Isaac W. Sprague — “The Living Skeleton”
Wikimedia CommonsIsaac Sprague, pictured in 1867.
For the first 12 years of his life, Isaac W. Sprague developed like most boys. But after complaining of a cramp one day, Sprague began to rapidly and alarmingly lose weight — despite his hearty appetite. When he reached adulthood, he weighed just 43 pounds and stood at 5’6″ tall.
And by the time he was in his 20s, Sprague was desperate to find work. His parents had died, and Sprague’s condition sapped his energy, making it difficult to find a job. After a showman suggested he put himself on display, Sprague went to New York City to see if he could meet P.T. Barnum.
In Sprague’s account, he met the famous showman through an agent. As Sprague listened, Barnum murmured to the agent, “Pretty lean man, where did you scare him up?” Barnum, then desperate to build up a new act after a fire had destroyed his sideshow museum, offered Sprague $80 per week.
Sprague accepted the offer, and the rest of his life soon revolved around the circus. Sprague performed in Barnum’s American Museum and joined Barnum when he took his show on the road. Along the way, he met and married Tamar Moore, with whom he had three healthy children.
But all the while, Sprague’s condition took its toll. Frequently exhausted, Sprague wore a flask of milk around his neck to keep himself nourished. But he never managed to get his weight anywhere above 50 pounds.
Sprague didn’t particularly enjoy working at a freak show, but he often felt like he didn’t have much of a choice. He struggled to find steady employment elsewhere, and he had also picked up a gambling problem — which meant he often needed extra money to help pay off debts.
Though his condition was unknown for most of his life, he was finally diagnosed with progressive muscular atrophy in 1882, a rare condition that causes progressive weakness and muscular atrophy. Sprague offered to donate his body to Harvard Medical School, quipping, “I’m going to need it for myself for the present: they can’t have it till I get through with it.”
Isaac Sprague died on January 5, 1887. Though he earned good money as a performer, Sprague gambled much of it away, and died in poverty.
