Adventurer, big game hunter, real estate tycoon, filmmaker. He got into the real estate business in Jacksonville, Florida around 1900. He married Carmen Manucy in 1902. Carmen was the daughter of Anna (1867-1887) and John Manucy (1868-1939). By 1904, he and Carmen had two children, Henry Clinton and Roberta. In 1910, he and his family were living with his mother and his siblings in the home his mother owned at 1159 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. The household included: Matilda Burbridge, age 63, born in Illinois to a father from Switzerland and a mother from Holland; her son Farler, age 37, born in Illinois to a father born in Missouri and a mother born in Illinois, a capitalist in real estate; Benjamin, age 33, born in Massachusetts to a father from Missouri and a mother from Illinois, married once for 8 years, a broker in real estate; Benjamin's wife, Carmen M., age 30, married once for 8 years, two children; his son Clinton, age 8; his daughter, Roberta, age 6; his sister, Roberta, age 35; and his brother, William, age 28, a broker in real estate.
In December 1911, he opened the seven story, 175 guest room, Burbridge hotel at 429 West Forsythe in downtown Jacksonville. The lobby displayed many trophies of Ben's Alaskan and African big game hunting adventures. The hotel was later renamed the Floridian and remained until 1981.
In his World War I draft registration, he stated that he worked for Burbridge and Higbee. He was described as tall with a medium build with blue eyes and light hair. He supported a wife and two children. In 1920, he was living at 1300 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, with his wife and children. His household included: Benjamin Burbridge, age 40, born in Missouri, owned a real estate business; his wife Carmen, age 35, born in Florida; his son Clinton H., age 18, born in Florida; and his daughter Roberta E., age 15, born in Florida.
In 1926, seven years before the movie, "King Kong," Ben made a documentary film, "The Gorilla Hunt," which though a nature film, was billed as a film in which a gorilla was after a woman in New York. It was a silent movie sensation in theaters across the country. The film was produced by Joseph P. Kennedy, father of U. S. President John F. Kennedy. Ben made one other movie, another documentary film in 1934, "Kidnapping Gorillas."
On July 18, 1928, he arrived in New York on the Olympic from Cherbourg, France. By 1930, he was separated or divorced and living at his real estate office at 420 Main Street. He was age 55, born in Massachusetts, a dealer in real estate. His son Clinton, age 28, lived with him. Also living with them on the second floor of the building was a gorilla, Miss Congo, that he had brought back from Africa in 1925.
Published Saturday, May 8, 2004 The Florida Times-Union
FROM OUR PAST: Miss Congo was famous resident of Jacksonville—for awhile
By Leni Besette and Louise Stanton Warren /From Our Past
At the Park Opera House on Main and Church streets, and later at the Duval Theater, Jim Burbridge offered Jacksonville the finest entertainment of the late 1800’s and early 1990’s: Sarah Bernhardt, Ethel Barrymore, vaudeville.
So it was a fitting match for Miss Congo, the mountain gorilla from Africa, to reside with showman Jim and Juanita Burbridge in the garden in their backyard. She was the first female gorilla from her neighborhood to move to the United States, and hers was an engaging suite on the St. Johns river, now Pointe La Vista.
In 1911, William Burbridge, brother of Jim, commissioned Henry Klutho to design the seven-story Burbridge Hotel with 175 guest rooms, fancy enough to offer private baths as well as hunting trophies from Alaska and Africa to decorate the hotel lobby. The Burbridge, at Forsyth and Clay Streets, which became the Floridan, was demolished in 1981.
The great provider of these brothers’ African treasures was still another Burbridge brother, Ben Burbridge, an adventurer, owner of an early Jacksonville real estate
company and an internationally know game hunter. He captured Miss Congo in 1925. He also delivered the first gorilla to Europe at the Antwerp Zoo.
On at least one hunt, Ben Burbridge traveled with a motion picture camera instead of a gun. He photographed and produced the first film of gorillas in the wilderness called The Gorilla Hunt in 1926, popular entertainment in Jacksonville and across the country.
