Jacob 'Herr' Driesbach and Ocelot Leopard "Col. Alexander," (painting).

Jacob 'Herr' Driesbach and Ocelot Leopard "Col. Alexander," (painting).

Nachtrieb, Michael Strieby, 1835-1916, painter. (attributed to)

Jacob 'Herr' Driesbach and Ocelot Leopard "Col. Alexander," (painting).

Digital Reference:

(Lower right:) 187(...illegible)

Portrait male -- Driesbach, Jacob -- Full length

Performing Arts -- Circus -- Animal Tamer

Animal -- Wildcat

Wayne County Historical Society of Ohio, 546 East Bowman St., Wooster, Ohio 44691 Accession Number: 1945.1086.001

Acquired ca. 1945.

Jacob “Herr Driesbach” (1807-1877), widely known as the Lion Tamer, was born on a farm near Sharon, New York in 1807. He was orphaned at 11, and taken in by his uncle, Philip Driesbach. Shortly thereafter, he was apprenticed to Christian Keyser, a shoemaker. He followed that trade until he was in his early twenties. Then he moved to New York City and became a policeman. In 1830, he entered the employ of the Raymond & Co. menagerie where his skill with ferocious animals was noticed and he took up the trade of lion trainer. The two most famous American wild animal trainers were Isaac Van Amburgh and Clyde Beatty. Their celebrity overshadowed the career of Jacob Driesbach and he played second fiddle to Van Amburgh for 15 years. Driesbach rose to fame and notoriety during the period when Van Amburgh was in Europe: 1836-1845. Driesbach continued to work steadily up until the outbreak of the Civil War and then periodically until he quit the circus-life and retired to rural farm-life in 1867. By 1876, Driesbach was living in retirement, running a hotel in Apple Creek, Ohio with his wife, Sarah A. (Walter) Driesbach whom he married in 1854. Jacob Driesbach died on December 5, 1877, at the age of 70, leaving a widow and one son.

Wayne County Historical Society of Ohio, 2018

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Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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