• Letter: My dear Mrs. Stratton (M. Lavinia Warren) from E. Collier, August 30, 1878
Letter: My dear Mrs. Stratton (M. Lavinia Warren) from E. Collier, August 30, 1878
Letter: My dear Mrs. Stratton (M. Lavinia Warren) from E. Collier, August 30, 1878
Letter: My dear Mrs. Stratton (M. Lavinia Warren) from E. Collier, August 30, 1878
Letter: My dear Mrs. Stratton (M. Lavinia Warren) from E. Collier, August 30, 1878
Letter: My dear Mrs. Stratton (M. Lavinia Warren) from E. Collier, August 30, 1878

Letter: My dear Mrs. Stratton (M. Lavinia Warren) from E. Collier, August 30, 1878


August 30 1878 (Date manufactured/created)
Letter address to My dear Mrs. Stratton from E. Collier, dated August 30, 1878.  The contents of the letter express sympathy from the writer to M. Lavinia Warren regarding the death of her sister, Minnie Warren.

Mercy Lavinia Warren nee Bump (October 31, 1842-November 25, 1919), then Mercy Lavinia Magri, was a well known entertainer during the 1800s. She began her show business career on a river boat, as exhibiting those with dwarfism was profitable at the time.  Warren signed with P.T. Barnum at age 21, along with her younger sister Minnie Warren, who also had dwarfism.  Later on, Lavinia began to date fellow Barnum performer Charles S. Stratton (General Tom Thumb), and the two eventually wed.  They worked and toured together as celebrities, and had a happy marriage.  Following Stratton’s death, Warren married Primo Magri, an Italian entertainer of a similar stature to Warren, on 6 April, 1885.   Magri and Warren operated a roadside stand in Middleboro, Mass. Warren died on 25 November, 1919, and is buried besides Stratton at Mountain Grove Cemetery.
EL 1988.094.001