Lawrence "Larry" M. Donovan, born Lawrence Degnan or possibly Duignan (1862 – August 7, 1888) was a newspaper typesetter who became famous for leaping from bridges, first around the northeastern United States, and later in England. Inspired by the first successful Brooklyn Bridge jump by Steve Brodie, Donovan sought fame and fortune by leaping off that bridge, the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge, and Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge. Slightly injured on a couple of occasions and frequently incarcerated following his attempts, he struggled to capitalise on his fame, making money only through bets and brief periods working as an emcee or exhibiting himself in novelty shows. In August 1888, disillusioned and desperately poor, he accepted a spontaneous two-pound wager (equal to £ today) to jump from London's Hungerford Bridge late at night, but drowned in the attempt.

Early life

Donovan was born to Irish immigrants at 55 Frankfort St, New York; he had two younger sisters, Mary and Tassie. He was given a "fair" education but when his father, Michael George Degnan, lost the family savings in an ill-fated venture to publish a book entitled Common Sense Facts, he was deprived of the opportunity to go to college.

From age fifteen, he worked in printing offices near Printing House Square, beginning with the New York Herald, and learning the skills of compositor and printing press operator. At twenty, he spent 18 months in the Army, serving as a high-private in the Fifth US Artillery, Battery F at Fort Hamilton. In 1882 he began working as a typesetter at the Police Gazette, an influential weekly men's magazine featuring gossip, racy illustrations, and sensationalist news, and sponsoring record-setting feats of daring. He was a "popular member" of Typographical Union No.6, president of Pressman's Union No.9 of New York, member of the National Guard (twelfth regiment), and a lieutenant in the New York Volunteer Life Saving Corps (in which capacity he was said to have rescued five persons), and was credited with saving two women endangered by runaway horses. He also dabbled in poetry.

He stood 5'8" and was described as "a handsome young fellow, about the medium height, loosely and somewhat clumsily built ... He has a frank and prepossessing face, clear eyes, and very thick dark eyebrows." Another article described him as "possessed of a well-knit, powerful frame, and his resolute character and fearless spirit are indexed in his countenance".

Bridge jumps in US

Schuylkill River and High Bridge Donovan's first recorded leap was in 1884 from an unspecified bridge over the Schuylkill River.

However, his real interest in jumping from bridges was apparently inspired by Steve Brodie's successful (if near-fatal) drop from the Brooklyn Bridge on July 24, 1886. Within two days of that jump, he told friends he planned to better it by jumping from the deck, rather than dropping from underneath. In preparation for his own attempt, on August 24 he made a 105-foot (32m) leap from New York City's High Bridge, an aqueduct supported by stone arches.

Brooklyn Bridge

After the Brooklyn Bridge was completed on May 31, 1883, there was speculation about who would be the first to successfully leap from it. In May 1886, swimming instructor Robert Emmet Odlum died in an attempt to prove the harmlessness of falling long distances through the air. A month later, Steve Brodie was said to have successfully dropped from the bottom of the bridge and survived with injuries, but doubts about whether he actually made the jump surfaced years later and the matter remains unsettled.

In any case, Donovan carefully prepared his August 28 attempt to become the first person to jump off the top of the bridge. He underwent medical examinations to ensure his health, and was promised $500 (equal to $ today) by his employer, the Police Gazette, who also provided a wagon as transport for the early morning attempt. He visited a local newspaper before the attempt to ensure publicity.

Noting that Brodie and Odlum had had difficulty remaining perfectly vertical during the descent, he wore baseball shoes weighted with five pounds of zinc each. He tightly bandaged his legs, wore trousers padded with "coarse cotton waste", a red flannel outer shirt, and a brown Derby hat. He arranged for two rescue boats, manned by life savers, colleagues from the Police Gazette, and other friends. At just after 5 AM, he took a carriage to the middle of the bridge, about 500 feet from the New York tower, and without encountering any resistance, clambered over the parapet and jumped, surviving impact without injury other than being "sore about the chest". Although the rescue boats were slow to get to him, he was soon ashore, where his mother and sisters greeted him. He was immediately arrested by police. Although the magistrate, Judge Duffy, noted that "there is no law to punish a man for jumping from a high place", he also said "this bridge-jumping business has got to be stopped...I supposed now somebody will dive off, or be sewed up in a bag and thrown off and come down with a bigger splash". Donovan was fined $10 for obstructing traffic, which was paid by the Gazette's proprietor, R. K. Fox, and threatened any future bridge jumpers with six months in prison: "If there is not a law, we will make one for the occasion".

Although The New York Times dubbed him "Crank No.3" (coming, as he did, after Odlum and Brodie), it pointed out that his leap was higher than Brodie's fall and was a jump, rather than a fall from the underside of the deck as in Brodie's case. The Police Gazette, his employer, naturally lionized his effort, declaring "Brave Lawrence M. Donovan, the Police Gazette Champion, Eclipses all Previous Jumpers – Brodie outdone". The magazine's proprietor, R. K. Fox, awarded him a "magnificent" gold medal for the effort. The leap was replicated by accident a year later when a painter slipped and fell 120 feet into the river, without injury.

