Born:17??
Died: February 19, 1836

Here, in an unmarked grave, is the stated final resting place of Joice Heth, an enslaved African woman whose birthplace was reported to   be on the isle of Madagascar, off the coast of Africa.   She was boldly advertised as the “161 year old” former nursemaid to George Washington, the “Father of our Country.”   Her acquisition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the summer of 1835 by Phineas Taylor Barnum, then a New York City shop owner, would make her exhibition his first attraction.   While scholars differ on his ownership or lease of Heth, the legendary showman did refer to himself as her “proprietor.”  Although blind and paralyzed, Heth was spirited and engaging with her audiences, however, Barnum’s profitable tour of Heth ended with her death on February 19, 1836.  
A public autopsy, staged by Barnum himself, would reveal her estimated age to be no more than half that of her advertised longevity.   He also related in his autobiographies that, “the remains of Joice were removed to Bethel and buried respectably.”  Later repentant of his dabblings in slavery, Barnum would become an avowed abolitionist and supporter of women’s rights.  
Although judged a controversial but successful “humbug,” the Heth affair would serve as the foundation of a show business career which would lead Barnum to his world renowned “Greatest Show On Earth,” and its heir, the “Ringling  Bros, Barnum & Bailey Circus,” circusdoms’ most celebrated enterprise.

.