STRATTON, CHARLES

born Jan. 4, 1838, Bridgeport, Conn., U.S. died July 15, 1883, Middleboro, Mass. pseudonym General Tom Thumb midget showman who was the first major attraction promoted by the American circus impresario P.T. Barnum. Born to parents of normal stature, Stratton ceased growing at the age of six months and remained 25 inches (0.6 m) tall, weighing 15 pounds, until his teens; he later grew to 40 inches (1 m) and 70 pounds. He was not quite five years old when Barnum hired him for his museum, but Barnum publicized him as General Tom Thumb, an 11-year-old dwarf from England; he quickly became a celebrated figure in the United States and abroad. In 1863 Stratton married Lavinia Warren (18411919), another of Barnum's midgets, in an elaborately staged ceremony in Grace Episcopal Church, New York City.