You can certainly be excused for thinking that PT Barnum -- with his Barnum and Bailey Circus -- started the circus industry in the United States. Actually, PT Barnum entered the business late in his life. And he learned what he knew about the circus from someone else -- Aaron Turner, of Danbury, CT. The rags-to-riches story of Aaron Turner is impressive in its own right; but, considering he mentored the great PT Barnum, it takes on an entirely different dimension.