The arrival of the immigrant ancestor Thomas BARNAM (or BARNHAM, or BARNUM) in the British Colonies of North America is well documented. A number of sources also refer to his probable English roots, although without offering documentation. Even without a documented connection, however, information concerning the English forebears of the Barnum family will be of interest to many. So, I've included on this web site a genealogy of the Barnham family in England, together with mention of a few isolated individuals of the same or similar surname.

For those who may be interested, I've also included in this section a narrative version of the family history of the first Barnum generation in North America, as well as a similar narrative concerning the life of the famous showman Phineas Taylor "P. T." BARNUM.

In New England Families, Cutter says "an investigation of the English ancestry of the BARNUM family of America justifies the belief that the immigrant ancestor was son or grandson of Sir Martin and Judith (Calthorpe) BARNHAM. His mother or grandmother was daughter of Sir Martin CALTHORPE, lord mayor of London, and Sir Francis BARNHAM, knight of Hollingbourne, was either stepbrother or uncle, and the wife of Francis BACON (Lord Bacon), great lord chancellor and viscount, was either first or second cousin." Noah Greeley BARNUM, in The Barnum Family, 1350-1907, states (without providing documentation) that this same immigrant ancestor was the 15^th son of Sir Francis BARNHAM and his wife Lady Elizabeth LEONARD. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15^th edition, confirms that Sir Francis BACON married Alice BARNHAM in the summer of 1606; she was the daughter of Benedict BARNHAM, Sheriff of London, and his wife Dorothea SMITH.

By virtue of an apparent connection to Thomas BARNAM, the immigrant ancestor mentioned above, the members of the Barnham family in England are most likely the ancestors of those residents of North America who bear the names BARNHAM, BARNAM, and BARNUM (the latter two of distinctly American origin). Every member of the Barnum family who has contacted me over the years with information concerning the family genealogy has been a direct descendant of that same Thomas BARNAM.

In spite of that singular uniformity of descent in North America, the same can't be said of the European record. As a result of the many linguistic changes which have affected the English language during more than 700 years since the first recorded appearance of the surname Barnham, numerous other spellings have been encountered in the genealogical and historical record. References have been found to (among others) Simon DE BERNHAM (1273), Willelmus BARNOM (1379) and Stephen BARNEHAM (1592). Frank Holmes, in the Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families, calls the name a corruption of Bearnham, meaning a town in a wood or on a hill, and notes that the original family seat was at Southwich, Hants, England. Bardsley, in his Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, defines it as a location-derived surname meaning "of Barnham," and referring to parishes in Ely, Chichester, and Norwich.

Whatever the truth may be, the current English spelling of Barnham first appears in historical documents dating from the mid 14^th century. This web site includes references to the earliest-known members of the family, both in England and in North America, together with annotated family trees for all those Barnum families that have a historically documented relationship.

The family name has appeared at various times and in various countries as Barnham, Barnam, Barnom, De Bernham, Bearnham, Barneham, and Barnum (and perhaps other spellings). Often, different sources show two or more spellings of the surname for the same individual. In fact, the immigrant ancestor appears to have been born with the surname Barnham, and to have used both Barnam and Barnum after arriving in North America. In the genealogy presented on this site, I've generally followed the convention of using Barnham for the English branch and Barnum for the descendants of the immigrant ancestor. With a few exceptions, that convention follows actual usage by the individuals involved. However, the spellings Barnam, Barnham and Barnum all appear on this site, and searches for specific individuals should be undertaken with that in mind.

Although the complete record of the family of Thomas BARNAM appears within the body of this site, some may be interested in reading a history of the first North American generation in narrative form. The following few paragraphs of narrative are included for them.

Thomas BARNAM was born in 1625 in County Kent, England; died on 26 DEC 1695 in Danbury, Connecticut. As mentioned above, Noah G. BARNUM, in The Barnum Family, 1517-1904 states (without providing documentation) that Thomas BARNAM was the 15^th child of Sir Francis BARNHAM and his wife Lady Elizabeth LEONARD. He also states that Thomas left England in 1640 to come to the American Colonies, where he first settled in what is now Bethel, Fairfield County, Connecticut.

This is perhaps a good place to insert a CAUTIONARY NOTE about Noah G. BARNUM's unproven statements concerning the parentage of Thomas BARNAM, and about a few other doubtful entries you may find in our BARNUM family history. There is no documentary evidence of the true parentage of Thomas BARNAM, and without that evidence the reference to Sir Francis BARNHAM is really nothing but supposition. It was quite common around the turn of the last century for families to write or commission genealogical records for the express purpose of showing their descent from the earliest settlers of North America, or from the European nobility. The result was a fair amount of questionable research - and even the publication of some outright falsehoods.

