Calvin Edson (born March 4, 1788) was an American man known for being the first well known "Living Skeleton" in American sideshows.

Early life

Edson was born in 1788 in Stafford, Connecticut to Eliab and Prudence Edson and the family moved to

Randolph, Vermont Randolph is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,774 at the 2020 census, making Randolph the largest town in Orange County. The town is a commercial center for many of the smaller, rural farming communities that ...

shortly after he was born. He was one of eleven children. He had one brother, Alexander, who was also emaciated in appearance. Edson fought in the

Battle of Plattsburgh The Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, ended the final British invasion of the northern states of the United States during the War of 1812. Two British forces, an army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévos ...

as a member of the 11th Regiment. After a period of living outdoors with his regiment in 1814 he began to lose weight rapidly. He was 5 feet 3 or 4 inches tall and eventually reported to weigh only 45 pounds. Other than his emaciated appearance, he was in decent physical health.

Sideshow performing

Edson performed as the Living Skeleton in circus shows, wearing a tight-fitting black suit, the first popular "skeleton" performer. In 1831 he traveled to Europe where his promotional materials said that he had been "introduced to the College of Physicians and Surgeons" in Paris where he was claimed to have been called "the greatest phenomena of nature the world has ever beheld." Edson traveled around the US with broadsheets announcing his performances where he put himself on display and also danced. These broadsheets had illustrations of Edson on them and were later reproduced in newspapers. He was said to have earned $15 a week for his work. He performed in a theater production as a character called Jeremiah Thin. Edson's death was reported in newspapers nationwide in 1832 attributed to oculist John Scudder Jr. of

Scudder's American Museum Scudder's American Museum was a museum located in New York City from 1810 to 1841, when it was purchased by P.T. Barnum and transformed into the very successful Barnum's American Museum. Before Scudder The roots of the museum date back to 1791 ...

. It was claimed that his body was stolen from its tomb and inspected, and he was said "to have had a

tapeworm Eucestoda, commonly referred to as tapeworms, is the larger of the two subclasses of flatworms in the class Cestoda (the other subclass being Cestodaria). Larvae have six posterior hooks on the scolex (head), in contrast to the ten-hooked Ce ...

twelve to fourteen feet in length." He was, in fact, alive and had just been on a short trip. Edson toured several museums in New York through the 1830s.

Personal life

Edson was married to Rachael Cutler Edson in 1822 and had four children; two of his daughters were deaf and mute.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edson, Calvin 1788 births Sideshow performers Year of death missing