page_title: Commodore Nutt
section_title: Last years
hierarchical_section_title: Commodore Nutt / Last years
caption_attribution_description: English: Examples of artwork on a variety of subjects and in a variety of styles by Francis Elizabeth Wynne from a sketchbook (ca. 420 drawings): mixed media, including watercolour, wash and, pen and ink.
context_page_description: George Washington Morrison Nutt, better known by his stage name Commodore Nutt, was an American dwarf and an entertainer associated with P. T. Barnum. In 1861, Nutt was touring New England with a circus when Barnum hired him to appear at the American Museum in New York City. Barnum gave Nutt the stage name Commodore Nutt, a wardrobe that included naval uniforms, and a miniature carriage in the shape of an English walnut. Nutt became one of the Museum's major attractions.
  Nutt was in love with Lavinia Warren, another dwarf at the American Museum. Lavinia was several years older than Nutt. She thought of him only as a "nice little boy". She married General Tom Thumb in a spectacular wedding masterminded by Barnum in 1863. Nutt went to the wedding as Thumb's best man, but resented his place in the show. He stayed away from women for a long time after the wedding. In 1879, he married Lilian Elston of Redwood City, California.
  Nutt toured the world between 1869 and 1872 with the Thumbs and Minnie Warren, Lavinia's sister. They returned to America rich beyond their dreams after appearing before royalty around the world. Nutt left Barnum's employ after a disagreement with the showman.
context_section_description: Newspapers reported at least four times that Nutt and Minnie were married. They were close friends, but never husband and wife.  Minnie married a song and dance man who performed on roller skates named Edmund Newell. She died while having their baby in 1878.
  One day long after the wedding of the Thumbs, Barnum asked Nutt why he had not married. "Sir, my fruit is plucked", he said, "I have concluded not to marry until I'm thirty."  His bride's height was of no concern, he said, but he did "prefer marrying a good, green country girl to anyone else."
  In 1879, Nutt married Miss Lilian Elston of Redwood City, California. He had met her while he was touring the American West. She was a bit shorter than most women, but not a dwarf.
  After his failures on the West Coast, Nutt went back to New York City. He bought a saloon. One day, he was caught selling liquor without a license. The New York City courts closed his saloon. Nutt was in charge of an amusement area called Rockaway Pier for a time. He returned to performing with an act called "Tally-Ho".
caption: Commodore Nutt as Ajax defying the thunder, 1864
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