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
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/