Elmer Noland, a Jerseyville balloonist, was arrested on New Year’s Day 1925 by Sheriff Frank D. Sowell for violating the Prohibition Act. Noland’s arrest was due to information reported by an alleged customer who claimed that Noland sold him intoxicants. Noland denied the claims but pleaded guilty to protect the guilty party. He was arraigned before Justice Arthur Thatcher and assessed a fine of $100 plus costs, for a total of $108 ($1,980 in 2024 money).
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William Elmer Noland grew up in Jersey County and worked as a clown in the Harris Nickle Plate Circus of Chicago. His most famous act was with Hezekiah, the trick mule. After leaving the circus, Noland played the parts as a “heavy” (antagonist or villain) in a traveling stage show company. When nickelodeon and film shows put stage shows out of business, Noland started training under balloonist Mac McKinney, “one of the outstanding trapeze artists of the old days.” Noland helped develop the three-parachute drop during a single ascension (the originator of the jump was Walter Raub, from whom Noland learned the technique). Three parachutes were attached to the hot air balloon (and Noland). When a sufficient height had been reached, an observer on the ground fired the signal gun, and Noland would cut loose from the balloon. The top parachute would open, and when it was fully filled, he would cut loose from it. When the second parachute opened, he cut loose from that, and used the third parachute for landing.
Noland made over 100 hot air balloon trips before being injured in an accident at the Iowa State Fair in 1925. He fell 80 feet after the balloon he was in sideswiped some power lines. He was hospitalized for a considerable period, and after recovering, he took up house painting as his new profession. According to his obituary, after the Iowa State Fair accident, “whenever he got the urge to get closer to the sky, he would take a steeplejack job of painting church spires or water towers.”
In September 1955, the Illinois Department of Aeronautics sent Noland a letter requesting information on his experiences as a balloonist in the early 1900s. The book, “Balloons to Jets, a Century of Aeronautics in Illinois, 1855-1955” can be found in full-text here: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001039274. While Noland is not mentioned by name in the book, he likely contributed to the description of balloon ascensions with parachute drops found in Chapter 1. Earlier in 1955, the Alton Evening Telegraph published a feature on Noland’s life and experiences, including descriptions of his parachute tricks, and this story is what led to the Department of Aeronautics contacting Noland.
Noland died on May 12, 1958, and is buried at the Oak Grove Cemetery.
Sources
“Balloonist Fined for Bootlegging.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), January 5, 1925.
“Chuted 100 Times: Jersey Balloonist Recalls Days of Parachute Jumpers.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), August 27, 1949.
Dudley, Harry. “Hot air balloon the "Pommern" launching at the 1907 James Gordon Bennett International Balloon Race in Forest Park, 21 October 1907. The "Pommern" won the race and set a new American distance record. [Detail, Left].” Identifier: N30189https://mohistory.org/collections/item/N30189
“For History Book: Aeronautical Society Seeks Date from Jersey Balloonist.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), September 6, 1955.
Scamehorn, H. Lee. 1957. Balloons to Jets: [A Century of Aeronautics in Illinois, 1855-1955]. Chicago: H. Regnery Co.
“Wants to Try Again: Retired Jersey Balloonist Recalls Old Days.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), July 18, 1955.
“W.E. Noland, Famous Balloonist, Dies at 73.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), May 13, 1958.
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