Now owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the film has recently been restored along with other classic silent pictures.
As Ben Burbridge lived in his office building, with a private bath, while his wife resided in New York City, Miss Congo, unaccustomed to hotel life, chose brother Jim’s backyard as her domicile. She was visited often by the local citizens, and sometimes on Sunday, cars parked in long lines at the Burbridge property.
Congo, estimated to be 4 years old on her arrival, was a popular resident of Jacksonville, engendering all the excitement of a traveling circus. To some extent, Miss Congo’s experience abroad was more congenial than many captured animals, but her life was short and she was often depressed.
The famous psychologist and naturalist from Yale, Professor Robert Yerkes, made several trips to the Burbridge backyard in 1925 and 1926 to study Miss Congo. There was no bloodletting as in recent gorilla
testing, because his examinations, based on her hunger instinct, were emotional and mental in nature. She was tested to see how cleverly and quickly she could solve problems to obtain food.
Professor Yerkes developed the Yerkes-Dodson law relating motivation to performance, and he devised a number of fun games for Miss Congo such as placing a banana just inches from her reach and providing her various-length sticks with which to reach the goal of retrieving it and gobbling it down. He stated that it took him longer to contrive the tests than it did for her to solve them.
Yerkes, mainly a comparative psychologists, had studied primates for a number of years and commented that young chimpanzees were effervescent, jolly, outgoing and generally annoying. He described the behavior of some male gorillas as playful, beating their chests, etc.
However, the young Miss Congo, was pensive, reserved and melancholic. Sometimes she exhibited irritation when he swiped her food as she tried to eat, but she internalized her anger. He described her as emotionally aloof and reserved, perhaps exhibiting a superiority complex. She had pet dogs, but did not respond to them, either.
No doubt Miss Congo would have been happier had she returned home. Instead, she was donated to the Bronx zoo, which today promotes The Congo Gorilla Forest, a 6.5 acre habitat, as well as worldwide conservation projects. Unfortunately for Miss Congo, she was before her time and became more depressed by the separation. She was visited
by Juanita Burbridge, a writer, to cheer her up and in whose popular books Miss Congo was featured prominently.
In 1927, hopefully to recover from “mental depression” the forlorn creature moved to live with the birds and dogs at C d’Zan the mansion of John Ringling of circus fame, in Sarasota. She died a year later, age 7, 30 to 40 years prematurely, her only natural enemy was humankind."
In December 1911, he opened the seven story, 175 guest room, Burbridge hotel at 429 West Forsythe in downtown Jacksonville. The lobby displayed many trophies of Ben's Alaskan and African big game hunting adventures. The hotel was later renamed the Floridian and remained until 1981.
In his World War I draft registration, he stated that he worked for Burbridge and Higbee. He was described as tall with a medium build with blue eyes and light hair. He supported a wife and two children. In 1920, he was living at 1300 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, with his wife and children. His household included: Benjamin Burbridge, age 40, born in Missouri, owned a real estate business; his wife Carmen, age 35, born in Florida; his son Clinton H., age 18, born in Florida; and his daughter Roberta E., age 15, born in Florida.
In 1926, seven years before the movie, "King Kong," Ben made a documentary film, "The Gorilla Hunt," which though a nature film, was billed as a film in which a gorilla was after a woman in New York. It was a silent movie sensation in theaters across the country. The film was produced by Joseph P. Kennedy, father of U. S. President John F. Kennedy. Ben made one other movie, another documentary film in 1934, "Kidnapping Gorillas."
On July 18, 1928, he arrived in New York on the Olympic from Cherbourg, France. By 1930, he was separated or divorced and living at his real estate office at 420 Main Street. He was age 55, born in Massachusetts, a dealer in real estate. His son Clinton, age 28, lived with him. Also living with them on the second floor of the building was a gorilla, Miss Congo, that he had brought back from Africa in 1925.
