Finding Aid to the Barnum Circus Invitation

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VA 24501
(434) 846-0501
BARNUM INVITATION TO THE CIRCUS, 1877
The invitation from Henry Barnum, general manager of Howes’ Great London Circus –
Hippodrome and Sanger’s English Menagerie of Trained Animals, to attend the performance of
the circus on 19 April 1877 is addressed to Rev. John Bayley and is signed by H.C. Hodges,
agent. Also included is a newspaper clipping from The Daily Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia,
announcing a change in the number of performances of the circus in Petersburg and in
Richmond. A portion of a sermon, possibly by Bayley, is written on the reverse of the invitation.
HENRY BARNUM (ABOUT 1826-1902)
Henry Barnum was a showman and manager for several circuses during his career. In
1873, he purchased one-tenth interest in Howes’ Great London Circus, along with James E.
Kelley. Low attendance and high costs contributed to the demise of this circus at the end of the
1876 season. The circus was sold to Cooper and Bailey who continued to employ Barnum.
REV. JOHN BAYLEY (1814-1880)
John Bayley, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was born in 1814 in
Stafford, England. He came to America in 1836. He was converted to Christianity in 1839 and
joined the Virginia Conference. He served as minister in Richmond, Petersburg, and Lynchburg,
and surrounding counties. He was the author of several books and pamphlets. He died in 1880
in Lynchburg and is buried at Bayley’s Chapel in Madison Heights, Virginia.

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