View source for James F. O'Connel

<html><div class="mw-content-ltr" dir="ltr" id="mw-content-text" lang="en"><p><b>James F. O'Connel</b> was allegedly the first <a href="/index.php?title=Tattoo" title="Tattoo">tattooed</a> man to be exhibited in the United States. He was one of the original human oddities at <a class="new" href="/index.php?title=Barnum&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" title="Barnum (page does not exist)">Barnum</a>'s American Museum where he was later succeeded by <a href="/index.php?title=Constantine" title="Constantine">Constantine</a> in 1873. As with most museum and <a href="/index.php?title=Sideshow" title="Sideshow">sideshow</a> attractions, O'Connel sold a pitch book to supplement his income. His booklet entitled, <i>The Life and Adventures of James F. O'Connel, the Tattooed Man, During a Residence of Eleven Years in New Holland and Caroline Islands</i> (1846) chronicled the adventures, after the fashion set by <a class="mw-redirect" href="/index.php?title=Cabri" title="Cabri">Cabri</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="/index.php?title=Rutherford" title="Rutherford">Rutherford</a>, that led to his being tattooed.
</p><p>There is some evidence to suggest he may have been exhibited at the museum prior to Barnum's takeover in 1841, which would make Barnum not, as is often claimed, the first person to exhibit a tattooed person in the USA.
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