Struggles and Triumphs

The day arrived, Tuesday, February 10, 1863. The ceremony was to take place in Grace Church, New York. The Rev. Junius Willey, Rector of St. John’s…

Here I might safely rest, and leave you to the comfort of your own reflections in the case. But as you, in common with many other worthy persons,…

In conclusion, I will say that if the marriage of Charles S. Stratton and Lavinia Warren is to be regarded as a pageant, then it was the most…

Habit, however, is indeed second nature. The General and his wife had been accustomed to excitement, and after a few months’ retirement they again…

“Well, Mr. Barnum, your story don’t lose any by the telling”; and the Commodore denies the “rolling tear,” when informed of the engagement of the…

In June 1869, the report was started, for the third or fourth time, in the newspapers, that Commodore Nutt and Miss Minnie Warren were…

Soon after the wedding of General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren, a lady came to my office and called my attention to a little six-paged pamphlet which…

“Certainly, I will buy it, if you desire,” said I, tendering her a sixpence, which I supposed to be the price of the little pamphlet.

“Oh! you quite misunderstand me; I mean buy the copyright and the entire edition, with the view of suppressing the work. It says some frightful…

“My dear madam,” I replied, “you may say what you please about me or about my Museum; you may print a hundred thousand copies of a pamphlet stating…

I began my political life as a Democrat, and my newspaper, the _Herald of Freedom_, was a Jackson-Democratic journal. While always taking an active…

During the active and exciting political campaign of 1860, which resulted in Mr. Lincoln’s first election to the presidency, it will be remembered…

My neighbor, Mr. James D. Johnson, was also a Democrat, but I knew he would not spoil a good joke for the sake of politics, and I asked him to engage…

Elias Howe, Jr., although he was a man of wealth and well advanced in years, enlisted as a private in the Seventeenth regiment of Connecticut…

Mr. Howe, like all men of his reputed wealth and liberality, was constantly besieged by solicitors for all sorts of charities, nor was he free from…

After the draft riots in New York and in other cities, in July, 1863, myself and other members of the “Prudential Committee” which had been formed in…

from the Republican party a nomination to the Connecticut legislature from the town of Fairfield, and I did this because I felt that it would be an…

Thinking of these things, and seeing in the combination of railroad interests to elect a speaker, no promise of good to the community at large, I…

Immediately after the caucus, I sought the successful nominee, Hon. E. K. Foster, of New Haven, and begged him not to appoint as chairman of the…

Though I had not foreseen nor thought of such a thing until I reached Hartford, I soon found that a battle with the railroad commissioners would be…

But the great struggle which lasted nearly through the entire session was upon the subject of railroad passenger commutations. Commodore Vanderbilt…

MR. SPEAKER:--I will not attempt to notice at any length the declamation of the honorable gentleman from Milford, for certainly I have heard…

And now, Mr. Speaker, let me remind our democratic friends that the present question simply asks that a majority of the legal voters, the white…

Years ago, I was afraid of foreign voters. I feared that when Europe poured her teeming millions of working people upon our shores, our extended laws…

Mr. Speaker: We cannot afford to carry passengers and have them live under our government with no real vital interest in its perpetuity. Every man…

The only safe inhabitants of a free country are educated citizens who vote. The gentleman from Milford lives near the old Washington toll-bridge,…

Nor in a free government can we afford to employ journeymen; they may be apprenticed until they learn to read, and study our institutions; and then…

Do our democratic friends assume that the negroes are not human? I have heard professed democrats claim even that; but do the authors of this…

But if the colored man is indeed a man, then his manhood with proper training can be developed. His soul may appear dormant, his brain inactive,…

Mr. Barnum: I accept the gentleman’s explanation. Doubtless General Grant will feel himself highly complimented when he learns that it requires no…

Let the educated free negro feel that he is a man; let him be trained in New England churches, schools and workshops; let him support himself, pay…

“Wretch!” exclaimed the proud lady, casting the woman’s hand away; “Don’t call me sister, I have nothing in common with such low brutes as you.”…

Mr. Speaker: I repeat that I am a friend to the Irishman. I have travelled through his native country and have seen how he is oppressed. I have…

After hearing the minority report last week, I began to feel that I might be disfranchised, for I have no great degree of “genius for the arts;” I…

Gentlemen of the opposition, I beseech you to remember that our state and our country ask from us something more than party tactics. It is absolutely…

In the midst of Mr. Barnum’s speech a telegram was handed to him, announcing that his Museum was in flames, with no hope of saving any portion of his…

Immediately after adjournment that afternoon, I took the cars for Bridgeport, spending the night quietly at home, and the following morning I went to…

The fire probably originated in the engine room, where steam was constantly kept up to pump fresh air into the water of the aquaria and to propel the…

Almost at the same moment the upper part of the three storied cage, consumed by the flames, fell forward, letting the rods drop to the floor, and…

The monkeys were perched around the windows, shivering with dread and afraid to jump out. The snakes were writhing about, crippled and blistered by…

At this moment the flames rolled again into the room and then again retired. The whale and alligators were by this time suffering dreadful torments.…

We believe that all the living curiosities were saved; but the giant girl, Anna Swan, was only rescued with the utmost difficulty. There was not a…

Or even if none of these things or creatures existed, we could trust to Barnum to make them out of hand. The Museum, then, is only a temporary loss,…

As already stated, my insurance was but $40,000, while the collection, at the lowest estimate, was worth $400,000, and as my premium was five per…

I really felt that his advice was good and wise, and had I consulted only my own ease and interest I should have acted upon it. But, two…

Meanwhile, the Museum employees were tendered a benefit at the Academy of Music, at which most of the dramatic artists in the city volunteered…

One of the happiest impromptu oratorial efforts that we have heard for some time, was that made by Barnum at the benefit performance given for his…

Those who look upon Barnum as a mere charlatan, have really no knowledge of him. It would be easy to demonstrate that the qualities that have…

I very soon secured by lease the premises, numbers 535, 537 and 539 Broadway, seventy-five feet front and rear, by two hundred feet deep, and known…

During my membership in the Connecticut Legislature of 1865, I made several new friends and agreeable acquaintances, and many things occurred,…

The State House at Hartford was a disgrace to Connecticut; the Hall of Representatives was too small; there were no committee rooms, and the building…

SECTION 508. No railroad company, which has had a system of commutation fares in force for more than four years, shall abolish, alter, or modify…

The New York and New Haven Railroad Company seemed determined to move heaven and earth to prevent the passage of this law. The halls of legislation…

When the day arrived the excitement was intense. The passages leading to the hall were crowded with railroad lobbyists; for nearly every railroad…

The interests of the State, as well as commuters, demand this law; for if it is once fixed by statute that the prices of commutation are not to be…

These railroad gentlemen absolutely deny any intention of raising the fares of commuters, and profess to think it very hard that disinterested and…

Now, Mr. Speaker, I know that these despatches are true; my information is from the inside of the camp. I see a director of the New York and New…

In the spring of 1866, I was again elected to represent the town of Fairfield in the Connecticut Legislature. I had not intended to accept a…

Almost the only exciting question before that legislature was the election of an United States Senator. President Johnson had begun to show…

I was again chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, and on the whole the session at New Haven, in 1866, was very agreeable to me; there were many…