Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-08-02
DEATH OF MARCUS H. BARNUM
THE FINAL SUMMONS CAME SUNDAY MORN
ING AT AN EARLY HOUR

Marcus h Barnum died at the home
of his daughter, Mrs. A. " Gearhart,
on Warren street. Sunday morning,
July 3lst, 1904, at 1890 % clock Mr.. Bar
mum was taken i'll with gathering in
his ear, at his summer resort on lake
Shishebogema about ten days previous
to his death. He came down to his old
home city on Tuesday, July 18th, for
medical treatment and was accom-
panied by his daughter, Bessie. His
family physician was called who found
his case very critical one and which
soon developed into brain fever Not
withstanding all that loving hands and
best medical experts could do for him
he failed rapidly and was unconscious
after Friday morning
The announcement of his death on
Sunday morning was great shock to
our citizens for everyone knew Mr.
Barnum. A residence of fifty years in
our city and all that time, with the ex-
ception of the past few years, occupy
| ing positions of prominence had made
him known to every man, woman and
child.
| Whea Mr. and Mrs. Barnum came
here in 1857, Wausau was little better
THAI an Indian trading post, and where
our beautiful city now stands was most
| ~ covered with the virgin forests, and
connected with the outer world only by
rough wagon roads and which at this
day would lie termed impossible. Mr.
| Barnum was man of vast resources;
he could turn his hand to most any kind
of work, almost every thing came
natural to him, and he had no trouble
in those early days in keeping the
| hungry wolf from the door, even
| though the law business must have
been, at times, very dull He cared
nothing for money, more than for the
pleasures it would bring to those near
and dear to him. From the time of his
coming to Wausau up to the time of his
death, no person ever applied to him
for assistance without getting it and in
such a cheerful way and always ac-
companied with that kind of advice
which strengthened and encouraged,
He was not ambitious for fame, nor
IN office seeker in any sense of the
word Being as ready and eloquent a
speaker as the state afforded, and a
profound thinker and writer had he
cared to climb farther up the ladder of
fame he could easily have done so.
In nature and temperament Mr.. Bar
nam was the personification of kind
ness-not of the sham or glossy kind
but of that quality which comes from
| the heart and appeals to the hearts of
others. When he saw unkindness
manifested by the strong against the
weak he was quick to denounce it in
strong terms, and he was ever ready to
champion the side of the wronged.
While he was the father of large fami
| ly of children, it was his boast and
pride to say that not one of them ever
received chastisement at his hands.
His belief was that more can be ac-
complished with kind words than by
the use of the rod, and kindness will
bring more respect to parents in their
declining years than if they had been
| guilty of using brute force on their
| children. The mind of an immature
person is not so susceptible of dis
tinguishing the difference between that
which by older persons is considered
right and wrong, and the better way to
correct their mistakes is to teach them
to do right rather than to punish them
for errors of judgment. That he was
correct in his belief is being manifested
| by the methods of treating children in
our public schools today, the rod of
twenty years ago being superseded by
kind words of encouragement from
teachers who are working out social
problem. This trait of character with
him was Unborn. In sunshine or storm
he was the same good natured, jovial
man. In good furtune or whether
laboring under reverseful conditions
his temperament remained unchanged,
and while many may have disagreed
with him in the position he took in
some matters, they could not help but
admire him for those inward qualities
which he possessed in such marked
degree.
Marcus H. Barnum was born March
14th, 1884, in Syracuse, Onondaga
county, New York His father, Marcus
Barnum, was one of the same
stock as the famous Snowman, P. L.
Barnum and" was born in Danbury,
Connecticut The race has prominence
in the history and business of the
country from its earliest period, furnish.
ing soldiers in its first and latest
struggles The mother, Elizabeth
Lounsbury, before marriage, belonged
to a lineage that held staunchly to the
King, because wealthy and prominent
in furnishing the British with supplies
of beef Oh the termination of the
Revolutionary struggle they lost then
estates by contiscation. The question
of furnishing. the beef was one OF
pecuniary weight rather than patriot
ism as, having the cattle, they would
have been seized without compensation
if not sold as allies of the -ed-coats.
The families have both been connected
/, with educational affairs in descending
generations and that the present gener
alton was. carefully educated
Mr.. Barnum was educated in che
common schools of his county and NJ
tended the GAINESVILLE academy at Onon
daga county, New York. de wa
: trained in practical farming and a
eighteen years of age commenced teach
: ing. He followed that profession 70
= four years, meantime studying law an'
in 1855 came to Wisconsin. He locates
y in Fond du Lac county and engaged il