[1][2] Ross began as a circus entertainer with P. T. Barnum before his stage debut on April 5, 1885, at Miner's Bowery Theatre in Manhattan as a singer and impersonator.

[1] Over the next few years, Ross would develop his talent as a farce comedian playing with vaudeville companies in New York and on the road.

[3] Ross married actress Ada Towne (known professionally as Mabel Fenton) on June 9, 1887, during a stopover at Deadwood, South Dakota amidst a vaudeville tour of the American West.

The couple soon created the act Ross and Fenton and within two years became a staple of the Weber and Fields Company in New York performing their farce productions of classic and popular plays of the day.

For a number of years, Ross Fenton Farm was a popular mecca for New York area artist and entertainers.