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By the time the Hutchinson Family reached Philadelphia at the beginning of January 1844, based on their dazzling concert successes in New England and New York, they had terrific word-of-mouth advertising.  John thought that most of their Pennsylvania auditors came to hear them mostly out of curiosity.  He said the quartet sang  "glees, sentimental and harmonious pieces that attracted the attention of the music-loving people."

The president of the Philharmonic Musical Society invited the Hutchinsons to perform with them at their concert on the 9th.  The quartet would be paid fifty dollars and would be given use of the hall for another concert.  Audience sizes increased steadily until Musical Fund Hall was filled to capacity.

In the middle of January, Nathaniel P. Rogers and Brother Jesse asked the singers to participate in the upcoming annual meeting of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society.  Members of the group thought it best to continue on their "southern" tour.  So Jesse put together a special quartet to sing at the antislavery meeting.  It included, in addition to himself, Caleb, Joshua, and John's wife Fanny.

The Hutchinsons reached Baltimore on the 20th of January and went to their boardinghouse full of their usual good cheer.  They started getting comfortable in the parlor, when they were told that, through some error, there was no room for them.  This experience was repeated at a second establishment.  Over the years, they experienced certain inconveniences and worse at the hands of individuals with views accommodating to slavery.  Their reputation for singing at antislavery meetings may have arrived at Baltimore ahead of them.

The Hutchinson Family gave their first concert in Baltimore, to a small audience, on January 23.  The last engagement of this short series fell on the 29th, when the group enjoyed a full house and an enthusiastic crowd.  They closed with  "The Old Granite State."  According to Asa, the antislavery lines brought out hard feelings from some members of the audience; and a few harsh words were exchanged after the singers left the platform.

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The quartet arrived in Washington on the 30th and visited the House of Representatives.  That evening they shook hands with the president.  After they stopped at the Capitol the next day, Asa commented that he pitied the country.  "We believed the politicians,"  said John,  "especially those in Congress, to be a curse to the country."  On the 31st, they went to the White House and dined with President Tyler.  He called for some singing, and the quartet responded with several songs.

When the Hutchinsons gave their first concert in Washington on February 1, Assembly Hall was full of celebrated public servants, including John Quincy Adams.  Many Southerners were among the notables.  During the intermission, the quartet had a visit from John P. Hale.  He asked if they planned to sing the antislavery verse in  "The Old Granite State."  When he learned that they did, he said,  "Don't; I beg you not to sing it to-night. . . . "   Senator Hale wanted to avoid an  "exhibition of sectional feeling"  during the Hutchinsons' Washington debut.  Out of respect for his request, the objectionable verse was omitted from the family song that evening.

The second concert took place on the 3rd at Carusi's Saloon.  Representative Joshua R. Giddings was among the 500 people in attendance.  After the final song, a crowd rushed the stage to congratulate the singers.  On the 8th, the last engagement of the series took place at a crowded Assembly Hall.

The following evening the quartet sang in Baltimore.  This one engagement was as profitable as all of the concerts combined during their previous visit.  They announced, to a cheering audience, that they would sing again on Monday evening.

The District of Columbia and Maryland were slave country.  This environment was starting to get under Asa's skin, judging from his journal entries beginning on the 3rd.  On the 12th, the Hutchinsons viewed the slave market of Hope Slatter, who Asa called a  "disgrace to the country."  John thought the bondsmen may have taken them to be long-haired slave traders from the far South.  He said they put on an athletic display, as they were taught, to demonstrate their strength, health, and spirit, in order to interest potential buyers.  According to an early biography, "[T]he sight shocked them beyond measure."

The plan had been for the Monday engagement to be their last concert of this stay; but the audience was so large and enthusiastic that they decided to hold one more on Wednesday.

On the 14th, tension was being felt between quartet members.    A word of criticism, off-stage, came out in their conversation.  An altercation ensued between Judson and Asa.  Brother John stepped between them with such success that it was his body that absorbed most of the blows.  The combatants showed their brother great sympathy, and moments later the three  "were on the stage, singing as sweetly as though nothing had happened. . . . "

By  February  16,   the  quartet  reached  Philadelphia.

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When the Massachusetts Antislavery Society met in Lowell the last week in February 1844, a  "second flight"  of Hutchinsons was in attendance, adding the usual Hutchinsonian enthusiasm to the proceedings and singing songs  "composed on the spot."  In a fit of inspiration during a Wendell Phillips speech, Jesse Jr. hastily wrote lyrics for a new song.  When the orator left the speakers' platform, the impromptu Jesse-led quartet took his place.  N. P. Rogers wrote that  "when they came on, toward the close of the afternoon of the second day  -  in a series of stanzas, to the spirited strain of 'Old Dan Tucker,' made to suit the occasion  -  with a rail road illustration of the progress of the anti-slavery movement and its character  -  nothing could have exceeded it in spirit."

