Struggles and Triumphs

CURIOSITY.--The citizens of Philadelphia and its vicinity have an opportunity of witnessing at the Masonic Hall, one of the greatest natural…

Mr. Bartram further stated that he had sold out his interest to his partner, R. W. Lindsay, of Jefferson County, Kentucky, who was then exhibiting…

Everything seemed so straightforward that I was anxious to become proprietor of this novel exhibition, which was offered to me at one thousand…

Manager William Dinneford, of the Franklin Theatre, had seen so many performances of the kind that he declined to engage my “eminent Italian artist”;…

Vivalla remained a second week at the Franklin Theatre, for which I received $150. I realized the same sum for a week in Boston. We then went to…

As this was my first visit to Washington I was much interested in visiting the capitol and other public buildings. I also satisfied my curiosity in…

Public excitement was at fever heat, and on the night of the trial the pit and upper boxes were crowded to the full; indeed sales of tickets to these…

Vivalla continued to perform for me in various places, including Peale’s Museum, in New York, and I took him to different towns in Connecticut and in…

In April, 1836, I connected myself with Aaron Turner’s travelling circus company as ticket-seller, secretary and treasurer, at thirty dollars a month…

We began our performances at West Springfield, April 28th, and as our expected band of music had not arrived from Providence, I made a prefatory…

The proprietor of the circus, Aaron Turner, was a self-made man, who had acquired a large fortune by his industry. He believed that any man with…

It was only recently that the Rev. Ephraim K. Avery had been tried in Rhode Island for the murder of Miss Cornell, whose body was discovered in a…

The company generally saw the catch; but Turner was very much interested in the problem, and although he admitted he knew nothing about arithmetic he…

We went from Richmond to Petersburg, and from that place to Warrenton, North Carolina, where, October 30th, my engagement expired with a profit to…

On Saturday, November 12, 1836, we halted at Rocky Mount Falls, North Carolina, and on my way to the Baptist Church, Sunday morning, I noticed a…

When we were at Camden, South Carolina, Sanford suddenly left me, and as I had advertised negro songs and none of my company was competent to fill…

They were very much taken aback and the sheriff immediately conveyed Henry to prison. The next day I learned that Henry owed his creditors thirteen…

Meanwhile, our advertiser, who was quite a wag, wrote back informing us of the difficulties of reaching a town on that part of our route and…

They wanted no money, but if we would give them some tickets to our show they thought they might do something for us. I gladly consented and in…

Joe Pentland grumbled, Bob White indulged in some very strong language, and Signor Vivalla laughed. He had travelled with his monkey and organ in…

Before night, stragglers had brought the number of people on Lady Hayes’ plantation up to one hundred, and soon after dark, we opened our…

But now came a dilemma; the meaning of this announcement was quite above the comprehension of the audience; they had not the remotest idea that the…

Accordingly, when we had safely passed over the entire route to within fourteen miles of Montgomery, and were beyond the reach of danger, Joe…

Pentland then joined us, and washing his face and changing his dress, we all went to the relief of Vivalla. He was overjoyed to see us, and when he…

Early in July, returning west with a new company of performers, I rejoined Hawley and we began our campaign in Kentucky. We were not successful;…

During my short stay at Tiffin, a religious conversation at the hotel introduced me to several gentlemen who requested me to lecture on the…

In our subsequent southern tour we exhibited at Nashville (where I visited General Jackson, at the Hermitage), Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Vicksburg…

During one of our evening performances at Francisville, Louisiana, a man tried to pass me at the door of the tent, claiming that he had paid for…

The New Orleans papers of March 19, 1838, announced the arrival of the “Steamer Ceres, Captain Barnum, with a theatrical company.” After a week’s…

I have said that the show business has as many grades of dignity as trade, which ranges all the way from the mammoth wholesale establishment down…

Longing now for some permanent respectable business, I advertised for a partner, stating that I had $2,500 to invest and would add my unremitting…

I had interviews with some of these mysterious million-makers. One of them was a counterfeiter, who, after much hesitation and pledges of secrecy…

During my connection with Proler, I became acquainted with a remarkable young dancer named John Diamond. He was one of the first and best of the…

What was to be done next? I dreaded resuming the life of an itinerant showman, but funds were low, I had a family to care for, and as nothing…

Arriving in New Orleans, January 2, 1841, I had but $100 in my purse, and I had started from New York four months before with quite as much in my…

While I was in New Orleans I made the acquaintance of that genial man, Tyrone Power, who was just concluding an engagement at the St. Charles Theatre…

While engaged in this business I once more leased Vauxhall saloon, opening it June 14th, 1841, employing Mr. John Hallett, my brother-in-law, as…

While I was forming this practical determination I was much nearer to its realization than my most sanguine hopes could have predicted. The road to…

As outside clerk for the Bowery Amphitheatre I had casually learned that the collection of curiosities comprising Scudder’s American Museum, at the…

In reply to this letter, which I took to his house myself, he named an hour when I could call on him, and as I was there at the exact moment, he…

“Any man in my line,” I replied, “from Edmund Simpson, manager of the Park Theatre, or William Niblo, to Messrs. Welch, June, Titus, Turner, Angevine…

I told him that I could, and the next day my friend Niblo rode down and had an interview with Mr. Olmsted, while Mr. Beach and several other…

Nothing could have pleased me better. He then asked me what security I could offer in case he concluded to make the purchase for me, and it was…

I at once saw Mr. John Heath, the administrator, and his price was $15,000. I offered $10,000, payable in seven annual instalments, with good…

Of course, I immediately informed myself as to the character of Peale’s Museum company. It proved to be a band of speculators who had bought…

The stock was as “dead as a herring!” I then went to Mr. Heath and asked him when the directors were to pay the other $14,000. “On the 26th day of…

“Very well,” said I; “all I ask of you is, that this arrangement shall not be mentioned.” He assented. “On the 27th day of December, at ten o’clock A…

From that moment I felt that the Museum was mine. I saw Mr. Olmsted, and told him so. He promised secrecy, and agreed to sign the documents if the…

This was about November 15th, and I continued my shower of newspaper squibs at the new company, which could not sell a dollar’s worth of its stock.…

My newspaper squib war against the Peale combination was vigorously kept up; when one morning, about the first of December, I received a letter…

GENTLEMEN:--It gives me great pleasure to inform you that you are placed upon the Free List of this establishment until further notice.

It is unnecessary to say that the “President of the New York Museum” was astounded, and when he called upon Mr. Heath, and learned that I had…

And now that I was proprietor and manager of the American Museum I had reached a new epoch in my career which I felt was the beginning of better days…

The nucleus of this establishment, Scudder’s Museum, was formed in 1810, the year in which I was born. It was begun in Chatham Street, and was…

Valuable as the collection was when I bought it, it was only the beginning of the American Museum as I made it. In my long proprietorship I…

At the very outset, I was determined to deserve success. My plan of economy included the intention to support my family in New York on $600 a year,…

And he was right, for within twelve months I was in full possession of the property as my own and it was entirely paid for from the profits of the…

By degrees the character of the stage performances was changed. The transient attractions of the Museum were constantly diversified, and educated…

I thoroughly understood the art of advertising, not merely by means of printer’s ink, which I have always used freely, and to which I confess…

The audience at once supposed it was all right, and cried out, “go on, go on”; which he did, and at every imitation of Booth, whether as Richard,…