P.T. Barnum

P.T. Barnum (www25.uua.org (Unitarian Universalist History and Heritage Society (UUHHS)))

Not every single Hero has to have ability to fly or have super strength. Some people are recognized for their actions, not their power for themselves. P.T. Barnum was able to say "I am a showman and all the chiding shall make nothing of me" when people would make fun of him for the job he had.

P.T. Barnum had a challenged life, but when he got older it got much better. P.T. Barnum was born in 1810 in the town of Bethel, Connecticut. P.T. Barnum's childhood was decent. His family started to call him Tale at three months old. P.T. Barnum's paternal grandfather was in the Revolutionary War. P.T. Barnum always had a family member to play with in his house. He had nine brothers and eight sisters. His mom died and had another mom that didn't want any hugs or kisses (unlike his first mom). For P.T. Barnum with the life of a showman, and making two museums. He died at the age of eighty-one in 1891. As you can see, P.T. Barnum had a great childhood.

When P.T. Barnum was in show business, he had many challenges. One of the obstacles was people. People would say "how can you be a stupid showman when other people are making more money than you and they work less than you?" P.T. Barnum would just say, "I am a showman and all the chiding shall make nothing of me." He also had to make two museums in one year. The second museum wasn't as high-quality since he made it smaller and had fewer exhibits. P.T. Barnum's loyal and loved giant African elephant died after saving him and his show partners from getting hit by a train. Some people on the train tried to get P.T. Barnum arrested by saying that the elephant Jumbo tried to slam into the train. While P.T. Barnum was in show business he went bankrupt with his museum and circus. P.T. Barnum's last challenge was his drinking. He would drink alcohol all the time and it was hard for him to stop. P.T. Barnum became very ill. He looked young before he was ill but after he became better he looked like he aged an extra fifty years.

When P.T. Barnum was married his wife died. He had to get remarried but when his wife was dead it was hard for him to do his job. P.T. Barnum also had a couple accomplishments. One accomplishment is that the circus that he used to run still goes today but by different people. Another accomplishment P.T. Barnum had is his circus. P.T. Barnum also had memorable attractions at the circus whenever you would go there. As you can see, P.T. Barnum, had many of challenges and accomplishments.

P.T. Barnum did a couple of things for the community. P.T. Barnum made a museum that had exotic plants and stuffed animals. He also had a small zoo all the way at the top of the Museum. P.T. Barnum also served one term as mayor for Bridgeport. He also made a world's famous circus and had everything most circuses would have but better (he didn't have any clowns anywhere in his circus).

P.T. Barnum also had the first beluga whale in America. He also has made the world's most famous museum in the world. Plus he is honored for his fable talking machine. He is famous for it because you could talk in any language into one end and then it comes out in English. Another thing is a famous bearded lady. In the moral lecture hall he showed many amusing things like a two foot forty year old, shows and singing. P.T. Barnum called it a moral lecture hall because people thought a theater was where people fought, spit, hollering and swearing. P.T. Barnum also made a circus that let people see a giant elephant, one of the only elephants in North America. He would travel at night so people wouldn't get a free glimpse at Jumbo without paying. P.T. Barnum also got his life saved from a train. Jumbo pushed him and his partner out of the way but Jumbo died. Some people said that Jumbo rammed the train so P.T. Barnum would get arrested. Another thing P.T. Barnum did was that he made a museum and for certain days he let black people in since they were never treated politely. They had to go to different schools, restaurants, movie theaters, public restrooms, and bus sides (front & back).

P.T. Barnum had a couple of character traits. One character trait was his imagination. His imagination is wild because he made the Fables talking machine. It's imaginative because you can talk in one end of it and on the other end it comes out as English. Another Quality trait is thoughtful. P.T. Barnum was thoughtful because when he was rich he begged his mother to take some of his money or for him to build her a mansion. Every time he offered it she always said the same thing "I want to live in the same home that my children were born in". Also P.T. Barnum is creative. He is creative because he had a zoo on top of his museum and, he had a beluga whale in the basement but it died since it needed salt water. After a couple of weeks he noticed that belugas need salt water instead of fresh water. P.T. Barnum got other belugas and this time it lived much longer. He also had a theater that he called the "moral lecture hall" because a theater has mobs, swearing, hooting and spitting.

The most important lesson you or any young person might learn from the way P.T. Barnum had lived is "if you believed in yourself you can accomplish anything." P.T. Barnum said this because he believed in everything he did he accomplished everything he did.