Thus,  "Get Off the Track!",  Jesse Hutchinson's controversial song of emancipation, was introduced to the world.  Rogers said,  "I cannot describe the electrifying effect upon the audience."

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Word began to spread about this new Jesse Hutchinson production  -  this new Hutchinson Family song.

The writing and introduction of  "Get Off the Track!"  was a pivotal event in Hutchinson Family history, and it is worth considering that not a single member of the main vocal group was involved.  The Hutchinson Family was truly a family enterprise.

The song, with its imagery of fast and mighty steam-powered trains, seems tame today; but in 1844, to pro-slavery Americans as well as to those on the fence, it was surprisingly inflammatory.

On February 24, the quartet started toward New York for a highly successful extended stay in that city.  News of Jesse's new song must have reached New York quickly, initially by word of mouth, starting with those who attended the Lowell convention, and then by way of the first published discussion of it  -  by Nathaniel P. Rogers, of course  -  in the March 8 Herald of Freedom.  To the plentiful antislavery members of the Hutchinson Family's core audience, no doubt it seemed strange that the quartet was not yet singing Jesse's brilliant recent composition.  Many Hutchinson Family fans had already jumped on board the car of freedom.  Others had one foot on the platform and one foot on the train.  What they had in common is that they wanted to hear the Hutchinsons sing  "Get Off the Track!"

The last show of this lengthy series was at the Broadway Tabernacle on March 21.  The Hutchinsons had heard they would have a big audience.  Indeed, the Tabernacle was crowded, and the concert brought in a little over $1,500.   They turned down an offer of $4,000 for four more nights of singing.  "Judson,"  said John,  "had been reading a book on hens, and had the fever badly.  He must go home to his chickens; we had given our last concert and that was all there was to be said."  When they reached Boston on the 25th, they found they had $4,750 from this tour.

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Late in March, Asa wrote in his journal,  "The whole family talk of giving concerts making strong anti-slavery principles.  Jesse is the zealot.  But wisdom I trust we shall heed.  We need knowledge to guide us."  Adding antislavery material to the concert repertoire  -  which was then filled with songs of faith, sentiment, and humor  -  was favored by Jesse and by Nathaniel P. Rogers.  And popular demand to hear "Get Off the Track!" sung by the quartet had to be a factor.    Asa  -  whose journals we have  -  was quite skeptical about the wisdom of this innovation, but he did not set down anything like a detailed account of his thinking on the question.  Reference in his journal to the  "whole family"  could be taken to mean that he had few if any allies among his brothers and sisters, but he did not say it outright and there is no way to know for sure.

The Hutchinsons were touring throughout the Northeast, singing popular songs, and crowding the largest halls to and beyond capacity, with hundreds and even thousands of concert-goers turned away for lack of space.  The antislavery movement, on the other hand, was, as Frederick Douglass put it, an  "unpopular and persecuted cause."  It would be a risky proposition for a vocal group to endorse the antislavery agitation from a concert stage in front of a paying audience, many of whose members came simply to hear beautiful music and to be entertained.

The Hutchinson Family quartet made decisions by consensus, and coming to a general agreement about bringing the slavery debate into their concerts would not be easy.  But by April 3, Asa recorded that antislavery had become quartet's theme.  And once the Hutchinsons introduced  "Get Off the Track!"  into their regular concert repertoire, they became full-fledged reformers.  They became tuneful champions of freedom, putting a friendly face on the antislavery cause.  Once they decided to sing for emancipation, none of these young vocalists ever regretted it.

On April 11,  the Hutchinsons sang  "Get Off the Track!"  with tremendous effect,  at an antislavery meeting in Salem.

The quartet stayed around Boston for a few weeks, giving successful concerts.  On April 14, they left for a tour along the lower Connecticut River, lasting about three weeks.  Evidently Andrew was having trouble with his business; and by this time, he had become part of the touring company, assisting with managing the group.  Their first concert in Hartford occurred on the 16th, and they performed  -  as had become usual  -  before a respectable audience.

After the quartet left for Connecticut,  Jesse published  "Get Off the Track!"   The Boston Atlas took exception to the lyrics.

Jesse probably could not interest a publisher in this new song; so in true do-it-yourself spirit, he published  "Get Off the Track!"  himself.

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"[I]t was abolition which first introduced the Hutchinsons to the public as vocalists,"  answered the Morning Chronicle,  "and we trust they will take their past success only as a motive sent by the kindness of Heaven to encourage them to be always bold, faithful and uncompromising in the cause of the slave.  We happen to know that persons who went to their concerts during their late excursion, were sometimes greatly disappointed at hearing nothing  -  literally not one word in behalf of the slave or of liberty."

The Atlas notice, by the way, is a good example of what John had in mind when he wrote,  "At this time we distinguished our newspaper notices as 'puffs,' that is, compliments upon our singing, and 'blows,' criticisms on our anti-slavery songs and appearances at emancipation meetings."

