History & local legend
P. T. Barnum’s circus brought a troupe of Fijian performers to York’s Penn Park in 1872. A local newspaper reported that one performer became ill and died during the visit. Another newspaper disputed that account. The disagreement became the beginning of a much longer local mystery.
In 1897, workers cleared the potter’s field across from the park to make way for a school. According to a story about the excavation, they uncovered the performer’s remains and left them to be moved the following day. By morning, the body had disappeared.
One later explanation claimed that the skeleton ended up in a York doctor’s office.