As a result, while both the direct descendants of Thomas BARNAM and the English line of Barnham are shown on this site, the connection between them is shown as "probable but not certain," because of the lack of reliable documentary evidence.

The users of this site are also cautioned to keep in mind that the original data upon which much of this genealogy was based may be suspect in some respects. One of the unfortunate effects of using any written genealogy (including this one) is that there is a tendency to accept what is written as fact, even though the original source may be suspect. Although I sincerely hope that this web site will be a useful tool for genealogical research, and that it will provide hours of enjoyment to new generations of BARNUM family genealogists, I suggest that it be used primarily as a guide to further research. There is no substitute for primary documentation in the study of genealogy. Now, let's return to the story of our ancestor Thomas BARNAM.

According to Orcutt's History of Stratford, Thomas came first to New York and afterwards to Norwalk. Several sources agree that he married (1^st) a wife whose name may have been Hannah, but whose surname is not known, and had with her all of his ten children. He purchased land in Fairfield, Connecticut on 28 Feb 1673, and received a grant of land in Norwalk five years later. The grant reads: "Granted by the plantation unto Thos: Barnam a certaine swampe lyinge neere the west side of Stonie brooke and not far of Soabatucke hill, the sayed swampe containinge five acres more or lesse and lyeth bounded of west north and south with the common land. Aprill the 30^th, 1678." That same year, he sold his land in Fairfield and removed to Norwalk.

Hall's History of Norwalk says: "Thomas Barnam, of Fairfield, had a grant before 1663." The same history gives the assessment of his estate in lands in that town in 1671 and 1687 as 40 pounds. There is also a mention of Thomas in a Fairfield book of records as follows: "28 Feb. 1673 Thomas Barnam has by purchase of John Crump one parcel of land at Maximus, being in quantity by estimation three quarters of an acre more or less." The next record is in Norwalk, dated 30 Apr 1678, and says that the plantation granted to Thomas Barnam was "three acres lying by the land said Thomas purchased of John Rayment."

At a town meeting in Norwalk, on 8 Nov 1681, he was appointed to "oversee and keep good Decorum amongst the youth in times of exercise on the Sabbath and other Publique meetings; and the town doe impower him if he see any disorderly, for the keep of a small stick to correct such with; onely he is desired to doe it with clemency; and if any are incoridgable in such disorder, he is to present them either to their parents or masters; and if they doe not reclaime them, then to present such to authority."

Cutter, in New England Families, Notes that Thomas BARNAM was one of the first eight settlers of the town of Danbury, Connecticut, in 1684. The History of Stratford makes the same statement. The others are listed as: Thomas TAYLOR, Francis BUSHNELL, John HOYT, James BENEDICT, Samuel BENEDICT, James BEEBE and Judah GREGORY. Those eight individuals purchased from the local Indians a large tract of land that now includes the towns of Danbury, Bethel, New Fairfield, Redding, Ridgefield, and a portion of Derby, and established there the settlement of Danbury. Thomas located his homestead in a portion of the new settlement that in 1855 became a part of the town of Bethel, and is known today as the Old Homestead at Grassy Plain.

He was charged by his fellow settlers with the formulation of the articles of agreement establishing the form of civil government that they were to have in their new town. From that, and other references found in contemporary records of the locality, it appears that Thomas BARNAM was a man of more than ordinary intelligence among the immigrants of his time, and was very active in both church and town affairs.

He married (1st), in 1642, Hannah __________ . She died in 1683. The Barnum Family, 1350-1907 calls her Hannah HURD (providing no source for that name) and also calls her the mother of the first four children of Thomas. All other available sources indicate that her name is not known, and state that she was the mother of all ten of the known children of Thomas.

They had the following children:

Thomas married (2^nd) Sarah (Thompson) HURD. The Barnum Family shows a marriage year of 1718 for Thomas and Sarah; an obvious impossibility, since Thomas died in 1695. The most likely date is after 1688 (the birth year of Thomas' daughter Abigail), since most sources agree that all of his children were born of his first marriage. A prenuptial agreement is said to exist. Sarah THOMPSON was born in 1642 in Stratford, Connecticut; died on 24 Jan 1718 in the same place. Her father was John THOMPSON (b. about 1617), the first of that name in Stratford. Prior to her marriage to Thomas BARNAM she had been married to John HURD, Senior, of Stratford, who died in 1681.

