W*t> : ' "'■■ ■ f : ' -•• [r-v/.^- - . v ;: • *• g£y: - .-■\' > • \re ** ' • 4 * ML ’•«'*»<, . . v. ;*-••' <■ •/.*/* , ». f r^«. 'i': 'w-:' R Riip ■ i I . _\.T -' V. *•?.. • o I LIFE OF THE CELEBRATED BEARDED LADY, MADAME CLOFULLIA AND HER INFANT jes u - NEW YORK: COURRIER DES fiTATS-UNIS, POWER PRESSES, 73 Franklin Street, ■ 18 5 5 1 ■ m. ' %$. m -Z ■ #F i .■ . \ te Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Duke University Libraries ttps://archive.org/details/lifeofcelebrated01 unse BIOGRAPHY OF THE CELEBRATED BEARDED LADY, MADAME CLOFULLIA AND HER INFANT Beyond doubt, the persons who will read this pamphlet have already acquired a knowledge, partial or otherwise, of its subject matter. The numerous enquiries and questions however which have been so frequently made and put, have at length induced her to give a narrative of her life and its principal and most important events up to this day. The circumstances which induced her to leave her native place, the most remark¬ able objects seen in the principal cities visited, and the opinions of the most eminent physicians and members of the medical faculty of France, England and the United States, are re¬ lated in detail. The unanimous conclusion of those distinguished men attest, that they never yet saw or had a knowledge of so astonishing and curious a subject as Madame Clofullia and her — 4 child. Women have been seen with a slight moustach and a little beard on the chin; there have been male and female giants, fat men and women, male and female dwarfs, but never as yet has a female been seen or heard of with a beard so full and strong and so well made as the subject of this Biography and her child. Madame Clofullia, the bearded lady, was born the 25th of March, 1829, in a small village called Yersoix, about five miles distant from Geneva, in Switzerland, on the shores of lake Leman or lake of Geneva, principal city of the canton which bears its name. The house in which she was born is erected in one of the finest situations of the village. Its principal facade commands the high road to Lausanne. Another looks upon a lovely gar¬ den, and the third has a full view of the lake, the waters of which break at the foot of the house. But, it is especially about the festival day of the patriarch of the country, which occurs on the first Sunday in August, that the coup (Vocil is most enchanting. The traveller who should chance to look out of one of the windows of this house, on the side facing the lake, would fancy himself dreaming, so magnificent is the prospect before him. The incessant passage of gondolas, built like those of Venice, t he numberless quantity of boats of an oriental shape or bearing the stamp of all countries ; these, for the greatest part, are gilt and embellished with decorations, ribbons, ban¬ ners, and flags, floating to the breeze and proudly bearing the escutcheon and the arms of the different nations they represent. On this remarkable day are to be seen the young men and the young and fairer sex of the country, with the splendid and picturesque costume of Switzerland, arriving from a dis¬ tance of fifty leagues round. The lake now offers a magnificent — 5 — T i ew — a n artificial fort bas been built, to which all the boats, at a given signal, are directed, a naval fight performed, and prizes distributed to the conqueror, who is carried home in tri¬ umph amidst general hurras and accompanied by various bands of musicians. Joseph Boisdechene, father of Madame Fortune Clofullia (the bearded lady), was born in Geneva, a canton of the Hel¬ vetian Republic, in the year 1800. Geneva is the native land of William Tell, the liberator of Switzerland. It obtained its independence in the year 1319. It lies between the 3° 35’ and 8° 4’ longitude; bounded on the north by the Grand Duchy of Baden, on the west by France, on the south by Savoy and Piedmont, and on the east by the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom and Tyrol. Its greatest length is 260 miles and in width 200 miles, it contains 9790 square miles, and its population is 2,400,000. Switzerland, under the name of the Helvetian Confedera¬ tion, is divided with 22 Cantons or states. Subject to a diversity of climates, it thus produces a variety of productions. The ce¬ real products, fruits, wine, pastures, medicinal plants, timber, are found in all parts of its territory. The finest cattle abounds, and butter and cheese