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Barnum Page 39

by Robert Wilson


  Barnum’s friendship with Greeley, 86

  Barnum’s “George Washington’s nursemaid” and, 33–34

  Barnum’s Herald of Freedom, 23–24, 165, 166

  Barnum’s payments to editors, 34

  Barnum’s publicity stunts and, 2

  Barnum’s Tom Thumb in, 74

  Lind promotion, 134, 135, 154

  number of, N.Y.C., 24

  “Queen of Beauty” promotion, 204

  New York Atlas

  Barnum novella in, 50, 167

  Barnum writing for, 101, 109–10

  Barnum’s daughter’s death and, 99

  Barnum’s letters in, 82, 91, 94, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 105, 109–10, 120, 167

  New York City, 11, 55, 166–67, 244–45

  American Institute fair, 38

  Barnum buys the Hippotheatron, 236

  Barnum’s “butterfly friends” in, 184

  Barnum’s circle in, 220–21, 226, 247

  Barnum’s early years in, 19–20, 29, 30, 33, 47–50

  Barnum settles debts in, 184

  Barnum’s Fejee Mermaid in, 2–3

  Barnum’s “George Washington’s nursemaid” in, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38

  Barnums living in, 177–78

  Barnum’s Roman Hippodrome, 244, 259

  Barnum’s town house, 220–21, 239

  Bowery Amphitheatre, 50

  the Bowery and, 54

  “codfish aristocracy,” 100, 306n11

  Confederate arson plot in, 209–10

  Coup and Castello circus in, 233, 234

  Draft Riots, 200

  The Drunkard playing in, 141, 309n5

  fire annihilator demonstration, 163–64

  Five Points, 54–55

  Lind in, 134–38, 143–46, 154–55, 159, 310n7, 310n11

  newspapers in, 24

  porterhouses in, 47

  theaters in summer and, 309n1

  Tom Thumb’s wedding, 204–7

  New-York Daily Tribune, 142

  New York Evening Star, 33, 36

  New York Herald, 58

  advertising boycott against, 219

  American Museum fire and, 212, 213

  Barnum and, 154, 169–70, 179, 188, 314n28, 217–18

  Barnum & London Circus report, 260

  Barnum advertising using Lincoln, 197

  Barnum-Fish wedding in, 242

  Barnum’s Last Pronunciamiento, 189

  Barnum’s Lind promotion, 134, 150

  Bennett as editor, 40

  Bennett letter on Jenny Lind, 125

  Bennett’s animus toward Barnum and, 40, 179, 181, 189

  “George Washington’s nursemaid” and, 34

  “Joice Heth is not dead” story, 40–41

  Lind in America and, 145, 154

  Tom Thumb in, 74, 75, 79

  Twain writing in, 247

  New-York Museum Company, 53, 68

  New York Musical Fund Society, 138

  New-York Observer, 198

  New York Post, 177

  New York Sun, 39–41, 53, 106, 119, 157, 164–65, 169, 267, 298n5, 317n16

  “Moon Hoax,” 301n19

  “Precious Humbug Exposed,” 40

  New-York Times, 169, 196, 205–6, 212, 213, 259, 285, 315n6

  New-York Tribune

  on American Museum, 139–40, 193

  Barnum circus and, 259, 284

  Barnum news, 142, 221, 222–23, 225

  Barnum’s Roman Hippodrome, 245

  Croffut reporting on Bull Run, 198

  English royalty at “What Is It?”, 195–96

  on the fire annihilator, 164

  Greeley as editor, 86, 227, 245

  on Jumbo, 267

  Lind in, 135, 137, 144–45, 157

  Reid and, 221, 227, 253, 317n5

  Tom Thumb letter on Barnum, 180–81

  Tom Thumb promotions in, 74, 80

  New York Weekly Mercury, 228

  Niagara Falls, 115–16, 230, 250

  Niblo, William, 34–35, 53, 180, 189

  Niblo’s Garden, N.Y.C., 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 78, 79, 206, 209

