Item 38: Photograph of “General Tom Thumb & bride,”, 1850 February

Item — Box: 12, Folder: 38

Staff Only

Photograph of “General Tom Thumb & bride,”, 1850 February

Dates

Created: 1850 February

Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities

Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.

Access:

All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.

Extent

1 items

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Type of Material:

Photograph (Cabinet card)

Condition Note:

Good: Slight discoloration of the back of the photo card, with slight peeling visible in the bottom right corner.

Measurements:

6 ½ in. x 3 ⅝ in. {Envelope}, 4 in. x 2 ½ in. {Photograph}

Title:

General Tom Thumb & bride

Description:

The following photograph is a cabinet card of circus performer, Charles Sherwood Stratton’s [known as “General Tom Thumb”] wedding to his wife, Mercy Lavina Warren (a circus performer). Stratton’s life as a circus performer donned him the nickname “Tom Thumb” due to his size, as the original folktale notes Thumb being “no bigger than his father’s thumb.” Straton and Warren are joined by other performers in the industry, George Washington “Commodore Nutt” Morrison Nutt and Huldah Pierce “Minnie” Warren Bump. Handwriting on the back of the photo card indicates that the recipient of the card inherited it from an unknown C. J. Welles from Athens, Pennsylvania. The original photograph was so popular, it is now titled as the “Fairy Wedding Group.” The original photo was taken by Matthew B. Brady, one of the earliest photographers known in the United States.

Transcription:

Envelope Front: Photograph — General Tom Thumb & bride (Charles S. Stratton & Mercy Lavina Warren)

BACK [of Photo]: Photo of General Tom Thumb And his Bride Inherited from C.J. Welles Athens, Pa. Clue. Feb ‘50[1850]