P. T. Barnum

A showman, and twice a figure on the edges of the strange. On 27 August 1873 the Green Mountain Freeman printed P. T. Barnum's offer of $50,000 for the hide of the great Champlain Serpent, wanted for his Mammoth World's Fair Show. An agent was said to be searching local caves. In 1887 he renewed the reward at $20,000. Earlier, in April 1869, he testified for the prosecution at William H. Mumler's fraud trial in New York. He presented a fake spirit photograph of himself with Lincoln's ghost, made by Abraham Bogardus. Mumler was released.

Stories3

Pro early

Captain Crum's Bulwagga Bay sighting, the earliest printed Champ report

July 22, 1819 · Bulwagga Bay, Port Henry, Town of Moriah, Essex County, New York, Lake Champlain

United States

Cryptid · Creature · 21 sources

13Thinly documented

Pro early

Mary Todd Lincoln and the Ghost of Abraham Lincoln: William H. Mumler's Spirit Photograph

c. 1872 · William H. Mumler's studio, 170 West Springfield Street, South End, Boston, Massachusetts

United States

Paranormal · Being / humanoid · 39 sources · 3 photos

24Thinly documented

Prosecution witness at Mumler's 1869 fraud trial

Pro early

Champ, the 1873 railroad crew sighting and the W. B. Eddy collision, Lake Champlain

July 1873 · Lake Champlain shore near Dresden, Washington County, New York

United States

Cryptid · Creature · 26 sources

12Thinly documented

Showman who published a $50,000 offer for the serpent's hide