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The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810–1891)
Barnum, Phineas Taylor. A famous American showman; born at Bethel, CT, July 5, 1810; died at Bridgeport, CT, April 7, 1891. After various unsuccessful business ventures, he finally established Barnum’s Museum in New York (1841), which was twice burned. He introduced Tom Thumb, Jenny Lind, Commodore Nutt, Admiral Dot, the Woolly Horse, Jumbo, etc., to the American public. In 1871 he established his great circus. He was mayor of Bridgeport, and four times member of the Connecticut Legislature. His benefactions were large and frequent. He wrote: ‘Humbugs of the World’ (1865); ‘Struggles and Triumphs’ (1869); ‘Lion Jack, a Story’ (1876); ‘Autobiography’ (1854). He was a lecturer on temperance and other popular subjects.