CHAPTER XV

“NOT MY WILL, BUT THINE, BE DONE”

In November of 1890, when he was eighty years old, Barnum suffered an attack of acute congestion of the brain, which kept him in bed for three weeks, and the physicians decided that this was his last illness. He had prepared for that possibility in detail. Before making his final will he called in a horde of physicians to testify to his sound mental condition, because the relatives of a Bridgeport friend, who had recently died, contested the will. In this lawsuit Barnum had been called as a witness of Captain Brooks’s mental condition. He replied that he thought the mind of the deceased was as sound as that of any rich man who has poor relations. He himself was determined by this example to frustrate any chance of dissension after his death, and his will provided that contestants were to be deprived of their bequests; his will also set aside a fund of $100,000 to be used in fighting contests.

Besides preparing his will, Barnum exacted from his wife the promise that she would write “The Last Chapter” of the _Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself_, giving the details of his last year to the world. From Mrs. Barnum’s account we learn that he was merry and refused to entertain the thought of death, and the mention of it was considerately kept from his eyes and ears. The newspapers, anxious to print reports of his condition, desisted when they were told that he read the papers carefully every day. He continued his business transactions, especially those involving Bridgeport real estate, and he inquired eagerly concerning the daily receipts of the circus. Until the last few weeks of his illness Barnum never gave up hope of his recovery. “Of his own death,” wrote his wife, “he would not speak. Of Death in the abstract he said, ‘It is a good thing, a beautiful thing, just as much so as life; and it is wrong to grieve about it and look upon it as an evil.’” But he looked long and wistfully at his wife and daughter, and every night his last, whispered words were, “Thy will be done....”

He lingered, but in the beginning of April, 1891, it became obvious that his death was a matter of days. He calmly made arrangements for his own funeral, but always ignoring whenever possible the word, Death. He insisted that he must not be embalmed and chose a plain deal casket with a black pall for his last resting place. In giving his directions for a simple funeral, he said that of show and parade he had had enough during his fifty years before the public. He had never forgotten the horrible impression made on his mind as he gazed on General Grant’s dead face, and knowing that he was emaciated, he wished no public exhibition of his body. He sent for the Rev. Dr. Robert Collyer and chose for his funeral two hymns, one by Whittier and the other by Oliver Wendell Holmes; he said that if there was to be an address he would like the text of it to be from Luke xxii, 42: “Not my will, but Thine, be done,” and that is the text graven on his tombstone.

Four days before Barnum’s death, the _Evening Sun_ of New York learned that a few weeks before, when he had been dangerously ill and was thought to be dying, Barnum, on his recovery, had written to a friend: “The only thing lacking to make me happy on my return to good health is the chance to see what sort of lines would have been written about me.” The _Evening Sun_ sent a reporter to the circus to inquire whether it would hurt Barnum’s feelings if the newspaper should print an obituary notice of him before he died. “Not at all,” answered Tody Hamilton, the press agent, knowing his boss. The next day the _Evening Sun_ devoted four columns to the facts of Barnum’s career, and there was a noticeable improvement in Barnum’s health.

At half-past six in the evening of April 7, 1891, Barnum died, and his last words were a request to know what the circus receipts had been during the day at Madison Square Garden. It would have pleased him greatly to know that it was said after his death that more newspaper space had been allotted to his career than to that of any other American who was not a President of the United States. Another post-mortem comment that would have delighted this man who never resisted a joke was the conundrum which circulated widely: “Will Barnum get to heaven?” The answer was: “He certainly has a good show.”

In his will Barnum disposed of an estate of $4,100,000, and he made careful provision for the perpetuation of his name. Since he had no sons, he provided that his grandson, C. H. Seeley, should receive $25,000, besides his share in the estate, if he would change his name to C. Barnum Seeley, “so that the name of Barnum shall always be known as his name.” Provision had already been made for the continuation of the name of “Barnum & Bailey” as circus proprietors for fifty years from October 26, 1887.[29]

In a back office at the circus winter quarters in Bridgeport was a large packing box, turned on its side and nailed securely to a wall. On it was painted in large black letters, “Not to be opened until after the death of P. T. Barnum.” Some circus employees expected that this box contained their legacies. When the box was opened, it was found to contain for each of his oldest employees a copy of the _Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself_.

THE END

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS BY BARNUM

_Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself._ First edition, New York, 1855. Revised and published in various editions under this title until 1890.

_Struggles and Triumphs, or Forty Years’ Recollections of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself._ The same as the _Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself_, with additions and revisions. Published under this title, 1869, 1872, 1882.

_How I Made Millions, or The Secret of Success_, by P. T. Barnum. 1884. _The Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself_ under another title.

_Funny Stories Told by P. T. Barnum._ London, 1890. A collection of anecdotes from the autobiography.

_Dollars and Sense, or How to Get On_, by P. T. Barnum. Chicago, 1890. Anecdotes from the autobiography and excerpts from lectures.

_Dick Broadhead_, by P. T. Barnum. New York, 1888. A juvenile book of adventure. Written by the circus press agent and published under Barnum’s name.

_Jack in the Jungle_, by P. T. Barnum. New York, 1880. A juvenile story of adventure with wild animals. Also written by the press agent of the circus.

_Lion Jack_, by P. T. Barnum. New York, 1887. “A Story of Perilous Adventures Among Wild Men and The Capturing of Wild Beasts; Showing How Menageries Are Made.” Also written by the press agent of the circus.

