Hutchinson Family Singers Web Site
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Before he built [ Stone Cottage ], there was some speculation whether Brother Jesse would have any water, building on a rock some two hundred feet high. [said John] He called in the aid of a clairvoyant, who, walking out on the
The new house, in front of High Rock's summit, would be made of stone quarried from the building site. In the second half of 1846, the dwelling went up - evidently quickly. A Lynn newspaper reported that it "is situated at the base of the highest rock, yet it is sufficiently elevated to command a fine view of our great and growing 'City,' Nahant, the beach, the ocean, and in the distance can be seen the little town of Boston."
Jesse and Susan had taken up residence in Stone Cottage by the time John went for a visit in March 1847. In May, Abby described them as "nicely settled." It was not long after this that they began taking in boarders, because they were gregarious people and also to help offset their expenses.
A couple years later, Jesse wrote, "I
"Old High Rock," like most of the best original songs of the Hutchinson Family, had lyrics by Jesse and music by Judson.
In the State of Massachusetts, In the good old town of Lynn, There's a famous range of ledges As eye hath ever seen; Two hundred feet, the highest point, Looms up this rugged block, And it's known throughout New England As Old High Rock.
Upon this noted eminence, Far o'er the ocean blue, A hundred miles of landscape The eye can clearly view Rocks, mountains, sea and rivers The painter here could chalk, And sketch a scene the world to vie, From Old High Rock. |
"Before he built [ Stone Cottage ], there was some speculation": John Wallace Hutchinson, Story of the Hutchinsons (Tribe of Jesse), 2 vols. (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1896), 1:322.
It is interesting that the older Hutchinson brothers believed the spirit of their aunt, Sarah Leavitt Averill, could be experienced among them. This started more than two decades before the advent of modern spiritualism. Most of these older brothers, according to John, later held decided spiritualist views. Now we find Jesse Jr. consulting a clairvoyant two or three years before the beginning of modern spiritualism.
"A Lynn newspaper reported that it is situated at the base": "Our readers are probably aware," Lynn (MA) Forum, n.d., in Item 4v, Ludlow Patton's Hutchinson Family Scrapbook, Wadleigh Memorial Library, Milford, New Hampshire.
This article, and another, "Our enterprising friend Jesse Hutchinson," Lynn (MA) Pioneer, n.d., nearby on the same scrapbook page, recorded that Jesse was preparing to build what might be called a time capsule into a wall of Stone Cottage.
I have written a number of postal letters and e-mails, inquiring as to what became of this box and its contents. Every one of my messages has gone unanswered. Every one. If you know anything about the contents of the box that Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., built into a wall of Stone Cottage and you would be willing to share your information, please e-mail us by way of the contact link toward the bottom of the page.
"[I]t is rare indeed, said John, that such a company": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 2:253).
Jesse and Susan must have hoped to fill Stone Cottage with children of their own.
"And from the beginning, he kept the summit of High Rock open": One of my earliest visits to High Rock came at a time when the city of Boston was having a major problem with trash in the streets. I spent much of that day in Boston, and there was paper blowing around and piles of refuse gathered at the foot of buildings. A few hours later on that crisp, blue, sunny day, Boston was a bright, stunningly beautiful city on a hill when viewed from High Rock. It is easy to see why Jesse Jr. loved his High Rock home.
"A couple years later, Jesse wrote, I have . . . erected a cottage": Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., "High Rock," Lynn (MA) News,
"Old High Rock, like most of the best original songs": Judson J. Hutchinson, "Old High Rock," lyrics: Jesse
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It is in contemplation To rear upon this height, A telescope of mighty power, To view the stars by night; While with the planets in their course We'll hold familiar talk, And gaze into heavenly worlds From Old High Rock.
When all is decorated And fitted to the mind, A snug retreat from business cares The visitor will find; The cottage door stands open To all the friends who knock, And welcome makes you feel at home At Old High Rock.
