The A Bs.

The A Bs are a point of intrigue with me, in no small part because it seems so little is known about them save that they were the marksmanship act to beat for years.  I can find no photographs of them, but it's said that C A married A F, who'd been the leading lady of the B B C, and it is alleged that A went on to some fame beyond the combination, but I can't find for what, or if her marriage survived.

Meanwhile, on the trail of I A, I found records of a man going by that name ("Colonel I A") in Australia whose touted 1889 "Re-appearance after 4 years’ absence of America’s Greatest Rifleman” ended when his eyesight failed and he died May 9, 1908.  The title and stagename were only for the stage.  He served as an American military scout during the Civil War and achieved the rank of sergeant, but his real name was I P S.  A recent excursion to Australia to find the graves of Civil War vets found his in Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.

"The (A Bs), whose marvelous marksmanship has been the subject of wide comment, will vary the chances of putting a pellet through one or the other's head.  There is a fascination about this kind of an exhibition that is curious, and maybe it is bloodthirsty...  ...there is a buzz of expectation when their act is reached which tells of the shadow of a terrible fear and fascination that (fastens?) upon their audience.  This is the fatal shadow which it seems to us must follow them wherever they exhibit their skill."

San Francisco Call, July 15, 1877 via The New York Clipper., Aug. 4, 1877

In other news, looking over my microfilms, the Gallipolis Bulletin is a political rag of little use, but the Gallipolis Journal which has advertisements for amusements including Robinson's Circus, may be more fruitful.  That said, there are better avenues to search.