From The Evening Star, Washington, DC, Tuesday, January 28, 1890: A Well-Known Merchant Dead, Mr. E. B. Barnum Dies Suddenly of Heart Disease. Mr. Ezra B. Barnum, the head of the clothing house of E. B. Barnum & Co. died suddenly of heart disease yesterday afternoon at his residence in LeDroit Park. Mr. Barnum has been sick for the past month. He suffered from sharp pain in the region of the heart, which was probably due to the infection that resulted in his death. He was, however, thought to be on the road to recovery and on Sunday walked out for a short time in front of his house. Yesterday he went out for a drive, which was extended as far as his store on Pennsylvania Avenue. Upon his return home he went to his room and sat talking and laughing with a little girl who had come with her mother to make a call. Mrs. Barnum was in the room with the visitor, and also one of the daughters. Suddenly Mr. Barnum groaned and fell back in his chair dead. The startled family could not realize that death had come. Medical assistance was at once summoned, but the physicians upon their arrival could only inform the family that he was beyond human help. Mr. Barnum was well known in business circles in this city. He was born in New York State fifty-four years ago, and has been a resident of this city for the past twenty-five years. He was engaged in the clothing business on F Street for a number of years, and about six years ago he opened the store at 931 Pennsylvania Avenue, where he conducted a successful business. He has been closely identified with the work of the Young Men's Christian Association in this city, and at the time of his death he was a member of the board of directors. He was an elder in the Gurley Memorial church and interested in the work of the associated charities and in that of other religious and charitable organizations.