Program: Memorial Program from P.T. Barnum's Funeral
Order of service
Funeral program
April 10 1891 (Date manufactured/created)
8.5 in H
X
5.5 in W
Funeral program, also called a memorial program or "order of service," detailing the service for P.T. Barnum. It was held on April 10, 1891, three days following his death in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The format of the document is a simple folded pamphlet forming four pages. Its cover displays Barnum's name in Old English script in the center, with a thick black line forming a border, a traditional way of identifying mourning print material. The cover reads," In Memoriam/ Funeral Service of/ Phineas Taylor Barnum/ April 10, 1891/ Prayers at the house at 1:30 p.m." The pamphlet provides the prayers, psalms, and hymns, with lines by Whittier and Oliver Wendell Holmes. The selections reflect P. T. Barnum's faith as a member of the Universalist Church. The back cover includes a small illustration of a crown with a cross placed at an angle inside it, representing Christ the King who died on the cross. The printer is the named as "The Standard Association Print."
P. T. Barnum died on April 7, 1891, after having suffered what was likely a stroke in November of 1890, from which he never fully recovered. He had his obituary published on March 24, 1891, by the New York Tribune so that he could read it before his death, and he spent the last few weeks of his life receiving visits from friends and giving them gifts. Barnum himself planned his own funeral service, which was held at South Congregational Church in Bridgeport because it had the capacity to accommodate the many guests anticipated, unlike the Universalist Church to which Barnum belonged. The Rev. Robert Collier, D.D. paid tribute to his very long time friend P. T. Barnum, describing his extraordinarily giving nature and wish to assist any good cause or person in need. Barnum's coffin was carried from the church to his final resting place in Mountain Grove Cemetery on the west border of Bridgeport, a cemetery he had helped plan in the late 1840s. He was laid to rest with his first wife, Charity Hallett Barnum, who had died in 1873.
P. T. Barnum died on April 7, 1891, after having suffered what was likely a stroke in November of 1890, from which he never fully recovered. He had his obituary published on March 24, 1891, by the New York Tribune so that he could read it before his death, and he spent the last few weeks of his life receiving visits from friends and giving them gifts. Barnum himself planned his own funeral service, which was held at South Congregational Church in Bridgeport because it had the capacity to accommodate the many guests anticipated, unlike the Universalist Church to which Barnum belonged. The Rev. Robert Collier, D.D. paid tribute to his very long time friend P. T. Barnum, describing his extraordinarily giving nature and wish to assist any good cause or person in need. Barnum's coffin was carried from the church to his final resting place in Mountain Grove Cemetery on the west border of Bridgeport, a cemetery he had helped plan in the late 1840s. He was laid to rest with his first wife, Charity Hallett Barnum, who had died in 1873.
T 2016.030.001