Clarence Chesterfield Howerton

Clarence Chesterfield Howerton was born on February 9, 1913, in Salem, Oregon, to Frank and Helen Howerton.Census entry for Helen Crawford and Clarence Howerton. Clarence, age 27, born in Oregon. Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: T627_2633; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 31-439. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line].{{cite web|title=Major Mite|work=Mission Creep|access-date=27 December 2013|url=http://www.missioncreep.com/mundie/gallery/little/little6.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130082738/http://www.missioncreep.com/mundie/gallery/little/little6.htm|archive-date=November 30, 2011 }} He had five brothers, all of whom grew to 6 ft (1.83 m) tall. However, Howerton grew to a height of only {{height|ft=2|in=4}}. An expert said that he might have a "deranged ductless gland".{{cite news|url=http://www.mortythedog.com/2011/08/major-mite.html |title=Major Mite |work=The White Tops |date=Sep–Oct 1992 |access-date=9 November 2013 |pages=11–14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103224708/http://www.mortythedog.com/2011/08/major-mite.html |archive-date=November 3, 2013 }} Howerton's mother was just over {{height|ft=4}} tall, which led some to wonder if his small stature was inherited.

At age six, Howerton was living in McCleary, Washington, with his parents and five brothers, Albert, Ernest, Forrest, LeRoy, and Charles. His father was employed at the time as a factory mechanic. Howerton never attended school, likely owing to his physical size and associated emotional consequences.{{cite book|author=Marc Hartzman|title=American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ruXJxuyNfgC&pg=PA191|date=21 September 2006|publisher=Penguin Group USA|isbn=978-1-58542-530-3|pages=191–|access-date=September 20, 2016|archive-date=January 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112041457/http://books.google.com/books?id=_ruXJxuyNfgC&pg=PA191|url-status=live}}

In January 1926, Frank Howerton shot himself, having been in poor health previously. His mother subsequently married Robert Crawford. At the time of the 1930 United States Census, Howerton was living with Crawford and his mother in Manhattan. According to the census listing, Crawford was a "showman" while Howerton and his mother were identified as performers.Census entry for Robert Crawford, Helen Crawford, and Clarence Howerton. Howerton, age 17, born in Oregon. Year: 1930; Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Roll: 1551; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 355; Image: 268.0; FHL microfilm: 2341286. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line].

Howerton's career began at a young age, when his father entered him into a local vaudeville show. In 1923, at the age of ten, Howerton joined the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where he starred as a major attraction.{{cite web | url=http://www.ripleys.com/weird/inside-ripleys-world/major-mite/ | title=Major Mite | work=Ripley's Believe It or Not! | date=September 13, 2011 | access-date=August 15, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055717/http://www.ripleys.com/weird/inside-ripleys-world/major-mite/ | archive-date=September 21, 2013 | url-status=dead }} The circus was the largest of the kind, with 800 performers and over 1000 animals. Although he was only ten years old, the circus sought to exaggerate his diminutive size by claiming that he was 18 years old. He was billed as the smallest man in the world, exhibited and known to the public under the name, "Major Mite". The "Major Mite" moniker had previously been used by an American comedian who died in 1900, and a 19th-century circus performer, William E. Jackson, who died in 1901, at 24, {{height|ft=2|in=9}} tall and weighing {{convert|26|lb|kg}}.{{cite web | url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZH19010226.2.52&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-- | title=PERSONAL NOTES FROM LONDON. New Zealand Herald, Rōrahi XXXVIII, Putanga 11586, 26 Huitanguru 1901, Page 6 | work=Paperspast | access-date=August 15, 2013 | archive-date=September 21, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055843/http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZH19010226.2.52&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-- | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1900/12/31/102623283.pdf | title="Major Mite's" Funeral | work=The New York Times | date=December 31, 1901 | access-date=August 15, 2013}} Accompanied by his mother, Howerton spent 20 years with Ringling Brothers and also worked with the Cole Brothers Circus, the Coney Island Dreamland Side Show, and the World Circus Sideshow.{{cite web | url=http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/freaks.htm | title=Coney Island - Freaks | work=Westland | access-date=August 15, 2013 | archive-date=August 26, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826083125/http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/articles/freaks.htm | url-status=live }}

