P. T. Barnum

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P. T. Barnum
Barnum, c. 1855–1865
Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut
In office 1875–1876
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from the Fairfield district
In office 1866–1869
Personal details
Born	Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-07-05)July 5, 1810 Bethel, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	April 7, 1891(1891-04-07) (aged 80) Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.
Resting place	Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport
Political party	Democratic (until 1854) Republican (after 1854)
Spouses	Charity Hallett ​ ​ (m. 1829; died 1873)​ Nancy Fish ​ (m. 1874)​
Children	4
Occupation	Showman entrepreneur (entertainment as founder and promoter) politician author publisher philanthropist
Known for	Founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus
Signature

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.^[1] He was also an author, publisher, and philanthropist, although he said of himself: "I am a showman by profession ... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me."^[2] According to Barnum's critics, his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers".^[2] The adage "there's a sucker born every minute" has frequently been attributed to him, although no evidence exists that he had coined the phrase.^[3]

Barnum became a small-business owner in his early twenties and founded a weekly newspaper before moving to New York City in 1834. He embarked on an entertainment career, first with a variety troupe called "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater", and soon after by purchasing Scudder's American Museum, which he renamed after himself. He used the museum as a platform to promote hoaxes and human curiosities such as the Fiji mermaid and General Tom Thumb.^[4] In 1850, he promoted the American tour of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, paying her an unprecedented $1,000, equivalent to $36,624 in 2023, per night for 150 nights. He suffered economic reversals in the 1850s from unwise investments, as well as years of litigation and public humiliation, but he embarked on a lecture tour as a temperance speaker to emerge from debt. His museum added America's first aquarium and expanded its wax-figure department.

Barnum served two terms in the Connecticut legislature in 1865 as a Republican for Fairfield, Connecticut. He spoke before the legislature concerning the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude: "A human soul, 'that God has created and Christ died for,' is not to be trifled with. It may tenant the body of a Chinaman, a Turk, an Arab, or a Hottentot—it is still an immortal spirit."^[5] He was elected in 1875 as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he worked to improve the water supply, bring gas lighting to streets and enforce liquor and prostitution laws. He was instrumental in the inception of Bridgeport Hospital in 1878 and was its first president.^[6] The circus business, begun when he was 60 years old, was the source of much of his enduring fame. He established P. T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome in 1870, a traveling circus, menagerie and museum of "freaks" that adopted many names over the years.

Barnum was married to Charity Hallett from 1829 until her death in 1873, and they had four children. In 1874, a few months after his wife's death, he married Nancy Fish, his friend's daughter and 40 years his junior. They were married until 1891 when Barnum died of a stroke at his home. He was buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, which he designed himself.^[7]