  Nichols, James White, 116–17

  Nichols, Thomas Low, 49

  Noble, William H., 174–75, 312n1

  Nutt, “Commodore,” 201–3, 205–6, 273

  Olmsted, Francis L., 52–53, 57

  Olympia Hall, Kensington, 279–81

  On the Origin of Species (Darwin), 193, 194

  Oscar, King of Sweden and Norway, 130, 309n23

  Pall Mall Gazette, 280, 281

  Paris, 94–95, 305n1

  French royalty and Barnum, 103

  Lind in, 129

  Théâtre du Vaudeville, 102

  Tom Thumb appearing in, 102–3

  Tuileries Palace, 103–4

  Peale, Charles Wilson, 68

  Peale, Ruben, 68

  Peale’s Museum, 68, 82

  Phillips, W. H., 163–64

  Fire Annihilator, 163–64

  “Philosophy of Humbug, The” (Barnum speech), 229

  Pierce, Franklin, 166

  Pierpont, John, 309n5

  Poe, Edgar Allan, 37

  Potter, Horatio, 205

  Providence Daily Journal, 36

  P. T. Barnum (ship), 283

  P. T. Barnum’s Great Asiatic Caravan, Museum and Menagerie, 161–63, 232

  P. T. Barnum’s Museum of Living Wonders, Philadelphia, 118, 141

  P. T. Barnum’s New and Only Greatest Show on Earth, 251

  publicity stunts and schemes, 302n21

  elephant plowing Barnum’s farm, 226

  Fejee Mermaid and, 2–3

  “George Washington’s nursemaid” tour, 3, 30–41

  song contest, 133, 145

  ticket auction for Lind concert, 147

  Tom Thumb’s wedding, 204–7

  “What Is It?” missing link exhibit, 194

  Redfield, Julius, 169, 312n10, 312n13

  Redpath Lyceum Bureau, 250

  Reid, Whitlaw, 221, 227, 253, 317n5

  Rennell, Henry (great-grandson), 276

  Revere House, Boston, 133, 146, 148, 196

  Richmond Daily Dispatch, 179

  R.M.S. Scotia, 239, 241

  Robert-Houdin, Jean-Eugène, 95, 305n1

  Roberto il Diavolo (Meyerbeer), 124, 128

  Rogers, David L., 39–40

  Rosenberg, Charles, 149

  Ross, William, 147, 310n13

  Rothschild, Baroness Charlotte von, 87

  Rothschild, Lionel de, 87

  Royal Waterloo Hotel, 84, 182–83

  Royal Zoological Society, 264, 270

  Ruskin, John, 265

  Sandford, James, 47

  Saunders, William P., 300n7

  Saxon, A. H., 91, 100, 275, 301n22, 314n25

  Schultz, Gladys Denny, 150

  Schumann, Robert and Clara, 133

  Scott, Matthew, 266–67, 268, 269

  Scott, Winfield, 155

  Scudder family, 51, 52, 53, 57, 58

  Scudder’s American Museum, 29, 50, 51, 53, 55, 57

  Seeley, Clinton Hallett (grandson), 260, 274, 278

  Seeley, Pauline Barnum (daughter), 108, 183, 185, 252, 260

  Seelye, Seth, 24, 299n28

  Sefton, John, 78, 79

  Seward, William H., 199

  Shakespeare, William, 96–97

  Sherman, William Tecumseh, 209

  Sherwood, David, 236

  Sherwood, H. G., 94

  Sketch-Book (Irving), 96–97

  slavery, 33, 42, 156

  Barnum and, 101, 156, 197, 199–200, 214

  “Bloody Kansas” and, 197

  Emancipation Proclamation, 203

  Fifteenth Amendment and, 215

  Lincoln’s election and, 192

  Thirteenth Amendment and, 214

  Smith, Albert Richard, 96–98, 183

  Smith, Joseph, 65

  Smith, Le Grand, 146, 147

  Smith, Sol, 154

  Smith, William
H., 141

  Smithsonian Institution, 256, 278

  Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (SPCC), 275

  Springfield Republican, 170

  S.S. Atlantic, 134, 135, 136

  Stanton, Edwin, 202

  Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 221

  Stevens, Joseph “Major Stevens,” 74

  St. James’s Hall, London, 186

  Stone, Lucy, 200

  Stratton, Charles S. See Tom Thumb

  Stratton, Cynthia, 72, 75, 84, 102

  Stratton, Sherwood, 76, 102, 161

  earnings from Tom Thumb, 104, 105

  Strong, George Templeton, 193–94

  Struggles and Triumphs or Forty Years’ Reflections of P. T. Barnum, 4, 41–42, 65, 79, 82, 125–26, 164, 197, 201, 203–4, 212, 220, 233, 237, 268

  “The Art of Money-Getting” in, 186

  Charity largely absent from, 242

  Hutchinson as sales agent, 261

  illustrations, 201, 227

  “Last Chapter,” 322n21

  passages from autobiography cut or changed in, 30, 73, 100, 302n21

  reviews, 227–28

  Sol Smith’s dedication reprinted, 154

  Twain and, 246

  writing and publication, 171, 226–29, 317n5

  “Success, or the Art of Money-Getting” (Barnum lecture series), 220

  Swan, Anna, 218, 222, 233

  Tammany Society’s Museum, 51

  Taylor, Alanson (uncle, guardian), 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 66–67, 299n25