In December 1922, Howerton received national press coverage when he visited U.S. President Warren G. Harding at the White House and was billed as "the world's smallest man."{{cite news | title=Mite Visits Harding | date=December 1922 | newspaper=San Antonio Light}}{{cite web | url=http://ghostsofdc.org/2012/05/24/major-mite-white-house-1922/ | title=Wizard of Oz Munchkin Major Mite Visits the White House | work=Ghosts of DC | date=24 May 2013 | access-date=August 15, 2013 | archive-date=September 21, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055234/http://ghostsofdc.org/2012/05/24/major-mite-white-house-1922/ | url-status=live }}{{cite news | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/814600858 | title=Visits Harding | date=December 16, 1922 | access-date=17 August 2013 | newspaper=Arizona Republican | archive-date=March 7, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307055602/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/azcentral/doc/814600858.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Dec%2016,%201922&author=&pub=Arizona%20Republican%20(1890-1922)&edition=&startpage=&desc=Visits%20Harding | id={{ProQuest|814600858}} | url-status=live }} One newspaper noted at the time: "The smallest midget and the smallest Shriner in the world, known as Major Mite, caused more excitement when he called at the White House recently than many a notable has done."{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dWZcAAAAIBAJ&pg=2654,4815903&dq=major-mite&hl=en | title=Smallest Shriner | date=January 8, 1923 | access-date=16 August 2013 | newspaper=Aurora Daily Star}}

File:Annex - Howerton, Clarence 'Major Mite' 02.jpg|access-date=29 December 2013|archive-date=December 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230235212/http://capitalpictures.photoshelter.com/image/I0000UHU8M4P0B3k|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=World's Shortest Man ("Major Mite") |url=http://www.redditlurker.com/pics/Post/t3_w00w6 |access-date=29 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230233517/http://www.redditlurker.com/pics/Post/t3_w00w6 |archive-date=December 30, 2013 }}]]

In 1927, Howerton drew the attention of The New York Times when he led a "strange cavalcade" through the streets of Manhattan to the Hospital for Crippled and Ruptured Children. Howerton led the parade in the original coach that had previously been used by General Tom Thumb. The coach was drawn by two Shetland ponies, and Howerton was accompanied by "Tiny Doll", described as "the Major's sweetheart" and other circus performers.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/04/24/archives/circus-in-hospital-delights-children-major-mite-leads-cavalcade.html | title=Circus in Hospital Delights Children: Major Mite Leads Cavalcade From Garden to Cheer Little Patients in East 42nd Street | date=April 24, 1927 | access-date=16 August 2013 | newspaper=The New York Times | archive-date=July 23, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723214426/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/04/24/archives/circus-in-hospital-delights-children-major-mite-leads-cavalcade.html | url-status=live }} He also drew the attention of the Chicago Tribune when he visited Chicago in 1928.{{cite news | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/180897196 | title=Maj. Mite, the 24 Inch, 20 Pound Mite, Visits Here | date=April 4, 1928 | access-date=16 August 2013 | newspaper=Chicago Tribune | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304215912/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/doc/180897196.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Apr%204,%201928&author=&pub=Chicago%20Tribune&edition=&startpage=&desc=Maj.%20Mite,%20the%2024%20Inch,%2020%20Pound%20Mite,%20Visits%20Here | id={{ProQuest|180897196}} | url-status=live }}

In 1928, Howerton was paired with an extraordinarily large circus sideshow performer known as "Tom Ton" and billed as the "Human Atom" and "Big Baby Elephant."{{cite news | title=Smallest Human Atom and Big Baby Elephant | date=June 25, 1928 | newspaper=Syracuse Herald}} Howerton is said to have performed with numerous human oddities, also working with Ruth Pontico, a woman weighing {{convert|700|lbs|kg}}, in his career.{{cite book | title=Strikingly True! | publisher=Random House | author=Tibballs, Geoff | year=2011 | pages=116–117 | isbn=9781847946706}}