Believing in the promise That all the sons of toil Have an equal right and title To the products of the soil, Thus, in the Deed 'tis written: "Earth is common stock, And all the world shall own a share In Old High Rock." |
These popular songsters, [ said the Amherst Farmers' Cabinet ] for the first time since their return from the other side of the great waters, will be "at home" to their friends, on the evening of the 7th inst., when they will hold a levee "Concert," at the Baptist meeting-house in Milford, their native village, at which they will be happy to see and entertain their friends with songs and "roundelays" that shall please their ear, and gratify their hearts. No doubt they will find them all there - for who will not go?
The Hutchinsons' success in Europe caused great excitement in the United States. An early biography said, "They had achieved
The quartet started with concerts in New Hampshire. In Concord, they attended the Independent Democratic Convention. As their friend John P. Hale finished his speech, the Hutchinson Family rose, unannounced, and sang, "There's a Good Time Coming." At the end of the song, the audience was "electrified."
"These popular songsters, [ said the Amherst Farmers' Cabinet ]": "The Hutchinson's at Home!", Amherst, NH, Farmers' Cabinet, October 1, 1846, p. 3 col. 2. See also "Concert at the Baptist Meeting House," Amherst, NH, Farmers' Cabinet, October 1, 1846, p. 3 col. 3.
A levee is a formal reception, in this instance in honor of the Hutchinson Family. It provided a fun opportunity for members of the home community to hear the Hutchinsons in advance of what was anticipated to be a grand concert tour.
"An early biography said, They had achieved [a] European reputation": The Book of Brothers: History of the Hutchinson Family (New York: Hutchinson Family, 1852), 44.
"In Concord, they attended the Independent Democratic Convention": "The Hutchinson Family," New York Daily Tribune, October 24, 1846, p. 2 col. 1.
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The singers received a sad message from Nathaniel Peabody Rogers. "At the time when this good friend was lying on his death-bed," said an 1852 biographical booklet, "the
Nathaniel P. Rogers died on Friday, October 16, 1846. He had broad interests and knowledge; and he was a vastly talented writer in the service of universal freedom. No doubt it was with heavy hearts that the group moved on into Massachusetts.
Advocates of various reform movements generally seemed to suppose that the Hutchinsons were sympathetic to their cause, and this included advocates of labor reform. On October 22, the quartet sang at City Hall in Lowell.
We hope [ said the Voice of Industry ] all the hard hearted, hard fisted lumps of humanity, may be induced to go, for it will most certainly open their hearts; and who knows but they may ring labor reform into some of them - we hope they may - but at any rate, we advise all those who have a soul for harmony, to go and listen to their delicious music, and those who have not, to go and get one.
The quartet advertised that they would "introduce a programme of old and new productions and selections which have been received with approbation abroad." "The Bridge of Sighs," "The Indian Hunter," and "We're With You Once Again" were among the songs listed. The Voice of Industry said, "'Let us love one another,' 'Excelsior' and 'there's a good time coming;' there is a meaning to their songs, a love of the true, the good and the beautiful - an earnest desire of freedom for all, and a detestation of every thing that savors of slavery and oppression." "We attended the concert given by these birds from the mountains, last Thursday evening, and were in perfect ecstacy, and on the point several times of speaking to some one to pull our hair just to remind us that we were still an inhabitant of this terrestrial globe."
Crowds of music fans wanted to hear the Hutchinsons on this, their first American tour in over a year. In Lowell the group's popularity created an unusual problem for some ticket holders. The entrance to the hall was blocked by a crowd of people who wanted to buy tickets. The door keepers thought they must sell to these people and let them in, so they could "get at" the advance-ticket holders who were somewhere farther back. Thus, the hall was over-sold, and many who paid for admission beforehand were turned away for lack of space.
"At the time when this good friend was lying on his death-bed": Book of Brothers (1852, 25n). See also
"Advocates of various reform movements generally seemed to suppose": "The Song of the Shirt," an item on concert programs from this tour, was one of several Hutchinson Family pieces that were particularly popular in labor circles. Material of this character, along with reform songs in general, no doubt were seen as suggestive of Hutchinson Family support for the cause of laborers and their organizations.
Hutchinson Family (Singers), "The Song of the Shirt," lyrics: Thomas Hood (New York: Ch. Holt, Jr. 1847).