Published Saturday, May 8, 2004 The Florida Times-Union
FROM OUR PAST: Miss Congo was famous resident of Jacksonville—for awhile
By Leni Besette and Louise Stanton Warren /From Our Past
At the Park Opera House on Main and Church streets, and later at the Duval Theater, Jim Burbridge offered Jacksonville the finest entertainment of the late 1800’s and early 1990’s: Sarah Bernhardt, Ethel Barrymore, vaudeville.
So it was a fitting match for Miss Congo, the mountain gorilla from Africa, to reside with showman Jim and Juanita Burbridge in the garden in their backyard. She was the first female gorilla from her neighborhood to move to the United States, and hers was an engaging suite on the St. Johns river, now Pointe La Vista.
In 1911, William Burbridge, brother of Jim, commissioned Henry Klutho to design the seven-story Burbridge Hotel with 175 guest rooms, fancy enough to offer private baths as well as hunting trophies from Alaska and Africa to decorate the hotel lobby. The Burbridge, at Forsyth and Clay Streets, which became the Floridan, was demolished in 1981.
The great provider of these brothers’ African treasures was still another Burbridge brother, Ben Burbridge, an adventurer, owner of an early Jacksonville real estate
company and an internationally know game hunter. He captured Miss Congo in 1925. He also delivered the first gorilla to Europe at the Antwerp Zoo.
On at least one hunt, Ben Burbridge traveled with a motion picture camera instead of a gun. He photographed and produced the first film of gorillas in the wilderness called The Gorilla Hunt in 1926, popular entertainment in Jacksonville and across the country.
Now owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the film has recently been restored along with other classic silent pictures.
As Ben Burbridge lived in his office building, with a private bath, while his wife resided in New York City, Miss Congo, unaccustomed to hotel life, chose brother Jim’s backyard as her domicile. She was visited often by the local citizens, and sometimes on Sunday, cars parked in long lines at the Burbridge property.
Congo, estimated to be 4 years old on her arrival, was a popular resident of Jacksonville, engendering all the excitement of a traveling circus. To some extent, Miss Congo’s experience abroad was more congenial than many captured animals, but her life was short and she was often depressed.
The famous psychologist and naturalist from Yale, Professor Robert Yerkes, made several trips to the Burbridge backyard in 1925 and 1926 to study Miss Congo. There was no bloodletting as in recent gorilla
testing, because his examinations, based on her hunger instinct, were emotional and mental in nature. She was tested to see how cleverly and quickly she could solve problems to obtain food.
Professor Yerkes developed the Yerkes-Dodson law relating motivation to performance, and he devised a number of fun games for Miss Congo such as placing a banana just inches from her reach and providing her various-length sticks with which to reach the goal of retrieving it and gobbling it down. He stated that it took him longer to contrive the tests than it did for her to solve them.
Yerkes, mainly a comparative psychologists, had studied primates for a number of years and commented that young chimpanzees were effervescent, jolly, outgoing and generally annoying. He described the behavior of some male gorillas as playful, beating their chests, etc.
However, the young Miss Congo, was pensive, reserved and melancholic. Sometimes she exhibited irritation when he swiped her food as she tried to eat, but she internalized her anger. He described her as emotionally aloof and reserved, perhaps exhibiting a superiority complex. She had pet dogs, but did not respond to them, either.
No doubt Miss Congo would have been happier had she returned home. Instead, she was donated to the Bronx zoo, which today promotes The Congo Gorilla Forest, a 6.5 acre habitat, as well as worldwide conservation projects. Unfortunately for Miss Congo, she was before her time and became more depressed by the separation. She was visited
by Juanita Burbridge, a writer, to cheer her up and in whose popular books Miss Congo was featured prominently.
In 1927, hopefully to recover from “mental depression” the forlorn creature moved to live with the birds and dogs at C d’Zan the mansion of John Ringling of circus fame, in Sarasota. She died a year later, age 7, 30 to 40 years prematurely, her only natural enemy was humankind."
