Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-06-01
CELEBRATED MIDGETS.
SOME OiMiNUTivE MEN AND WOMEN
WHO ACHIEVED FAME.

Dwarf Who Killed His Man in q Duel
A Short Pole with a Long Name and
-Iatron in Miniature'-HuIfiah Bump.
| Sir Geotfrey Hudson is used for the genesis
| Of this article, not because he was the smallest
| of the long list of midgets who have appeared
upon the stage of action during the past 300
years, but for the reason that he is the earliest
of which authentic record has been preserved
He was born in the year 1919 at Oakham,
Rut andshire, England He first attracted
the attention of the Duke of Buckingham in
| l62S he being then years old and but eight
| cen inches high
Little Geotfrey, or Jeffrey, as it is some
| times written, remained in the service Of the
duke until the time of the tour Of Charles l,
king of England, through the different shires
after his marriage with Maria Henrietta
When the king and his new bride visited
| Buckingham, in order to serve their majesties
with unique surprise, Godfrey, the dwarf,
was incased in a large cold pie and served at
dinner. much to the delight of the royal Wis
| itors
| THE DUEL ON HORSEBACK
Her majesty was so pleased with the pranks
l
him with her TO London. Soon after this
event he began to grow rapidly and soon shot
up To three feet; a calamity which he charac-
| teris Jically claimed was due to royal feeding
Still he retained his position as court dwarf
under the suggestive name of Lord Minimus;
| was present upon all state occasions and knew
more, perhaps, of the affairs of the govern
ment than the kings ministers themselves.
He was sent to France to bring attend
ant for the queen. she being native of that
country While on this errand, thinking
himself a dwarf of considerable Importance
he formed the acquaintance of MIR Crofts, a
young man of high social standing and posi-
tion in France, who teased the poor little
| dwarf beyond the hounds of reason Being
courier when at home he naturally resented
| the treatment of young Crofts, which finally
became unbearable. resulting in u challenge
| from the dwarf
When Crofts and his friends appeared at
the scene of rendezvous Crofts was armed
with a squirt gun filed with muddy water
This enraged the little Englishman to the ex-
tent that real duel followed the partici-
pants being mounted on horseback, which put
them more on a level Crofts fell dead at the
| first lire.
| The remainder of the adventurous life of
1
some time slave in Barbary, afterwards,
| upon his return to England, a captain in the
| royal army In 1864 he accompanied the
queer on a visit to France, but after the be
| stowSl of all this royal honor upon him he
| was sent a prisoner to Gatehouse. West
minste er, having been suspected of being privy
to the poplsh plot He died at the Gatehouse
prison in his I'D year
| BoRowLAsEI AND THUMB
| Count Joseph Borowlaski was Pole He
was horn in the year l7}9 he came of fam
| lily of six children, of which every other one
\ were dwarfs The first of the family was
| son 8 feet and 4 inches high, then came an
| other who was feet in his stockings after he
had attained mans estate next came Joseph,
I the subject of this sketch, who was but 81
inche high on his twenty-first birthday; of
the three that followed Joseph the first and
last we're of ordinary proportions the middle
one teing dwarfess, who died at the age Of
%, being then but % inches tall Joseph
| became celebrated for his remarkable lon
gevity as well as for the brevity of his stature,
he living to the advanced age of 9S After
his tour through England he visited his ma
tive land, but returned two years later to the
British Isles; married lady of ordinary size,
raised large family and died at Banks cot
tage, near Durham, in 1881
About five years after the death of Borrow
laski, in lS42, Tom Thumb, the most cele-
brated dwarf of modern times, although not
the smallest by any means, began his trium-
phant march under the auspices of his patron
saint, p. 7. Barnum Toms real name was
Charles Stratton. He was born in 1885, and
was therefore but years of age when put ON
exhibition at Barnum's museum, New York
city He weighed twelve pounds when first
exhib ted, soon became famous, and made his
first trip to England in 1874, believe, but 1t
may tave been a year or two later. He grew
but very little until after the end of his fif-
teentf year, then grew until he was %. At
the age of 30 he began to ''fill out" and dur
ing his last trip west, in 1883, he stated his
weight to be seventy pounds! Not much of a
midget, sure He died at his summer resi-
dence near Middleboro. Mass, July 10, 1888,
aged 45
THE WARREN SISTERS.
Mrs Tom Thumb, the wife of the subject
of the foregoing, was, before she attracted the
attent on of her husbands patron saint, little
Betsy Bump When put ON exhibition be-
side her future husband, at the New York
museum, she adopted Lavina Warren as a
stage rame She was married to the little
general at Grace church, New York city, in
wife
Mrs Stratton, when young, weighed any
| where from fifteen to thirty pounds. As age
advanced she became quite portly, and
weighed, when she made the last trip west,
not les than fifty pounds Robust health,
general portliness combined with natural
rotund figure, gave her quite a motherly ap-
pearance, which earned for her the sobriquet
of the 'Matron in Miniature"
After mourning the death of the renowned
Tom for a year and nine months, Mrs STRAIT
ton tried abbreviated matrimony a second
time by a union with Count Primo Magri,
April o. 1885 The count is but thirty-two
inches in height and weighs less than his min
iature bride. Like her first marriage, this
second one was also performed in New York
city at the Church of the Holy Trinity. Rev.
DR.. Watkins officiating.
| Since her second marriage the late Mrs
Thumb has settled down to the enjoyment of
an enviable reputation; but few inklings OF
her everyday life are given to the public
Minnie Warren was another celebrated
dwarfess She was a sister to Mrs. Tom
Thumb, and before being put ON exhibition
beside her sister was plain Huldah Bump
Minnie was some ten years younger than
Mrs. Thumb and weighed 42 pounds She
was born on the Bump homestead, two miles
out from Middleboro Center, Mass, and
early began the show business She was mar
ried to Ma. Newell in lS- and died July 23
| 1873, light hours after the birth of a girl
baby Weighing pounds, one-seventh the
weight of the little mother. The baby lived
but Few hours. Mother and baby were
buried in the same coffin.--John W Wright
in st. Louis Republic.
Bene icence is a running stream If cash