Sells, William Allen

The following data is extracted from A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans.

William Allen Sells, son of Allen Sells, was probably the most noted bare-back rider of his time. He began practicing the art when a child, and subsequently performed in every city and remote hamlet of the United States and also before the royalty of Europe. After his return from his European tour he organized and conducted a show of his own for some years. He died in New York City in 1907.

In 1890 William Allen Sells married Miss Effigene Marris of Columbus, Ohio. Their only son and child is Allen William Sells, who as a boy and young man was almost constantly with his father and acquired a thorough knowledge of the show business in every detail. The year of his father's death he entered theatricals, starting in Topeka as an apprentice with the Shubert Enterprise on the legitimate stage. For the past four years his time and energies have been chiefly occupied in the operation of a fine farm, including a half section of land near Tecumseh. Mr. A. W. Sells is married and had one daughter, Mary Jane.

Source: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans

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