A Unique Story of a Marvellous Career: Life of Hon. Phineas T. Barnum

In the autumn of 1874 Mr. Barnum married the daughter of his old English friend, John Fish. The wedding took place in the Church of the Divine Paternity, Fifth Avenue, New York,...

FIRST MEETING WITH BARNUM--RECEPTION IN NEW YORK--POEMS IN HER HONOR--A FURORE OF PUBLIC INTEREST--SALE OF TICKETS FOR THE FIRST CONCERT--BARNUM'S CHANGE IN TERMS--TEN THOUSAND...

Seeing the necessity of making more money to assist in extricating his affairs from financial disorder, Barnum went back to England, taking with him Tom Thumb, whom he exhibited...

The year 1861 was notable in the history of the American Museum. Barnum heard that some fishermen at the mouth of the St. Lawrence river had captured alive a fine white whale. H...

While he had always taken an active interest in politics, it was many years before Barnum consented to run for any office. In 1852 he was strongly urged to submit his name to th...

In 1862 Mr. Barnum heard of an extraordinary dwarf girl named Lavinia Warren, who was living at Middleboro, Massachusetts, and sent an invitation to her and her parents to visit...

On the 13th day of July, 1865, when Barnum was speaking in the Legislature at Hartford, against the railroad schemes, a telegram was handed him from his son-in-law and assistant...

But while misfortune reveals a man his foes, it also shows him his friends. Barnum was overwhelmed with offers of assistance, funds were declared at his disposal, both for the s...

BEATING A LANDLORD--A JOKE ON TURNER--BARNUM AS A PREACHER AND AS A NEGRO MINSTREL--A BAD MAN WITH A GUN--DEALING WITH A SHERIFF--"LADY HAYES"--AN EMBARASSED JUGGLER--BARNUM AS...

Among the names of great Americans of the nineteenth century there is scarcely one more familiar to the world than that of the subject of this biography. There are those that st...

Years ago Barnum had known Albert Smith in London as a dentist, literary "hack," occasional writer for Punch and various magazines, etc., not achieving notable success in any of...

Barnum was now satisfied that he had not yet found his proper level. He had not yet entered the business for which nature had designed him. There was only a prospect of his goin...

BARNUM'S PARTNERSHIP WITH THE FAMOUS BEAR HUNTER--FOOLING HIM WITH THE "GOLDEN PIGEONS"--ADAMS EARNS $500 AT DESPERATE COST--TRICKING BARNUM OUT OF A FINE HUNTING SUIT--PROSPERI...

Soon after arriving at Havana, Barnum made a discovery. The Habaneros, not accustomed to the high prices which opera tickets command in the States, had determined that they woul...

During his legislative career Mr. Barnum made many new friends and pleasant acquaintances, and there were many events great and small which tended to make the session memorable....

The first public appearance of Tom Thumb in London occurred soon after the arrival of the party there, at the Princess's Theatre. A short engagement only had been made, but it w...

The next enterprise undertaken by Barnum was an entirely new departure. It was justly regarded by him as bold in its conception, complete in its development, and astounding in i...

The great showman did not allow even so great an enterprise as the Jenny Lind concerts to monopolize his attention. In 1849 he planned the formation of a great travelling show,...

Looking around now for some permanent business, Barnum at last resorted to the expedient of advertising for a partner, stating that he had $2,500 to invest, and was willing to a...

Five concerts were given at St. Louis, and then they went to Nashville, Tenn., where the sixty-sixth and sixty-seventh of the series were given. At the latter place, Jenny Lind,...

All of Barnum's inventive powers were called into play effectually to advertise his song-bird. Biographies of Jenny Lind were circulated. "Foreign correspondence" raved over her...

In the fall of 1826, Oliver Taylor, who had removed from Danbury to Brooklyn, induced Barnum to leave Grassy Plain, offering him a clerkship in his grocery store, which offer wa...

