The grave of John King with its elephant on the tombstone catches the eye of even the most casual visitor to Charlotte's Elmwood cemetery. It is located on the main road into the cemetery between the Woodmen of the World Memorial and the Confederate Memorial.
The tombstone reads as follows:
"Erected by the
members of
John Robinson's Circus
[bas relief elephant]
In memory of
JOHN KING
killed at Charlotte
NC Sept. 27, 1880
by the
elephant CHIEF"
This tombstone is part of the Elmwood Cemetery tour, and is a well-known weird story in Charlotte.
Awfully, Chief, the elephant that killed King, killed several other trainers before being killed himself, stuffed, and put on display as a morbid curiosity.
From the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources website: (
visit link)
"Circus Tragedy in Charlotte, 1880
On September 27, 1880, Chief, a performing elephant, killed his trainer, John King, in Charlotte.
The John Robinson Circus, of which Chief was a part, had arrived in Charlotte that day with two shows planned. Crowds of spectators were camped out near the circus, anticipating the next day’s shows. Many of them witnessed the horrifying events of that evening.
Chief, a large male elephant, charged his keeper and smashed the man into a railcar, mangling him to the point that he was dead within minutes. The elephant then charged away from the scene, chased by circus workers who finally caught and lassoed him to an older, female elephant named Mary. Mary appeared to grasp the enormity of the younger elephant’s deed and beat him with her trunk as they were returned to the circus grounds.
King was buried in Elmwood Cemetery with the circus band playing and two other circus elephants in attendance. For the grave, Confederate veteran Billy Berryhill carved an obelisk monument with an elephant in the shaft.
Chief never worked in the circus again, although he remained with them and marched in the parades until he was exiled to the Cincinnati Zoo. Unfortunately, he did not curb his murderous ways and, after killing several other keepers, Chief was killed himself."