_The Wild Beasts, Birds, and Reptiles of the World, The Story of Their Capture_, by P. T. Barnum. Chicago, 1888. Written for Barnum by the press agent of the circus, but contains a preface and a last chapter by Barnum.

_Barnum’s New Year’s Address._ A pamphlet. New York, 1851. Written for Barnum by John Vose, editor of the _New York Picayune_.

_The Humbugs of the World_, by P. T. Barnum. New York, 1866.

_Why I am a Universalist_, by P. T. Barnum. Universalist Tracts, 1895.

_The Will of P. T. Barnum._ A pamphlet. Bridgeport, Conn., 1891.

_Blackwood’s Magazine._ London, 1855. Review of the _Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself_.

_Christian Review._ New York, Vol. 20, 1855. Review of the _Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself_.

_Fraser’s Magazine._ London, 1855. Review of the _Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself_.

_Southern Literary Messenger._ Richmond, Va., 1855. Review of the _Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself_.

_New York Illustrated News._ 1853. The newspaper Barnum owned for one year. Contains references to his temperance activities.

_The World._ New York newspaper. January 17, 1897. An article on Barnum’s morals.

_To Republicans, a circular in opposition to the nomination of P. T. Barnum as a representative of the Fourth District of Connecticut._

BOOKS BY OTHER AUTHORS

ABBOTT, LYMAN. _Reminiscences._ Contains material on Jenny Lind’s concerts.

ABBOTT, LYMAN. _Silhouettes of My Contemporaries._ Contains an essay on P. T. Barnum.

ALDRICH, MRS. T. B. _Crowding Memories_, p. 243.

ARNOLD, MATTHEW. _Letters of Matthew Arnold._ Vol. 2. 1896.

BAKER, SIR SAMUEL W. _Wild Beasts and Their Ways, Reminiscences of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America._ London, 1890.

BARNUM, MRS. NANCY FISH. _The Last Chapter: In Memoriam P. T. Barnum._ Privately printed, 1891.

_Barnum’s Parnassus. Being Confidential Disclosures of the Prize Committee on the Jenny Lind Song._ “With Specimens of the Leading American Poets in the Happiest Effulgence of Their Genius. Respectfully Dedicated to the American Eagle.” New York, 1850. Parodies Written by William Allen Butler, author of “Nothing to Wear.”

BENNETT, JAMES GORDON. _Memoirs of James Gordon Bennett and His Times by a Journalist._ New York, 1855.

BENSON AND ESHER. _The Letters of Queen Victoria_, edited by Benson and Esher. Vol. 2. Contains material on Jenny Lind in England.

BENTON, JOEL. _Life of Phineas T. Barnum._ New York, 1891. This is the _Life of P. T. Barnum Written by Himself_ with no new material, published the year Barnum died by a friend, who changed the first person singular to the third person singular.

BENTON, JOEL. _P. T. Barnum, Showman and Humorist._ _Century Magazine_, August, 1902.

BLEEKER, SYLVESTER. _General Tom Thumb’s Three Years’ Tour Around the World, Accompanied by His Wife, Lavinia Warren Stratton, Commodore Nutt, Miss Minnie Warren and Party._ New York, 1872.

BREMER, FREDRIKA. _The Homes of the World; Impressions of America._ Two volumes. New York, 1858. Jenny Lind material.

BROWN, MARIA WARD. _The Life of Dan Rice._ Long Branch, N. J., 1901.

BUNN, ALFRED. _The Case of Bunn versus Lind, Tried at the Court of Queen’s Bench, Guildhall, City, Before Mr. Justice Erle and a Special Jury, on Tuesday, February 22nd, 1848, Given in Full, from Shorthand Notes Taken at the Time, with a Series of Letters from Plaintiff and Defendant, Produced Thereat, with Others from Both, Now for the First Time Published, to which are added Notes Explanatory and Critical by Alfred Bunn._ London, 1848.

CARLYLE, THOMAS. _New Letters of Thomas Carlyle._ London, 1904. Contains accounts of Jenny Lind concerts.

CONKLIN, GEORGE. _The Ways of the Circus._ New York, 1921.

COUP, W. C. _Chapters from the Autobiography of W. C. Coup._ New York, 187--.

COUP, W. C. _Sawdust and Spangles._ Chicago, 1901.

CROSBY, C. FRED. _The Early Days of Barnum’s “Greatest on Earth,”_ in _The Billboard_. January 22, 1922.

DICKENS, CHARLES. _American Notes._

EMERSON, EDWARD WALDO. _The Early Years of the Saturday Club._

FIELD, MAUNSELL B. _Memories of Many Men and Some Women._ New York, 1874.

FORD, JAMES L. _Forty-odd Years in the Literary Shop._ New York, 1921.

FOSTER, C. G. _Memoir of Jenny Lind._ New York, 1850.

FRITH, W. P. _My Autobiography and Reminiscences._ New York, 1888.

GEORGE, HENRY, JR. _Life of Henry George._ New York, 1900.

GHIO, MADAME. _Biography of Madame Ghio, the Celebrated Swiss Bearded Lady and Her Son, Esau._ Pamphlet. Glasgow, 1866.

HAINES, GEORGE W. _Plays, Players, and Playgoers. Reminiscences of Barnum._ New York, 1874.

HAWTHORNE, JULIAN. _Hawthorne and His Wife._ Contains reference to Jenny Lind.

HAYDON, BENJAMIN ROBERT. _Autobiography of Benjamin Robert Haydon._ Edited by Tom Taylor. London, 1853. Vol. 3.

