General tom thumb biography of rory

Over the course of his career, it is estimated fifty million people turned out to see Charles and his companions. Charles and Lavinia would eventually build their dream home in Middleborough, Massachusetts. Though most of the miniature interior has gone missing over the years, Lavinia's wood burning stove does survive. While researching Charles's wife Lavinia I realized something was amiss with their story.

Barnum, but because of his affiliation with Barnum his legacy has been tarnished. Although Stratton achieved mass global popularity during his lifetime, he was largely written out of theater history because he was considered nothing more than a Barnum sideshow. In fact, as an independent act, Stratton toured the United States a dozen times, appeared on Broadway, and took to the stage in London and Paris, selling out venues along the way.

While Stratton's small size gave him a foothold in the entertainment world, his talent and stage artistry kept him there. According to Eric D. If he was not a freak, then he was one of America's most popular stage actors, welcome at the dinner table of the most august families in the nation, and in the house of the president himself. Stratton was a large infant, weighing in at nine pounds, two ounces, at birth.

At six months, he had grown to 15 pounds, two ounces, and was 25 inches long. At this point, he stopped growing; while he continued to physically mature and develop in every other way, his height stayed at 25 inches. As doctors counseled his parents, Stratton—or Charley as his mother called him—was a proportional dwarf, meaning that he was of small stature and with arms and legs scaled relative to his size.

It was thought that a pituitary gland problem caused Stratton's growth issues because his siblings attained normal height as they matured.

General tom thumb biography of rory

As the years passed, Cynthia Stratton grew protective of her son, placing him in a blanket-covered basket to shield him from the stares and jeers of local townsfolk. During this period in history, there was little understanding of people with developmental or physical variations. In November of , Barnum arrived in Bridgeport. Learning about Charley Stratton, Barnum arrived at the Stratton home and offered the family three dollars a week to take the four-year-old boy down to New York City.

Initially, Cynthia Stratton balked at the offer, but the pay was higher than her husband's. Ultimately, she agreed to a four-week trial. Show biz took its toll on his health however. He died of a stroke in He stopped growing at 18 months. He was 25 inches tall and weighed 16 pounds in when P. Barnum molded the boy into an entertainer , and provided the child with an expensive and exquisitely tailored wardrobe.

He was presented as General Tom Thumb and his age bumped up to eleven years. He debuted on December 8, At first, he was shy about appearing in public, but he took to the stage and began imitating famous little people like Napoleon and Cupid. The General was a hit. Thirty thousand people attended his first week performances. In America, Thumb remained the principal attraction at the American Museum for many years.

In , Thumb returned to America very rich. General Tom Thumb quickly gained widespread fame and became a household name. He toured the country and even performed for Queen Victoria of England and the young Prince of Wales. At the peak of his popularity, he attracted large crowds of fans wherever he went. In , Stratton began to experience slow growth for the first time since infancy, gradually reaching a height of 89 cm by the age of In , he married another dwarf named Lavinia Warren, and their wedding became a major public event.

Under Barnum's guidance, Stratton became very wealthy, owning a beautiful home in New York, a yacht, and many other valuable possessions.