Rose Flanders Bascom, born in Contoocook (a village of Hopkinton),

Merrimack County Merrimack County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 153,808, making it the third most populous county in New Hampshire. Its county seat is Concord, the state capital. The county was orga ...

, New Hampshire, in 1880, was the first

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

woman

lion tamer Lion taming is the taming and training of lions, either for protection or for use in entertainment, such as the circus. The term often applies to the taming and display of lions and other big cats such as tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, and ...

, who performed in the circus in the early 1900s. In 1898 she married Alfred Bascom who was of

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

ancestry but born in the United States. About 1905, Rose joined the circus life and became a lion tamer. It is reported that she was clawed by a lion resulting in an infection that led to her untimely death around the year of 1915. She left behind her husband and their young daughter Agnes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bascom, Rose Flanders 1880 births 1915 deaths American circus performers Lion tamers People from Hopkinton, New Hampshire Deaths due to lion attacks