HOLLAND, H. S., and ROCKSTRO, W. S. _Memoir of Madame Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt, Her Early Art-Life and Dramatic Career, 1820–1851._ London, 1891.

HONE, PHILIP. _The Diary of Philip Hone, 1828–1851._ Edited by Bayard Tuckerman. Two volumes. New York, 1889. Contains material on Jenny Lind in New York.

HORNBLOW, ARTHUR. _A History of the Theater in America._

IRVING, PIERRE M. _Life and Letters of Washington Irving._ New York, 1869. Three volumes.

JEROME, CHAUNCEY. _History of the American Clock Business and Life of Chauncey Jerome. Written by Himself. Barnum’s Connection with the Yankee Clock Business._ New Haven, Conn., 1860.

JUMBO. A picture folder for children, with verses. London, 1882.

LAMB, MRS. MARTHA J. _History of the City of New York._

LAMB, MRS. MARTHA J. _Wall Street in History._

LE ROUX AND GARNIER. _Acrobats and Mountebanks._ London, 1890.

LIND, JENNY. _Press Books of the Jenny Lind Centennial Celebration._ Jenny Lind Centennial Committee. 1920.

LONGFELLOW, SAMUEL. _Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with Extracts from His Journals and Correspondence._ Vol. 2.

_Nutt, Commodore, History of._ Pamphlet. New York, 1862.

PAINE, ALBERT BIGELOW. _Mark Twain, A Biography._ Vols. 1 and 3.

POND, MAJOR J. B. _Eccentricities of Genius._ New York, 1900.

RISCHBIETH, H., and AMY BARRINGTON. _Dwarfism._ Francis Galton Laboratory for National Eugenics. Eugenics Laboratory Memoirs XV. Treasury for Human Inheritance, Parts VII and VIII, Section XV A. London, 1912.

ROSENBERG, C. G. _Jenny Lind’s Tour Through America and Cuba._ New York, 1851.

_Sights and Wonders in New York, including a description of the mysteries, miracles, marvels, phenomena, curiosities, and nondescripts contained in that great Congress of Wonders, Barnum’s Museum, also a Memoir of Barnum Himself._ New York, 1849.

SMITH, SOL. _The Theatrical Journey--Work and Anecdotal Recollections._ Philadelphia, 1854. Long dedicatory epistle to Barnum.

SMYTH, ALBERT H. _Bayard Taylor._ Boston, 1896.

_Spangled World, A, or Life with the Circus._ New York, 1882.

STODDARD, RICHARD HENRY. _Recollections Personal and Literary._ New York, 1903.

STOWE, CHARLES EDWARD. _Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe._ Letters from Jenny Lind to Mrs. Stowe.

TAYLOR, MARIE HANSEN, and HORACE E. SCUDDER. _Life and Letters of Bayard Taylor._

THACKERAY. _A Collection of Thackeray Letters, 1847–1855._ New York, 1887.

THAYER, WILLIAM ROSCOE. _Life of John Hay._

_Thumb, Thomas, Life and Travels of, in the United States, England, France, and Belgium._ Philadelphia, 1849. A book for children.

TROLLOPE, MRS. _Domestic Manners of the Americans._ London, 1832.

UPTON, GEORGE P. _Musical Memories. My Recollections of Celebrities of the Half Century 1850–1900._ New York, 1908.

WARNER, MORRIS H. _The Barnum Budget, or Tent Topics._ New York, 1887.

WARREN, LAVINIA. Autobiographical article by Lavinia Warren in _The Sunday Magazine_, Sept. 16, 1906.

WILLIS, N. P. _Memoranda for the Life of Jenny Lind._ New York, 1850.

WOOD, EDWARD J. _Giants and Dwarfs._ London, 1868.

NEWSPAPERS AND MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL

P. T. Barnum’s Advance program notes for the circus seasons of 1876, 1879, 1880, 1882, 1889.

_New York Herald_, _New York Morning Courier and Enquirer_, _The Evening Post_, _New York Sun_, _New York Tribune_ for various periods from 1841 until 1891.

_The Times_, London, for 1858, 1882, 1890.

_Illustrated London News_ for 1844, 1845.

_Bridgeport Daily Standard_, Bridgeport, Conn., for various periods.

_Bridgeport Farmer_, Bridgeport, Conn., for various periods.

_The Spirit of the Times_, a New York newspaper, Sept., 1850, and June 14, 1851.

_Philadelphia Sunday Dispatch_, Sept., 1850, and February, 1852.

_Encyclopedia Britannica._ Articles on Barnum, Giants and Dwarfs, Benjamin Robert Haydon.

FOOTNOTES

[1] _From Sea to Sea_, by Rudyard Kipling. American edition, Doubleday, Page & Co. P. 175.

[2] Autograph letter. Gordon L. Ford Collection, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, New York Public Library. This letter bears no date, but since Barnum mentions that he will be in Charleston, S. C., it was possibly written during the Jenny Lind tour in 1850. There is no trace of the Mr. Baker to whom it is addressed, or of his letters to Barnum.

[3] It is interesting in this connection that during the late war a spiritual medium visited Mr. Leonidas Westervelt, a collector of material on Barnum, with the information that she had been in communication with the showman. His spirit told the medium: “Look out for the Germans. Remember, the first man who cheated me was a German.” The first man who cheated Barnum was his grandfather; but he doubtless forgot that in the harmony of his extra-mundane existence.