are among the principal of its exports. Rich mineral mines are also found and the manufacturing interests are in an advanced state. It consists mostly of silks, mus¬ lins, cotton goods, velvets, clothes, laces, linens, calicos, gloves, gunnery, watches and watch material, jewelry. A large busi¬ ness is carried on in these articles, with the United States, as also in leather, absinthe, &c. The cantons are each of them a sovereign State, though united together by a federal compact. An annual diet makes the laws, and meets successively at Berne, Fribourg, Soleure, Bale, Lucerne and Zurich. The military — 6 force of the country, not including the militia, amounts to 30,000 men. The parents of Joseph Boisdechene, though not rich, were in easy circumstances of life. He received a liberal edu¬ cation, but was brought up to no trade; at the age of twenty he was obliged to enter the service and defense of his country, as the laws of its constitution enforce a service of six years to each of its citizens, from the age of twenty to twenty-six. This service is divided into two bodies of militia; the one a marching troop, the other for the home service or as a reserve. Mr. Bois¬ dechene enlisted in the marching ranks, and during his service of six years showed a most exemplary conduct, and deserved and met with the esteem of his superiors, and, on his return home, with the rank of sergeant-major. The colonel of the Gen¬ darmerie of Geneva now offered Mr. Boisdechene to take ser¬ vice in his corps ; this offer was accepted, and shortly after¬ wards Mr. B. was promoted to the rank of brigadier. It was while being on a detachment, at Yersoix, that Mr. B. became acquainted with Mile Fran^oise Masset, the only daughter of a rich agricplturist. Mr. Masset was born at Ambrieux, a small town of the department,of Ain, in France. He was short of stature, but of fine constitution, and gifted with Herculean strength ; his features masculine and strongly characterized, and his face and body covered with hair ; his beard, however, made its ap¬ pearance only in accordance with the laws of nature. The only extraordinary feature of his wife was that of a delicate constitution. Their union gave them but this one daughter, who, from her infancy, showed promises of great accomplish¬ ment. At the age of ten years she was sent to one of the best boarding shools of Geneva, where she made strong and rapid progress, stood always at the head of her competitors, and ex¬ celled particularly in those works adapted to her sex. At eighteen years of age, her education being finished, she re¬ turned home to her parents, accomplished in body as in mind. Her character was remarkably sweet and sensitive, her stature rather middling, the breast full and well developed ; her fea¬ tures delicate and regular, and on her countenance could be read the mildness of her character. She necessarily was the joy and happiness of her parents, who failed not to idolize her. Thus a year passed on in happiness and love. At its expira¬ tion Mr. Boisdechene arrived with his detachment at Yersoix, was introduced to Miss Masset, and judging the good qualities of the young lady, became a constant visitor, declared his af¬ fections, and they were reciprocated; asked her from her parents, and both families having mutually agreed to the match, they were soon married. Mr. B. though not a handsome man, was of middle size, of a lively and pleasing countenance, frank of character, pleasant and lively of disposition, and had little beard. The duties of his rank often called him away from his young wife. This caused him to offer his demission, which was ac¬ cepted ; lifesetried at home, and busied himself in agriculture. Eleven months after their union, Mr. B. was blessed with a fe¬ male infant,' called Josephine. This was anew joy for the parents, but they soon perceived that their child had the body and face covered with a slight down. Through their anxiety they consulted their family doctor, who, after strict examina¬ tion, tranquilized them with the certainty that this down would fall at the expiration of some weeks. Weeks and months passed in this hope, and the down grew to hair. The physician was once more called in, and confessed that the case was of too — 8 — extraordinary a nature to pass judgment by himself, and re¬ ferred the parents to the most eminent of the faculty at Geneva. These gentlemen, after a most strict