(Photo by Calvin Shepherd - Use By Permission)
Alderson West Virginia - A History
Alderson's Lion
Most
have
heard
it,
or
of
it,
so
once
again.
No
chronicle
of
Alderson
is
complete
without
an
account
of
the
tale
of
the
lion.
The
humorous
story
of
Mrs.
Bebout's
lion
has
been
told
in
numerous
sketches,
newspaper
stories
and
"Ripley's
Believe
It
Or
Not".
Alderson
has
been
given
publicity
as
the
only
town
in
America
with
an
ordinance
forbidding
lions
from
running
at
large
in
the
city
streets.
Alderson
may
well
have
had
such
an
ordinance
but
the
old
Council Minute book which would prove it, is lost. As for the lion, there is no doubt whatever. He was a very real lion.
It
happened
this
way.
About
1890
when
people
carried
household
water
from
the
river,
Mrs.
Susan
Bebout,
wife
of
the
town
blacksmith,
went
to
the
river
for
water.
A
man
came
to
the
river
with
a
small
basket
containing
three
lion
cubs.
French's
Great
Railway
Show
was
in
Alderson
and
the
little
lions
had
been
born
the
night
before.
Mrs.
Bebout
ask
for
the
cubs,
and
the
showman
said
lions
could
not
be
raised
in
captivity
but
gave
them
to
her,
instead of drowning them as he intended.
Two
of
the
lions
promptly
died
but
Mrs.
Bebout
saved
the
third.
It
is
said
she
asked
Dr
Walter
Beard
what
to
do
to
save
her
strange
pet.
Dr.
Beard
denied knowledge of any lion medical lore. The cub lived and grew and grew and grew.
Mrs.
Bebout
called
her
lion
French,
and
it
ran
about
the
neighborhood
like
any
dog
or
cat
except
he
was
so
big.
Then
he
got
to
running
all
over
town.
The
Bebouts
built
a
high
fence
on
their
lot
to
contain
his
meanderings
but
he
jumped
the
fence.
Numerous
tales
have
been
told
of
traveling
salesmen, drunks, children, horses and visitors having had the living daylights scared out of them by the sudden appearance of a big lion.
It was time for the Town Council to act and the famous ordinance supposedly was passed forbidding lions from running at large in the streets.
French
was
sold
the
Nation
Zoological
Park,
Washington,
in
late
1891.
Some
say
he
lived
there
long
years
and
other
accounts
say
the
park
sold
him
to Barnum and Bailey's Circus.
This
writer
will
not
vouch
for
the
truth
of
some
of
the
sketch
but
French
certainly
lived
in
Alderson,
grew
up
here,
and
was
sold
in
Washington.
My
mother, a truthful woman, distinctly remembers him.
The contents contained in this series is copyrighted and the sole property of The Greenbrier Historical Society - Lewisburg, WV Used by permission - November 18, 2008
Main Index
The History of Alderson, West Virginia
From The Journal Of The Greenbrier Historical Society On Alderson, West Virginia
Written by Kenneth D. Swope - Compiled and Transcribed by Barry Worrell