"We hope [ said the Voice of Industry ] all the hard hearted": "The Hutchinson Family," Lowell, MA, Voice of Industry, October 16, 1846, p. 3 col. 3.
"The quartet advertised that they would introduce a programme": "The Hutchinson Family," Lowell, MA, Voice of Industry, October 16, 1846, p. 3 col. 4.
"The Voice of Industry said, Let us love one another": "The Hutchinsons," Lowell, MA, Voice of Industry, October 30, 1846.
The popularity of "There's a Good Time Coming," in labor circles, seems to have been quite durable. The Voice of Industry had already published it earlier in the year, as the poem "Wait a Little Longer." See "Wait a Little Longer," Lowell, MA, Voice of Industry, March 27, 1846, p. 1 col. 1. Decades later it was presented in the January 22, 1887, issue of Knights of Labor, which publication was cited in Philip S. Foner, American Labor Songs of the Nineteenth Century (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975), 150 n. 13).
"We attended the concert given by these birds from the mountains": "The Hutchinsons," Lowell, MA, Voice of Industry, October 30, 1846.
Nathaniel Peabody Rogers (1794-1846)
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In Boston the quartet filled the Melodeon to overflowing on Saturday, October 24. The Boston Sun published a friendly and favorable review of this concert, but thought their performance of "Excelsior" was not as good as usual and also found opportunities for improvement in their singing of Dempster's "Let Us Love One Another." The notice closed by saying, "With some faults (which could scarcely be fewer or less obvious) they are still our noblest singers - great in song and greater in soul."
During their series of engagements in Boston, one Whig journal took exception to the antislavery songs on their program and suggested that, should they persist in singing material of this nature, they might find themselves facing an angry mob. Jesse then added a verse to the family song.
Party threats are not alarming For when music ceases charming We can earn our bread by farming In the Old Granite State. |
John observed, "[W]e knew an impatient public was waiting for our songs." But then he said, in contrast, "We found it harder to sustain popularity than to earn it, for our audiences grew critical."
Following a Lynn concert in late October, their friend Dr. Edward A. Kittredge - "Noggs" - challenged the Hutchinsons to keep improving as concert singers. His remarks, here and there, could be taken to imply that they were not fully rehearsed for this, the first leg of their tour.
[W]e trust the hope of gain, so dear to us all, will not be their only incentive to action. We would have them remember that the eyes of both hemispheres are upon them as the exponents of a nation's music, and that to them is given the power to
"Progress is the order of the age," he added, "and should be the desire of all; and however well we may be doing, we should continually try to do better."
"At each place," said John, "we gave good satisfaction, except when we sang what the Democrats called 'politics.' Then we usually received a volley of hisses." It is often thought that there was some question among quartet members, in their early days, about whether they were primarily musicians or social reformers. By the time they returned from Europe, that question was pretty much answered. The Hutchinsons were reformers. Reference to hissing - a quite common phenomenon at Hutchinson Family concerts in these years - is evidence that the singers were not preaching only to the converted.
Many notices from this trip say the quartet was jamming fans tightly into large concert halls, and such reports would continue for a long time to come. On November 3, the group returned to the Melodeon in Boston. According to the Chronotype on the 5th, the room was packed and even the aisles were full. One might surmise that the singers were making a great deal of money.
"The notice closed by saying, With some faults": "The Concert by the Hutchinsons on Saturday evening last," Boston Sun, October 26, 1846.
American audiences and journalists reacted to the Hutchinsons, throughout this tour, in complex ways, as may be seen in this paragraph and in those that follow.
"Jesse then added a verse to the family song": "Mr. Clapp then alluded to the news," Lynn (MA) Pioneer, April 7, 1847, in Item 7v, Ludlow Patton's Hutchinson Family Scrapbook, Wadleigh Memorial Library, Milford, New Hampshire.
"John observed, [W]e knew an impatient public was waiting": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:224).
"[W]e trust the hope of gain, so dear to us all, will not be": Noggs
"At each place, said John, we gave good satisfaction, except": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:224).
The man who wrote the lyrics that infuriated these people, Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., was himself a lifelong Democrat.
