P. T. Barnum

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was one of the most notorious jokers in Bethel and also one of the richest men. His longest running joke would be on Barnum. At the boys cresting, he deeded Barnum a piece of land called Ivy Island. For years Barnum herd stories about what a lucky young man he was to be given Ivy Island At the age of ten he set out to see the island himself. Barnum soon found out Ivy Island was named for poisoned ivy. It was an Island in the middle of swamp just east of Bethel. Barnum then learned that he was the unknowing butt of jokes for ten years. Barnum learned from this, although a bit angry, that people loved being humbugged.

He would attend school just long enough to maser basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills. At the age of eight Barnum became an apprentice for his father's dried good store. Although, sadly, in 1826 Barnum's father died. The fifteen year old was the family's only means of support. His father's store changed hands and he went to work for the new owner. Around ...

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outlawed lotteries. A few weeks later his store went bust. Then the final blow came, the newspaper could not repeat with the well-established Danbury Recorder and folded. Within a few short months he was wiped out. In 1834, with nothing left to lose Barnum moved his family to New York City. Without knowing it he started down the road to the "Greatest Show On Earth."4

In 1835, against Charity's wishes, Barnum used every penny they had to buy the contract of an elderly slave named Joice Heth. She was being exhibited as the 161-year-old former nurse to George Washington. As crazy as the fib was the public loved it. Heth earned him a sizeable profit before her death, the next year. Barnum ...

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