The Ringling Brothers' Family Tree Explained

The Ringling Brothers Circus was founded in Wisconsin in 1884 by the Ringling brothers, and the circus troupe was, perhaps, the biggest in the 19th century. The siblings came from a German immigrant family called the Rüngelings, but the surname was simplified to Ringling when they immigrated to Milwaukee around the mid-1800s, per Britannica. The Ringling family was headed by Heinrich Friedrich August Ringling and French-German immigrant Marie Juliar, and together they had eight children — seven sons and one daughter.

The brothers' interest in the circus began in 1869 when they saw John Stowe & Co.'s Western Circus in their hometown. In a book titled "Life Story of the Ringling Brothers," one of the siblings recalled that moment, "It was an old-fashioned one-ring show. It had none of the glory of the modern circus and non of its immensity, but it lacked nothing in grandeur in the eyes of the boys and day, and to the Ringling youngsters it stood out then" (via Immigrant Entrepreneurship).

Although there were eight Ringling siblings, only five of the brothers put their full attention on running the circus initially. Albert C. Ringling, more commonly known as Al, was the eldest of the Ringling siblings, and he was considered the leader of the circus. Al practiced juggling and balancing, and one of his popular acts was balancing a plow on his chin. He served as a performer and organizer during the early years of their circus act, per Immigrant Entrepreneurship. William Henry Ringling, nicknamed Otto, was served as the cashier and ticket taker of the circus. He was a great businessman who significantly contributed to the brothers' success (via Find a Grave).

Alfred Ringling or Alf, was also a juggler and was also responsible for advertising and publicity. In addition, he became the family's historian and wrote books about his family's history later in life. Charles Ringling's task was to oversee the production activities, and later became the company's operations manager, according to Sun Signs. John Ringling was the clown among the brothers. Behind the scenes, however, he was the advance man and made preparations and location visits for the circus.

By the 1920s, the only surviving Ringling brother was John, who improved the business further. In 1927, he acquired the American Circus Corporation, which had five major circuses under its name. However, the business suffered during the Great Depression, and by the early 1930s, the creditors had complete control over the circus, according to Britannica. John died in 1936, and his nephew, John Ringling North, took over.

North was the son of Ida Ringling, who was the only Ringling sister. He accumulated the funds needed to purchase control of the circus, and then made adjustments to the program to make it more modern. According to Sarasota, North grew up with his uncles and spent some time with circus performers. His uncle John saw his potential and mentored him in the business as well as paid for his schooling at Yale. However, North didn't finish his studies and decided to work for the family business instead. When he took over, he revamped the circus and added showgirls and special effects, introduced themes, and hired the best performers from all around the globe. The change was good for a while until the business encountered problems, such as increasing costs and decreasing crowds. In 1967, North sold the business to promoter Irvin Feld for $8 million (roughly $66.5 million in today's money).