In the 1850 US Census for Danbury, Fairfield County, Connecticut the family of Philander S. Barnum was enumerated as follows:
Dwelling 367; Family #82
Philander Barnum, 36, M, Hatter, Real property $1,000, b. Connecticut
Delia Barnum, 31, F, b. Connecticut
Edwin Barnum, 3, M, b. Connecticut
Mary E. Barnum, 1, F, b. Connecticut
Mary A. Barnum, 30, F, b. Connecticut
Polly Ferry, 67, F, b. Connecticut
[Note: the family of Starr Ferry was living next door].
The Barnum Family, 1350-1907 and The Barnum Family, 1517-1904 show Julia Cady as the only wife of Philander Starr Barnum. Stories appearing in the Danbury News, of September 30 and October 7, 1896 tell the sad story of Philander's death. He apparently left his home on September 16 to visit friends in Stormville, New York and was later discovered missing by his brother Zar, who visited frequently at his home. Zar advised Philander's sons Edwin and William, who began to search for their father. After a few days of searching, they discovered that an unidentified man had been killed on the train tracks a few days earlier and buried as an unknown person. Fearful and suspicious, Edwin went to the town offices and to the undertaker and quickly identified the clothing of the deceased, some of which had been gifts from him. The unidentified person was indeed Philander, whose body was subsequently exhumed and reburied in Bethel, Connecticut. Poor Philander, who was nearly totally deaf in his old age, had apparently never hear the train that killed him.