Adventurer, big game hunter, real estate tycoon, filmmaker. He got into the real estate business in Jacksonville, Florida around 1900. He married Carmen Manucy in 1902. Carmen was the daughter of Anna (1867-1887) and John Manucy (1868-1939). By 1904, he and Carmen had two children, Henry Clinton and Roberta. In 1910, he and his family were living with his mother and his siblings in the home his mother owned at 1159 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. The household included: Matilda Burbridge, age 63, born in Illinois to a father from Switzerland and a mother from Holland; her son Farler, age 37, born in Illinois to a father born in Missouri and a mother born in Illinois, a capitalist in real estate; Benjamin, age 33, born in Massachusetts to a father from Missouri and a mother from Illinois, married once for 8 years, a broker in real estate; Benjamin's wife, Carmen M., age 30, married once for 8 years, two children; his son Clinton, age 8; his daughter, Roberta, age 6; his sister, Roberta, age 35; and his brother, William, age 28, a broker in real estate.
In December 1911, he opened the seven story, 175 guest room, Burbridge hotel at 429 West Forsythe in downtown Jacksonville. The lobby displayed many trophies of Ben's Alaskan and African big game hunting adventures. The hotel was later renamed the Floridian and remained until 1981.
In his World War I draft registration, he stated that he worked for Burbridge and Higbee. He was described as tall with a medium build with blue eyes and light hair. He supported a wife and two children. In 1920, he was living at 1300 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, with his wife and children. His household included: Benjamin Burbridge, age 40, born in Missouri, owned a real estate business; his wife Carmen, age 35, born in Florida; his son Clinton H., age 18, born in Florida; and his daughter Roberta E., age 15, born in Florida.
In 1926, seven years before the movie, "King Kong," Ben made a documentary film, "The Gorilla Hunt," which though a nature film, was billed as a film in which a gorilla was after a woman in New York. It was a silent movie sensation in theaters across the country. The film was produced by Joseph P. Kennedy, father of U. S. President John F. Kennedy. Ben made one other movie, another documentary film in 1934, "Kidnapping Gorillas."
On July 18, 1928, he arrived in New York on the Olympic from Cherbourg, France. By 1930, he was separated or divorced and living at his real estate office at 420 Main Street. He was age 55, born in Massachusetts, a dealer in real estate. His son Clinton, age 28, lived with him. Also living with them on the second floor of the building was a gorilla, Miss Congo, that he had brought back from Africa in 1925.
Published Saturday, May 8, 2004 The Florida Times-Union
FROM OUR PAST: Miss Congo was famous resident of Jacksonville—for awhile
By Leni Besette and Louise Stanton Warren /From Our Past
At the Park Opera House on Main and Church streets, and later at the Duval Theater, Jim Burbridge offered Jacksonville the finest entertainment of the late 1800’s and early 1990’s: Sarah Bernhardt, Ethel Barrymore, vaudeville.
So it was a fitting match for Miss Congo, the mountain gorilla from Africa, to reside with showman Jim and Juanita Burbridge in the garden in their backyard. She was the first female gorilla from her neighborhood to move to the United States, and hers was an engaging suite on the St. Johns river, now Pointe La Vista.
In 1911, William Burbridge, brother of Jim, commissioned Henry Klutho to design the seven-story Burbridge Hotel with 175 guest rooms, fancy enough to offer private baths as well as hunting trophies from Alaska and Africa to decorate the hotel lobby. The Burbridge, at Forsyth and Clay Streets, which became the Floridan, was demolished in 1981.
The great provider of these brothers’ African treasures was still another Burbridge brother, Ben Burbridge, an adventurer, owner of an early Jacksonville real estate
company and an internationally know game hunter. He captured Miss Congo in 1925. He also delivered the first gorilla to Europe at the Antwerp Zoo.
On at least one hunt, Ben Burbridge traveled with a motion picture camera instead of a gun. He photographed and produced the first film of gorillas in the wilderness called The Gorilla Hunt in 1926, popular entertainment in Jacksonville and across the country.
