Born to Ramble – Born to Rove
Aug 30th, 2012 by bachmann
A-No.1—The Rambler
Well before Jack Kerouac was bit by the wanderlust bug and became an American icon and legend, there was another American road warrior who epitomized the drifter lifestyle and the “rambling man” persona. Leon Ray Livingston (aka “A-No.1”) (1872–1944) was the most notable rambler of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, taking to the trains and roaming some 500,000 miles world-wide over a span of 25 years. His story today has been largely forgotten, but at one time he was famous nationwide for his exploits, even taking up with Jack London on one coast to coast trip. A self-proclaimed “King of the Hobos”, A-No.1 is credited with developing the hobo symbols system to let fellow wandering souls know where to go for food and shelter, as well as places and people to avoid. A-No.1 wrote at least a dozen books detailing his road adventures from the humorous to the grim. While he felt compelled to live the life of a rover, he discouraged others from choosing this same lifestyle.
“Perhaps some may think that a man who has
attained only the age of thirty-eight years has
hardly enough accrued experience to justify
him in writing an autobiography, but as I look back
over the crowded years since I first became a tramp,
I feel that the thousand and one odd and peculiar
experiences (such as never fall to the lot of the
ordinary mortal who is anchored in the city, village
or country) will justify publication.
Were other men of my age to write their life’s
story, it could ordinarily be summed up with Caesarian
brevity: “I was born; I learned a trade, and I
am beginning to have money in the bank.” But
for a man who has been wandering since his eleventh
year, and has been leading the life of a tramp, to try
and tell his experiences, is quite a different undertaking.”
“There is a dark side to a tramp’s life: —for every mile
stolen on trains, there is one escape from a horrible death;
for each mile of beautiful scenery and food in plenty,
there are many weary miles of hard walking with no food
or even water —through mountain gorges and over parched
deserts; for each warm summer night, there are ten bittercold,
long winter nights; for every kindness, there are a
score of unfriendly acts. A tramp is constantly hounded by
the minions of the law; is shunned by all humanity, and
never knows the meaning of home and friends. To tell
the truth, it is a pitiful existence all the way through, and what
is the end? It is an even ninety-nine chances out of a hundred
that the end will be a miserable one —an accident, an
alms-house, but surely an unmarked pauper’s grave.”
—A-No.1
The Curse of Tramp Life
Hobo Camp Fire Tales
The Trail of the Tramp
Signs and Symbols by A-No.1
Eight of A-No.1 books are available at Harvard Library
- Description:
- A-No. 1. Life and adventures of A-No. 1, America’s most celebrated tramp. Cambridge Springs, Pa. : A-No. 1 Pub. Co., c1910.
- Persistent Link:
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:8623664
- Description:
- A-No. 1. Hobo-camp-fire-tales. Cambridge Springs, Pa. : A-No. 1 Publishing Co., c1911.
- Persistent Link:
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:8623663
- Description:
- A-No. 1. The curse of tramp life. Cambridge Springs, Penn. : A-No. 1 Pub. Co., c1912.
- Persistent Link:
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:8623665
- Description:
- A-No. 1. The trail of the tramp. Cambridge Springs, Penn. : A-No. 1 Pub. Co., c1913.
- Persistent Link:
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:8623666
- Description:
- A-No. 1. The adventures of a female tramp. Erie, PA : A-No. 1 Pub. Co., c1914.
- Persistent Link:
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:8623659
- Description:
- A-No. 1. The ways of the hobo. Erie, Penn. : A-No. 1 Pub. Co., c1915.
- Persistent Link:
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:8623661
- Description:
- A-No. 1. The snare of the road. Erie, Penn’a : A-No. 1 Pub. Co., c1916.
- Persistent Link:
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:8623662
- Description:
- A-No. 1. Mother Delcassee of the hoboes :and other stories. Erie, Pa. : A-No. 1 Pub. Co., c1918.
- Persistent Link:
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:8623660
- Repository:
- Widener Library
- Institution:
- Harvard University
[…] points to Leon Ray Livingston, who might be considered America’s most famous hobo, and whose moniker, A-No.1, stood out in the […]
[…] from the books he wrote, which often read like tall tales designed to help build his mystique. According to Livingston, he was born in August 1872 into a family from San Francisco that he described as […]