examination of the child, unanimously concluded that the case, being without a prece¬ dent, it. would be necessary to await the seventh or eighth birthday of the child before they could form any opinion. Josephine grew up, and at eight years of age this down grew to a beard of fully two inches in length. The faculty was once more called in, and declared it to be a beard , and ad¬ vised the parents not to shave the child or cut her beard, said beard being extraordinary thick, or, otherwise, it would grow in length and hardness. This advice was strictly followed, and to its observance may be owing the softness and silkiness of Josephine’s beard. During the interval of eight years Miss Boisdechene gave birth to two daugf$. ^rs and one son. The daughters are high of stature, and haveno other remarkable peculiarity ; the son is of a weak constitution, of a feminine appearance, resembles greatly his mother, and now, in his eighteenth year, shows no appearance of beard. We shall now return to Mile Josephine, the l' yd&d lady. At eight years of age she was sent to Geneva ‘he same boarding school at which her mother had been educated. Her progress was rapid and crowned with success, and n; e particularly in those works adapted toiler sew - 1 U as em¬ broideries, lace, network, and all kinds of needle-wont!, and thus grew up to the age of fourteen. At this period, Mrs. Bois¬ dechene gave birth to a fifth child—a daughter—whose weak constitution soon brought her to the grave. This loss so af¬ fected the mother that after a short illness she followed her baby. Under this afflicting loss Mr. Boisdechene withdrew his daughter from the boarding school; both were for a length of . r — 9 — time inconsolable. The wife and mother was well known in the village, where her memory is still held sacred. To Miss Josephine’s youthful hands fell the house-keeping department, as also the care of her younger sisters and brother. At this early age of fourteen her beard had attained its actual growth of about five inches, but of a light shade ; it is but from this moment that its color began to change. This celebrated lady is rather of a middling stature, has a striking resemblance to her grandfather ; from her mother she has but the hair, which is long, silky, and of a dark brown ; the breast full and finely developed : and, as a matter of course, her neighbors, accustomed to see her daily, paid little or no at¬ tention to this strange freak of nature. The hotel of the Lake, the handsomest at Versoix, faces the house in which the bearded lady was born. This fashionable hotel is always filled with travellers, more particularly in the warmer seasons of the year ; none who have visited Switzer¬ land can deny it is one of Europe’s most curious and varied sceneries. The traveller will remark on the shores of lake Le¬ man numerous villages and magnificent villas, and on the left shore, where is seen Mr. Boisdechene’s house, his sight will repose on rich green fields, immense and rich crops, and num¬ berless chalets or cottages, of that light and picturesque structure nowhere else to be met with but in Switzerland ; let him ad¬ vance further, Mont Blanc, and Mont Saleve, the Alps, and all their varied sceneries and wonders will stare him in the face and astonish him at each step. At repeated times, travellers stopping at the hotel du Lac remarked this bearded young lady : surprised at such a singu¬ larity of nature, they could not abstain from showing their as¬ tonishment, as also the wish of having a closer view of her. — 10 — The daughters of the house had been at the same boarding school with Miss Boisdechene, were intimately acquainted with her, and through this friendly acquaintance had a full oppor¬ tunity of seeing her. She was advised to travel and appear in public, and that she would be sure of a goodly success. Seve¬ ral directors of theatres, hearing of this curious phenomenon, visited the place and offered engagements, which were always refused. It was only in 1849 that a manager of one of the city of Lyons theatres offered such an advantageous engagement to Mr. Boisdechene, for the term of one year, that he at last yielded, put his children to boarding schools, and leased his house and farms. Miss Boisdechene left in company with her father, and made her debut at Geneva (the birthplace of the celebrated Jean Jacques Rousseau), one of the largest and handsomest cities of Switzerland. The