegert had run away to join the circus at the age of 21 in 1899. Sadly, his adventure was short lived. Charles made the inappropriate choice of sleeping atop a tiger’s cage during a layover in Washington, DC. Yes, the traveling Great Wallace Show traveled on, leaving Charles’ remains behind. Charles was buried in Historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC by a local insurance man who took pity on the situation. The grave site has remained unmarked. His story begs for a proper memorial marker.
I'm Guy Palace, author of The Circus: Marketing to the Masses, and a huge circus enthusiast. Along with Historic Congressional Cemetery, and a very generous in-kind contribution from Fram Monuments, I am trying to raise enough funds to purchase and have engraved a headstone with the above poem and the tiger graphic,
to make possible the final resting place of one Charles Siegert no longer go unmarked!
For full story, visit Historic Congressionals Newsletter:
http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/pdf/Newsletter_2013_Winter.pdf
As a non-profit cemetery association, we hate to see unmarked graves. Despite the name, they not associated with the actual US Congress. And you don't have to be rich and famous to be buried here - you just have to be dead.
Historic Congressional Cemetery has raised funds for other projects with great success and media fanfare! I promise HCC will post many pics on their Fb page and I will, of course, advise you all when it takes place. Thanks to everyone!
"Felled by an unfortunate, if not altogether avoidable, incident with a tiger named Old Ben,
the dream of running away with The Great Wallace Circus came to an end;
Sans headstone, but with proper burial by Robert Cook with pity,
internment was bestowed in our Capitol City;
As the Ringmaster's All Out, All Ova' would proclaim,
this headstone depicts one Charles Siegert by name"
Charles Siegert had run away to join the circus at the age of 21 in 1899. Sadly, his adventure was short lived. Charles made the inappropriate choice of sleeping atop a tiger’s cage during a layover in Washington, DC. Yes, the traveling Great Wallace Show traveled on, leaving Charles’ remains behind. Charles was buried in Historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC by a local insurance man who took pity on the situation. The grave site has remained unmarked. His story begs for a proper memorial marker.
I'm Guy Palace, author of The Circus: Marketing to the Masses, and a huge circus enthusiast. Along with Historic Congressional Cemetery, and a very generous in-kind contribution from Fram Monuments, I am trying to raise enough funds to purchase and have engraved a headstone with the above poem and the tiger graphic,
to make possible the final resting place of one Charles Siegert no longer go unmarked!
For full story, visit Historic Congressionals Newsletter:
http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/pdf/Newsletter_2013_Winter.pdf
As a non-profit cemetery association, we hate to see unmarked graves. Despite the name, they not associated with the actual US Congress. And you don't have to be rich and famous to be buried here - you just have to be dead.
Historic Congressional Cemetery has raised funds for other projects with great success and media fanfare! I promise HCC will post many pics on their Fb page and I will, of course, advise you all when it takes place. Thanks to everyone!
Organizer
Guy Palace
Organizer
Washington D.C., DC