[4] Editors sometimes sold their commendations, and Barnum frequently paid for his publicity in advertising. The following note from Barnum to Gordon L. Ford, business manager of the _New York Tribune_ under Whitelaw Reid, speaks all too clearly for itself:

“New York, March 24, 1873.

“MY DEAR MR. FORD:

“Pray don’t fail to have a good notice given in your _Weekly_ which will contain our big illustrated advertisement and oblige

“P. T. BARNUM.”

Autograph letter. Gordon L. Ford Collection, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, New York Public Library.

[5] _Illustrated London News_, August 31, 1844.

[6] Autograph Letter in the Theater Collection, Harvard College Library. General Tom Thumb in this letter, one of the few letters he wrote that are extant, gives his official age, according to Barnum, and not his actual birth year. He was born on January 11, 1838, but since Barnum had added six years to his age when he first exhibited him, the General retained that method of calculation carefully for many years. He is the only stage celebrity known who found it to his advantage to increase his age. This letter was written when the General was nine years old.

[7] _Memoir of Madame Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt: Her Early Art-Life and Dramatic Career. 1820–1851. From Original Documents, Letters, MS. Diaries, &c., Collected by Mr. Otto Goldschmidt (her husband)._ By Henry Scott Holland and W. S. Rockstro. Two volumes. London: John Murray, 1891.

[8] Bayard Taylor, by Albert H. Smyth, pp. 82–83. Houghton Mifflin, 1896.

[9] Letter from Julia Knapp to Miss Susan N. Knapp, Greenwich, Conn. In the collection of Leonidas Westervelt.

[10] _The Early Years of the Saturday Club_, by Edward Waldo Emerson, p. 101.

[11] In _Samuel Butler, A Memoir_, by Henry Festing Jones, p. 126, Vol. II, there is a characteristic anecdote of Otto Goldschmidt. It concerns Goldschmidt and W. R. Rockstro, who taught Samuel Butler and Henry Festing Jones harmony and counterpoint, and who was one of the authors of _Memoir of Madame Jenny Lind-Goldschmidt_. Jones writes:

“During the time we knew him [Rockstro], but I forget precisely when, he fell from the top of an omnibus near South Kensington Station. Otto Goldschmidt ... came to see him in the hospital, and Rockstro told Goldschmidt all about the accident. Goldschmidt would not believe him and said:

“‘You don’t mean to tell me you fell off from the top of the bus down to the ground?’

“‘Yes, I do,’ said Rockstro, ‘right off from the top down to the ground, and they took me into the pastrycook’s before bringing me here.’

“Next day Goldschmidt went to see Rockstro again and said:

“‘I find you are quite right. I have been to the pastrycook’s and you actually did fall from the top of the bus to the road.’

“Butler was amused when he heard this, and made the wicked comment that as Otto Goldschmidt had known Rockstro nearly all his life he ought to have been able to form a correct idea of his truthfulness without calling at the pastrycook’s for confirmation.”

[12] Autograph Letter in the collection of Leonidas Westervelt, New York.

[13] New York Tribune, July 2, 1853.

[14] _History of the American Clock Business for the Past Sixty Years, and Life of Chauncey Jerome, Written by Himself; Barnum’s Connection with the Yankee Clock Business._ New Haven, 1860.

[15] Barnum had persuaded General Tom Thumb and other performers to give benefit performances for the Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport.

[16] The accounts of Barnum’s supplementary proceedings are taken from the _New York Tribune_ for March, 1856, where they were published daily from the stenographic records.

[17] Barnum verified this account of General Tom Thumb’s proposal by the confirmations of both the General and Lavinia Warren.

[18] _Bridgeport Daily Standard_, March 24, 1875.

[19] Autograph Letter in the Harvard Theater Collection, Harvard College Library.

[20] Major J. B. Pond in his book, _Eccentricities of Genius_, described the interior of “Waldemere” as “a museum of itself.” “All the gems of the old museum that were of extraordinary interest as curios were to be seen there. Although he cared nothing especially for rare paintings, the things that he gathered about him seemed designed to attract the eye rather than the ear or the finer qualities of the mind.” P. 352.

[21] There are persistent rumors of Barnum’s moral irregularity. Men have told me that he was “an old devil,” which in the salty manner in which they deliver the dictum sounds more enticing than degrading. These rumors are so persistent as to be worthy of mention--on the principle of the co-existence of smoke and fire--but they are also so vague as not to be worth much in the tracing of his character.

The _New York World_ of January 17, 1897, more than five years after Barnum’s death, printed a long Sunday feature article on his moral character. According to the _World_ story, he had an illegitimate son, whose mother was a French actress performing at the American Museum. Barnum, according to the _World_, educated the boy, who later became a physician. Before Barnum’s second marriage, said the _World_, this son appeared in Bridgeport and claimed some settlement in case of the birth of a male heir, for which Barnum was anxious. The petitioner received $60,000 after he had signed a contract that he would never bother the heirs after Barnum’s death, according to the _World_.

The _World_ also wrote that when one of Barnum’s daughters committed an offense against her husband for which Barnum reproved her, she snapped her fingers in his face, remarking: “How can I help it? I’m P. T. Barnum’s daughter.”

These stories in the _World_ are worthy of mention because they have never been denied. The sources of information to their verification are closed completely by the comprehensible secrecy of family pride.

