Barnum, Francis, 1849-1921

Rev. Francis A. Barnum, S.J., was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1849. After attending the Loyola School in Baltimore and Georgetown College in Washington, D.C., Fr. Barnum joined the Society of Jesus, although circumstances necessitated his withdrawal from the Frederick novitiate soon thereafter. He rejoined the Society in 1880, after a period of time spent traveling throughout the world. After ordination, Fr. Barnum was sent to Alaska, where he spent the better part of the 1890s. While there, he acquired knowledge of Central Yupik, a native Alaskan language. In 1901 he published a grammar entitled "Grammatical fundamentals of the Innuit language as spoken by the Eskimo of the Western coast of Alaska." After leaving Alaska in 1898, he served as a chaplain on Ward's Island in New York harbor, finally settling at Georgetown, where he was made University archivist. Fr. Barnum died at Georgetown in 1921.