Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
YOUNT, Newton
YOUNT, Newton. (Anamosa, IA--Dubuque, IA, Nov. 16, 1950). Working with the John Robinson circus, Yount was credited with being the first one-person act to lead a circus parade. Yount performed a comedy routine and as he led the parade, he rode a mule while swinging a baton. Spectators got a double-dose of his routine when they discovered he not only led the parade, but appeared again to end it. In 1896, while working for the Lemon Bros. circus, he was the principal tumbler and leaper.
Retiring from the rough world of the circus, Yount appeared for years in vaudeville doing blackface numbers between acts. In 1898 he appeared as an opening act at the Chicago Opera House. He later appeared with the Stout Stock Company of Vermont, Michigan playing dramatic roles. When not on the road, Yount lived with his sister in Dubuque, the town in which he had been raised.
---
Source:
"Although 60 Years Old He's Still an Acrobat," Telegraph Herald, March 22, 1936, p. 29