[22] Barnum apparently thought it necessary to handle the publicity even for this complimentary dinner. He wrote the following letter to Gordon L. Ford, business manager of the _New York Tribune_:

“Waldemere, Bridgeport, Conn., June 18, 1874.

“MY DEAR MR. FORD:

“Will you please hand the enclosed slip to Mr. Reid [Whitelaw Reid] with my compliments. The Committee on dinner are to invite Mr. Reid. If I cannot have the honor of his company (which I hope I can) I hope he will kindly send a reporter and I shall be glad to pay his expenses. There will be 150 to the dinner including some distinguished guests.

“Yours, “P. T. BARNUM.

“Dinner at 7 P. M., all over before 10.”

Autograph Letter from the Gordon L. Ford Collection, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, New York Public Library.

[23] Information to the author from Mr. A. H. Hummel, formerly attorney for Barnum & Bailey.

[24] According to Major J. B. Pond, Barnum was inconsiderate of human and other animal life: “That afternoon one of the Amazons in the great Amazon march, which was a feature that year, was run over and killed by a chariot near the entrance of the ring. Mr. Barnum did not move, and I said:

“‘That is dreadful, isn’t it?’

“‘Oh,’ he replied, ‘there is another waiting for a place. It is rather a benefit than a loss.’

“I think I never knew a more heartless man or one who knew the value and possibilities of a dollar more than P. T. Barnum.” _Eccentricities of Genius_ by Major J. B. Pond, pp. 353–354.

[25] From illustrated Jumbo folder for children. In Harvard College Library Theater Collection.

[26] This account of Jumbo’s departure is based on reports in the _London Times_ for March 24, 25 and 27, 1882.

[27] Autograph letter in the collection of Leonidas Westervelt.

[28] _The Barnum Budget, or Tent Topics, An Original Route Book of The Season of 1886_, by Morris H. Warner, Press Agent. Authorized by P. T. Barnum, etc. In the Everett Wendell Collection, Harvard College Library.

[29] James A. Bailey died in 1906 from erysipelas after an insect bit him while he was inspecting the circus menagerie. The Barnum & Bailey circus was sold to Ringling Brothers in 1907, and is now known as the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

INDEX

Abbott, Lyman, 139, 167.

Adams, James C., (“Grizzly” Adams), 237–240.

Advertising, (see Barnum, Phineas Taylor).

Agassiz, Prof. Louis, 245, 331–332.

Agnew, Major-General William, 338.

Åhmansson, Mlle. Josephine, 118, 134–135, 137, 179, 195.

Albert, Prince, 78, 82, 83.

Albino Family, The, 230.

Alboni, Mme. Marietta, 187.

Alexander, the Conjuror, 208.

Andersen, Hans Christian, 127.

Argyll, Duke of, 366.

Arnold, Matthew, 3, 367.

Aspinwall, John L., 120.

Astor House, 50.

Atom, Major, 305.

Avery, Rev. Ephraim K., 37.

Baby Show, 72, 205.

Bailey, Frederick H., 328.

Bailey, Hackariah, 16.

Bailey, James A., 16, 312, 327–330, 360, 361, 365, footnote, 372.

Baring Brothers, 116, 117, 120.

Barnum & Bailey, 305, 309, 312, 327, 329, 354, 355, 365, 372.

Barnum, Bailey & Hutchinson, 327.

Barnum, Mrs. Charity, 17, 36, 208, 224, 236, 304, 313–314.

Barnum, Captain Ephraim, 4.

Barnum, Mrs. Irena, 14, 17.

Barnum, Mrs. Nancy Fish, 304, 312, 314, 370.

Barnum, Philo F., 4, 5, 6, 14.

Barnum, Phineas Taylor, advertising, Barnum’s use of, 14, 42, 53–54, 64, 233–234, 245–249, 278, 324–327, 336; animals, attitude towards, 301–302, 331–332; appearance, 365–366; autobiography, v, vii, 102, 116, 177, 210–216, 222, 228, 316, 317, 323–324, 370, 372; bankruptcy of, 219–227, 229, 235, 236–237, 287; birth of, 3; business ability, lack of, 22, 40, 203–204, 226; church and clergy, Barnum’s use of, 237, 276–277, 318–322; country-store atmosphere, influence on, 6–8, 15–16; death of, 371–372; editor, 18–22; education of, 4–5; lecturer, 232–235, 299–300, 309; legend, the Barnum, 322–323, 368–369; marriage, first, 17; marriage, second, 314; moral character of, footnote, 314; patriotism, 290, 318; politician, 20–21, 289–291, 294–299; publicity, Barnum’s use of, 14, 37, 46–48, 52–55, 57–59, 62–63, 83–84, 87, 137, 140–141, 142–147, 176, 189–190, 198, 199–200, 201, 206–207, 215–216, 244, 270, 280–281, 309, footnote, 315, 318–322, 326–327, 328–329, 330, 341, 343–344, 347–348, 362, 364, 365–367, 371–372; temperance, Barnum’s advocacy of, 107–113, 150, 183, 288–289, 309, 317, 329–330, 344; will of, 370, 372.

Barnum, William H., 294–297.

Barnum’s American Museum, 43–55, 62–68, 72, 75–76, 91, 94–97, 110–112, 198, 199, 204, 224, 235–237, 243–251, 265, 287, 291–293, 294, 302–303, 369.

Barnum’s Grand Scientific and Musical Theater, 39.

Barnum’s Great Asiatic Caravan, Museum, and Menagerie, 198–199, 306.

Bartram, Coley, 27.

