Elizabeth Raum - The Big, Bold, Adventurous Life of Lavinia Warren

L avinia Warren never let her heightor the lack of itprevent her from leading a full and adventurous life. Although she never grew more than three feet tall, she became a beloved teacher, a world traveler, an entertainer, and the friend of many powerful figures. Lavinia was teaching at a local school when she heard about an opportunity to travel doing shows as a human curiosity on a Mississippi River boat. Eventually she met P. T. Barnum and worked at his American Museum. It was there that she met Charles Stratton, known to the world as Tom Thumb. Their wedding on February 10, 1863, brought joy to a nation at war. President and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln even held a reception for the couple at the White House.

During her long life, Lavinia faced several tragedies but always found the strength to go on. Her extraordinary story also provides a unique perspective on one of the most devastating periods in American history: the Civil War and its aftermath. This valuable middle-grade biography includes material on Tom Thumb Weddings, readers questions, a time line, and other resources.

Copyright 2018 by Elizabeth Raum

All rights reserved

Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-0-912777-50-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Raum, Elizabeth, author.

Title: The big, bold, adventurous life of Lavinia Warren / Elizabeth Raum.

Description: Chicago, Illinois : Chicago Review Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Age 10 and up.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017060546 (print) | LCCN 2018002354 (ebook) | ISBN 9780912777511 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9780912777528 (kindle) | ISBN 9780912777535 (epub) | ISBN 9780912777504 (cloth)

Subjects: LCSH: Magri, M. Lavinia (Mercy Lavinia), 18411919Juvenile literature. | Women circus performersUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC GV1811.M335 (ebook) | LCC GV1811.M335 R38 2018 (print) | DDC 791.3092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017060546

Interior design: Sarah Olson

Printed in the United States of America

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Lavinia Warren never grew taller than a yardstick. In fact, she was shorter than most three-year-olds. Tasks that most of us take for granted proved nearly impossible for her. She couldnt reach the kitchen sink, and sitting on a normal-sized sofa meant climbing upunless a kind friend gave her a lift. Store-bought clothing never fit. Everything had to be specially madeher dresses, shoes, hats, and gloves. Daily life was filled with obstacles for Lavinia Warren.

In addition to the difficulties posed by her size, Lavinia lived during tumultuous times. The ongoing debate over slavery erupted into violence even before the Civil War began, and Lavinia was caught in the middle of it. She survived, and so did the nation, but the war left its mark on everyone living in America in the mid-1800s.

Despite her tiny size, and in part because of it, Lavinia performed for audiences around the world. She was as famous in her day as movie stars are today. She touched the lives of thousands of people in hundreds of places during her adventurous life. People marveled at her size, her poise, and her dignity. Being small was never an excuse for Lavinia Warren. It was simply a fact of life, a life that began in a small village in eastern Massachusetts.

T here were lots of Bumps in Middleborough, Massachusetts, and every one of them was tall. James Bump was over six feet tall. His wife, Huldah, was tall too. Their first four children grew as tall and slender as corn in August. On October 31, 1841, a fifth baby Bump was born. Her parents named her Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump. At birth, Mercy weighed six pounds. Everyone assumed that she would become a big Bump too.

But around the time of her first birthday, Mercy stopped growingor at least she slowed way down. It took her five years to grow as much as most children grow in a single year. At age 10, Mercy measured 24 inches tall and weighed 20 pounds. Many two-year-olds were bigger. Her fourth-grade classmates towered above her.

No one knew what caused Mercy to stop growing, not in 1842. Today, doctors know that children like Mercy lack a certain growth hormone. Mercys medical condition was called dwarfism. There are more than 200 different kinds of dwarfism. Mercy was a proportionate dwarf. Proportionate means that all the parts of her body were small to the same degree. She looked like other children except that she was much, much smaller.

Mercys parents accepted her just as she was. They sent her to the local school, took her to church on Sundays, and insisted that she help with chores around the house. Although her parents tried to treat her exactly as they had treated their other children, they had to make allowances for her small size.

Her father, James, was a farmer and often carried her on his arm when he went to the barn to care for the cattle. To make life easier for her, he built a lightweight set of steps so she could reach the kitchen countertop and fetch items from the cabinets. She could move the steps from place to place whenever she needed them. Mercys mother, Huldah, taught her to sew her own clothes, embroider, and knit her own sweaters. Mercy especially enjoyed embroidery and other kinds of needlework.

It wasnt always easy for someone so small to handle household chores, but Mercy was smart. She figured out how to get things done. Sometimes she had to remind her mother that she couldnt accomplish a particular task because of her size. But little setbacks didnt stop Mercy Bump. She wanted to please her parents and live up to their expectations. When she wrote her autobiography, she dedicated it to them:

To the memory of my Father and Mother, to whom I owe a happy childhood and whose integrity and uprightness has given me a standard which, if often my arrow falls below, has held me to the motto Aim high.

Middleborough was a small town; everyone knew everyone else. When Mercy went off to school the first day with her brothers and sisters, her size was no surprise to her classmates. She was as bright and capable as the other students; she was simply much smaller.

To reach her desk, Mercy sat on a high stool. Most of the time, she worked hard at her studies. Sometimes, however, she quietly climbed down to play tricks on the others. She would run beneath the desks and give her classmates tiny pinches. They gasped or squealed in surprise until they realized that it was Mercy, and then they sputtered and giggled.