General Tom Thumb

Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838 – July 15, 1883), better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb", was an American with dwarfism who achieved great fame as a performer under circus pioneer P. T. Barnum.

Childhood and early life Stratton was born January 4, 1838, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of a carpenter named Sherwood Edward Stratton. Sherwood married his first cousin Cynthia Thompson, daughter of Joseph Thompson and Mary Ann Sharpe. Charles Stratton's maternal and paternal grandmothers Amy and Mary Ann Sharpe were stated to be small twin girls born on July 11, 1781 or 1783, in Oxford, Connecticut.

Medical condition Stratton at 10 years of ageStratton was born a healthy, average-sized baby, weighing at birth. During the first six months of his life, he developed normally, reaching a height of and weighing . During his first year, however, his growth suddenly stopped. After noticing that he had not grown during the following six months, his parents consulted a physician, who told them there was little chance that he would ever reach average adult height.

Career

In 1842, at the age of four, Stratton began his performing career after P. T. Barnum discovered him and taught him to sing, dance, mime, and impersonate famous people. Performing as General Tom Thumb, he toured the United States with a programme that included portrayals of characters such as Cupid and Napoleon Bonaparte, alongside singing, dancing, and comic banter with a straight man. The tour was a great success and quickly expanded as demand for his performances grew.

In 1844, Stratton travelled to Europe with Barnum on a three-year tour that made him an international celebrity. During the tour, he appeared before Queen Victoria, met the young Prince of Wales, and, in 1845, starred in Le petit Poucet at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris. The European tour drew large crowds wherever he appeared, and after returning to the United States in 1847, he continued touring as his popularity grew rapidly.

Personal life On his return home from his second tour in 1847, aboard the SS Cambria, he attracted the attention of the explorer John Palliser who "was not a little surprised, on entering the state-cabin, to hear the most unnatural shrill little pipe exclaiming, 'Waiter! bring me a Welsh rabbit'." During the voyage, General Tom Thumb contributed to a collection for the relief of famine victims in Ireland.

Stratton became a Freemason on October 3, 1862. Stratton, by now tall, was initiated to be a Freemason alongside a man who was . Marriage and later life

His marriage in 1863, to Lavinia Warren, and a steam yacht, and he had a wardrobe of fine clothes. He also owned a specially adapted home on one of Connecticut's Thimble Islands. When Barnum got into financial difficulty, Stratton bailed him out. Later, they became business partners. Stratton made his final appearance in England in 1878.

In January 1883, Stratton was staying at John F. Antisdel's Newhall House in Milwaukee when a fire broke out, which Milwaukee historian John Gurda would call "one of the worst hotel fires in American history". More than 71 people died, but Tom and Lavinia were saved by their manager, Sylvester Bleeker. In 1885 Stratton and his wife were engaged at a new dime museum in Boston called the World's Museum, Menagerie, and Acquarium.

Marketing and public image The Fairy Wedding group: Stratton and his bride Lavinia Warren, alongside her sister Minnie and George Washington Morrison Nutt ("Commodore Nutt"), entertainers associated with P. T. Barnum

From early in his career, Stratton performed under the stage name General Tom Thumb, a persona that became central to his public image. The name, borrowed from the English folktale Tom Thumb, distinguished him from other performers and became inseparable from his stage career. On stage, he combined impersonations of historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte with singing, dancing, comedy, and theatrical sketches. When Lavinia Warren died, more than 35 years later, she was interred next to him, with a simple gravestone that read "His Wife".

In 1959, vandals smashed the statue of Tom Thumb. It was restored by the Barnum Festival Society and Mountain Grove Cemetery Association with funds raised by public subscription.

He was buried with Masonic honors by Saint John's Lodge. He became Master Mason in St. John's Lodge No. 3 at Bridgeport, Connecticut, on October 8, 1862. He received the Commandery degrees of Masonic Knight Templar in Hamilton Commandery No. 5, at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1863.

Screen portrayals George Brasno portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1934 film The Mighty Barnum. Jimmy Clitheroe portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1967 film Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon. Paul Miller portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1986 TV film Barnum! Sandor Raski portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1986 TV film Barnum. Ed Gale portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1995 TV film Tad. Josh Ryan Evans portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1999 TV film P. T. Barnum. Sam Humphrey portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 2017 musical film The Greatest Showman.