Discovering the history behind Tom Thumb weddings
Someone asked me if I ever heard of Tom Thumb weddings at churches. The only thing I knew was a Tom Thumb was involved with a circus. I then asked my breakfast friends, if they ever heard of Tom Thumb weddings in churches. Fay Marko, told me, “Yes, we had one at the Dryville Church many years ago. Youngsters — both boys and girls — dressed up like an adult couple about to be married.” Now I was intrigued that a Tom Thumb wedding had once been a local event, so I did my research.
I was right about a Tom Thumb being in a circus. He was known as General Tom Thumb (Charles Stratton), a midget, who was the top stage performer for P.T. Barnum’s New York Museum, in the 1800s.
Charles Stratton was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1838, weighing in at 9 lbs 8 oz. By the time he was 24, he had grown to 35 inches. In 1883, at the time of his death, he had grown to 36 inches.
How did young Charles end up in the circus? P.T. Barnum, a “very” distant relative, heard about Charles, contacted his parents, who allowed Barnum to take him in. Barnum taught the young boy how to mime, dance, sing, and impersonate wellknown people. At the age of 5, he went on his first tour, later an international tour of Europe. By the middle of the 19th century, he was well-known, both at home and abroad.
In January 1863, Barnum hired a new midget performer, Lavinia Warren, calling her
“The Little Queen of Beauty.” Within a few short weeks, Stratton had fallen in love with Lavinia and asked for her hand in marriage.
The marriage became frontpage news. It took place on Feb. 10, 1863, at Lower Manhattan’s Episcopal Church. The 2,000 guests (plus a crowd on the streets outside) were not allowed in to this extravagant wedding unless they had a wedding card, also two individual cards --- one from Charles and one from Lavinia, and a ticket of admission, all wrapped in white ribbon.
After a lavish reception, held at the Metropolitan Hotel, in New York, the newly marrieds were hosted by President Lincoln, at a reception at the White House. And then on to Europe.
Not only were the Stratton’s famous, they were also quite wealthy. Actually, Barnum and Stratton became business partners. The couple owned a house in New York, a yacht, and a home on Connecticut’s Thimble Islands.
It was a few months after Stratton retired, he died from a stroke in 1883, at 45. Lavinia died in 1919. Both are interred at Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Actually, the Tom Thumb wedding fascination grew following the “Greatest Little Wedding” of the Strattons. Children, usually around the ages of 10 or so, costumed in the wedding couple and wedding party roles, called these miniature pageants “The Tom Thumb Wedding.” In 1889, Walter H. Baker and Co., put out a play calling it, “The Tom Thumb Wedding.” (Updated forms of this play can be obtained by emailing everafter@Mindspring.com). Both schools and churches put on these plays, mostly as a fundraiser, a charity, or just plain fun.
Although the practice of the Tom Thumb weddings has diminished, I found a few churches that still use the weddings as a fundraiser.
Getting back to the Tom Thumb wedding at the local church, the one my friends knew about, was held at Christ (Mertz) Lutheran Church (known as Dryville Church). Steph, the church secretary, was most helpful in finding people who might be able to remember the event. Nothing was found in the archives, but “by word of mouth” the word got around that I was looking for those that could recall the event.
Marlene Snyder, a member of the church, was quite helpful. She found a photo of her sister, Rochelle (Scheidt) Hartline, also a member, who had a photo of herself as a bride in the Tom Thumb wedding. Marlene also visited Larry Hertzog, a member, who now lives in Ohio, but was still in town visiting. To the best of their knowledge the event was around the late 40s. Albert, brother of Larry, was the groom. Larry, who was about 13 years old at the time, recalls being an usher and walking the girl “that he had a crush on” down the aisle and that he was “red from head to toe.”