Press Release: Event Date October 12, 2015
NM Historical Society Presents Story of Modoc the Elephant
Strange and wacky events transpired starting Nov. 11, 1942, when the Great
American Circus visited Wabash for the last performance the company would ever
make. The escape of Modoc, a five-year old Burmese elephant, created such havoc
that newspaper headlines across America featured accounts of the miscreant
pachyderm.
Michael Beauchamp will portray elephant owner and trainer Capt. Terrell M. Jacobs at the North Manchester Historical Society’s monthly program on Monday, October 12, at 6:40 p.m. The program will be held in the Assembly Room of Timbercrest Senior Living Community, 2201 East Street. There is no cost for the program, which is free to the public. All are welcome.
Beauchamp will recount the life of the great animal trainer and tells the mostly humorous account of Modoc’s famous break away. Modoc crashed through the entrance of the Bradley Brothers' Drugstore in downtown Wabash to scarf-up peanuts; then ensued a five day rampage across two counties. Circus posses, state police, sheriffs’ offices, and even the Governor of Indiana joined Capt. Jacobs in the chase to run down the evasive Modoc.
.
Michael Beauchamp and his wife, Angie, own Modoc’s Market, a specialty espresso
coffee shop in Wabash, in a building once known as The Bradley Brothers’ Drug
Store, where Modoc crashed through to gobble roasted peanuts. Modoc’s Market
features pictures and relics of Capt. Jacobs and Modoc, in a store motif
appropriate to 1942.
While many attend only the program, the public is also invited to come to the Assembly Room at 6 p.m. for a meal prior to the program. For those who wish to attend the dinner, reservations must be made no later than noon on Friday, October 9. The cost of the meal is $8.50. Reservations may be made by calling Evelyn at 260-982-6777, Mary at 260-982-1813 or the Center for History at 260-982-0672.
For more information call the North Manchester Historical Society at 260-982-0672.