JOSEPH HALL BARNUM
HARTFORD
Editor and Proprietor
Captain Barnum was born in East Hartford, May 27, 1838, and received a common school and academic education. His father was Eli Barnum, who was a hatter by trade, and a cousin of the late P. T. Barnum, the family originating in Danbury. On his mother’s side Captain Barnum is a descendant of Colonel Peter Harwood of Massachusetts, who served with credit in the Revolutionary army. At the age of fifteen years the subject of this sketch removed to Hartford and entered the employ of the Sawyer Silver Spoon Works. At sixteen he went to The Hartford Times, where he acquired an insight into the printer’s trade. From the composing rooms of The Times he entered the employ of The Morning Post, under James M. Scofield, and was in that office when the war commenced. Meanwhile he had served in the Volunteer Fire Department of the city, advancing from old No. 5 on Church Street to the assistant foremanship of the Aetna Hose Company. Captain Barnum was among the first in this city to respond to the call for troops, and enlisted April 20, 1861, in the Light Guard Infantry, Company A, First Connecticut. During the previous February he had enlisted in the Light Guard as one of the city military companies, and proceeded with it to the field, when the first call for volunteers was issued. He was in the first battle of Bull Run with his regiment. At the conclusion of the three months’ service he returned home and again found employment on The Morning Post. In July 1862, his ardor made it impossible for him to remain longer at the case, and he became a worker in enlisting the Bee Hive Company of the Sixteenth Regiment, the old firm of Starr, Burkett & Company being especially interested in the organization. Captain Barnum was mustered as first lieutenant of the company, August 24, the command being assigned to the left of the regiment, the second place of honor in the organization. First Lieutenant Barnum was placed in charge of regimental supplies at Arlington, when the Sixteenth started for the memorable Maryland campaign of 1862, which culminated in the battle of Antietam. After that engagement Lieutenant Barnum was promoted to the captaincy of Company H, his commission dating September 20, 1862. He was selected for this position by Colonel Frank Beach, who was one of the most impartial judges of military attainments. Captain Barnum was at Fredericksburg, serving at the head of his company. Owing to the illness of his wife he was compelled to resign, February 23, 1862, and retnrn to Hartford. The vacancy in the company was not filled, however, and in May Captain Barnum was called to an interview with Governor Buckingham, and earnestly requested to accept the return of his old commission. Governor Buckingham supported his own wishes in the matter by referring to the personal desire of Colonel Beach that Captain Barnum should be induced to return. He was again mustered, May 22, 1863, and joined the command at Suffolk, Va., in time to participate in the Peninsula campaign of that year. During one of the protracted marches of that campaign, Captain Barnum was prostrated by the heat, and compelled for the first time in his life to fall out of line. The effects of that day’s service have been felt from that time until now. When the Sixteenth was ordered from Virginia into North Carolina, January, 1864, Captain Barnum, as officer-of-the-day at the time of the regiment’s departure, was called upon at a critical juncture to perform an important service. The incident referred to was in connection with the destruction of the regimental camp at Getty’s station near Portsmouth, Va. The attack at Plymouth, N.C., which resulted in the capture of nine companies of the Sixteenth was commenced April 27, 1864. Three days prior to that event, Captain Barnum was selected with Company H to relieve the Union forces on Roanoke Island. Sunday morning, April I7, he started on that mission. Ten hours later the bombardment of the outpost by the rebels had commenced. During the summer of 1864, Captain Barnum remained at Roanoke, where the nucleus of the regiment was preserved, and the field and staff reports and muster rolls of the absent companies kept intact. An important expedition was made under Colonel D. W. Wardrop, the destruction of mills and property in the neighborhood of Plymouth being the objective point. Captain Barnum commanded the Sixteenth, and is deserving of the greatest credit for the work which he accomplished in its behalf. In March, I865, he was ordered with his command to Newberne, N.C., and relieved the troops in that city, which were then performing provost duty. He commanded the escort that accompanied General Grant from Newberne to Raleigh, the object of General Grant’s visit being a conference with General Sherman. Captain Barnum remained in command of the Sixteenth until April i19, 1865, when he was relieved by the late Captain Thomas F. Burke of this city, the senior line officer. June 24, 1865, the subject of this sketch was mustered out of service, and returned home at the head of his company. His military career was one of strict devotion to duty. He was one of the best disciplinarians in the regiment, and instinctively a soldier from head to foot. After returning home he started The Soldiers’ Record in company with Lieutenant Wm. E. Simonds, who has since represented the First district in congress. Afterwards he assumed the management of The Gas Light, a bright theatrical paper of the time, and The Travelers Journal. In 1874 The Gas Light was dropped, and in April of that year The Journal was established as a Sunday paper, the Captain becoming one of the pioneers in Sunday journalism in Connecticut. The Sunday Journal has been his life work in the field of business. From the outset it has been a successful enterprise. Its owner and manager is an able newspaper man, and the success which it has attained is due to his intelligence and administration. Captain Barnum was unanimously elected commander of the Buckingham Rifles after the war, and served in the National Guard for a while. His military instincts, however, found full opportunity for development in Washington Commandery No. 1, K. T., of which he has long been a member. He held the position of Captain-General in the Commandery for three terms, and was in military command of the organization during the Chicago pilgrimage. Captain Barnum is a 32o Mason, and is also a member of Pyramid Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Bridgeport. He is a Past Chancellor of Crescent Lodge, Knights of Pythias. Captain Barnum was one of the vice-presidents of the great assemblage that was held here, in recognition of General Grant’s death. He has never sought political office of any kind, having devoted himself to his newspaper enterprises. Captain Barnum has been married twice. His present wife, Mary A. Root, was the daughter of Lyman Root of Westfield, Mass. On her mother’s side Mrs. Barnum is connected with the poet, William Cullen Bryant, and with General Nathaniel Lyon. The surviving son by the first marriage, Charles H. Barnum, is connected with The Sunday Journal, occupying a responsible position in the management. Captain Barnum has been a resident of Hartford since 1853. He is an independent in politics, and his paper has been guided essentially on that principle.
Source: Illustrated Popular Biography of Connecticut - 1891, Compiled and Published by J. A. Spalding, Hartford Conn., Press of the Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company, 1891
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