![[1846 Margaret Gillies sketch of the Hutchinson Family quartet]](http://www.oocities.org/hfsbook/pic/gilliessketch342.jpg)
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1853-1854
Chapter 13 Part 1
On Saturday, September 3, 1853, Jesse Hutchinson's real estate and personal property were sold at public auction. John and Asa bought the High Rock property and moved their belongings from Milford to Stone Cottage. Alonzo Lewis surveyed the land for distribution among the brothers.
On October 8, the Hutchinson Family opened Huntington Hall in Lowell. Soon they toured through western Massachusetts, Connecticut, and into New York, singing to large audiences.
At this time Dr. O. H. Wellington was the proprietor of the New York City Water Cure, 184 12th Street, at the corner of University Place. The Hutchinsons boarded there; but when Dr. Wellington's daughter came down with smallpox, the group quickly made other arrangements.
On the 25th, the trio gave the opening concert of their New York series at the Broadway Tabernacle -
"Riding in a Stage" was another new piece. An ad credits the lyrics to George P. Morris, though the origin may not be so simple. John G. Saxe wrote "Rhyme of the Rail," and the Continental Vocalists adapted it for their "Railroad Chorus." "Riding in a Stage" seems to be a parody of their song.
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Feet are interlacing, heads severely bumped; |
The Hutchinson Family gave their second concert at the Broadway Tabernacle on the 27th. The program for that evening included "Dimes and Dollars." "The Popular Creed" - the song's actual title - was based on a poem, "The Popular Credo," written by abolitionist Charles P. Shiras. According to legend, the music was composed by his close friend, Stephen C. Foster.
The Hutchinsons may have picked up "The Popular Creed" at the Akron woman's rights convention in 1851, where it was read from the platform. As a song, it was most closely associated with Brother Joshua; and it was sung for years by Judson and John and members of their families. "The Popular Creed" was a favorite among labor reformers.
"On Saturday, September 3, 1853, Jesse's real estate and personal property": "High Rock Cottages"
Evidently John and Asa paid $6,700, combined, for Jesse's High Rock real estate
"John and Asa bought the High Rock property and moved their belongings": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:322); Viola Hutchinson Campbell, Memories of a Busy Life (Plymouth, Mass.: privately printed
"At this time Dr. O. H. Wellington was the proprietor": This was certainly a notable address in the water-cure world. Until quite recently, it had been the establishment of Dr. Joel Shew, the earliest hydropathic practitioner in the United States. Later, another one-time New York City Water Cure physician, Dr. George H. Taylor, would have much to do with Abby Hutchinson Patton's healthcare.
Numerous advertisements document that Dr. O. H. Wellington operated the New York City Water Cure at this location. For a reference to it also being his personal residence, see "Convention of Water-Cure Physicians," New York Daily Times, October 19, 1854, p. 8 col. 1, in the "New-York City" feature.
"Little Topsy's Song, Asa's new production based on Uncle Tom's Cabin, appeared": Asa B. Hutchinson, "Little Topsy's Song," lyrics: Eliza Cook, first line of text: "Topsy neber was born," first line of chorus: "This is Topsy's savage song" (Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1853).
"An ad credits the lyrics to George P. Morris, though the origin": "The Hutchinson Family Once More," New York Daily Times, October 25, 1853, p. 5 col. 6.
"John G. Saxe wrote Rhyme of the Rail, and the Continental Vocalists": Continental Vocalists, "Singing Thro' the Forests: Rail-Road Chorus" (Philadelphia:
"According to legend, the music was composed by his close friend": Whether this is true, or the melody was composed, instead, by, say, one of the Hutchinsons, it is unknown if the music has been preserved. If you have information regarding the whereabouts of the tune for "The Popular Creed" and you would be willing to share it, please e-mail us via the contact link toward the bottom of the page.
"The Hutchinsons may have picked up The Popular Creed at the Akron": "The Rights of Woman," New York Daily Tribune, June 6, 1851, p. 7 cols. 1-2.
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On November 17, the Hutchinsons appeared at the Broadway Tabernacle.
