Erika Mailman
@erikamailman.bsky.social
Freelance journalist, novelist, art lover.
Thank you for sharing! If you're reading this, please repost as well! We really want to find this family for Don.
July 20, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Thank you for sharing! If you're reading this, please repost as well! We really want to find this family for Don.
If you have family members who have spoken about being at the fire that day and lived nearby, a boy and girl with two parents, contact me ASAP at erika//"at"//erikamailman.com (trying to foil the scrapers to avoid spam, so the //"at"// part would just be @).
#circusfire #hartford #history 19/19
#circusfire #hartford #history 19/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
If you have family members who have spoken about being at the fire that day and lived nearby, a boy and girl with two parents, contact me ASAP at erika//"at"//erikamailman.com (trying to foil the scrapers to avoid spam, so the //"at"// part would just be @).
#circusfire #hartford #history 19/19
#circusfire #hartford #history 19/19
In this era before credit cards existed, a family would simply step up to a payment kiosk and buy tickets with cash, making it hard to trace how many people were at the circus that day—and exactly who they were. 18/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
In this era before credit cards existed, a family would simply step up to a payment kiosk and buy tickets with cash, making it hard to trace how many people were at the circus that day—and exactly who they were. 18/19
They lived walking distance from the Barbour Street circus grounds, in an easterly direction. Since they escaped the fire without injury, they wouldn’t have filed for financial relief from the circus, and their surname is probably not in official records. 17/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
They lived walking distance from the Barbour Street circus grounds, in an easterly direction. Since they escaped the fire without injury, they wouldn’t have filed for financial relief from the circus, and their surname is probably not in official records. 17/19
The couple has surely passed, but Don remembers their two children, a boy and a girl around his age. He thinks that they lived on the bottom floor of a two-story duplex, either an apartment or a house. He recalls a backyard. The family was white and middle class. 16/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
The couple has surely passed, but Don remembers their two children, a boy and a girl around his age. He thinks that they lived on the bottom floor of a two-story duplex, either an apartment or a house. He recalls a backyard. The family was white and middle class. 16/19
Asking Don about such an agonizing turning point in his life, I did find one minor element that I hoped I could help him with. It doesn’t undo any of the trauma he endured, but it would feel good to bring closure to one element: being reunited with the family that took him home that day. 15/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Asking Don about such an agonizing turning point in his life, I did find one minor element that I hoped I could help him with. It doesn’t undo any of the trauma he endured, but it would feel good to bring closure to one element: being reunited with the family that took him home that day. 15/19
No DNA testing was conducted, but Don feels relatively certain that the identification is correct. After so long, he is able to laugh at some details while recounting memories of that day. He and Miriam Howland, best friend to Eleanor, affectionately recall the driving “speed” of Ted Parsons. 14/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
No DNA testing was conducted, but Don feels relatively certain that the identification is correct. After so long, he is able to laugh at some details while recounting memories of that day. He and Miriam Howland, best friend to Eleanor, affectionately recall the driving “speed” of Ted Parsons. 14/19
And Eleanor, who had been climbing up the bleachers with Don until he was told to release her? She was reported missing. In 1991—almost 50 years later— an unclaimed body known as Little Miss 1565 was exhumed from Hartford and brought to Southampton to be buried next to Edward, as Eleanor Cook. 13/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
And Eleanor, who had been climbing up the bleachers with Don until he was told to release her? She was reported missing. In 1991—almost 50 years later— an unclaimed body known as Little Miss 1565 was exhumed from Hartford and brought to Southampton to be buried next to Edward, as Eleanor Cook. 13/19
Don and Ted went to the hospital where they saw Mildred and Don’s younger brother Edward. Mildred was hospitalized over a period of months, part of that time in a coma, with burns over 80 percent of her body. Edward died the next day, July 7, and was buried in Southampton. 12/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Don and Ted went to the hospital where they saw Mildred and Don’s younger brother Edward. Mildred was hospitalized over a period of months, part of that time in a coma, with burns over 80 percent of her body. Edward died the next day, July 7, and was buried in Southampton. 12/19
As soon as he heard the news, Ted drove to Hartford from Southampton, MA, and reunited with Don after darkness had fallen. It was a two hour drive before the interstate was built. Don recalls climbing the fire escape to get into his mother’s apartment because the keys were lost in the fire. 11/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
As soon as he heard the news, Ted drove to Hartford from Southampton, MA, and reunited with Don after darkness had fallen. It was a two hour drive before the interstate was built. Don recalls climbing the fire escape to get into his mother’s apartment because the keys were lost in the fire. 11/19