Bates, Colonel, giant, 255.

Bates, Joshua, 86, 117.

Beach, Moses Y., 45, 46.

Bearded Lady, The, 205–207.

Beauty Show, 205.

Beecher, Henry Ward, 302, 321.

Behemoth, The Great, 247–250, 331.

Belletti, Giovanni Battista, 116, 119, 124–125, 148, 153, 163, 177, 178, 191, 230.

Bellman, Karl Michael, 122.

Belmont, Mrs. August, 268.

Benedict, Sir Julius, 116, 119, 142–143, 144–145, 153, 163, 164, 180, 185, 230.

Bennett, Henry, 63–64.

Bennett, James Gordon, elder, 25–26, 33–34, 102, 141, 173, 222, 266, 268, 292–294.

Bennett, James Gordon, younger, 294.

Benton, Colonel Thomas H., 101–102.

Bergh, Henry, 330–333.

Berlioz, Hector, 130.

Bethel, Conn., 3, 10–13.

Bihin, Monsieur, the French Giant, 75.

Billings, Josh, quoted, 300.

Birch-Pfeiffer, Mme., 129.

Bishop of London, 364.

_Blackwood’s Magazine_, 93, 212.

Bleecker, Sylvester, 271–272.

Blue Laws of Connecticut, 5–6.

Boucicault, Dion, 87.

Bowyer, Sir George, 337–338.

Bremer, Fredrika, 181.

Bridgeport, Conn., 105, 218–219, 223, 230, 235, 259, 274, 287–289, 290, 303–304, 315, 317–318, 333, 369.

Brighton Pavilion, 105.

British Museum, 64, 337–338.

Bryant, William Cullen, 302.

Buckingham Palace, Barnum at, 78.

Buffalo Hunt, 68–71, 287.

Burdett-Coutts, Baroness, 342–343.

Butler, William Allen, 145–146.

Byron, Lord, 95.

Cardiff Giant, 307.

Carlyle, Thomas, 132, 170–171, 195.

Castle Garden, 153, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 193.

Catalani, Mme. Angelica, 128.

Céleste, Mme. Marie, 78.

Chapin, Rev. E. H., 108–109, 321.

Cherry-Colored Cat, 243.

Chitty, Mr. Justice, 338–339.

Chopin, Frédéric François, 130.

Christy’s Minstrels, 139.

Circus, The, 274, 305.

Civil War, American, 290.

Clanwilliam, Lord, 187.

Clarke, Lewis Gaylord, 143.

Clay, Henry, 180.

Cleveland, President Grover, 366.

Collyer, Rev. Robert, 321, 371.

Congress of Nations, 114, 115.

Conway, Helen, 351

Cooper & Bailey, 324, 326–327, 328.

Costello, Dan, 306, 313.

Coup, W. C., 98, 306–307, 309–313, 324.

Cranch, C. P., 193.

Croelius, Herr, 122, 124.

Croton Reservoir, 51.

Crystal Palace, New York, 201.

Cuyler, Rev. Theodore L., 321.

_Daily Telegraph_, London, 336–337.

Darwin, Charles, 59.

Davis, Thomas H., 348–349.

Dawron, Dora, 229.

Diamond, Master Jack, 40–41.

Dickens, Charles, 24–25, 342.

Dodge, Ossian F., 176, 178.

Dog Show, 72.

Dot, Admiral, 305, 307, 308, 316.

Douglas, Stephen A., 243, 256.

Draper, Simeon, 302.

“Drunkard, The,” 111–113.

Dwight, J. S., quoted, 188.

Elephant, The Sacred White, 348–354.

Elephant, see Jumbo.

Elssler, Fanny, 49, 158.

Esau, the Bearded Boy, 308.

Everett, Edward, 80, 176.

Faber, Prof., and his automaton speaker, 96.

Fejee Mermaid, The, 56–63, 102, 284, 287.

Field, Maunsell B., 80, 154–155, 156, 158, 165, 171, 185, 191.

Fiji Cannibals, 308.

Fillmore, President Millard, 179–180.

Fish, John, 304, 312.

Fiske, Rev. Theophilus, 21.

Flower Show, 72.

Ford, Gordon L., footnote, 55, footnote, 315.

Forepaugh, Adam, 354.

Forrest, Edwin, 49.

_Fraser’s Magazine_, 212.

Frémont, Colonel John Charles, 100–102, 212.

French, C. D., 68–70.

Frith, W. P., 155, 156.

Garcia, Manuel, 125–126.

Gardner, “Professor,” 202–203.

Gaylord, J. B., 348–349.

Geijer, Eric Gustaf, 124.

Genin, the Hatter, 159–160, 176.

George IV, King, 93, 105.

George V, King, 363.

Giraffe, 308–309.

Gladstone, W. E., 334, 363–364.

Goldschmidt, Otto, 185, 190, 191, 192, 196, 229–230.

Goshen, Colonel, the Palestine Giant, 75, 308.

Grant, U. S., General, 256, 303, 315, 371.

Greeley, Horace, 79, 112–113, 141, 292, 302.

Greenwood, John, 224, 242, 243, 301.

Grisi, Mme. Giulia, 128, 187.

Grote, George, 133.

Grote, Mrs., 137.

Grote, Joseph, 135.

Günther, Julius, 134–135, 137.

Hallett, Charity, 14, 17. (See also Barnum, Mrs. Charity.)

Hamilton, Tody, 371.

Harper Brothers & Co., 347.

