Recommended by
- P.T. Barnum — He is a self-made man, in early life a printer. He has been twenty-six years in the ministry. His 'Autobiography,' recently published, is one of the most interesting books I ever read. Barnum praised Rev. Abel C. Thomas's autobiography in a footnote in his own 1855 memoir; this is the single documented verbatim recommendation of another author's book found in his writing. source ↗
Summary
The 19th-century autobiography of Abel C. Thomas, a Universalist minister and abolitionist whose career included a close association with P.T. Barnum — Barnum was a member of his congregation and Thomas officiated at Barnum's wedding. The book offers period observations on American religious life, the abolition movement, and the social circles of antebellum Connecticut and Philadelphia.