Now owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the film has recently been restored along with other classic silent pictures.
As Ben Burbridge lived in his office building, with a private bath, while his wife resided in New York City, Miss Congo, unaccustomed to hotel life, chose brother Jim’s backyard as her domicile. She was visited often by the local citizens, and sometimes on Sunday, cars parked in long lines at the Burbridge property.
Congo, estimated to be 4 years old on her arrival, was a popular resident of Jacksonville, engendering all the excitement of a traveling circus. To some extent, Miss Congo’s experience abroad was more congenial than many captured animals, but her life was short and she was often depressed.
The famous psychologist and naturalist from Yale, Professor Robert Yerkes, made several trips to the Burbridge backyard in 1925 and 1926 to study Miss Congo. There was no bloodletting as in recent gorilla
testing, because his examinations, based on her hunger instinct, were emotional and mental in nature. She was tested to see how cleverly and quickly she could solve problems to obtain food.
Professor Yerkes developed the Yerkes-Dodson law relating motivation to performance, and he devised a number of fun games for Miss Congo such as placing a banana just inches from her reach and providing her various-length sticks with which to reach the goal of retrieving it and gobbling it down. He stated that it took him longer to contrive the tests than it did for her to solve them.
Yerkes, mainly a comparative psychologists, had studied primates for a number of years and commented that young chimpanzees were effervescent, jolly, outgoing and generally annoying. He described the behavior of some male gorillas as playful, beating their chests, etc.
However, the young Miss Congo, was pensive, reserved and melancholic. Sometimes she exhibited irritation when he swiped her food as she tried to eat, but she internalized her anger. He described her as emotionally aloof and reserved, perhaps exhibiting a superiority complex. She had pet dogs, but did not respond to them, either.
No doubt Miss Congo would have been happier had she returned home. Instead, she was donated to the Bronx zoo, which today promotes The Congo Gorilla Forest, a 6.5 acre habitat, as well as worldwide conservation projects. Unfortunately for Miss Congo, she was before her time and became more depressed by the separation. She was visited
by Juanita Burbridge, a writer, to cheer her up and in whose popular books Miss Congo was featured prominently.
In 1927, hopefully to recover from “mental depression” the forlorn creature moved to live with the birds and dogs at C d’Zan the mansion of John Ringling of circus fame, in Sarasota. She died a year later, age 7, 30 to 40 years prematurely, her only natural enemy was humankind."
In December 1911, he opened the seven story, 175 guest room, Burbridge hotel at 429 West Forsythe in downtown Jacksonville. The lobby displayed many trophies of Ben's Alaskan and African big game hunting adventures. The hotel was later renamed the Floridian and remained until 1981.
In his World War I draft registration, he stated that he worked for Burbridge and Higbee. He was described as tall with a medium build with blue eyes and light hair. He supported a wife and two children. In 1920, he was living at 1300 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, with his wife and children. His household included: Benjamin Burbridge, age 40, born in Missouri, owned a real estate business; his wife Carmen, age 35, born in Florida; his son Clinton H., age 18, born in Florida; and his daughter Roberta E., age 15, born in Florida.
In 1926, seven years before the movie, "King Kong," Ben made a documentary film, "The Gorilla Hunt," which though a nature film, was billed as a film in which a gorilla was after a woman in New York. It was a silent movie sensation in theaters across the country. The film was produced by Joseph P. Kennedy, father of U. S. President John F. Kennedy. Ben made one other movie, another documentary film in 1934, "Kidnapping Gorillas."
On July 18, 1928, he arrived in New York on the Olympic from Cherbourg, France. By 1930, he was separated or divorced and living at his real estate office at 420 Main Street. He was age 55, born in Massachusetts, a dealer in real estate. His son Clinton, age 28, lived with him. Also living with them on the second floor of the building was a gorilla, Miss Congo, that he had brought back from Africa in 1925.