In advertising and film, Howerton found success beyond the sideshow. During the 1930s, he was used as a mascot for the recruitment side of the United States Marine Corps.{{cite web | url=http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-midget-actor-major-mite-is-held-aloft-by-sergeant-news-photo/78660804 | title=Major Mite | work=Getty Images | date=December 27, 2007 | access-date=28 December 2013 | archive-date=December 30, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230231801/http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-midget-actor-major-mite-is-held-aloft-by-sergeant-news-photo/78660804 | url-status=live }} His biggest role in acting was with 1939's The Wizard of Oz, in which he played the part of a trumpet-playing Munchkin, Herald #3, who announced the arrival of the mayor. He was one of the smallest Munchkins in Oz.{{cite book|author=Stephen Cox|title=The Munchkins of Oz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u5m7O0OXFscC|year=2002|publisher=Cumberland House|isbn=978-1-58182-269-4|access-date=September 20, 2016|archive-date=January 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112032428/http://books.google.com/books?id=u5m7O0OXFscC|url-status=live}} Howerton also appeared in the 1932 Our Gang comedy "Free Eats".{{cite web | url=http://www.shorpy.com/node/12897 | title=Major Mite: 1922 | work=Shorpy | date=November 5, 2012 | access-date=August 15, 2013 | archive-date=September 21, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921090550/http://www.shorpy.com/node/12897 | url-status=live }}{{cite news | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/543321819 | title=Two Midgets To Appear In Comedy, Free Eats: Major Mite And Tiny Laurence Signed With "Our Gang" | date=November 29, 1931 | access-date=16 August 2013 | newspaper=The Sun (Baltimore, Md.) | archive-date=December 1, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201030721/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/doc/543321819.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Nov%2029,%201931&author=&pub=The%20Sun%20(1837-1985)&edition=&startpage=&desc=Two%20Midgets%20To%20Appear%20In%20Comedy,%20Free%20Eats | id={{ProQuest|543321819}} | url-status=live }}

By 1940, he was living with his mother in Manhattan. His occupation was described as "exhibitionist" in a circus, but a 1941 document states that he registered with "Clackamas County Local Board No. 2", located in Estacada, Oregon; his registration prompted the Board to state: "We believe we have the smallest registrant in the United States".{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/1selectiveservice11119417 | quote=clarence howerton circus. | title=Selective Service | author=United States. Selective Service System | year=1941 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/1selectiveservice11119417/page/52 52]}} In the announcement of his registration, his weight and height are given, vastly contrasting to other sources: a height of {{height|ft=3|in=6}} and a weight of {{convert|52|lb|kg}}. His last performance was for Cole Bros. in 1948.{{cite web | url=http://www.orcity.org/cemetery/clarence-chesterfield-howerton | title=Clarence Chesterfield Howerton | work=Mountain View Cemetery | access-date=August 15, 2013 | archive-date=September 21, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055717/http://www.orcity.org/cemetery/clarence-chesterfield-howerton | url-status=live }}

Howerton was often seen with other human oddities; for example, in 1924, he was photographed with Martin Feig, a four-year-old boy who weighed 104 pounds. Feig reportedly said to Howerton, "Aw, you're nothing but a germ-weight midget."{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lnVhAAAAIBAJ&pg=5589,2113934&dq=major-mite&hl=en | title=Age Doesn't Mean a Thing | date=April 10, 1924 | access-date=16 August 2013 | newspaper=Toledo Blade}} One newspaper referred to Howerton, who was in reality only 13 years old at the time, as "the Beau Brummel of the side shows", noting that the Doll sisters (two female small persons working with Ringling Brothers) declared him "a regular sheik".{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7WVXAAAAIBAJ&pg=3391,655679&dq=major-mite&hl=en | title=Big and Little Fellows Will Be In Toledo With Circus | date=July 6, 1926 | access-date=17 August 2013 | newspaper=The Toledo News-Bee}}

