Charles Sherwood Stratton was a midget born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1838 (his parents, were of normal height). Until he was in his teens, he was only two feet, one inch tall and weighed about fifteen pounds; at maturity he was three feet, four inches tall and weighed about seventy pounds. He joined P. T. Barnum's museum at the age of five. Barnum quickly advertised him as "General Tom Thumb — the smallest human being ever born." (Barnum observed that Americans had a fancy for European "exotics" and so named Stratton after Sir Thomas, one of King Arthur's knights.) In 1844 the shown an took him to Europe where he entertained royalty and caused a sensation. Stratton toured the United States (1847-1852) and then went into semiretirement. He married Mercy Eavinia Warren Bumpus, another midget, in 1863; their one child, a daughter, died young. By the time...