Wedding portrait of "General Tom Thumb" and Lavinia Warren, 1863. Charles Dauvois (French, active 1860s). Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838-1883), "General Tom Thumb," was an American dwarf performer. P.T. Barnum, a distant relative, taught the boy how to sing, dance, mime, and impersonate famous people. Barnum took young Stratton on a tour of Europe, making him an international celebrity. He later became Barnum's business partner. His marriage with a little person, Lavinia Warren (1842-1919), was front-page news. Following the wedding, the couple was received by President Lincoln at the White House.