MAGGIE  MINOTT

of  BELLE PLAINE, IOWA

with her father John. Belle Plaine is about 30mi west of Cedar Rapids

Maggie's swayback is most evident in this photo.  Perhaps she was a Russel-Silver dwarf like Gen. Willis Carver as described in Mitchell's "Monsters of the Gilded Age" -  "A victim of intrauterine growth retardation rather than a true genetic dwarf."

with her younger sister Maud. Maggie is in her 30's here

An aging Maggie with sister?  Note how much older dad looks in this photo compared to the photo on the right.

When Maggie passed away in January of 1908 a simple obituary was printed in the Iowa press: "Bell Plaine -  Miss Maggie Minott was buried Thursday forenoon at Oak Hill Cemetery.  Miss Maggie was a dwarf 42 inches high.  She was born near here forty-seven years ago and has traveled all over the United States with different shows.  She died in Chicago at the home of her sister, Mrs. Weldon, her parents having died some years ago."

Somebody, perhaps her former manager, thought this would never do and had a "proper" (or should I say "properly embellished") obituary printed for the New York newspapers:

MAGGIE MINOT DEAD

She Was the Queen of the Midgets and Had

Traveled Widely

N. Y. Sun - Syracuse Herald - Special

CHICAGO,  JAN. 25 -  Maggie Minot, one of the strangest and most remarkable midgets in the world, died at the home of her sister here to-day.  She had won the esteemed friendship of Kings and Princesses.   "Maggie," as she was known, was 48 years old.  Her latter years had been spent in retirement.   To hundreds of midgets throughout the country the death of Maggie comes as a shock, for in midget society she was a reigning queen, and her opinions and sayings were quoted wherever lit- tle people exhibit.  Maggie was born in Belle Plains, Ia in 1859.  She reached the height of 27 inches and then stopped growing.  Until she was past 30 years old, she weighed only twenty-five pounds. At the time of her death she weighed thirty-one pounds.  Her mental faculties were perfectly developed and in her travels around the world she acquired knowledge of three languages.

now that's a proper obituary