All this, his wife's income, as well as a large sum derived from the sale of some of her property, was faithfully devoted to the one object of their lives--paying off the clock...

With great hopes for the success of his project, Barnum entered upon the management of the Museum. It was a new epoch in his career, he felt that the opportunity of his life had...

In the summer of 1853 Alfred Bunn, formerly manager of Drury Lane Theatre, London, arrived in Boston. He was then one of the most notable figures in the theatrical world. It was...

DISPOSING OF THE LEASE OF THE MUSEUM SITE--THE BARGAIN WITH MR. BENNETT--BARNUM'S REFUSAL TO BACK OUT--A LONG AND BITTER WAR WITH "THE HERALD"--ACTION OF THE OTHER MANAGERS--THE...

One of Barnum's principal objects in returning to America at this time was to insure the permanence of his "American Museum." He had a lease of the property, which had yet three...

The fame of the American Museum rose higher and higher. It is doubtful if any place of entertainment ever attracted such enthusiastic crowds. It was the first place visited by s...

In London the General again opened his levees in Egyptian Hall, with increased success. His unbounded popularity on the Continent, and his receptions by King Louis Philippe, of...

Barnum made in his life many voyages across the Atlantic, but none, perhaps, pleasanter than this. On every such trip he got under rest and relief from his multitudinous busines...

In August, 1825, the aged grandmother met with an accident in stepping on the point of a rusty nail, which shortly afterwards resulted in her death. She was a woman of great pie...

About this time Barnum, with a Mr. Samuel Sherwood, of Bridgeport, started for Pittsburg, where they proposed to open a lottery office. On reaching New York, however, and talkin...

Barnum would never submit to being outdone by a rival. In "poker" parlance, he would "see him and go one better." His chief competitor now was Peale, who was running Peale's Mus...

A remarkable feature of Mr. Barnum's life was his loyalty to the place he had chosen as his home, and his devotion to its interests. He had great faith in Bridgeport, and worked...

The day after the arrival of the party in Brussels they were summoned to the palace. The king and queen had seen the General in London, but they wished their children and the di...

The morning after the lecture in Manchester a gentleman named John Fish called at the hotel where Barnum was staying. He said that he had attended the lecture the evening before...

The concerts at Natchez and Memphis were extremely successful. The sixty-first concert was given in St. Louis, and on the morning of their arrival in the city Miss Lind's secret...

It was now about five years since Barnum had had a settled home. The necessities of his business combined with the adversities of fortune had kept him knocking about from pillar...

In the summer of 1855 Barnum had sold the American Museum to Messrs. John Greenwood, Jr., and Henry D. Butler. They paid nearly twice as much for the collection as it had origin...

Barnum having returned from a preliminary trip to France, in which all arrangements, even to starting the first paragraphs in the Paris papers were made, now went back accompani...

project favorable to the advancement of the new city. It was the man's weak spot, and it was this weak spot which was destined to be touched once too often.

In the year 1851 Mr. Barnum had purchased from William H. Noble, of Bridgeport, Conn., the undivided half of his late father's homestead--fifty acres of land on the east side of...

Barnum's Partnership with the Famous Bear Hunter--Fooling Him with the "Golden Pigeons"--Adams Earns $500 at Desperate Cost--Tricking Barnum out of a Fine Hunting Suit--Prosperi...

First Meeting with Barnum--Reception in New York--Poems in Her Honor--A Furore of Public Interest--Sale of Tickets for the First Concert--Barnum's Change in Terms--Ten Thousand...

Beating a Landlord--A Joke on Turner--Barnum as a Preacher and as a Negro Minstrel--A Bad Man with a Gun--Dealing with a Sheriff--"Lady Hayes"--An Embarrassed Juggler--Barnum as...

Disposing of the Lease of the Museum Site--The Bargain with Mr. Bennett--Barnum's Refusal to Back Out--A Long and Bitter War with "The Herald"--Action of the Other Managers--The...