In July, 1853, The Bearded Lady was exhibited at the Museum, and she caused Barnum trouble of the kind he liked most. The Bearded Lady, according to a pamphlet she sold when she was exhibited, was born in Versoix, Switzerland, March 25, 1831. Her parents noticed a slight down on her face when she was a baby, and at the age of eight she had a beard two inches long, which grew to be five inches long by the time she was fourteen years old. Physicians in Geneva advised against cutting the beard, for fear it would become hard in texture. In 1849 a French showman offered the parents attractive terms for the right to exhibit their child, and she consented. Her popularity in Europe was great; Louis Napoleon was interested in her and presented her with many gifts. In London it was said that she was visited by more than 800,000 persons. She married a French artist, M. Clofullia, and gave birth to a boy, whose face was covered with hair at his birth. Barnum met the woman and her son, Esau, in New York in 1853 and engaged them for the Museum, where they attracted large crowds. One William Charr made a complaint against The Bearded Lady, and she was brought to the Tombs Court. Charr had visited the Museum at a cost of twenty-five cents and after looking at The Bearded Lady came to the conclusion that he had been humbugged out of his money. He expressed the belief in court that said lady was “nothing more nor less than a dressed-up man,” and further, “that she and Mr. Barnum were humbugs and ought to be ‘dealt with according to law.’” Barnum appeared in court to defend the character of his curiosity and his own reputation. He presented for the consideration of the court a letter and certificate from three physicians that such a hirsute growth was possible, and that Madame Clofullia’s was natural. M. Clofullia, the husband of The Bearded Lady, being duly sworn, insisted that he was the legal husband of Madame, that they had been married for three years, and that she was the mother of two children, one of whom was alive in the presence of Esau, the Hairy Boy. Jacques Boisdechene, being duly sworn, said that he was the father of the woman known as The Bearded Lady, that M. Clofullia was her husband, and that she had borne two children, one of whom was alive. Phineas T. Barnum, being duly sworn, said that to the best of his knowledge the woman in question was a woman, that she had been examined by Dr. Valentine Mott, Dr. John W. Francis, and Dr. Alexander B. Mott, and that they had all come to the same conclusion. Dr. Covil, of the Tombs Prison, also made an affidavit to the effect that in collaboration with the matron of the prison he “had an interview with the lady in question, and both are perfectly convinced that, in spite of her beard, she is a woman.” The magistrate was satisfied that Barnum had proved his innocence of humbug, and the case was dismissed. Barnum and The Bearded Lady left the court-room, followed by a large crowd.[13]