In contrast to his public persona, Howerton reportedly enjoyed cigars and beer, "often yelled obscenities", and was known to "run the length of a bar, kicking anything in his way", sometimes whilst dressed in children's clothes. While working with Ringling Brothers, Howerton befriended Jack Earle, who was {{height|ft=7|in=7+1/2}} tall,{{cite book|author=Joe Nickell|title=Secrets of the Sideshows|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40UzA984S4wC&pg=PA90|date=9 September 2005|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=0-8131-7179-2|pages=90–|access-date=September 20, 2016|archive-date=January 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111235522/http://books.google.com/books?id=40UzA984S4wC&pg=PA90|url-status=live}} but at the time was advertised as being {{height|ft=8|in=7}}.{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1787&dat=19320926&id=IUscAAAAIBAJ&pg=4324,934315 | title=Circus Midget Beats Giant At Penny-Ante | work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune | date=26 September 1932 | access-date=2 November 2013 | pages=2}} The two were often photographed together in promotional materials for Ringling Brothers,{{cite web|title=Outline of the Life of Jacob Erlich|publisher=Sideshow World|url=http://www.sideshowworld.com/41-GG/103-Jack/CG-Earle.html|access-date=August 16, 2013|archive-date=October 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008040932/http://sideshowworld.com/41-GG/103-Jack/CG-Earle.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web | url=http://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/news-photo/major-mite-with-jack-earle-circus-performers-news-photo/97287420 | title=Major Mite with Jack Earle | date=March 2, 2010 | publisher=Getty Images (from New York Daily News Archive) | access-date=16 August 2013 | archive-date=September 21, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060403/http://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/news-photo/major-mite-with-jack-earle-circus-performers-news-photo/97287420 | url-status=live }}{{cite news | url=http://pastperfect-online.tumblr.com/post/45343218830/this-week-we-feature-two-people-for-our-bio | title=Photograph of Jack Erlich and Major Mite playing card | newspaper=Pastperfect-Online Blog | publisher=PastPerfect | access-date=16 August 2013 | archive-date=September 21, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055936/http://pastperfect-online.tumblr.com/post/45343218830/this-week-we-feature-two-people-for-our-bio | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/orig-34-texas-giant-jack-earle-major-mite-midget | title=Orig '34 Texas Giant Jack Earle Major Mite Midget Photo | publisher=Worth Point | access-date=16 August 2013 | archive-date=September 21, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061601/http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/orig-34-texas-giant-jack-earle-major-mite-midget | url-status=live }} with it being said that "it is penny-ante poker which has made pals of Jack and the major".

Reports of Howerton's size range vastly; the upper boundary for both height and weight is given by the United States Selective Service System, who report a height of {{height|ft=3|in=6}} and a weight of {{convert|52|lb|kg}}. A height of {{height|ft=2|in=4}} is given in several more modern sources, including Ripley's Believe It or Not!:{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=koZUAAAAMAAJ&q=clarence+howerton+circus | title=Out of the Woods: The Story of McCleary | publisher=Simpson Logging Company | author=Teagle, Ernest C. | year=1959 | pages=26}} Howerton himself claimed that was his height at 22, and that his weight was {{convert|20|lb|kg}} The Chicago Tribune gave his height as {{height|ft=2|in=2}} and his weight as {{convert|20|lb|kg}}. At 18, it was reported that he weighed {{convert|13|lb|kg}}.

Howerton retired from the entertainment industry in 1949 at the age of 35. By 1970 he had moved back to Oregon and was living with a niece in the small town of Dayton. His diminutive size meant that he did not pay welfare to the state, as it was "never collected from 'children' less than thirty inches tall".{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9ccAQAAMAAJ&q=clarence+howerton+circus | title=Collier's | publisher=P. F. Collier. | author=Collier, P.F. | year=1925 | pages=28}} His size, however, meant that he was forced to have tailor-made clothing, which he "demand[ed be] good standard".

On November 18, 1975, at the age of 62, Howerton died of pneumonia in a hospital in McMinnville, Oregon. He was buried in Mountainview Cemetery in nearby Oregon City. Aside from one brother, he outlived all of his immediate family.

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{IMDb name|nm0398116}}
• {{find a Grave|14587424}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howerton, Clarence Chesterfield}}

Category:1913 births

Category:1975 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:American entertainers with dwarfism

Category:Male actors from Salem, Oregon

Category:People from Grays Harbor County, Washington

Category:American actors with dwarfism