The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-07-05

with an offer to appropriate s1oo,O00 if the county seat were located there. March 1886, the town voted to ap- propriate $150,000 to build the court house. and, April 8. 1886. an act of the Legislature gave the privilege to Bridgeport. In selecting a site the town was represented by committee which included among others the late D. M. Read, the late Nathaniel Wheel CT and Mir. Bafnum. Upon the bronze tablet erected in the court house ap- pears Barnum's name. with the names of other members of the committee.
 The contribution of Barnum to medf- cine is represented by the fact that fin his will he set aside a room in the Barnum Institute to be forever for the use of the Bridgeport Medical Society. He also gave freely to the Bridgeport Hospital and in his will left a sum to found the Barnum free bed.
 1t is as the father of the Bridgeport park system that the great snowman will ever be held in most grateful re- membrance. The first gift was in 1851 when General Noble and Mir. Bar mum were opening their property in East Bridgeport. in what had been known as "the new pasture lots" They set also four acres of land to be used as a public park. and thus to render more attractive for residential purposes the remainder of the terri tory. The plot remained open and was used as a common but it was not formally transferred to Bridgeport until 1865 when a deed was given and the Common Council accepted the gift under the title Washington Park
 In 1862 the 17th Connecticut VoIun- teers encamped upon land in the southern part of the city, bordering upon the Sound. The Bridgeport Standard then directed attention to the advantages of this site for a park
 D Dor md I0 (N fe soon thereafter took steps to realize the project. In 1884 a survey was made, and a map of the area to be taken was drawn. Thirteen acres were in Bridgeport and the remainder in Fairfield. Nathaniel Wheeler, Frederick Hurd and Eli Thompson were appointed a committee to enquire into and report upon the offer of cer- tain citizens to donate the tract to the city, The owners of the land were George Bailey and MT. Barnum. They offered to convey the land free to the city provided that it be used perpet- ually as public park. The contrfbu- ton of a little less than s3,0O0 was reported from some so citizens and ditional land. In July. 1865. city meeting was called and the council was authorized to accept deeds of the land and to appropriate a sum not exceeding $10,00O for grading. James c. Loomis. s. s. C1app and Jacob Kiefer were appointed the first com missioners of Seaside Park. MT. Bar nuns share of the first gift vas ' acres 10 rods. In 1869 he gave 3 acres and so rods additional
 In 1884 he gave an additional 36 acres, the gift comprising the iand between Waldemere avenue and the water, and extending from Iranisfan avenue on the east to Barnurr1's dyke at the mouth of Cedar Creek on the west. The whole area of Seaside Park is 125 acres, exclusive of Fayerweather Island.
 The bronze statue of Barnum at Sea- side Park was unveiled July 4, 1893. with appropriate and exceedingly in-- teresting ceren. onies. The statue was presented to the city by his former partners, James A. Bailey and James A. Hutchinson and W. W. Cole. This now stands on a superbIy sculptured granite pedestal. the gift of citizens of Bridgeport. The site is on the margin of the- Sound, within sight of the former home of the great show man. at point where he loved to 1in- ger during the warm summer days.
 P. T. Barnum, with his other occu- pations, found time to be a banker. He was the first president of the Pe- quonnock bank. which was chartered in 1851. This bank paid s4.000 for it's charter, $1,000 of which went to the Bridgeport Public Library.
 GCont1nued on PaEs C.,