Harris, Capt. Claudius, 135–137.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 132.

Haydon, Benjamin Robert, 92–94.

Hayes, Catherine, 188.

Heath, John, 44, 46–48.

_Herald, New York_, 25–26, 52, 166, 167, 190, 193, 194–195, 266–268, 292–294.

_Herald of Freedom, The_, 18–22, 289.

Heth, Joice, 28–35, 57, 284.

Hickok, Prof. Laurens P., 4.

Hippotheatron, New York, 311.

Hoffman, Richard, 164.

Holmes, O. W., 371.

Hopkins, Seldon R., 368.

Houdin, Robert, 95–96.

Houdini, Harry, 208.

Howard, Cordelia, 227, 230.

Howe, Elias, Jr., 231.

Howells, W. D., 213.

_Humbugs of the World, The_, 274–283.

Hunt, Henry M., 368.

Hurd, S. H., 291, 313.

Hutchinson, J. L., 327, 343.

_Illustrated News, New York_, 110, 203.

Indians, Exhibitions of, 71–72, 240–242.

Industrious Fleas, The, 52.

“Iranistan,” 106–107, 117, 231.

Irving House, 150, 161.

Irving, Washington, 168.

Ivy Island, 3, 7, 45.

Jaeger, Mme. von, 133.

James, William, quoted, 213.

Jay, John, 154, 185.

Jerome, Chauncey, 219–220, 221.

Jerome Clock Company, 219–221.

Jerrold, Douglas, 121.

Job, Book of, 248, 250.

Johnson, President Andrew, 302.

Jo-Jo, the Dog-Faced Russian Boy, 355.

Jones, Anson, Dr., 157.

Jumbo, 333–347, 348.

Kalakaua, King, 315–317.

Kamehemeha V, King, 316.

Keats, John, 92.

Ker, David, 353.

Kilmorey, Earl of, 362.

Kimball, Moses, 56.

King, William Rufus, 87.

Kipling, Rudyard, quoted, vi.

Knapp, Miss Julia, 149–150, 152.

Knox, Col. Thomas W., 353.

Kossuth, Louis, 160.

Lamb, Mrs. Martha J., quoted, 24.

Leake, Anna, the armless woman, 308.

Leopold, King, of Belgium, 85, 91.

Lincoln, President Abraham, vii, 3, 240, 254–255, 268, 270, 290.

Lind, Frau, 122–123.

Lind, Jenny, arrival in New York, 147–151; birth and education, 121–124; charities, 141, 148, 164–165, 171–174; concert, first in U. S., 161–165; concerts, receipts of, 174, 186–187, 193; contract with Barnum, 118–119, 153–157; departure from U. S., 193–195; disagreement with Barnum, 177–178, 185–186; marriage, 191–192; musical education, 123–126; object in American tour, 117–118; object of Barnum in engaging her, 114–115; religious influences on, 122–124, 134, 135–136, 195–196; retirement and death of, 195–196; stage, her dislike for, 118, 134–136; triumphs, American, 163–164, 166–169, 171, 175–177, 178–180, 183; triumphs, European, 128–134.

Lind, Nicolas Jonas, 121–122.

Lindsay, R. W., 28–30, 34–35.

Loder, George, 151.

Longfellow, H. W., 172, 176.

Lotteries, 13–14, 16–18, 22.

Lowell, J. R., 337.

Lundberg, Mlle., 122.

Lyman, Levi, 30, 33–34, 57, 61–62.

Macready, Charles, 170.

Madigan, P. F., 19.

Madison Square Garden, 312–313.

Maelzel, showman, 31.

Magnetism, animal, 67–68.

Magri, Count Primo, 272–273.

Malibran, Mme. Maria, 125, 128, 139.

Mangin, Monsieur, 278–280.

Mario, Giuseppe, 187.

Matthew, Father, 183.

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, 130–131, 132, 133.

Merritt, Consul-General, 342.

Meyerbeer, Giacomo, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131.

Miller, Joaquin, 350–351.

Murray, Charles, 81.

Museum, Barnum’s American, see Barnum’s American Museum.

Musical Fund Society, New York, 151, 194.

Napoleon Bonaparte, 86, 90.

Napoleon, Louis, 205–206, 271, 342.

_Nation, New York_, 297.

Negro turning white, 204.

Negro violinist, 54.

Newell, Major (“General Grant, Jr.”), 271.

Newman, William, 342.

New York Museum Company, 46–48.

Niagara Falls, 50–51, 191, 287.

Niblo, William, 27, 30, 44.

Noah, M. M., 46.

Noble, William H., 218, 289.

Nutt, Commodore, 253–255, 256–260, 262–265, 270–271.

_Observer, The New York_, 286.

Oglesby, General, 298.

Olmsted, Francis W., 43–48, 63.

Orphean Family, The, 64.

Paine, Albert Bigelow, quoted, 213.

Pastor, Tony, 65, 293.

Peale’s Museum, 46, 63, 67.

Peel, Sir Robert, 86, 92, 94.

Peirce, Benjamin, 177.

Pentland, Joe, 39.

Persiani, Mme., 128.

Philadelphia Museum, 107.

Philippe, King Louis, 81, 87–90.

Phillips’s Fire Annihilator, 203.

Pius IX, Pope, 271, 272.

Poe, Edgar Allan, 3, 104.

Pokorny, Herr, 120.

Polk, President James K., 98.

Pond, Major J. B., footnote, 304, 324, footnote, 332.

