Uncle Sam

During the War of 1812 Samuel Wilson, a butcher in Troy, New York, shipped pork to the Army in kegs stamped “U.S.” People called him Uncle Sam. Samuel Wilson did not look like the man we think of as Uncle Sam. The man who posed for the original paintings of “Uncle Sam” was really Dan Rice, a professional clown. He owned a pet pig and worked for what later became the Barnum and Bailey Circus, then went on to found his own circus. He ran for the American presidency as a Republican and lost.