Struggles and Triumphs: or, Forty Years' Recollections of P. T. BarnumBarnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor)
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Struggles and Triumphs: or, Forty Years' Recollections of P. T. Barnum
Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor)
Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor), 1810-1891; Circus owners -- United States -- Biography
The most comfortable provision was made for me in Danbury jail. My room
was papered and carpeted; I lived well; I was overwhelmed with the
constant visits of my friends; I edited my paper as usual and received
large accessions to my subscription list; and at the end of my sixty
days’ term the event was celebrated by a large concourse of people from
the surrounding country. The court room in which I was convicted was the
scene of the celebration. An ode, written for the occasion, was sung; an
eloquent oration on the freedom of the press was delivered; and several
hundred gentlemen afterwards partook of a sumptuous dinner followed by
appropriate toasts and speeches. Then came the triumphant part of the
ceremonial, which was reported in my paper of December 12, 1832, as
follows:
“P. T. BARNUM and the band of music took their seats in a coach
drawn by six horses, which had been prepared for the occasion. The
coach was preceded by forty horsemen, and a marshal, bearing the
national standard. Immediately in the rear of the coach was the
carriage of the Orator and the President of the day, followed by
the Committee of Arrangements and sixty carriages of citizens,
which joined in escorting the editor to his home in Bethel.
“When the procession commenced its march amidst the roar of cannon,
three cheers were given by several hundred citizens who did not
join in the procession. The band of music continued to play a
variety of national airs until their arrival in Bethel, (a distance
of three miles,) when they struck up the beautiful and appropriate
tune of ‘Home, Sweet Home!’ After giving three hearty cheers, the
procession returned to Danbury. The utmost harmony and unanimity of
feeling prevailed throughout the day, and we are happy to add that
no accident occurred to mar the festivities of the occasion.”
My editorial career was one of continual contest. I however published
the 160th number of _The Herald of Freedom_ in Danbury, November 5,
1834, after which my brother-in-law, John W. Amerman, issued the paper
for me at Norwalk till the following year, when the _Herald_ was sold to
Mr. George Taylor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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