Nancy

This is the unique gravestone of William F. Duggan in Moultrie in Colquitt County! He was born in Moultrie on January 18, 1899. Ever since he was little, William wanted to work in a circus; at age 12 he ran away from home to do just that....he joined the Sparks Circus! William’s job was to feed the elephants - a job that gave him a lifelong appreciation for elephants.

Many years later in 1949, he was able to purchase his own baby elephant - he named her Nancy! He loved & cared for Nancy & had the intention of starting a circus that Nancy could star in. Only a year later in 1950, William was finally able to make his lifelong dream of owning his own circus a reality - he purchased the Pan American Animal Exhibit & named it the Hagen-Wallace Circus!

Unfortunately, Duggan never got to see his circus perform a single show; he died while his circus wintered in Florida. It is said that his baby elephant, Nancy, followed him to the hospital just before he died! He was buried in Moultrie at Pleasant Grove Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery. Duggan's son knew how much William cared for Nancy the baby elephant, & wanted to honor his dad's love for Nancy. He arranged for this life-size replica of Nancy to be carved from Tate, GA white marble and placed on his father's grave. The cost of the sculpture was $ 10,000.

It is supposedly the only elephant memorial in a cemetery in the WORLD! Even though Mr. Duggan never got to see a single performance of his circus, under his name on the gravestone, it says what he wanted to be his entire life, & what he was the day he died - a Circus Owner!

Jay Blanton / The Georgia Photography Fanatic