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- For the similarly named governor of New Jersey, see Charles C. Stratton.
General Tom Thumb was the stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838–July 15, 1883), a little person who achieved great fame under circus pioneer P.T. Barnum. Stratton was a son of a Bridgeport, Connecticut, carpenter.
Born to parents of medium height, he was quite a large baby, weighing 9 pounds 2 ounces at birth. He developed normally for the first six months of his life, at which point he was 25 inches long and weighed 15 pounds. Then he stopped. By late 1842, when he was nearly five years old, Charles Stratton hadn't grown an inch. Otherwise he was a normal child but his parents were reportedly embarrassed by his size.
The 6-foot-2 Barnum taught him to sing, dance and perform. In 1844, Barnum took young Stratton on a tour of Europe, making him an international celebrity. Stratton appeared twice before Queen Victoria. On one occasion, Stratton was attacked by Queen Victoria's pet poodle after a performance at Buckingham Palace *.
In 1851 he stood 2 foot 3 and a half inches tall and five years later he measured 2 foot 6 inches. Stratton's marriage on February 10, 1863, to another little person, Lavinia Warren, was front-page news. They stood atop a grand piano in New York City's Grace Episcopal Church to greet some 2,000 guests. The best man at the wedding was George Washington Morrison ("Commodore") Nutt, another diminutive performer in Barnum's employ. The maid of honor was Minnie Warren, Lavinia's even smaller sister. Following the wedding, the couple was received by President Lincoln at the White House. At the time Stratton was 2 feet 9 inches tall and on his 30th birthday in 1868 stood two inches taller.
Stratton owned a specially adapted home on one of Connecticut's Thimble Islands. He died of a stroke at the age of 45, 3 foot 4 inches tall and weighing 70 pounds. Over 10,000 people attended the funeral. P.T. Barnum purchased a life-sized statue of Tom Thumb and placed it as a grave stone. Lavinia Warren is interred next to him with a simple grave stone that reads "His Wife".
External links
- "Sideshow Ephemera Gallery: General Tom Thumb" by James G. Mundie - biographical essay with photos
- Harper's portrait and report on General Tom Thumb's Wedding
American entertainers | People from Bridgeport, Connecticut | People with dwarfism | Sideshow attractions
"General Tom Thumb"