Published Saturday, May 8, 2004 The Florida Times-Union
FROM OUR PAST: Miss Congo was famous resident of Jacksonville—for awhile
By Leni Besette and Louise Stanton Warren /From Our Past
At the Park Opera House on Main and Church streets, and later at the Duval Theater, Jim Burbridge offered Jacksonville the finest entertainment of the late 1800’s and early 1990’s: Sarah Bernhardt, Ethel Barrymore, vaudeville.
So it was a fitting match for Miss Congo, the mountain gorilla from Africa, to reside with showman Jim and Juanita Burbridge in the garden in their backyard. She was the first female gorilla from her neighborhood to move to the United States, and hers was an engaging suite on the St. Johns river, now Pointe La Vista.
In 1911, William Burbridge, brother of Jim, commissioned Henry Klutho to design the seven-story Burbridge Hotel with 175 guest rooms, fancy enough to offer private baths as well as hunting trophies from Alaska and Africa to decorate the hotel lobby. The Burbridge, at Forsyth and Clay Streets, which became the Floridan, was demolished in 1981.
The great provider of these brothers’ African treasures was still another Burbridge brother, Ben Burbridge, an adventurer, owner of an early Jacksonville real estate
company and an internationally know game hunter. He captured Miss Congo in 1925. He also delivered the first gorilla to Europe at the Antwerp Zoo.
On at least one hunt, Ben Burbridge traveled with a motion picture camera instead of a gun. He photographed and produced the first film of gorillas in the wilderness called The Gorilla Hunt in 1926, popular entertainment in Jacksonville and across the country.
Now owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the film has recently been restored along with other classic silent pictures.
As Ben Burbridge lived in his office building, with a private bath, while his wife resided in New York City, Miss Congo, unaccustomed to hotel life, chose brother Jim’s backyard as her domicile. She was visited often by the local citizens, and sometimes on Sunday, cars parked in long lines at the Burbridge property.
Congo, estimated to be 4 years old on her arrival, was a popular resident of Jacksonville, engendering all the excitement of a traveling circus. To some extent, Miss Congo’s experience abroad was more congenial than many captured animals, but her life was short and she was often depressed.
The famous psychologist and naturalist from Yale, Professor Robert Yerkes, made several trips to the Burbridge backyard in 1925 and 1926 to study Miss Congo. There was no bloodletting as in recent gorilla
testing, because his examinations, based on her hunger instinct, were emotional and mental in nature. She was tested to see how cleverly and quickly she could solve problems to obtain food.
Professor Yerkes developed the Yerkes-Dodson law relating motivation to performance, and he devised a number of fun games for Miss Congo such as placing a banana just inches from her reach and providing her various-length sticks with which to reach the goal of retrieving it and gobbling it down. He stated that it took him longer to contrive the tests than it did for her to solve them.
Yerkes, mainly a comparative psychologists, had studied primates for a number of years and commented that young chimpanzees were effervescent, jolly, outgoing and generally annoying. He described the behavior of some male gorillas as playful, beating their chests, etc.
However, the young Miss Congo, was pensive, reserved and melancholic. Sometimes she exhibited irritation when he swiped her food as she tried to eat, but she internalized her anger. He described her as emotionally aloof and reserved, perhaps exhibiting a superiority complex. She had pet dogs, but did not respond to them, either.
No doubt Miss Congo would have been happier had she returned home. Instead, she was donated to the Bronx zoo, which today promotes The Congo Gorilla Forest, a 6.5 acre habitat, as well as worldwide conservation projects. Unfortunately for Miss Congo, she was before her time and became more depressed by the separation. She was visited
by Juanita Burbridge, a writer, to cheer her up and in whose popular books Miss Congo was featured prominently.
In 1927, hopefully to recover from “mental depression” the forlorn creature moved to live with the birds and dogs at C d’Zan the mansion of John Ringling of circus fame, in Sarasota. She died a year later, age 7, 30 to 40 years prematurely, her only natural enemy was humankind."
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