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By November 18, the Hutchinsons had worked their way to New York, where they entertained that night. "The spacious Tabernacle," said the Tribune, "was never more closely packed than last
War and slavery perplex us Such a demonstration |
While the familiar "friends of emancipation" passage was a very general statement, and caused little problem with most audiences, the new verse was much more explicit.
John wrote that "The papers came out the next day roaring like lions against such sentiments being uttered in a concert-room by persons singing for the public favor and money." In fact, the concert did inspire a public debate over this question.
"Instead of the simple and pleasing melodies which their old friends and admirers expected to hear," said the Courier and Enquirer, "the Hutchinsons gave a series of abolition
The National Antislavery Standard copied the Courier and Enquirer piece on its front page; and, elsewhere in the issue, it said, "The music of the spheres would be discord in the ears of the editor of that paper, if there was a strain in it for Freedom. We marvel, however, that he should have so little shrewdness as to couple his criticism on the singing of the New Hampshire minstrels, and his angry denunciations of their
The New-Yorkers . . . show their appreciation both of the Courier's growling, and the Hutchinsons' singing by crowding the Tabernacle from floor to ceiling.
"The spacious Tabernacle, said the Tribune, was never more closely packed": "The Hutchinson Family," New York Daily Tribune, November 19, 1846, p. 2 col. 6.
Notices from Lynn and Boston, cited above, seem to imply that the singers were not thoroughly prepared during the first leg of this tour. Yet after the opening New York show, we are told it was the best concert they had ever given in that city by far. This could be taken to mean that the quartet did much of its practicing after hitting the road - highly unusual for the normally thoroughly-drilled Hutchinsons. It seems likely that educational endeavors and romantic adventures may have made Asa and Abby only minimally available for rehearsals before the start of this trip.
"John wrote that The papers came out the next day roaring like lions": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:225). See also "Politics in the Concert Room," New York Express, November 28, 1846.
"Instead of the simple and pleasing melodies which their old friends": "The Hutchinsons on Wednesday night," New York Courier and Enquirer, November 20, 1846.
John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:225) didn't seem to notice this "disgraceful confusion." His diary said, "We got through the concert without much trouble. With the exception of a little hissing all went off smoothly."
"The National Antislavery Standard copied the Courier and Enquirer piece": "The Hutchinsons," New York National Antislavery Standard, November 26, 1846.
John insisted that criticism of the group's musicianship was little more than a thinly disguised attack on their politics. Detractors of the Hutchinson Family did little if anything to prove him wrong.
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The New York Tribune offered this judgment about the political content in Hutchinson Family concerts:
They do not sing exclusively for money, but aim to make their music subserve the cause of humanity and freedom. Some of our citizens have complained of this, but they have done so, it seems to us, without just cause. We really do not see why a public singer has not as good a right as a lecturer, or the editor of a public journal, to make his public performances conform to his opinions. If it is understood beforehand that he will do this, no wrong is done to any one. The practice of the Hutchinsons in this respect is now well understood, and every man who buys a ticket knows just what to expect.
Amid the engagements at the Broadway Tabernacle, the quartet made another side-trip to
On December 4, the group gave a concert to another crowded house, this time at the Brooklyn Institute. The next day, the Eagle said, "every seat, nook and avenue, was packed." Many audience members took exception to "Get Off the Track!" and the "Paying dear for Texas" verse in "The Old Granite State," though generally the songs were received with "rapturous acceptance."
The group returned to the Brooklyn Institute on the 7th and closed their series at the Broadway Tabernacle on the 10th. To the end, New Yorkers were divided in their reactions to the Hutchinsons' lyrics, but they filled concert halls anyway.
In Philadelphia on December 16, the quartet made its season debut before an immense, enthusiastic audience. Another show followed on the 19th. These engagements promised to be very profitable. On December 25, they gave their fourth concert at Musical Fund Hall. At least one member of the audience took exception to the group's practice of allowing ticket-holders to sit where they pleased, without regard to race.
"They do not sing exclusively for money, but aim to make their music": "The Hutchinson Family," New York Daily Tribune, November 23, 1846, p. 2 col. 6. See also John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:225).