Having earned $200 in a wager for this success (another source says $500), he left the newspaper industry and began to seek other opportunities in the field, hoping to earn enough to open a whisky shop.

Foiled Genessee Falls attempt His first plan was to attempt to leap from Genesee Falls at a greater height than Sam Patch's ill-fated 38m attempt nearly sixty years earlier. He was, however, denied permission, on October 20 by the Mayor of Rochester, telling a newspaper that he would join a circus and do a high jumping act. Three days later he attempted to jump from the bridge anyway, but was caught by police. He was imprisoned at the Tombs for several weeks.

Niagara Falls

In early November 1886, he set his sights on Niagara Falls, apparently without immediate financial incentive, but with the hope of future returns. He visited Niagara Falls to find a site to jump from, rejecting the "old bridge" at Falls View, a wood and steel suspension bridge just below the rapids, before settling on the new Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge. This double-decker rail and carriage bridge was completed earlier that year, completely replacing an earlier suspension bridge on the same site, with minimal traffic disruption, only to be itself replaced ten years later. That bridge had only seen one previous jump, by a Bellini in 1873, who performed a sort of bungee jump.

In the company of a ferryman, a few members of the press, and his trainer, J. Haley, Donovan made the leap at 7 AM, wearing the same outfit he used for the Brooklyn Bridge jump. The height was calculated at 190 feet. After swimming to safety, he was spitting blood, and shaken by the experience, declaring he would refuse to repeat the leap for less than a million dollars. He was diagnosed with a displaced rib and bruised lung.

After the leap, he swore that he wouldn't "degrade [himself] by going into a dime museum", apparently envisaging more sophisticated ways of earning an income from his pursuit, such as a benefit dinner he held at Buffalo's Adelphi Theatre on November 17. He planned another attempt on Genesee Falls, in the summer of 1887, and to "swim the Niagara Rapids farther than [William] Kendall did". He also had a plan to go over the falls in a barrel with a woman, but was unable to find a willing companion. That feat was performed by George Hazlett with a female companion in late November.

This pride apparently did not last long; in December, after having "returned to [New York], without much money", he accepted a "specially tempting offer ... made by Messrs. [Louis] Hickman & Burke ... at the New York Museum, where he now forms a strong attraction". This dime museum had recently been investigated for gambling and child prostitution. He then reportedly issued a challenge to fight champion boxer John L. Sullivan in a four-round bout.

Chestnut Street Bridge

This was soon followed by a leap from the Chestnut Street Bridge (88 feet) in Philadelphia into the Schuylkill River. He made the leap at 7 AM on February 18, 1887, inviting a "score of reporters and prominent sporting men" to watch him jump, wearing shoes with lead-lined soles. He was "badly winded, and a little stream of blood gushed from his mouth", but was otherwise uninjured. He was, however, arrested and spent three months at "The Tombs" jail. He had been intending to attempt to set a record of 500 miles in a "walking match" later in the month, and apparently still had his sights on the Genesee Falls. Soon after, he declared his intention to jump from the Niagara Horseshoe Falls on May 8, and to swim the Niagara Falls Rapids. Nothing seems to have come of these plans. In March, he was appointed lieutenant in the volunteer life saving corps.

Brooklyn Bridge return After a quiet couple of months, Donovan returned to New York in early April, with the intention of diving headfirst from the Brooklyn Bridge, claiming to have secured a wager of $1,000 for the attempt. He prepared for an attempt on April 18, 1887, wearing a "skull cap stuffed with cotton", as well as a padded suit and lead-filled canvas shoes. The weather was sleeting with a cold wind.

Unfortunately, calling himself "the champion aerial jumper of the world" and "the champion of champions", the news of the forthcoming attempt had reached his mother. She sent an urgent telegram to police, only moments before the attempt was to be made: "Please prevent Larry Donovan from diving off bridge to-day."

Police at both ends of the bridge thus began searching every vehicle crossing, and discovered Donovan at 1:40 PM. He was subsequently remanded, pending bail of $1,000, by a judge who declared "You are a fool ... I am opposed to cranks of your stripe". His defense that he never intended to dive, and only made the claims to obtain free advertising, were ineffective.

Unable to afford $500 bail, he resigned himself to three months at The Tombs prison, where he was joined on April 28 by another young man, Emmanuel Defreitas, who had made a slightly higher jump from the same bridge. Defreitas's attempt was made without padded garments, and was nearly fatal, as he was knocked off balance by police as he prepared to jump, and hit his head on the way down.

Steve Brodie, visiting Donovan with cigars and tobacco, urged both he and Defreitas to avoid jumping illegally and to follow his example instead. He had lined up a contract to make a leap of 120 feet in Ohio, for a fee of $250, with another bridge jump to follow in St Louis for the same fee.

On May 9, Donovan was paroled in Yorkville Court by a judge who "extract[ed] a promise not to use any bridge in New-York State for such exhibitions again".

Around this time he was exhibiting himself in a dime museum (despite earlier protestations), and travelling in a variety company organised by himself, which was not a success.

England

London