Re: Arthur Thadeus Burson

Hi Mike!
Have you Googled him? He's all over the place. Evidently, he was a clown in his later years. There's a picture of him from 1955 at:
http://archive.wmlnj.org/var/www/TheWestfieldLeader/1955/1955-08-18/pg_0030.pdfhttp://archive.wmlnj.org/var/www/TheWestfieldLeader/1955/1955-08-18/pg_0030.pdf
but it's pretty dark. A digital of the original would be better.

As for amazing pictures, go rent Cecil B. DeMille's movie "The Greatest Show on Earth;" he plays himself in the movie (the movie was a blockbuster in its day--1952). I also found that he was in the Barnes circus in the early 1920's (there's a couple of Dallas Morning News articles about the circus coing to town). Looks like he also might have been in the Gentry Brothers Circus. He was mentioned in Emmett Kelly's biography. He must have been quite a star.

You might also check with Ringling Bros. I believe they have a circus museum/archive. I found him on the performer list in 1944.

How interesting!
Good luck
Andrea
P.S. When you google him, be sure and do a Google books search.