Don’s mother Mildred Parsons Cook was living alone in Hartford and had invited her children down for a few days for a special treat, to see the circus. She had left Don’s alcoholic father in an attempt to improve life for her family. 10/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Don’s mother Mildred Parsons Cook was living alone in Hartford and had invited her children down for a few days for a special treat, to see the circus. She had left Don’s alcoholic father in an attempt to improve life for her family. 10/19
Through phone calls to the central clearing house for victims, Don was reunited with his Uncle Ted Parsons. Ted, along with his wife Marion, was Don’s legal guardian and had cared for him and his siblings since he was three or four years old. 9/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Through phone calls to the central clearing house for victims, Don was reunited with his Uncle Ted Parsons. Ted, along with his wife Marion, was Don’s legal guardian and had cared for him and his siblings since he was three or four years old. 9/19
“After I was able to get out of the tent, I didn’t have anybody else, so they took me back to their place and had supper,” Don said. What a strange meal that must have been, all of them still smelling of smoke and traumatized by the screams they'd heard. 8/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
“After I was able to get out of the tent, I didn’t have anybody else, so they took me back to their place and had supper,” Don said. What a strange meal that must have been, all of them still smelling of smoke and traumatized by the screams they'd heard. 8/19
Outside the tent, a family, strangers to him, helped Don look for his family, then offered to take him home. “They were good. They helped me a little bit, then said, ‘We’ll take you home and report that we’ve got you,’” Don says. 7/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Outside the tent, a family, strangers to him, helped Don look for his family, then offered to take him home. “They were good. They helped me a little bit, then said, ‘We’ll take you home and report that we’ve got you,’” Don says. 7/19
In this war year, the circus was attended by mostly women and children. One exit was essentially blocked by tunnels that had ushered performing wildcats into the tent. 167 people died, and more than 700 were injured: burned or trampled in the craze of 8,000 people trying to exit at once. 6/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
In this war year, the circus was attended by mostly women and children. One exit was essentially blocked by tunnels that had ushered performing wildcats into the tent. 167 people died, and more than 700 were injured: burned or trampled in the craze of 8,000 people trying to exit at once. 6/19
As Don stood outside the tent he’d escaped, the big top collapsed, flaring down to the ground and trapping hundreds still inside. Rainproofed in a mixture of gasoline and paraffin, the tent’s ceiling torched in mere minutes. It took 8 minutes from the first shout of fire to the big top falling 5/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
As Don stood outside the tent he’d escaped, the big top collapsed, flaring down to the ground and trapping hundreds still inside. Rainproofed in a mixture of gasoline and paraffin, the tent’s ceiling torched in mere minutes. It took 8 minutes from the first shout of fire to the big top falling 5/19
Don and I are relatives, second cousins once removed. I’m writing a book about the fire, but right now, my deepest desire is to reunite Don with the family that helped him that day 77 years ago, stranded and alone. Don is now in his 80s and time is short. 4/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Don and I are relatives, second cousins once removed. I’m writing a book about the fire, but right now, my deepest desire is to reunite Don with the family that helped him that day 77 years ago, stranded and alone. Don is now in his 80s and time is short. 4/19
His instincts served him well. He avoided the crush of people pressing towards the main exit/entrance. When he reached the top of the bleachers, he climbed down the side braces, reached the ground and went under the tent wall to safety. “I found where it wasn’t tied down to the ground,” he says 3/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
His instincts served him well. He avoided the crush of people pressing towards the main exit/entrance. When he reached the top of the bleachers, he climbed down the side braces, reached the ground and went under the tent wall to safety. “I found where it wasn’t tied down to the ground,” he says 3/19
Only minutes ago he had released Eleanor’s hand at his mother’s bidding and climbed up the grandstands while his family walked down. He is a survivor of the Hartford Circus Fire, one of the worst fire disasters in U.S. history. 2/19
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Only minutes ago he had released Eleanor’s hand at his mother’s bidding and climbed up the grandstands while his family walked down. He is a survivor of the Hartford Circus Fire, one of the worst fire disasters in U.S. history. 2/19
I put it on my calendar - please alert me when tickets go on sale!!! I'm so excited. Congratulations, Kristy!
July 17, 2025 at 2:11 AM
I put it on my calendar - please alert me when tickets go on sale!!! I'm so excited. Congratulations, Kristy!
Glad to know you got a Tonga Room trip in - it IS a trip! 😜
January 19, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Glad to know you got a Tonga Room trip in - it IS a trip! 😜
Yay! I'll be glad to meet you there!
January 19, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Yay! I'll be glad to meet you there!