What is Isaac Sprague?
{{Infobox Person |name = Isaac W. Sprague |image = Isaac W Sprague, living skeleton, 1867.jpg |image_size = |caption = Sprague in 1867 |birth_name = |birth_date = May 21, 1841 |birth_place = East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, [[United States]] |death_date = January 5, {{Death year and age|1887|1841}} |death_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]] |resting_place = |nationality = [[United States|American]] |citizenship = |other_names = |employer = [[P. T. Barnum]] |occupation = Sideshow attraction |height = 66 inches (in 1885) |spouse = Tamar Moore |children = Three sons |parents = Nathaniel and Betsey Sprague |relations = }} '''Isaac W. Sprague''' (May 21, 1841 - January 5, 1887) was an American [[sideshow]] attraction. His [[stage name]] was The Skeleton Man. He also appeared as The Living Skeleton and The Original Thin Man. He was born in [[Massachusetts]]. Doctors were puzzled when he began losing weight rapidly in his teens. He joined a sideshow in 1865, then got a job at [[P. T. Barnum]]'s [[American Museum]] in [[New York City]] in 1868. He married and had three healthy sons. He died penniless in [[Chicago, Illinois]] in 1887. ==Early years== Sprague was born in East Bridgewater, [[Massachusetts]] to Nathaniel Sprague, a shoemaker, and his wife, Betsey Sprague. He was a normal child who spent much time [[swimming]]. At 12 years, he began to lose weight quickly. His [[appetite]] was healthy. Sprague blamed the swimming for his weight loss, but doctors were puzzled. ==Middle years== Sprague worked in his father's shoemaking business and later in his father's grocery store. The more weight Sprague lost, the weaker he grew. After his parents died, he was too weak to work and was forced to leave his job. In 1865, a [[sideshow]] passed through town. He declined a job offer with the troupe, but reconsidered and joined the show. He appeared as The Living Skeleton or The Original Thin Man. He went to [[New York City]] and got a job in