streets are generally two miles in length. Her commerce is considerable and has the most renowned factories of watches, watch materials, jewelry, mathe¬ matical and surgical instruments, muslins, silks, laces and rib¬ bons. Among the splendid edifices is the Court House, the Arsenal, Cathedral, Hospitals and Theatre. Geneva has also a celebrated College, a rich Cabinet of Natural History, a Gal¬ lery of Painting and a Botanic Garden for purposes of human instruction. The arts and sciences are in a flourishing con¬ dition. It is the native land ol numbers of celebrated men : Calvin, .1. .1. Rousseau, Bonnet, Tronchin, Petitot, De Saussure, Ncckcr. D’Aubigne, the celebrated author of the Reformation first saw light in Switzerland. In this city Miss Josephine had an immense success. It was its faculty of learned and profes¬ sional men who had seen her in her earlier days, and had al- — 11 — ready spread that fame which was soon to be attached to her future movements Thence she travelled to Lyons, which is boasting of being the second city of F ranee. Lyons is the native city of the famous Jacquart, the inventor of designs for woven goods, which is also necessary to the fabrication of silks and ribbons. They are favorably known throughout the world. From thence she went to Saint Etienne in Forez, celebrated for its Arsenal and the perfection it has reached in the manufacture of ribbons, jewelry, &c. She then proceeded to Valence, Grenoble, Ro¬ man, Vienne, Montelimart; she left Dauphiny for Languedoc, Nismes. Nismes is one of the most ancient cities of France, and possesses more monuments and Roman Antiquities than any other city. In this city Miss Josephine and her father visited all the celebrated objects, the Arena or Amphitheatre. This was the ancient Amphitheatre of the times of the Romans, when the criminals condemned to death, were thrown to be devoured by the wild beasts who were let loose upon them, in the presence of the judges and the people. Diana’s Temple and the Fountain which is the most beautiful and wonderful in the world. Near the city you per¬ ceive the acqueduct elevated above the river. Miss Jose¬ phine had an extraordinary success in this city. On leaving this city she went to Montpellier where she was visited by the Medical Faculty, which is the most celebrated in the world ; she then left Montpellier for Narbonnc, Carcassonne and Tou¬ louse. Here she visited the capitol, the former residence of the Roman chief. From thence she proceeded to Montauban, Yerigueux, Libourne and Bordeaux, one of the handsomest cities of France, celebrated for its exportation of wines and li¬ quors. Her bay is large and beautiful, capable of containing ♦ *r .y Arts and Trades, of the city of Troyes. These two young people (during Mr. B.’s stay of three months at Troyes), soon took towards each other a feeling of friendship, which soon grew into a warmer passion. Mr. Clofullia asked her hand, and his offer was accepted ; as his character had been duly ap¬ preciated, they were soon united. Madame Clofullia, her hus¬ band and father then left Troyes for Paris, the capital of France. Here the Medical Faculty hastened to visit this ex¬ traordinary phenomenon, and all pgreed that it was one of the most wonderful freaks of nature. The most eminent personages visited her. The Prince-President Louis Napoleon, now Em- peror of France, caused her to be summoned to the palace of the Tuileries, where she received the most princely gifts. This city is celebrated for its curiosities, its stately and magnificent edifices, its elegant promenades of which however, our limited space, will not permit an extended notice. Madame Clofullia here remained several months, where crowds of people flocked to see her. They went occasionally to Versailles, the former residence of the kings of France. All strangers visiting France never neglect to pass through it, to see its noble avenues. The royal chateau containing the most extensive and valuable Gallery of Paintings representing the victories and conquests of the empire. Pictures by the old masters grace its walls. The royal gardens are ornamented by fountains and jets d'eaux, representing scenes from mytholo¬ gical history, and which are the theme of admiration. There is also an extensive Park more than 25 miles long, in which the royal chases take place. It is ornamented with marble statues representing the ancient Gods and