"Amid the engagements at the Broadway Tabernacle, the quartet": "Thanksgiving in Prison," New York Daily Tribune, December 10, 1846, p. 1 col. 3.
"Then on November 28, they sang at Newark, where Washington Hall": "The Hutchinsons," New York Daily Tribune, December 1, 1846, p. 2 col. 4.
"At least one member of the audience took exception": "Music: The Hutchinson Family," Philadelphia Daily Sun, December 18, 1846; John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:223, 1:226).
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"On Saturday evening . . . about the time of opening the Hall," said the Pennsylvania Freeman, "Mr. Jesse
On Tuesday, the group was approached by the Musical Fund Hall superintendent, Thomas J. Beckett. He said that, if they should persist in singing abolition and permitting integrated audiences, he would close the hall. This was followed by a meeting between Jesse and some of the Trustees, who withdrew the objection to antislavery songs. But they demanded that the Hutchinson Family exclude people of color from their audience, because they "had warning from the Mayor that there was danger of a mob, and that if they allowed colored people to enter the hall, on them would rest the responsibility." The Trustees went further and instructed the people in charge of the hall to admit only whites.
On Wednesday, the singers advertised in city papers, saying that the present series of concerts was cancelled. It went on to report that the trustees of the Musical Fund Hall
have given notice that, at the warning of the Mayor, the admission of persons of color could not be allowed, and would be positively prohibited. As this was no part of their contract, and as they could not do any act that would seem to sanction such a course, without compromising one of their well known and most cherished principles, they therefore, under the circumstances, feel themselves virtually excluded from the Hall.
The Pennsylvania Freeman announced, "Be it known that mob-law is still the practical code of Philadelphia, as really so, though there happen just now to be no open outbreaks, as it was when the present incumbent of the Mayors' office addressed as his police the genteel rabble that burned to the ground Pennsylvania Hall." It added that now "The work of the mob is accomplished by the constituted authorities. People are 'warned' out of their rights by the chief magistrate, and threatened out of them by his officious
"I hope . . . it will be no injury to the cause," said Sister Abby, "but rather make people more zealous in the Anti-Slavery cause. 'There is a good time coming' by and by, though we may wait long and anxiously."
Ironically, during this tour the Hutchinson Family found a friendlier spirit in Delaware - a slave state.
"On Saturday evening . . . about the time of opening the Hall": "Most Base and Disgraceful," Philadelphia Pennsylvania Freeman,
Incidentally, Philadelphia did experience rioting that evening, but it had nothing to do with the Hutchinson Family concert. See "Things in Philadelphia," New York Daily Tribune, December 29, 1846, p. 1 col. 1.
"On Tuesday, the group was approached by the Musical Fund Hall superintendent": "Most Base and Disgraceful," Philadelphia Pennsylvania Freeman,
The name of the Music Fund Hall's superindendent, in the past, has been given as T. E. Becket or T. E. Beckett. But the census records used for this study report his name as T. J. Beckett (1860) or Thos. J. Beckett (1870).
"It went on to report that the trustees of the Musical Fund Hall": "Most Base and Disgraceful," Philadelphia Pennsylvania Freeman,
"The Pennsylvania Freeman announced, Be it known that mob-law": "Most Base and Disgraceful," Philadelphia Pennsylvania Freeman,
For an interesting, short account of this affair, see "Right and Wrong in Philadelphia,"
"I hope . . . it will be no injury to the cause, said Sister Abby": Abby J. Hutchinson to Mary Howitt, Plymouth, MA, May 5, 1847, published as "What the Hutchinsons Are Doing," Howitts' Journal, n.d., in Item 8r, Ludlow Patton's Hutchinson Family Scrapbook, Wadleigh Memorial Library, Milford, New Hampshire.
For Abby's brief account of this incident, see J. F. D., "Some Old Friends," Boston Evening Transcript, May 9, 1885, p. 5 col. 1.
Behold the day of promise comes, full of inspiration The blessed day by prophets sung for the healing of the nation Old midnight errors flee away, they soon will all be gone While heavenly angels seem to say the good time's coming on
The good time, the good time, the good time's coming on The good time, the good time, the good time's coming on |
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