The Bear Man

Anybody that knows me knows I love history and interesting stories.

As always when I get the opportunity to get out and ramble I do so. Recently I went up to the New Hope Church at Natchez. 

New Hope Church

est. 1855

Now I have been to the New Hope Church many times. I have friends who have relatives buried there. It is an old historical church that I just love to visit and photograph. 

New Hope church

I have walked the cemetery many times and have recounted the stories of those that I knew that are now long gone.

Over on the far end kind of alone I saw a cross shaped marker standing alone. I immediately remembered what it was. It is the grave of The Bear Man.

Now understand something, at the writing of this I am 66 years old and I have heard the story of the Bear Man all of my life. I have heard it told different ways. Normally because it was told by different people just like I am sure that my version differs from others who tell it. 

As I was reflecting on what I remembered, and I discussed it with my uncle Rickey House in Beatrice who is a walking history book. I also looked in the Centennial Edition of the Monroe Journal. I found a brief encounter of the story in the 1969 edition.

I knew the name of the bear but not the other names mentioned in the Centennial. 

The names I will mention are from the Centennial. The rest of the story is pretty much as I remembered it from numerous others, I have heard tell it.

 It is a unique story that in all probability no other communities in the entire US could duplicate.

As I have said earlier, I have heard several different renditions of this story. After reading the account in the Centennial I was able to see where the different versions might have come from.

For some reason in some accounts Buena Vista always comes up. In fact I have run into people over the years that would try to figure out where at Buena Vista the grave was. On more than one occasion I have heard that he was buried at Buena Vista. 

Anyway here is what I was able to come up with on this story.

All accounts I have heard that identified the man in any way would say he was a Frenchman.  Apparently, this man came into Buena Vista leading his bear. The Teacher one Professor Claude Hardy paid him to have the bear perform for the school children at Buena Vista. He would take a little boy’s hat and put it on the bear’s head, and he would stand on his hind legs and walk around and dance. Then after that he would have him climb a tree.

Upon leaving Buena Vista he proceeded on to Natchez with the bear. 

Now from here once again variations come in. According to some sources he was performing for children there. From others no mention is made of performing there.

Regardless of that fact at Natchez the bear attacked the Frenchman. Some sources say that somebody was killing hogs and the smell of the blood upset the bear and he started towards the smell and when the Frenchman tried to restrain him, he attacked. Others I have heard say he was performing for children at the school at Natchez. I am not sure and probably nobody else is totally sure now.

The Centennial says that he threw him to the ground and was literally trying to eat him alive. That leads me to believe that something like the smell of fresh blood might have been involved.

Numerous different sources say that he was screaming the bears name calling him “Jimbo” and begging him to stop. More than one says that you could hear him screaming for a distance the words Jimbo, stop, please stop.

It is not clear exactly when but according to the Centennial after the bear killed the Frenchman, a local man named Jim Reeves killed the bear with his rifle. 

Again, I have heard discrepancies in the story on this part but some sources say that the locals buried the man and the bear in the cemetery. Other sources I have heard said just the man and did not mention the bear.

Since nobody knew the man’s name they just always called him The Bear Man.

Now I do not know with 100 percent certainty what nor who is buried in the cemetery where the cross marker is. I however do know that there is a marker in the cemetery with the name The Bear Man on it and all sources I know of today agree that this is where he is buried.

The article in the Centennial puts it as happening in 1891 or 92. I have always heard it said as some time before 1900 or in the 1890’s. 

As I said at the beginning this is a story that I remember hearing told from childhood. Some of the people I have heard tell it would have been born in the early 1900’s so the story was not that many decades old from when they heard it however, I am not sure if they heard if directly from somebody that was a witness.

One thing for sure it indeed had to have happened and that is a pretty close rendition of how it did happen.

Thanks for reading. Jackson