Goddess of pagan his¬ tory. In this city, the faculty flew to see this curious and most extraordinary phenomenon, and one and all attested, that she — 14 — was the greatest and most wonderful of nature’s singularities. After this declaration of the profession, and the run of the most eminent personages of this capital, who honored her with their visits, the Prince-President made known his desire to see the Bearded Lady, to which she acquiesced, and on her leaving, was presented some most princely gifts. At the instigation of several English families, with whom r in the course of her travels, Mrs. Clofullia had been made ac¬ quainted, and the time of the opening of the Great Universal Exposition of London being close at hand, the Bearded Lady directed her visit towards the English capital, was presented to the medical faculty at Charing Cross, where had assembled the most eminent of London's physicians and surgeons, under the presidency of Chowne. “ I have this day seen, professionally, Josephine Boisde- chene, and, in relation to the legal question refered to me, hereby certify, that although she has beard and whiskers, large, profuse, and strictly masculine, on those parts of the face (the upper lip excepted) occupied by the beard and whiskers in men, and, although on her limbs and back, she has even more hair than is usually found on men, she is without malformation. H er breasts are large and fair, and strictly characteristic of the female. “ W. D. CHOWNE, M. D. “ Charing Cross Hasp Hal, Sept. 22, 1851. ” Also the report in the Lancet, No. 18, of Saturday, 1st of May, 1852, and page 421 ; this document is now to be seen in the halls of the Exhibition Rooms. For a length of time, Mrs. Clofullia was to be seen at the Linwood Gallery, in Leicester Square, then at Oxford St. and — 15 the Strand : she was visited by upwards of 800,000 persons, and patronized by all the dignitaries of this immense city. Mrs. Clofullia, now at the end of nine months of happy marriage, gave birth to a daughter (called Zelea) at White Chapel Road, * on the 26th Dec., 1851, and was attended by H. T. Cornelius, Esq., Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of London. Her child Mrs. Clofullia insisted on nursing ; this infant, after two or three months, grew to be so really handsome that she was admired by every one. She was a strict contrast to her mother and showed no symptoms of beard. She was the pet of the ladies who crowded to see her. Though a nurse, Mrs. Clofullia became, at the expiration of four months, once more in an interesting situation ; the daughter was weaned ; she was strong and healthy. At eleven months she began to walk and prattle, but the teething came on so strong, though late, that the child succumbed in spite of the skill of London’s eminent practitioners. “ I hereby affirm, that Mad. Fortune Clofullia (born Jose¬ phine Boisdechene), a Swiss lady, was attended in her confine¬ ment and safely delivered, by me, of a female child, at half past three o’clock in the morning, on the 26th of December, 1851, perfect in every respect. “ I consider the mother one of the most remarkable freaks of nature ever witnessed. She has abundant beard and whisk¬ ers ; the descriptions of her, as shown by the public prints, are strictly correct. “ HENRY THOMAS CORNELIUS, M. R. C. S. Eng., “71 High Street , Whitechapel, London. ” Six weeks after the death of this first child, Mrs. C. gave birth to a boy called Albert. This extraordinary child was 16 — born at Drury Lane, on the 28th Dec., 1852. In this second case Mrs. Clofullia was attended by Messrs. Dean- and Evans, of Oxford Street, whose certificate follows :— “We, the undersigned, do hereby declare that we were called upon, on the 28th of December, 1852, to attend Madame Fortune (the extraordinary whiskered lady), at her accouche¬ ment, and delivered her at 10 o’clock of the same day of a very fine nine months’ male child. We can further add, that we consider Mine Fortune as one of the most strange produc¬ tions of the human female we ever beheld. “ C. H. DEAN, “ Surgeon, 435 Oxford Street. “ J. B. EVANS, “ Surgeon, 435 Oxford Street. “ London, January 6, 1853.” This child was also nursed by his mother, but soon after his birth the parents remarked that both his face and body were covered with soft light hair. He was shown to several physicians in London, who declared that he would turn out as decided a singularity