Thomas died on 26 Dec 1695, aged about 70 years. His estate, which amounted to 330 pounds, 4 shillings, 4 pence, was divided among "five sons and five daughters, the eldest son to have a double portion." His widow Sarah returned to "Stratfield," in Stratford, and died there in Jan 1718 at the age of 76 years.

The Life of Phineas Taylor (P. T.) Barnum

Phineas Taylor BARNUM was born 5 Jul 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut; died 7 Apr 1891 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He became a celebrated American showman by employing sensational forms of presentation and publicity to popularize such amusements as the public museum, the musical concert, and the three-ring circus. In partnership with James A. BAILEY, he made the American circus a popular and gigantic spectacle, the so-called "Greatest Show on Earth.

At the peak of his career, BARNUM's own appearance was nearly as familiar to the public as the exhibits he promoted. An impressive figure six feet two inches tall, semi-bald, with blue eyes, a bulbous nose, and potbelly, he called himself the "Prince of Humbugs." He dwelt in a three-story Oriental mansion, named Iranistan, on a 17-acre estate in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he played host to such notables as George CUSTER, Mark TWAIN, Horace GREELEY and Matthew ARNOLD. Close friends regarded him as good-natured, thoughtful, and kind, as well as parsimonious and egotistical.

The quote "There's a sucker born every minute" is often attributed to him. Barnum himself doubted ever having uttered those words - although he conceded that he may have said, "The people like to be humbugged." In the appendix to A. H. Saxon, P. T. Barnum: The Legend and the Man (1989), it's claimed that the phrase "There's a sucker born every minute, but none of them ever die" actually originated with a notorious con man known as "Paper Collar Joe" (real name, Joseph BESSIMER), and was later falsely ascribed to Barnum by show-business rival Adam FOREPAUGH in a newspaper interview. Barnum never took specific pains to deny it, and even thanked Forepaugh for the free publicity. In spite of the confusion about the statement mentioned above, Barnum was fond of making extravagant and colorful statements, many of which have been properly quoted. Among them is the paraphrased statement, "Every crowd has a silver lining."

He served two terms in the Connecticut legislature (1865-67) and a term as mayor of Bridgeport (1875). Barnum was nominated by the Republican Party as a candidate for U.S. Congress (1867), but was defeated. His Democratic opponent was William Henry BARNUM (1818-1889), a third cousin once removed, who as a U.S. Senator became known for doing much to help re-elect Grover Cleveland as President.

What is now New York's famous Madison Square Garden opened in April, 1874 under the name "Barnum's Hippodrome." At the north end of the city's 38-year-old Madison Square Park, on Fifth Avenue, was a shed that had been used until 1871 as a freight depot for the New York and Harlem Railroad. Barnum spent $35,000 to remodel the roofless structure and sold his lease that winter to Patrick S. GILMORE for a handsome profit. Gilmore renamed it "Gilmore's Garden" and used it for flower shows, policemen's balls, America's first beauty contest, religious and temperance meetings, and the first Westminster Kennel Club Show, while Barnum pitched his circus tent at Gilmore's Garden each spring. Madison Square Garden got its present name on May 30, 1879 when it was acquired and renamed by railroad heir William K. VANDERBILT, who announced that it would be used primarily as an athletic center.

BARNUM himself eloquently described the sort of life lived by him and his contemporaries in Bethel, in the first years of the 19^th century. In his 71^st year he presented a bronze fountain to the citizens of his birthplace, accompanying the presentation with the following speech.

The remarkable showman lived yet another ten years following the presentation outlined above, passing away at the age of 80 years, 9 months and 2 days, in his home at Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1890 he had visited Denver, intending to go on to the Pacific Coast, but gave up the trip and returned home on 1 November. He appeared as well as usual, but after 6 Nov 1890 he no longer left his house, and he died on 7 Apr 1891.

The (1^st) marriage of P. T. BARNUM was to Charity HALLETT, on 8 Nov 1829 in New York, New York. The marriage was performed by the Reverend Dr. McAULEY. Charity HALLET was born in 1808 in Bethel, Connecticut; died on 17 Nov 1873. She was a tailoress in Bethel, Connecticut, prior to her marriage to Barnum. The Barnum Family, 1350-1907 calls her Charity HALLOT.

They had the following children: