By David Cain
In the past, I’ve written fairly extensively about Ollie Young, the juggler credited as inventing kick ups with clubs, and an early hoop, diabolo, and boomerang juggler. It turns out that Ollie’s brother Dewitt was a talented juggler as well. The brothers were from Columbus, Ohio (USA).
Dewitt Young was born 1879. In the late 1890s, Dewitt Young performed under the stage name of Kansas, King of Roman Axes.
In 1901, Dewitt teamed up with his brother Ollie, who had already been juggling professionally for 9 years, both as a solo act and in a team act with William Everhart, who was then known as Billy Eberhart. Because Ollie was better known than Dewitt, the duo became known as Ollie Young and Brother. The duo performed hoop rolling / juggling, club juggling, and boomerangs.
Ollie and Dewitt Young
Around 1907, Dewitt left the duo and started performing with a female assistant, whom he billed as his sister. He did have three sisters, but it isn’t known if the assistant was actually one of his siblings. They performed diabolo spinning, boomerang throwing, hoop rolling, and other stunts. He was known as “The College Boy Juggler”.
Dewitt Young
Galveston Tribune – 1909
The Houston Post – 1913
1917
1917
1919 Review from the New York Clipper
I can’t find any references to Dewitt Young performing after 1920. He passed away in 1933.
David Cain
David Cain is a professional juggler, juggling historian, and the owner of the world's only juggling museum, the Museum of Juggling History. He is a Guinness world record holder and 16 time IJA gold medalist. In addition to his juggling pursuits, David is a successful composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and singer as well as the author of twenty-six books. He and his children live in Middletown, OH (USA).