A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
Zenus Barnum married Anne Barnum McLaughlin, the only daughter of Andrew Barnum, on March 9, 1848. He was a first cousin of his mother-in-law, Frances (Barnum) McLaughlin and a first cousin once removed of his wife Annie B. McLaughlin. The first son of Zenus and Annie, Francis (or Frank) became came a Jesuit Priest and is a co-author of the book Genealogical Record of the Barnum Family (1912).
Zenus Barnum was president of the Northern Central Railroad and of several telegraph companies and also a partner in the Barnum Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.
From Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889 & edited Stanley L. Klos, 1999 Estoric.com: Barnum, Zenas [sic], capitalist, born near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 9 December 1810; died in Baltimore, Maryland, 5 April 1865. He was a civil engineer, but became a proprietor of Barnum's Hotel in Baltimore, in the management of which he acquired a large fortune. Later he became president of the Baltimore Central Railroad, and devoted his entire energies to its reorganization, a task in which he was thoroughly successful. Mr. Barnum was largely interested in the development of the telegraph, and was the first president of the American Telegraph Company. He was also president of the Magnetic Telegraph Company at the time of his death.
The New York Times, April 8, 1865. Death of Zenas Barnum, Esq.
A wide circle of friends and acquaintances will regret to read the announcement of the death, on Wednesday morning, at Baltimore, of Zenas Barnum, Esq., long connected with the hotel that bore his name in that city. Mr. Barnum was a native of Pennsylvania, and, we believe, by profession a civil engineer. He possessed fine business capacities, and after realizing a handsome fortune in the management of his hotel, he relinquished it, to devote his time, as President, to the resuscitation of the Baltimore Railroad, a task that he soon and effectually accomplished. He was also among the earliest. in connection with Hon. Amos Kendall, William M. Swain, Esq., and others, to venture his money and time to the establishment of the magnetic telegraph–an enterprise that derived great advantage from his excellent judgement and talent in adapting details to practical results. His high integrity of purpose which, as President of the pioneer line, he infused through all the operations of the new business, also did much to command that public confidence so essential to success. Mr. Barnum was the first President of the present American Telegraph Company, and was an active director in it, as well as President of the old "Magnetic Company" at the time of his death. He was connected with various improvements in his own State and in Virginia, and was ever among the foremost with his capital and his great business qualifications to encourage and aid every public improvement. We knew him well as a most worthy man. He was domestic in his habits, and kindly disposed to all. —Philadelphia Ledger, April 5.
It is interesting to note that he had an uncle, a great uncle, a nephew and a son all named "Zenus or Zenas."
In the 1850 US Census for Baltimore Ward 10, Baltimore County, Maryland the family of Zenus Barnum was enumerated as follows:
Dwelling #588: Family 688
Ann K. Barnum, 75, F, b. Vermont [N.B., Anna Kirby (McLaughlin) Barnum, grandmother of Zenus' wife Ann, below]
Ann Barnum, 22, F, b. Maryland
Frank Barnum, 2, M, b. Maryland
Zenus Barnum 40, M, Hotel keeper, b. Pennsylvania
Dwelling #588 was the Barnum Hotel. In addition to the family enumerated above it housed the six-member family of Zenus' partner Andrew McLaughlin. In total, 45 persons were enumerated within the hotel during the 1850 census.
Although it may not refer to this same Zenus Barnum, a note in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (1993) is interesting enough to be reprinted here. In an article dealing with monuments to Christopher Columbus, the following statement is made: One thinks again of the first monument to Columbus in the United States, the obelisk raised by Le Palmier d'Annemours, French consul at Baltimore, on the grounds of his estate in 1792, which soon came to be thought of by the locals as "a commemoration of his horse by one Zenos Barnum."
In the 1860 US Census Slave Schedule a Zenus Barnum, residing in Baltimore, Maryland owned a black female slave, aged 20 years.
A US Passport was issued to Zenus Barnum on 1 Jun 1853. He was described as 41 years old, 5 feet 7-1/2 inches tall, high forehead, blue eyes, small nose, common mouth, broad chin, brown hair mixed with white, fair complexion, and round face. Another passport was issued to him in 1861.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
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