and freak of nature as his mother. After remaining two years in the british capital, Madame Clofullia left for the purpose of visiting the principal cities of the Kingdom. She went to Manchester, Liverpool, Birming¬ ham, Nottingham, Leeds, Leicester, Sheffield. She then re¬ turned to London for the purpose of being confined of her se¬ cond child as above stated. In the middle of March, 1853, there arrived in London an American, who offered to Mrs. Clofullia a very advantageous offer to travel through the United States ; this she accepted, m. j ^MADAME CL0FULL1A AND HUSBAND. — 17 — and the family consequently embarked at Liverpool, on board the steamer City of Manchester, and safely arrived at Phila¬ delphia, and from thence came to New York. Here Mrs. Clo- fullia was introduced to Mr. Barnum’s American Museum. She had never seen Mr. Barnum previously, but his fame is so wide and far-spread that she had already heard him spoken of both in France and in England. A meeting of several emi¬ nent doctors of this city was equally called ; they also declared Mrs. Clofullia to be an astonishing phenomenon (see their cer¬ tificate). Mr. Barnum, who never shrinks before any sacrifice to please the public, proposed an advantageous offer, which Mrs. Clofullia closed with, and since then she is daily visited by thousands. This new engagement preventing her from attending to her child, Albert, who is too young an infant to support the in¬ conveniences of a public visit, Mrs. Clofullia has been under the necessity of sending him out to nurse, at Worcester, Mass. Some short time ago, however, and during a few weeks, the child was in this city, where he was seen for some hours at the Museum. His body is thoroughly covered with hair, more particularly over the shoulders and on the back ; his face is fully surrounded with whiskers, fully marked, and of about half an inch in length, but of a light color. The child is strong and healthy, and promises fair to astonish the reader. All the persons who visited him thereupon unanimously named him “ Esau ”. Madame Clofullia, after a stay of nine months at Barnum’s Museum, concluded her engagement with M. Barnum, and contracted a new engagement with Col. J. H. Wood, the pro¬ prietor of Wood’s Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, to accompany him through the principal cities of the Union, prior to his departure — 18 — for Europe. She successively visited Philadelphia, Wilming¬ ton (Del.), Baltimore, Pittsburg, Wheeling, Zanesville, New¬ ark, Circleville, Columbus (Ohio), Dayton, Hamilton and Cin¬ cinnati. In all the places visited by her in the United States, she has met with the patronage and favor of the American people, and she has found them all that she could desire and everything to praise. The infant Esau is now 2 1/2 years old, his first appea¬ rance in public, took place in Havana, (Island of Cuba) the 21st of December, 1854, the crowds attracted by his loveliness, and extraordinary appearance, were immense. His Body is entirely covered with thick black hair, his Face is encircled with whiskers, one inch in length, the hair on his head is exceedingly luxuriant, considering his age, his temper is very mild and amiable, but as quick as that of other children of his sex, his resemblance to his mother is striking, but he is expected to have more beard than her. It is a curiosity unparallelled in the world, since Esau, the son of Isaac, the ancient Patriarch of the Holy Scrip¬ tures. Should this biography fall into the hands of any incre¬ dulous person, let him call at the place of Exhibition, where the Bearded Lady will be most happy to see him, and where, for a trifle, he may purchase these lines, read them over at his leisure, and satisfy himself of the correctness of the Bearded v v Lady’s statements. \ \ 2 / — 19 — The following extract, from the New York Tribune, of the 2d July, 1853, will be interesting in this context: A Kich Scene at the Tombs. — Mr. Barnum and the Bearded Lady — No Humbug. — A rich scene was enacted yesterday afternoon at the Halls of Justice, alias the Tombs, in consequence of the appearance there of the noted Bearded Lady, now exhibiting at the American Museum, accompanied by her husband, Mr. Barnum, and other notables. The object of their visit to that well known institution, was to answer a complaint made before Justice Bo¬ gart, by one Wm. Chaar, who having visited the Museum at a