Christina Gilligan

Christina (Rickard) Gilligan was a small dairy farmer in Bridgeport, Connecticut who achieved national notoriety in 1887, 25 years after she immigrated from Ireland.

When a fire broke out at Barnum & Bailey's winter quarters, a lion was one of two animals to survive and escape. The Connecticut State Historian lays out the rest of the scene thusly:

Amidst the intense heat and chaos of the fire, that lion managed to slip away into greater Bridgeport, prowling its way in the wee hours of the morning to the backyard cowshed of one Christina Gilligan. The shed was home to Gilligan’s prize dairy cow and the cow's new calf, who quickly became the hungry lion’s late-night snack. The lion's meal-preparation awoke Mrs. Gilligan, who strode into the shed stick in hand, thinking a dog had gotten into the barn and was harassing her cow. Gilligan poked in the dark at the rough shape of the intruder. Getting no response, she drew back the stick and smacked the offender full force. The unnerving roar-of-a growl she got in response instantly convinced her the now-angry intruder was not a dog, but the veritable king of beasts. Undaunted, Giligan [sic] fought gamely with broomstick in hand, until the lion roared a little too fiercely for comfort, at which point a conveniently armed neighbor arrived and shot the beast.

Newspapers across the U.S. covered the event, praising Gilligan for her "Yankee blend of spit and polish," and saying that "between any given Connecticut woman and any given African lion, it will always be safe to bet on the woman." In a particularly over-dramatized account, replete with humorous illustrations, the Saint Paul Daily Globe even named her "The Lion-Spanker."

Gilligan died some time after 1910.

Sources

• Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
  • Year: 1910; Census Place: Bridgeport, Fairfield, Connecticut; Roll: T624_128; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0017; FHL microfilm: 1374141.
    • Name: Christine Gilligan; Age in 1910: 63; Birth Date: 1847; Birthplace: Ireland; Home in 1910: Bridgeport, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA; Street: Railroad Ave; House Number: 1146; Race: White; Gender: Female; Immigration Year: 1862; Relation to Head of House: Head; Marital Status: Widowed; Father's Birthplace: Ireland; Mother's Birthplace: Ireland; Native Tongue: English; Home Owned or Rented: Own; Home Free or Mortgaged: Mortgaged; Farm or House: House; Able to read: Yes; Able to Write: Yes; Number of Children Born: 5; Number of Children Living: 1.
• "The Lion Spanker." The Saint Paul Globe via Newspapers.com, published 4 December 1887, p. 13. < link > Accessed 20 November 2021.
• Woodward, Walt. "A Fire, A Fiery Lady & A Hungry Lion." Today in Connecticut History, published 20 November 2021. < link > Accessed 20 November 2021.
• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Nov 20 2021, 18:21:51 UTC