Engagements took the quartet to Hartford and New Haven, Connecticut; Springfield, Massachusetts; and on  "up to Northampton, a town that pleased us so much,"  wrote John,  "that it was with difficulty we tore ourselves away."  They visited the Florence Community and enjoyed the company of its 125 residents.  While in Northampton, they sang at an antislavery meeting, at which Frederick Douglass spoke.  For this latter effort, the singers were awarded a  "blow"  by a local newspaper.

On May 3, the Hutchinsons returned to Boston.  Talk followed about dissolving the Milford homestead community.  It was Brother Benjamin who wanted this experiment in communal living ended, with Asa agreeing and John's wife Fanny leaning the same way.  Judson, John, and Abby wanted the community continued; of course, those who enthusiastically favored communal life on the farm actually were away from home, singing, most of the time.  The parties were unable to reach an agreement either way.

On the 7th the quartet gave a successful concert in Charlestown, with Andrew tending to business matters.  The next day, they left Boston for home.  Their father and Joshua were in the village renovating a store and building a house.  Asa said his mother was worried that Jesse Sr. was away from home.  On the 19th they stopped at their old schoolhouse and heard their father preach.  Asa described the meeting as peculiar.  Rumors about the Hutchinsons were making the rounds.  But then Asa put all this behind him.  He and Abby went back to school.

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On the 27th a delegation of at least nine Hutchinsons left Milford to take part in the May meetings of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society.  Even in Boston, abolition was quite unpopular; and the May 29 session was disturbed by people scattered about the hall, who hissed the speakers.

The Hutchinsons stood together on the platform at Tremont Temple.  "Their outburst at the convention,"  wrote Nathaniel P. Rogers,  "in Jesse's celebrated 'Get off the track!' is absolutely indescribable in any words that can be penned."   "[W]hen they came to the chorus-cry that gives name to the song . . . the way they cried 'Get off the track,' in defiance of all time and rule, was magnificent and sublime.  They forgot their harmony, and shouted one after another, or all in confused outcry, like an alarmed multitude of spectators, about to witness a terrible railroad catastrophe."   "[I]t was glorious to witness them alighting down again from their wild flight into the current of song, like so many swans upon the river from which they had soared, a moment, wildly into the air."

Rogers was second to none in his admiration for Jesse's verses.  "I here take occasion to say . . . that Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., is the most gifted songwriter of the times  -  so far as I know. . . . [H]is poetry sings so much better than . . . any of the bards."  While no doubt Jesse appreciated his friend's words, he made no such claims about his abilities.

The Hutchinsons sang at a couple temperance gatherings in Boston and then returned to farm work at Milford.

Many who opposed slavery were also concerned about the way free laborers were treated.  Joshua and Jesse were among them.  On June 29, Jesse sang the  "Cordwainers' Rallying Song"  to a group of Lynn shoemakers.  The second verse reads a bit like the American labor songs of a later era:

In July, several antislavery leaders visited the Hutchinson homestead.  Then toward the end of the month, Jesse and John were involved in a fishing outing in rare company.  They took a small boat from Lynn with Rev. John Pierpont and William Lloyd Garrison and fished at Bass Point, Nahant.  Jesse served as the chief cook.  They were joined for dinner by Wendell Phillips.

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On August 2, an outdoor celebration of the anniversary of West Indian Emancipation convened in Hingham, Massachusetts.  Many of the bright lights of the antislavery movement spoke.  The Hutchinson Family, including Jesse, sang.

Part of the plan was that each person should bring enough food to share with a neighbor, but most people thought of themselves as beneficiaries.  Thus, provisions were scarce.   A committee set out in search of any foodstuffs that, for one reason or another, may have been held back.  In the steamer Portland, which had been chartered for the occasion, they found a trunk.  Thinking it was full of edibles, the trunk was moved to the serving area, against the possibility it would be needed.  John, too, was looking for something to eat, when he saw a zealous abolitionist going after his trunk with a cold chisel  -  finally pulling out his violin.

At sundown, the Portland started for Boston with hundreds of passengers.  They had not gone far, before a dense fog forced the crew to anchor the steamer for the night.  The boat was crowded, and there were no beds and not enough seats.  John tore off a loose cabin door, set it on blocks of wood, and made seating capacity for himself and six others.  Francis Jackson found a place to sleep high on a pile of firewood.

Henry Clapp, Frederick Douglass, and Jesse were able to see humor in the situation, and tried to raise the spirits of the people in various parts of the boat.  Jesse organized meetings which passed resolutions, including these: "Resolved, that we had our usual quiet night's rest."   "Resolved, that we have had our breakfast."  John remembered that  "Mr. Garrison viewed these performances with some disapproval, and quietly warned these young men against injuring their personal influence by too much levity; he could not forget that the party came to Hingham on serious business."  John reported that, soon enough, all the discomforts and inconveniences were forgotten, and all that was left was the memory of the good time they had.