Paperback book titled "Why I am a Universalist" by P. T. Barnum.  The book also contains tracks from Rev. Orello Cone, Rev. J. Smith Dodge Jr., and... Show morePaperback book titled "Why I am a Universalist" by P. T. Barnum.  The book also contains tracks from Rev. Orello Cone, Rev. J. Smith Dodge Jr., and Rev. Abel C. Thomas.  The book was published six years after Barnum's death from the income of the Barnum Bequest, money he left to the Universalist Church.  (Boston: Universalist Publishing House, 30 West Street, 1897.)   Barnum was raised in the Congregational Church in his hometown of Bethel, Connecticut, where he was born in 1810.  He disliked the negative view of humanity that were fundamental to the Calvinist doctrine preached in the Congregationalist church.  As a young man, he turned to the Universalist Church, in which the teachings offered a more uplifting and hopeful view of mankind. Barnum included Universalist tracts in the weekly newspaper he published between 1831 and 1834, The Herald of Freedom.  Throughout his life, Barnum considered himself man of faith and he retained a close connection to the Universalist Church.   This record includes images of the covers only, while the full text has been digitized for the P. T. Barnum Digital Collection using another version of the book owned by the Bridgeport History Center. The covers are light brown, probably due to aging of the paper, and the front is simply designed with the title and a small rectangular border; the back cover is plain. In addition to the title and publication information on the cover, "Fortieth Thousand" is stated, presumably the print run number. Show less