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In 1848 Dr. Edward A. Kittredge wrote a sketch of the Hutchinson Family for the Boston Chronotype, for the benefit of readers who had heard much about the Hutchinsons but who had never had the pleasure of actually seeing them.

As was often the case in those days,  most of the attention went to Judson and Abby.   According to Kittredge, Judson stood five feet ten inches  -  tall for his day  -  had a  "lean, lank, hungry look, that savors more of fat desired than fat possessed,"  and could not be dressed up  "any more than you can a 'hay-pole'."  Put him in good clothes, and he was still  "the same old Judson,"  his outfit  "always seeming to be endured rather than enjoyed, and hanging about him after the way of their owner, just as they please."   "'Jud's' hair is auburn, his eyes blue, and his teeth  -  his own  -  his nose and chin are large, very. . . . "   His smiling look was  "like sunshine to the hearts of his friends, only more so, as the warmth of his smiles comes in rain storm at night, as well as in fair weather and by day."  Dr. Kittredge ended with the wish,  "May his days be proportioned to his length of limb."  In this sketch, Kittredge referred to Judson as a  "genius comical,"  and he spoke about the diversity of humorous sounds made by Judson's voice and his violin.  Judson was often reported to play vocal lines on his instrument, causing it seemingly to speak the words  -  a skill that Asa also perfected, evidently later, on his cello.

Next came John.  "[H]is hair as black as a raven's wing, his eyes rather darkish, his other features 'about as usual'; his teeth, though, are much better than that, which added to his well formed figure of decent height and having no untoward feature, with a certain flashing forth of genius from his bright dark eyes, makes him quite a good looking crittur; in fact he is the best looking male Hutchinson I ever saw. . . . "   John had a lifelong reputation for thrift.  Of this, Kittredge added,  "John has been known to look at the same dollar twice before spending it. . . . "

Continuing by age in descending order, Kittredge turned his attention to Asa.  "Asa is . . . of a lively, impetuous temperament, fond of change  -  moving about I mean  -  and don't believe in a man's getting married and then living alone.  Where he is[,] there is his wife you may be sure.   I don't remember about Asa's eyes, but they are lightish, and I think, blue  -  his hair auburnish, his nose, not so crooked as Jesse's, but kinder on the twist, but not so much so as his mouth, one corner of which is always laughing  -  even when the other is asleep."  Kittredge ended with a safe prediction.  Asa, he said,  "will make a good father in time."

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Finally  comes   "the  beauteous,  gentle,  joyous  Abby."

"Abby is not more than 18, but large enough to be twenty or twenty-one!  About the usual height of girls, but something larger than the common herd . . . she is the very beau ideal of English beauty, being fat as well as fair.  She is not now, however, so fleshy by considerable or more, as she was a year ago or so; and in American estimation, gains in every pound she loses! . . .   Abby's eyes are beautifully blue, as near as I can remember; her hair is a dark auburn and plentiful and soft, making not only a great addition but a great improvement to her looks. . . .   Her features are regular  -  no particular prominence in either  -  but her teeth are like pearls from the vasty deep, which combined with the soft unsophisticated expression of her beautifully expressive mouth, makes her absolutely handsome. . . . "

Abby was a supportive,  nurturing woman and over the years took many young people under her wing.  It seems these qualities were easily recognized even in her youth.  That summer,  a one-and-a-half year old orphan boy was placed in Abby's care.  His name was Charles Prew,  and he remained in Milford until 1861,  when he enlisted in the Union army.

On Wednesday, May 31, a party of fourteen Hutchinsons, led by the parents, left Milford for a visit to Brother Jesse and Susan.  They got a hearty welcome when they arrived at Stone Cottage.  The next day, they were joined by Andrew and Zephaniah; and the Tribe of Jesse spent the day singing and playing  "like so many children."  On Friday they chartered a fishing boat and took to the sea, but without conspicuous luck.  Their father caught the most fish.

On Saturday, Jesse, Mary and most of their children went home.  The rest split up to arrange concerts in Ipswich, Beverly, and Gloucester.  Then after these engagements, the quartet planned a series of appearances at Pawtucket and Providence, where they sang to a crowded house.  They entertained in Fall River and the Woonsocket area, then returned to Providence.  Concerts in New Bedford and Taunton followed.

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The year 1848 was rich with published descriptions of the Hutchinson Family.  "To 'puff' the Hutchinsons would be like 'puffing' Niagara, the Mammoth Cave, or the prairies,"  said one sketch published in connection with this current series of concerts.  It went on to declare that the family was almost as famous as the Mississippi River.  As artist comparisons go, being likened to the Mississippi River would be hard to beat.

In the summer of 1848,  John sold his Amherst farm and moved into a house in Milford,  which stood behind large maple trees.

Back in the spring, Jesse began formalizing plans for a wooden observatory tower on the summit of High Rock.  He made a rough sketch of the structure, and his friend Alonzo Lewis drew the plans.  Evidently the tower went up in June or early July.

