A Daughter Whose Story Moved West
Helen Maria Hurd was born Helen Maria Barnum on April 18, 1840. Later known as Helen Buchtel, she was the second daughter of showman P. T. Barnum and Charity Hallett Barnum. I find her biography most revealing where it leaves the familiar circus story and follows her into Colorado, where family property, neighborhood development, and charitable work shaped her adult life.
Her life included two marriages, children from both, a difficult divorce, and more than four decades in Denver. She died there on December 11, 1915, aged seventy-five. The famous surname explains part of her financial and social position, but it does not account for the whole course she took.
Parents and Three Sisters
Phineas Taylor Barnum, born in 1810, became known through his American Museum, circus enterprises, writing, politics, and philanthropy. Charity Hallett, born in 1808, married him in 1829 and was the mother of their four daughters. Charity died in 1873; Barnum later married Nancy Fish in 1874.
Helen’s older sister was Caroline Cornelia Barnum, who married David W. Thompson. A younger sister, Frances Irena, died in early childhood. Another younger sister, Pauline Taylor, married Nathan Seeley and died in 1877. I include the sisters because Helen’s family experience involved both a highly visible father and losses within the immediate household.
Her grandparents included Philo Barnum and Irene Taylor on her father’s side, and Benjamin Wright Hallett and Hannah Sturges on her mother’s. Those names locate her within older Connecticut family lines, while her later life would become strongly associated with the developing city of Denver.
Marriage to Samuel Henry Hurd
Helen married Samuel Henry Hurd on October 20, 1857, when she was seventeen. Hurd had a background in the leather business and later became treasurer and assistant manager of Barnum’s circus. Their marriage therefore joined domestic life with her father’s expanding entertainment enterprise.
They had three daughters. Helen Barnum Hurd, born in 1858, later married Francis William Thornton Rennell. Julia Caroline Hurd, born in 1860, married Henry Peck Clarke and became the mother of Nancy Barnum Clarke Carrier. Caroline Thompson Hurd, born in 1862, died young in 1883.
I keep mother and daughter Helen clearly distinguished because their shared given name can obscure the generations. The daughter Helen’s marriage and children belong to a later family branch. Nancy Carrier, through Julia, was Helen Maria’s granddaughter and became known as the founder of Rockbrook Camp.
Divorce Remarriage and Colorado
Around 1871, Helen’s marriage to Hurd ended in divorce. Custody of their three daughters went to their father. Divorce carried strong social consequences in that period, and her decision strained relations with P. T. Barnum. Their relationship nevertheless remained affectionate, and he continued supporting her Colorado interests.
She married Dr. William Harmon Buchtel in 1871 and moved west with him. Buchtel had tuberculosis, and his health was a factor in the relocation. He was a physician whose activities also included property development and mining investment. His brother Henry Augustus Buchtel later became chancellor of the University of Denver and governor of Colorado.
Helen and William had daughters Lelia and Pauline. Lelia later married Fred Chamberlain and lived in Denver. Pauline died in early childhood. I find the repeated presence of loss in the family chronology important, though it should not be turned into an invented account of Helen’s private feelings.
Land That Became the Town of Barnum
P. T. Barnum invested in Colorado property during the 1870s and 1880s. In March 1878, he purchased approximately 760 acres from the failed Denver Villa Park development for $11,000. The land lay southwest of the city and required practical improvements, including work on buildings, fencing, drainage, and water.
The hoped-for upscale development did not arrive as expected. The land was muddy and poorly drained, and the investment proved more troublesome than the name Barnum might suggest. I see this as a useful correction to a glamorous family story: property speculation involved maintenance, disappointment, and uneven returns.
Around 1884, Barnum transferred the remaining holdings to Helen for a nominal dollar. Helen and William helped develop the area, and the Town of Barnum was incorporated in 1887. William served as its mayor for a period. The town was later absorbed into Denver, leaving the Barnum and Barnum West neighborhood names.
A Neighborhood Without Circus Winter Quarters
The neighborhood’s name encouraged stories about circus animals spending winters there or Barnum making Denver his home. Those ideas do not describe the actual development. Barnum never lived in Denver, and the property was a real estate venture rather than a circus winter base.
I find Helen and William’s practical role more interesting than the legend. Their work connects the famous family to ordinary urban growth: subdivision plans, homes, property sales, and local government. The surviving neighborhood name is like a signpost pointing toward that less theatrical history.
Barnum also owned properties in Greeley and had interests in cattle ventures farther south. Those investments form the wider context, but Helen’s most enduring Colorado association lies in the Denver land and the community that grew upon it.
Charity and Later Denver Life
Helen became active in charitable work, including leadership and financial support for the Denver Orphans’ Home. She participated in St. John’s parish and belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution. These activities gave her a civic identity beyond being a showman’s daughter or a property owner’s wife.
William Buchtel died in 1912. Helen died three years later at her Denver home. She retained significant interests associated with the former Barnum property, although much land had been sold during her lifetime. Her financial position should be described through those holdings rather than converted into an unsupported modern wealth figure.
FAQ
Was Helen Maria Hurd P. T. Barnum’s Daughter?
Yes. She was his second daughter with Charity Hallett Barnum. Her surnames changed through marriage, first to Hurd and later to Buchtel.
Why Did She Move to Colorado?
She moved after marrying Dr. William Harmon Buchtel in 1871. His tuberculosis was one reason for the relocation, and their later work included property development in the Denver area.
Did the Barnum Neighborhood House Circus Animals?
No. The land was associated with speculative real estate and later residential development. I distinguish that history from the circus stories encouraged by the neighborhood’s famous name.