cost to himself of twenty-five cents, and viewed the lady in question, had come to the con¬ clusion that he had been “ humbugged ” out of his money, and that the said lady was nothing more nor less than a dressed up man ; and, further that she and Mr. Barnum were humbugs, and ought to be “ dealt with according to law.” The following is a copy of his affidavit : “ Wm. Chaar, of 253 Hudson Street, being sworn, says, that on the 1st day of July, 1853, deponent paid the sum of twenty-five cents, at the door of the American Museum, for the purpose of seeing the Bearded Lady, and de¬ ponent says, that the person that was pointed out to him as the Bearded Lady is, in his opinion, a male, and an impostor on the public and deponent there¬ fore charges that the proprietor of the Museum has cheated and defrauded deponent, by false and fraudulent representations, out of the sum of twenty- five cents, and prays that he may be arrested and dealt with according to law.” Mr. Barnum, on being informed that the above complaint had been pre¬ ferred, started for the Tombs, accompanied by the said Bearded Lady and also by Capt. Leonard, of the Second Ward Police, determined to prove that the lady in question was not a man, and to show the world that he was no hum¬ bug. The first evidence adduced to prove the falsity of the charge, was the following certificate : New York, June ‘loth, 1853. Dear Sir : — You may place the fullest reliance on the account of a re¬ markable case of hirsute growth in a female, published in the London Lancet of June, 1852, by Wm. D. Chowne, M. D., Physician to the Charing Cross Hospital, &c. The detail of Dr. C. corroborated the truth of like statements of other individuals relative to females presenting the same phenomena. Ju¬ dicial science at the present day, discards the idea of the unity of both sexes- >. 20 — in one individual. The Bearded Lady, now in this city, may be cited in evi¬ dence of this recognised law, upon the fairest examination, and presents a striking example of organic development for the instruction of the naturalist. (Signed) VALENTINE MOTT, M. D. JOHN W. FRANCIS, M. D. ALEX. B. MOTT, M. D. The following affidavits were also made to sustain Mr. Barnum’s position. Clofullia Fortune, of the Eagle Hotel, No. 29 Barclay Street, being sworn, says, that he is the lawful husband of the woman now on exhibition at the American Museum, known as the Bearded Woman ; he further says, that he has beea married to her for three years, and that she is the mother of two children, one of w'hom is now living. Jacques Boisdechene, being duly sworn, says, that the person now ex¬ hibiting at. the American Museum, known as the Bearded Woman, is his daughter, and that she is the lawful wife of Clofullia Fortune, and that she is the mother, of two children, one of whom is now living. Phineks T. Barnum, being sworn, says, that he at present engages the Bearded Woman from Switzerland, and who is now exhibiting at the Ameri¬ can Museum, and deponent further says, he pays a large sum of money weekly for her exhibiting, and deponent says, from the best of his knowledge, that the said person is a woman, and that he had her examined by Drs. Valentine Mott, John W. Francis, and Alexander B. Mott, all of whom certify that she is a woman, without any malformation whatever, and deponent has in his pos¬ session a certificate of the said fact, signed by the said eminent physicians aforesaid. Dr. Covil, of the City Prison, also made an affidavit, in which he states, that he, in conjunction with the matron, had an interview with the lady in question, and both are perfectly convinced, that in spite of her beard, she is a woman. The evidence here closed, and the magistrate deeming that Mr. Barnum had clearly proved his innocence of the charge laid against him, dismissed the complaint, and the parties interested forthwith left the court room followed by a large crowd of spectators, whom the novelty of the case had collected. B AHNII M’S AMERICAN MUSEUM, CORNER OF BROADWAY it AYV ST., YEW YORK luui.vUtui vWWUMI'*! SAWt'Wulll P. T. BARNUM, Proprietor JNO. GREENWOOD, Jr., Manager. Madame Ciofullia, the Boarded Lady, was exhibited at the Museum during nine consecutive months, and during that time she was visited and seen by upwards 3,500, COO. Date Due * ! Library Bureau Cat. no. 1(3/ Photornount Pamphlet Bind’er Gaylord Bros., Inc. Makers Syracuse, N. Y. PAT, JAM 21, 1S03