Collection: Nelson Sizer phrenological character of John B. Bancroft

Scope and Contents

Document describes personality and character traits of John B. Bancroft based on phrenological examination by Nelson Sizer, 24 Feb. 1854.

Dates

1854

Creator

Sizer, Nelson (Person)

Biographical / Historical

Nelson Sizer, phrenologist, was born on 27 May 1812 in Chester, Mass. He married Sarah Remington, his second wife, on 12 Mar. 1843. Sizer had two children from his first marriage and a son, Nelson Buell (b. 1846) from his second marriage. Sizer died in Brooklyn, N.Y., on 18 Oct. 1897. In 1839, Sizer began to lecture on phrenology in the South and East of the United States. He became resident examiner at Fowler and Wells’ Phrenological Cabinet in New York in 1849; in 1853, the firm opened a branch office in Philadelphia under Sizer’s direction. He returned to New York in 1856. From 1859 to 1863, Sizer edited the American phrenological journal; in 1866, he was a founder and first vice-president of the American Institute of Phrenology. He was the principal lecturer at the Institute. Sizer wrote several works on phrenology, including Heads and faces and how to study them (1885) and Forty years in phrenology (1882). During his career, he examined 300,000 individuals.