  Taylor, Molly, 11

  Taylor, Oliver, 19

  Taylor, Phineas (grandfather), 10–11, 13, 15–16, 18

  Taylor, Thomas House, 206

  Temperance Movement, 4

  Barnum as temperance speaker, 120, 123, 143, 148, 202, 226, 236

  Barnum’s commitment to, 118–20, 140, 200, 241, 249, 252

  The Drunkard, 141–42, 309n5

  Terry and Barnum Manufacturing Company, 175–76

  Thackeray, William Makepeace, 165, 183, 227

  “There’s a sucker born every minute,” 3

  Thomas, Abel C., 221, 240, 245, 273, 276

  Thomas, Louise, 221

  Thompson, Caroline Barnum (daughter), 28, 29, 44, 49, 75, 99–100, 105, 115–16, 150, 155, 158, 167, 176, 185, 189

  Thompson, David W. (son-in-law), 176, 185, 213

  Thorp, David, 19

  Tiffany, H. O., 213

  Times of London, 92, 124, 128, 134, 186, 285

  Tocqueville, Alexis de, 51, 52

  Tom Thumb “The General,” 4, 71–83, 161, 230, 269

  at the American Museum, 74, 76, 111, 201–2

  appearance, 72, 76, 201, 231

  Barnum and, 71, 72–74, 77–79, 104–6, 116–17, 180–81, 207–8

  in Barnum & London Circus, 259

  in Barnum’s Great Asiatic Caravan, Museum and Menagerie, 232–36

  Barnum’s wealth and, 98

  carriage for, 96, 103

  contract and earnings, 76, 87, 93, 104

  death of, 273

  described in Nichols’s diary, 116–17

  at Egyptian Hall, London, 88–89

  in England and Europe, 79–93, 95–96, 98, 101–6, 182–83, 185, 196

  extraordinary cleverness, 72, 93

  fee charged for kissing, 104, 206

  feted by important people, 86–87

  French royalty and, 103–4

  Hone’s diary on, 105

  naming of, 73–74

  Napoleon impression, 75, 93, 104

  personality and character, 180–81

  play written for, Le Petit Poucet, 102

  as prodigy, 75–76

  publicity for, 75, 79–80

  Queen Victoria and, 89–92, 104, 165, 305n12

  return to New York (1847), 110–11

  Sherwood as “moral instructor” for, 94

  Spanish royalty and, 104

  traveling exhibition of, 76–77, 78

  U.S. tour (1847), 112, 115, 116, 120

  wealth of, 105–6, 204

  wedding and tour, 192, 204–7, 231

  Wellington and, 93

  at the White House, with Lavinia, 207

  traveling exhibitions and curiosities

  Barnum and Van Amburgh Museum and Menagerie Company, 219–20

  “Barnum’s Museum, Circus, and Mammoth Amphitheatre,” 202, 203

  Happy Family, 97–98

  Johnson’s “What Is It” and, 194–95

  P. T. Barnum’s Great Asiatic Caravan, Museum and Menagerie, 161–63

  See also circuses; Heth, Joice; Tom Thumb

  Tremont Temple, Boston, 146–48

  Tripler Hall, N.Y.C., 154–55, 159, 310n7

  Trumpet and Universalist Magazine, 170, 312n16

  Tufts College, 270, 277–78

  Turf Coffeehouse, London, 61

  Turner, Aaron, and circus, 45, 46–47

  Twain, Mark, 226, 229–30, 246, 247, 250, 254

  Barnum and, 246–48

  Nook Farm, 247–48

  satire of Barnum, 216–17, 246, 316n12

  Unitarianism, 23, 199

  United States, nineteenth century

  Barnum as exemplar, 7, 93, 170–71

  Barnum as metaphor, 181

  changing class structure of, 181–82

  fame of Jenny Lind and, 131–32

  human exhibits (freak shows), 31–32

  Jumbomania, 266

  Panic of 1837, 44, 47

  racial views in, 36, 42, 48, 300n13

  Second Great Awakening and revivalism, 16, 23

  theatergoing in, 5, 141, 236, 274–75

  Tom Thumb’s wedding, 192

  See also Civil War; slavery

  Universalist Church, 24–25, 169, 200, 220, 240, 242, 253, 304n12

  Barnum’s philanthropy and, 277–78

  Van Amburgh, Isaac, 219–20, 224

  Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 179, 181

  Vanderbilt, William Henry, 205

  Vauxhall Gardens, N.Y.C., 48–50

  Verdi, Giuseppe, 124–25

  Victoria, Princess of England, 92

  Victoria, Queen of England, 86, 89–92, 104, 124, 128, 134, 136, 165, 265, 279–80, 305n12