Potter, Bishop, 269.

Poultry Show, 72.

Publicity, Barnum’s use of, see Barnum, Phineas Taylor.

Puke, Count, 122–123.

Putnam, George P., 143–144.

Rameses II, 367.

Redfield, J. S., 143.

Reid, Whitelaw, footnote, 315.

Ringling Brothers, footnote, 372.

Ripley, George, 143, 144.

Rossetti, William Michael, 93.

Rothschild, Baroness, 80.

Royal Theater of Sweden, 122–125.

Ruskin, John, 334.

Sala, George Augustus, 362.

Schmidt, Johann, 333.

Scott, Matthew, 342.

Scudder’s American Museum, 43–44.

_Sears’ Pictorial Illustrations of the Bible_, 41.

Seeley, C. Barnum, 372.

Senior, Nassau, 136–137.

Shakespeare’s home, Barnum’s attempt to purchase, 95, 334.

Siam, Prince of, 354.

Siamese Twins, The, 242, 305.

Sickles, General Daniel B., 353.

Siebold, Dr. Ph. Fr. von, quoted, 60–61.

Smith, Albert, 87, 228–229.

Smith, Le Grand, 177, 182–183, 184, 187, 189.

Sontag, Henriette, Mme., 128, 187.

Sothern, E. A., 65.

_Southern Literary Messenger_, 212.

St. Paul’s Church, 50, 66–67.

Stanley, Bishop and Mrs., 134–135.

Stevens, Benjamin, 328.

Stoddard, Rev. C. A., 286.

Stoddard, R. H., 145.

Stowe, Mrs. Harriet Beecher, 165.

Stratton, Charles S., 73–74. (See Thumb, General Tom.)

Stratton, Sherwood E., 73, 91–92.

_Sun, The Evening_, 371.

Swann, Anna, giantess, 255.

Swiss Bell Ringers, 96, 308.

_Tait’s Edinburgh Review_, 212.

Talbot, Lord, 79.

Taylor, Bayard, 144–145, 164.

Taylor, Mary, 40.

Taylor, Phineas, 3, 4, 6, 14, 15–16, 45.

Taylor, Rev. Dr., 270.

Tekow, Miss Pwan, 204.

Terry, Theodore, 219.

Thackeray, W. M., 132, 228–229.

Thalberg, Sigismund, 130, 164, 187–188.

Thayer, William Roscoe, quoted, vii.

Theebaw, King, 348–349.

Thomas, Rev. Abel C., 120.

Thumb, General Tom, age, 73; appearance, 73–74; birth, 73; courtship, 257–265; death, 272; discovery by Barnum, 72; earnings, 75, 96, 98; entertains Queen Victoria, 82–85; marriage, 265–271; name, 73–74; personality and character, 271–272; relations with Commodore Nutt, 253–254.

Thumb, Mrs. Tom. (See Warren, Lavinia.)

_Times_, London, 335, 337–340.

Toung Taloung, Sacred White Elephant, 348–354.

Tripler, A. B., 153.

Trollope, Mrs., 22, 25, 49, 50.

Tufts College, 285, 347.

Turner, Aaron, 36–39, 45, 184.

Tussaud’s, Mme., Wax Works, 95, 364.

Twain, Mark, quoted, vi, 213, 301, 367.

Universalism, 120, 276, 283–287.

Van Amburgh’s Menagerie, 300–301, 303, 306.

Vanderbilt, Mrs. Cornelius, 268.

Vauxhall Garden, 40.

Viardot, Mme. Pauline, 125.

Victoria, Queen, 79–86, 95, 138, 147, 170, 242, 271, 330, 332, 334, 362.

Vivalla, Signor, 32–33, 36, 38.

Wagner, Johanna, 187.

Wagner, Richard, 130.

“Waldemere,” 304.

Wales, Prince of (King Edward VII.), 82, 84, 242–243, 250, 334, 362–363.

Wales, Princess of, 362.

Wallack, Lester, 293–294.

Warner, M. H., 356.

Warren, Lavinia, 255–273.

Warren, Minnie, 255, 270–271.

Washington, Augustine, 28–30.

Washington, George, 28–31, 33–35, 180.

Webster, Daniel, 68, 179, 180.

Welles, Gideon, 19–21.

Wellington, Duke of, 86, 132.

West, Captain, 149.

Westervelt, Leonidas, footnote, 40.

Whales, Barnum’s, 243–247, 291.

“What Is It?”, 242.

Wheeler & Wilson, 226–227, 287.

Whitman, Walt, 132, 168, 326.

Whittier, J. G., 371.

Wild West Show, Barnum’s, 71, 240.

Wildman, Colonel, 95.

Williams, Barney, 65.

Willis, N. P., 139.

Wilton, John Hall, 115–117, 120.

Winchilsea, Lord, 334.

Woodhull, Mayor Caleb S., 157, 165.

Wood’s Museum, 303.

Woolly Horse, The, 99–102, 212.

Wordsworth, William, 93, 94.

Wyckoff, Chevalier, 116–117.

Yankee, Mrs. Trollope’s definition of, 22.

Young, Brigham, 304–305.

Zoölogical Society, Royal, 333–340.

Transcriber’s Notes

Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced.

Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to the corresponding illustrations.

Footnotes, originally at the bottoms of the pages that referenced them, have been collected, sequentially renumbered, and placed near the end of the book, just before the index.

The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.

Page 358: “carried to his birth” was printed that way.