BARNUM, Inducts Taylor, American showman: b. Bethel, Conn., 5 July 1810; d. Bridgeport, 7 April 1891. He was the son of a tavern-keeper and in his boyhood displayed a remarkable propensity for practical jokes upon his father's customers, as well as a decided turn for trade. Having accumulated a small sum of money, he opened a little miscellaneous store. Here he was very successful, and, tak ing advantage of the mania for lotteries which then prevailed throughout the country, he via ited New York and obtained some insight into their management. Returning to his store, he immediately entered into this business upon a large scale, established agencies in various cities and towns, and realized considerable sums from the immense sales of tickets which he was thus enabled to make. The predominat ing trait in his character would not, however, permit him to settle down as a country store keeper, and we soon hear of him as the editor of the Herald of Freedom, published in Dan bury, Conn. In this undertaking he was also very successful from a pecuniary point of view, but his freedom of speech and the boldness of his opinions soon gained him many enemies, and he was several times sued for libel, and once confined in prison for 60 days. In 1834 he removed with his family to New York, hav ing become much reduced in circumstances. Here he tried many ways to obtain a livelihood, but without much success, until 1835, when hearing of Joice Heth, a colored woman, the reputed nurse of George Washington, he vis ited her owners, and becoming satisfied that here was an opportunity of retrieving his broken fortunes he became her purchaser for the sum of $1,0(10, which he had obtained from various friends. By widely advertising this curiosity, considerable excitement was created, and the receipts soon amounted to $1,500 per week. This was Barnum's first attempt as a public showman, and finding the business profit able, he collected a small company and trav eled through the country, realizing large sums wherever he halted. In 1836 Joice Heth died, and a post-mortem examination proved her to have been but 75 or 80 years old, instead of 161, which was her reputed age. From 1836 until 1839 Mr. Barnum continued in the exhibit ing business, but was then obliged to return to New York, again reduced to poverty. He now barely subsisted by writing occasional articles for Sunday papers, and by petty jobs. In 1841, the establishment known as Scudder's American Museum was announced for sale, and with a boldness almost unparalleled in mercantile transactions, Mr. Barnum negotiated for its purchase; without owning a dollar, he made satisfactory arrangements with its holders and took possession. 'Here his fortune turned; at
the end of a year he was able to pay all the obligations which he had entered into on ac count of the museum. In 1848 he had added to it two other extensive and valuable collections, beside several minor ones, and single curiosities without number. It now became the most pop ular place of amusement in the United States. In 1842 he heard of Charles S. Stratton, of Bridgeport, then 5 years old, less than 2 feet high and weighing only 16 pounds. The boy became known to the world as Gen. Tom Thumb, and was exhibited in the United States with astonishing success until 1844, when Mr. Barnum sailed with him for England. Through out Great Britain he was received with a pop ularity surpassing even that of America, and for four months the receipts averaged $500 per day. Tom Thumb was presented to the royal families of England, France and Belgium, courted and caressed by the nobility and pre sented with costly gifts. In Coventry Barnum purchased the "Happy Family>' of birds and animals, for which he paid $2,500. In 1847 he returned to America, where the "Generals was again exhibited for a year with increased suc cess, the receipts in the United States and Havana amounting to $150,000. Barnum con ceived the idea of inducing Mlle. Jenny Lind to visit America, and entered into an agree ment with her, by which he engaged her to sing in America for 150 nights at $1,000 per night, the expenses of herself and troupe to be defrayed by him. Jenny Lind arrived in New York 1 Sept. 1850. The excitement upon this occasion has perhaps never been equalled in America. She gave her first concert at Castle Garden, and from that time until June 1851, gave 93 concerts, which were a succession of triumphs, the gross receipts for the whole amounting to over $700,000. The tickets were generally sold at auction, the highest price paid for one ticket being in Providence, R. I., namely, $650. He continued before the public with varying success until 1855, when having built himself an extensive villa at Bridgeport, Conn., he retired from business and published his life, giving a full account of the various enterprises in which he had been engaged. He also devoted much of his time to farming, and made many improvements in Bridgeport. Two museums of his were burned in 1865 and 1868, and in 1871 he established "The Greatest Show on Earth," a combination of traveling circus and menageries. He was defeated for Con gress in 1866, hut was four times a member of the Connecticut legislature. Besides his 'Auto biography' (1854), he published 'The Hum bugs of the World' (1865), and 'Struggles and (1869).