A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
On October 4, 1832, John Barnum was found guilty of the murder of his father, Noah Barnum.
On the evening of March 1, 1832, John had shot his father to death through a window of the family home. He shot him in the neck, using a musket heavily charged with shot and several large gravel stones.
His trial was covered in detail in the newspaper The Herald of Freedom, in vol. 1, No. 52, dated Wednesday, October 10, 1832. The newspaper was published by John's fourth cousin, Phineas Taylor "P.T." Barnum, the famous showman.
The length of John's sentence for the murder of his father is not known. However, in the 1850 US Federal Census, John Barnum, Age 36 years, Birth Year 1814, Birthplace Connecticut, Race White, was listed as an inmate in the Connecticut State Prison at Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut. This was 18 years after his conviction.
By the time of his death, in 1893, he had been released from prison and was living as a free man.
In the Connecticut, County Coroner's Records, 1883-1934, it is stated that John came to a sudden death on 8 January 1893 as a result of disease of the heart. He died in his seat at the Rockville Baptist Church while attending evening meeting.
From The Evening Standard, New Bedford, Bristol Massachusetts, 10 January 1893. (Reprinted from an uncited Connecticut newspaper) Sudden Death of a Man Who Neglected to Make His Will. Rockville, Connecticut, 9 January 1893. John Barnum, aged 79, died suddenly at a Christian Endeavor service in the Baptist church last evening of heart failure. When 19 years old Barnum shot and killed his father, who while intoxicated was beating John's mother.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
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