bought out the show using the appellation "Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt Lowe, Professor of Chemistry." Self-made scientist and aeronaut The lecture circuit business proved lucrative enough for Lowe to seek out the education he so lacked as a child. He tried studying medicine to fulfill his grandmother's wish, but the boredom redirected him to his first interest, aviation with the use of lighter-than-air gases. American balloonists used coke gas to inflate limp silk bags, as opposed to the original French balloons which were cotton weave over rigid frameworks that were stood over fires to collect hot smoke (hot air). By the late 1850s, Lowe had become a foremost balloon builder and continued his lucrative business as a showman giving balloon rides to passersby and funfair attendees. In 1855, at one of his lectures, he was introduced to a pretty Parisian actress, 19-year-old Leontine Augustine Gaschon. Her father was a palace guard of King Louis Phillipe who fled to the U.S. as a political refugee. A week later, on February 14, 1855, Thaddeus and Leontine wed. Their union would produce ten children, seven girls and three boys. Lowe continued with his scientific endeavors and the dream of owning his own balloon with the wild idea of making a transatlantic flight via the high winds he observed. He pored over the book A System of Aeronautics by John Wise, which had specific instructions for the construction of aerostats including the cutting, the sewing, the leak proofing. In 1857 Lowe built and piloted his first balloon in tethered flight at a small farm in Hoboken, New Jersey. Thad's father joined in the balloon making business and had become an accomplished aeronaut himself. In 1858 the Lowes built the larger balloon Enterprise and several others. On the 17th of June 1858 he made a successful public ascension in Ottawa, Canada West, after an unsuccessful May 24th attempt. During this and another September 1st ascension he appeared under the name Monsieur Carlincourt (T.S.C. Lowe) Lowe continued with his scientific endeavors and avocation to make a transatlantic flight via the high-altitude winds later known as the jet stream. In 1859 Lowe began the construction of a mammoth balloon to be named the City of New York. Meanwhile, he promoted the theory of transatlantic flight to many who had stock market interests in Europe. The recently laid transatlantic cable had failed, and sea travel was undependably slow. He