Photograph: Carte de visite photograph of Barnum with a beard, holding young grandchild
Part of BM-MSS 002 box 3
1864 – 1866 (Date manufactured/created)
4 in H
X
2.25 in W
Small photograph showing an older P. T. Barnum holding one of his grandchildren. The oval headshot image fades out around the edges, thus little detail of the figures can be seen. Barnum is on the left, and, uncharacteristically, is sporting a beard. This is the only known photograph of him wearing a beard. A very young grandchild, probably about one year old, is on the right, held to the height of Barnum's face. The date of this carte de visite photograph is estimated to be between August 1864 and July 1866 based on the presence of a revenue tax stamp adhered to the back. A tax on photographs was in effect only during that time period. This clue helps us narrow down, among Barnum's nine grandchildren, which one is shown in this photograph. The child would have to have been born between 1863 and mid- to late 1865. The only grandchild born in that timeframe is Barnum's namesake, Phineas Taylor Barnum Thompson, son of his eldest daughter Caroline and her husband David Thompson. The boy was born on April 19 or 20, 1865. Sadly, the little boy died on February 27, 1868, two months shy of his third birthday. There are no other images in the collection of this child.
P. T. Barnum and his first wife Charity had a family of four daughters, with three surviving to adulthood: Caroline (b. 1833), Helen (b. 1840), and Pauline (b. 1846). Their third daughter, Frances, died in 1844 at about two years of age. The Barnum daughters married and had children, nine altogether, whom Barnum doted on and eagerly had photos taken of - and with.
P. T. Barnum and his first wife Charity had a family of four daughters, with three surviving to adulthood: Caroline (b. 1833), Helen (b. 1840), and Pauline (b. 1846). Their third daughter, Frances, died in 1844 at about two years of age. The Barnum daughters married and had children, nine altogether, whom Barnum doted on and eagerly had photos taken of - and with.
A Gift of the Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, Connecticut
2003.009.033