On July 24 Jesse published an item in the Lynn News, saying  -  among much else  -  "I am compelled to offer my entire estate for sale. . . . "   His financial resources, he said, were exhausted.  He spoke of the feeling among the citizens of Lynn that public access to the summit should be preserved  -  a feeling which Jesse originated  -  and he suggested that some party with the means  "purchase the estate immediately, and bequeath it to the town and the world forever."  He ended by saying,  "Whatever is done, must be done quickly."

Apparently something was done quickly  -  though we are not told what  -  for Jesse did not sell his estate.  A loan seems likely.  We have very little information, but no matter  -  Jesse maintained possession of High Rock.

Soon Jesse was making plans to participate in the Free Soil Convention at Buffalo, New York, on August 9 and 10.  "Free Soil Rally"  was one of his songs written for this occasion.

Financial problems?   What financial problems!   And what quarrel with Garrison!  Jesse was doing what he had to do  -  writing and singing songs of freedom, hope, and human progress.

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On July 19 and 20, the first American woman's rights convention met at Wesleyan Methodist Church in Seneca Falls, New York.  Frederick Douglass spoke, and many other friends of the Hutchinson family were involved.  This meeting got a movement under way that would have a profound effect on the singers and their careers.  The earliest evidence of support, from among the Hutchinsons, came from Jesse and Judson.  By 1849, reusing the tune he borrowed for  "Free Soil Rally,"  Jesse wrote

In August, members of the Hutchinson Family sang at the great Free Soil convention in Buffalo.  On the 22nd, they sang a campaign song at a Free Soil ratification meeting at Faneuil Hall in Boston.  In September the group took part in another Free Soil convention at Boston's Tremont Temple.  From there they went to Lawrence  -  which John called a  "very unfinished city"  -  for a concert.  Entertainments followed in southern New Hampshire, along with singing at a big Free Soil convention in Concord.  Next they sang to a full house in Boston.

John's diary from this period contains several revealing entries.  For instance, on Saturday, September 16:

Yes, newspapers in the Northeast were right; evidently Abby did purpose to retire from concert tours, probably with thoughts of raising a family  -  for soon she would marry Ludlow Patton.  Abby's voice and presence had proven crucial to the success of the quartet, so her retirement would raise serious questions about the group's future.  She was already making plans for her wedding.  And on August 23, at Milford, her father conveyed to Abby her time, for the remainder of her minority.

The Hutchinsons, who had once thought they were making a tour to the West when going to Albany, were now starting on their first trip beyond the Allegheny Mountains  -  the longest tour of their career so far.  Ludlow would serve as their advance agent.  John, in his September 16 diary entry, expressed sorrow about traveling so far away from family, friends, and home.  He added,  "We have left our brothers, all of whom occupy a tender spot in our souls' affections, cherishing hard feelings toward us."

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Probably this diary entry had to do with another family band.  Later in the 1848-1849 concert season, the  "New Branch"  of the Hutchinson Family made its entertainment debut.  While very little information about the New Branch's career is generally available, and few firm dates are known, it can be shown that the group's membership varied.  Caleb and Joshua represented the Hutchinsons, after whom the company was named.  Ossian E. Dodge sang and managed the group.  An undated, very favorable press notice gave the names of the other members as Caroline and Ellen Rogers and B. Patch.   Only Caleb, Joshua, Ellen Rogers, and Ossian Dodge were advertised for a late concert of the New Branch.  The company published at least one song  -  "The Mackerel Catchers."

Not long after its members first began performing together, the New Branch was no more.  Its career had been financially unsuccessful, which may account for the short life of the group, along with its reduced membership toward the end.  Philip Jordan, citing Dodge's account book, reported that the singers lost $68.59 each in this venture.

From Worcester, the main Hutchinson Family quartet went to Northampton for a concert at the First Congregational Church.  Initially, they had engaged the Baptist Church; but access to that building was withdrawn because those who were responsible for it feared desecration.  In Pittsfield they sang  "in a hall jammed to suffocation."  On the 25th they entertained in Troy, New York.  Next day, they appeared at the Albany Female Academy.

The following day  the Hutchinsons visited Frederick Douglass,  who was stopping in Albany.

It is interesting that John should choose this point in his family history  -  so soon after his account of the Henry Clay controversy  -  to declare that the Hutchinsons had their own work, independent of the abolition leaders.  If the singers had ever intended to limit their antislavery efforts to a strict Garrisonian moral-suasion approach, their Free-Soil activities make it clear that, by 1848, they were quite willing to consider other means.

In early October, the Hutchinsons sang for big audiences in Schenectady, Utica, and Syracuse  -  one of their favorite stops.  On the train to Syracuse, Judson pretended to be insane, and John played the part of his keeper.  The group continued through Geneva and Canandaigua to Rochester.

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By this time Frederick Douglass had relocated to Rochester, where he published his newspaper, the North Star; and he paid the Hutchinsons a visit as soon as they arrived.

After entertaining in Rochester on October 21, the quartet started for Buffalo, giving concerts there and at Lockport.  They viewed Niagara Falls, then crossed into Canada.  The group sang for small but fashionable audiences at Toronto and Hamilton; and then they returned to Buffalo, arriving the evening before the election.  They attended a Free Soil meeting in a big stable, singing their campaign songs for the last time.  One of the sentiments the Hutchinsons expressed in song during the Free Soil campaign was  "We'll Never Vote for Taylor."