Written By Donna Costa
In Ringling’s 1902 route book, I discover an entry for Marshalltown, Iowa, July 19: “Mons Natalie, attired in his flowing black frock and silk hat, was the happiest man in town. He entertained his wife and pretty little daughter Sultana, who came on from Chicago.” Two days later, the entry for Oskaloosa, Iowa: “Little Miss Sultana Natalie was in tears all day on account of the loss of a beautiful gold medal, a present from the Elks’ Lodge at Charlestown, N.C.”
Who was this unnamed wife from Chicago? Was this Adeline travelling to the show after stopping in the Windy City, thus “coming on from Chicago?” Would a woman, age 32, travel from Ontario to Iowa with a 4 year old daughter in tow, leaving behind an 8-month-old baby and 6-year-old son?
William and Adeline’s daughter’s given name was Florence. Had the exotic Sultana been substituted for entertainment value? Was it a circus nickname? Perhaps the entire story was a fabrication. Or did my great-grandfather’s double life include another family? Was that the reason for Adeline’s aversion to everything related to the circus?
The first circus appearance of Mons Natalie that I can find was July 10, 1890, in Newton, Iowa, one month after he penned that letter to his sister saying he was in Chicago, looking for work. The route book entry simply says, “Mons Natalie joined.” The indication that he’d been successful in finding work was verified by the list under Male Performers for that year. Two weeks later, the route book reads: “July 29, Oconomowoc, Wis. […] Mrs. Natalie joined.”
Yet, William was not yet married in 1890. Was Adeline the referenced Mrs. Natalie, assuming the name since she would have been 20 and unmarried? Had she joined the circus in some capacity, too? Mrs. Natalie, however, is not listed as a performer or staff, so perhaps the route book was referring to Adeline joining her “husband,” and not the circus. Or was this Mrs. Natalie a different woman altogether?
Searching for the surnames Natalie or Beilstein in Chicago, on either a U.S. census or city directory between 1880 1900, yielded no results. (Most of the 1890 census had been destroyed in a fire.) There was no evidence of a Mrs. Natalie/Beilstein; city directories seldom listed women. No listing for William appeared either, which was not unusual, considering he likely rented temporary lodgings.
It seems that Mons-Natalie hung up his leotards at the end of the 1903 circus season to return to Ontario to pick up his paint brush full time. A pad of his blank work invoices from the 1930s verifies at least one more move—he and Adeline left the Hanover for Kitchener.
After the circus years, William and Adeline produced another five children, the second last being my grandfather, Norman. William died in 1942 at age 82 and Adeline in 1948, age 78. They are buried together at Woodland Cemetery in Kitchener. Their circus secrets remain buried with them.
Do those circus genes live on in us, their great-grandchildren? My oldest brother, while not a circus performer, has been a public entertainer—a musician—all his life. My sister, too, is a musician, sharing her talents with her church. As a child, my younger brother was nimble, climbing ladders and swinging in trees like an acrobat. Although he has the same moniker as our great-grandfather, the closest he ever got to the circus was being bitten by a monkey at a petting zoo.
And me? I have a penchant for fictionalizing now and then. And remember the 1970s fashion fad known as hot pants? Mine were bright pink, just like William’s.
