A Unique Story of a Marvellous Career | Page 9

connection with the composition;
but at the close of the reading Barnum had the satisfaction of hearing
Mr. Lowe say that it was a well-written answer to the question, "What
is the one thing needful?"
CHAPTER II.
EARLY YEARS AT BETHEL.
DEATH OF HIS GRANDMOTHER AND FATHER--LEFT
PENNILESS AND BAREFOOTED--WORK IN A STORE--HIS
FIRST LOVE--TRYING TO BUY RUSSIA--UNCLE BIBBIN'S
DUEL.
In August, 1825, the aged grandmother met with an accident in
stepping on the point of a rusty nail, which shortly afterwards resulted
in her death. She was a woman of great piety, and before she died sent
for each of her grandchildren--to whom she was devoted--and besought
them to lead a Christian life. Barnum was so deeply impressed by that
death-bed scene that through his whole life neither the recollection of it,
nor of the dying woman's words, ever left him.
The elder Barnum was a man of many enterprises and few successes.
Besides being the proprietor of a hotel he owned a livery-stable, ran a
sort of an express, and kept a country store. Phineas was his
confidential clerk, and, if he did not reap much financial benefit from
his position, he at least obtained a good business education.
On the 7th of September, 1825, the father, after a six months' illness,

died at the age of forty-eight, leaving a wife and five children and an
insolvent estate. There was literally nothing left for the family; the
creditors seized everything; even the small sum which Phineas had
loaned his father was held to be the property of a minor, and therefore
belonging to the estate. The boy was obliged to borrow money to buy
the shoes he wore to the funeral. At fifteen he began the world not only
penniless but barefooted.
He went at once to Grassy Plain, a few miles northwest of Bethel,
where he managed to obtain a clerkship in the store of James S. Keeler
and Lewis Whitlock, at the magnificent salary of six dollars a month
and his board. He had chosen his uncle, Alanson Taylor, as his
guardian, but made his home with Mrs. Jerusha Wheeler and her two
daughters; Mary and Jerusha. He worked hard and faithfully, and so
gained the esteem of his employers that they afforded him many
opportunities for making money on his own account. His small
speculations proved so successful that before long he found himself in
possession of quite a little sum.
"I made," says Barnum, "a very remarkable trade at one time for my
employers by purchasing, in their absence, a whole wagon-load of
green glass bottles of various sizes, for which I paid in unsalable goods
at very profitable prices. How to dispose of the bottles was then the
problem, and as it was also desirable to get rid of a large quantity of
tin-ware which had been in the shop for years and was con-siderably
'shop worn,' I conceived the idea of a lottery, in which the highest prize
should be twenty-five dollars, payable in any goods the winner desired,
while there were to be fifty prizes of five dollars each, payable in goods,
to be designated in the scheme. Then there were one hundred prizes of
one dollar each, one hundred prizes of fifty cents each, and three
hundred prizes of twenty-five cents each. It is unnecessary to state that
the minor prizes consisted mainly of glass and tin-ware; the tickets sold
like wildfire, and the worn tin and glass bottles were speedily turned
into cash."
Mrs Barnum still continued to keep the village hotel at Bethel, and
Phineas went home every Saturday night, going to church with his

mother on Sunday, and returning to his work Monday morning. One
Saturday evening Miss Mary Wheeler, at whose house the young man
boarded, sent him word that she had a young lady from Bethel whom
she desired him to escort home, as it was raining violently, and the
maiden was afraid to go alone. He assented readily enough, and went
over to "Aunt Rushia's," where he was introduced to Miss Charity
("Chairy," for short) Hallett. She was a very pretty girl and a bright
talker, and the way home seemed only too short to her escort. She was
a tailoress in the village, and went to church regularly, but, although
Phineas saw her every Sunday for many weeks, he had no opportunity
of the acquaintance that season.
Mrs. Jerusha Wheeler and her daughter Jerusha were familiarly known,
the one as "Aunt Rushia," and the other as "Rushia." Many of the store
customers were hatters, and among the many kinds of furs sold for the
nap of hats was one known to the trade as "Russia." One day a hatter,
Walter Dibble, called to buy some furs. Barnum sold him several kinds,
including "beaver" and "cony,"