  Vivalla, Signor (Signor Antonio), 45, 47

  Waldemere (Barnum’s home), 225–26, 232, 238, 241, 242, 243, 246, 247, 250, 252, 260–61, 282, 319n5

  Wallace, Mike, 48

  Ward, Henry A., 269–70

  Warren, Lavinia, 203–8, 259, 273

  Warren, Minnie, 206, 273

  Washington, George, 3, 30, 40, 155

  Washington, John A., 155

  Washington Daily Union, 156

  Webb, James Watson, 74, 303n6

  Welles, Gideon, 299n27

  Wellington, Duke of, 92–93, 124

  West, James, 134, 136

  “Where’s Barnum?” saying, 3, 164

  White Cloud, Chief, 88–89

  Whitman, Walt, 108

  Whittier, John Greenleaf, 221, 285

  Whittlesey, Elisha, 163

  Wikoff, Henry, 130

  Wilde, Oscar, 279

  Willey, Junius, 205

  Wilton, John Hall, 130–31

  Winter Garden, N.Y.C., 209, 217–19

  women’s rights, 200, 221

  Wood, George, 224–25, 229

  Wood’s Museum and Metropolitan Theatre, 224–25, 226, 229, 231, 232

  World, The (weekly newspaper), 252

  “World and How to Live in It, The” (Barnum lecture series), 250

  Wright, Richardson, 31

  “Yankee cuteness,” 10, 14, 46, 98, 179

  Young, Brigham, 231

  “Zazel, the Beautiful Human Cannon Ball,” 251

  ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

  Frontispiece: P. T. Barnum in 1851. TCS 1.1296. Courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University. https://images.hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=HVD_VIAolvwork606439&context=L&vid=HVD_IMAGES&search_scope=default_scope&tab=default_tab&lang=en_U
S

  1. P. T. Barnum in London in 1844. From portrait by Charles Baugniet. Courtesy of Barnum Museum, Bridgeport, Connecticut.

  2. Charity Hallett Barnum in an 1847 oil portrait by Frederick R. Spencer. Courtesy of Barnum Museum.

  3. Advertisement for an exhibition of Joice Heth. Courtesy of Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library, Bridgeport, Connecticut.

  4. Moses Kimball. From The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1902. Courtesy of Boston Athenaeum.

  5. “Fejee Mermaid.” From The Life of P. T. Barnum, Written by Himself.

  6. Three mermaids. From The Life of P. T. Barnum, Written by Himself.

  7. Charles Stratton with his father, Sherwood Stratton. Courtesy of Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library.

  8. Tom Thumb as Napoleon Bonaparte. Courtesy of Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library.

  9. P. T. Barnum and Tom Thumb. Courtesy of Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library.

  10. The American Museum on lower Broadway in 1842. Courtesy of Barnum Museum.

  11. 1855 lithograph titled “Sleighing in New York.” Courtesy of Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3g02722/

  12. Three Barnum daughters, painted by Frederick R. Spencer. Courtesy of Barnum Museum.

  13. Iranistan, in Fairfield, Connecticut, courtesy of Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3g02470/

  14. The singer Jenny Lind. Courtesy of Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library.

  15. P. T. Barnum and Commodore Nutt. Courtesy of Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library.

  16. The 1863 “fairy wedding” of Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren. Courtesy of Bridgeport History Center, Bridgeport Public Library.

  17. Christopher Pearse Cranch (1813–1892), The Burning of Barnum’s Museum (1865), oil on canvas, 30 x 48 inches. Private collection.

  18. Horace Greeley, editor of the New-York Tribune. Courtesy of Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/pga.08505/

  19. P. T. Barnum in the 1860s. Courtesy of Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cwpbh.02176/

  20. Charity Hallett Barnum. Courtesy of Barnum Museum.

  21. Nancy Fish. Courtesy of Paul Smith’s College, Joan Weill Adirondack Library Archives. https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/paulsmiths/id/10539/

  22. P. T. Barnum with Nancy and his children and grandchildren. Courtesy of Barnum Museum.

  23. Barnum & Bailey Circus poster. Courtesy of Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b52428/

  24. Jumbo the elephant. Courtesy of Digital Collections and Archives, Tufts University.

  25. Jumbo’s death, 1880. Courtesy of Digital Collections and Archives, Tufts University.

  26. A poster for “Great Jumbo’s Skeleton” in Barnum’s first Greatest Show on Earth. Courtesy of Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.32620/

 

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