“Goodbye” General Tom Thumb – Died 15 July 1883

General Tom Thumb was the stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838 – July 15, 1883), a short person who achieved great fame under circus pioneer P.T. Barnum.

He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut,  to parents who were of average height, he weighed in at 9 pounds 8 ounces (4.3 kg) at birth.  He grew normally for the first six months of his life, at which point he was 25 inches (64 cm) tall and weighed 15 pounds (6.8 kg) then he stopped growing.  By late 1842, Stratton had not grown an inch in height or put on a pound in weight from when he was six months old. Apart from this, he was a totally normal, healthy child, with several siblings who were of average height.