Jewelry: Lavinia Warren's Wedding Ring
1863 – 1885 (Date manufactured/created)
Gold
Wedding ring of M. Lavinia Warren, the wife of Charles S. Stratton, better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb." Two years after Stratton’s death in 1883, she married Primo Magri, an Italian native who, like Warren and Stratton, was a little person. It is unknown if this ring dates to Warren's first marriage to Charles Stratton in 1863 or her second marriage to Primo Magri in 1885. The plain band has a slightly rounded profie and is made of the slightly copper color gold that was fashionable in the 19th century.
Mercy Lavinia Warren (nee Bump) Stratton (October 31, 1841 - November 25, 1919), then Mercy Lavinia Magri, was a well known entertainer during the latter half of the 1800s. She first became a schoolteacher, but at the encouragement of a relative, she began her career as a performer on a river boat (Spaulding & Rogers boat shows); exhibiting little people (people with dwarfism) was profitable at the time. Warren signed with showman P. T. Barnum when she was 21. In December of 1862, Charles S. Stratton (General Tom Thumb) began courting Lavinia and their whirlwind romance led to their famed marriage, "The Fairy Wedding," just two months later on February 10, 1863, with Lavinia's younger sister, Minnie Warren as bridesmaid and "Commodore Nutt" as best man. The Strattons worked and toured together as celebrities, and had a happy marriage. Following Stratton’s death in 1883, Warren married Primo Magri, an Italian entertainer of a similar stature, on April 6, 1885. Magri and Warren toured, and also operated a roadside stand in Middleboro, Massachusetts, her home town. Warren died at age 78 on November 25, 1919. She is buried beside Stratton at Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Unknown creator, no date.
Mercy Lavinia Warren (nee Bump) Stratton (October 31, 1841 - November 25, 1919), then Mercy Lavinia Magri, was a well known entertainer during the latter half of the 1800s. She first became a schoolteacher, but at the encouragement of a relative, she began her career as a performer on a river boat (Spaulding & Rogers boat shows); exhibiting little people (people with dwarfism) was profitable at the time. Warren signed with showman P. T. Barnum when she was 21. In December of 1862, Charles S. Stratton (General Tom Thumb) began courting Lavinia and their whirlwind romance led to their famed marriage, "The Fairy Wedding," just two months later on February 10, 1863, with Lavinia's younger sister, Minnie Warren as bridesmaid and "Commodore Nutt" as best man. The Strattons worked and toured together as celebrities, and had a happy marriage. Following Stratton’s death in 1883, Warren married Primo Magri, an Italian entertainer of a similar stature, on April 6, 1885. Magri and Warren toured, and also operated a roadside stand in Middleboro, Massachusetts, her home town. Warren died at age 78 on November 25, 1919. She is buried beside Stratton at Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Unknown creator, no date.
1981.004.008