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The programme comprise[s] many new songs, As sung by the "Band of Brothers," Mostly their own, but a part belongs To the creative genius of others. |
On November 25, they went to tea at the home of Frank Carpenter, and viewed his portrait of Sister Abby.
The Hutchinsons planned to perform in and around New York until Wednesday, January 18, 1854. Then they were to move on to engagements in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington.
On January 16, 1854, at Milford, Caleb Hutchinson died, after a long illness. "It began to seem," said John, "as though death was surely on our track; and full of care as we were, we felt keenly our loss."
Joshua said that Caleb "was eminently gifted as a vocalist, possessing one of the richest baritone voices in the family, with a musical ear intensely acute, and a sweet, genial nature combined." "He was a peace-maker in his voice-renderings, as well as in his fraternal relations."
At the original Hutchinson family homestead, not far from the better-known North River Road farm,
When the wood was cut off in the west pasture
Evidently the Hutchinsons postponed their trip to Washington, on receiving news of Brother Caleb's death; but by the first week in February, they were on tour again. "Our concerts in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania," said John, "continued for many weeks. A notable feature of them
Then came the shout, "Fire!" In the bustle and confusion that followed, the mother "offer'd to God in her agony
"The programme comprise[s] many new songs, As sung by the Band of Brothers": "The Hutchinson Family's Fifth Concert," New York Daily Times, November 17, 1853, p. 5 col. 5. The quoted passage is clearly the work of Judson. Oddly, the Hutchinsons' ads refer to Jesse's "Fugitive's Song" as new.
"On November 25, they went to tea at the home of Frank Carpenter": This painting is now part of the collection of the Lynn (MA) Historical Society. According to the findings of this study, this may be the only likeness made of Abby, while she was in her twenties, that is still in existence.
Do you know what became of the Frank B. Carpenter portrait of John W. Hutchinson? If you do and you would be willing to share the information, please e-mail us by way of the contact link toward the bottom of the page. Reference to this portrait is made in John W. Hutchinson (1896, 2:161 and 2:169).
"It began to seem, said John, as though death was surely on our track": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:328).
"Joshua said that Caleb was eminently gifted as a vocalist": Joshua Hutchinson (1874, 17-18).
"When the wood was cut off in the west pasture land a row of maple trees": This passage comes from an unsigned handwritten page in the keeping of descendants of Sister Rhoda. It may have been written by Caleb's widow, Laura. The note speaks of the old Hutchinson family homestead where all but the last two Hutchinson children - Elizabeth and Abby - were born. This is an important distinction to make, because the newer homestead on Milford's North River Road is far better known. When mention is made of the Hutchinson homestead, it is an easy, though not always correct assumption that the latter property is intended.
"Our concerts in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, said John": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:328).
Henry Russell, "The Ship on Fire!: A Descriptive Scena," lyrics:
Press notices, going all the way back to the early days of the Hutchinson Family quartet, single out John as the brother with acting abilities. He had some theatrical background while still in school at Milford. See John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:35). His performance of "The Ship on Fire" may have been his greatest dramatic achievement, though his recitation of Poe's "The Raven" also must be considered. In addition, John seems to have gotten everything anyone possibly could out of Henry Russell's melodrama, "The Maniac."
John appears to have been overly sensitive to competition, real and imagined, from the Alleghanians. On the other hand, for an uncomfortably close point of comparison that hit especially close to home, see the "Ship on Fire" anecdote in The Alleghanians, Vocalists and Swiss Bell Ringers' Songster: Sketches and Travels
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At noon the next day, the survivors heard a happier cry, "Ho! a sail!" The mother and child and companions on the lifeboat were saved.
Judson's daughter Kate has already told of the passage where her father, seated on stage, would shout the word "Fire" with all his mighty ventriloquial power. John added:
Instantly I would turn my head in the direction from which it was supposed to proceed. Asa would follow with a rumble on his viol, in exact imitation of the roll and rattle of a fire-engine hurrying through the streets. The effect on the audience was always electrical. Often there would be a stampede. They would rise in groups from their seats until the whole audience was ready to start for the door. Meanwhile I would continue the
At Canton, Pennsylvania, the fire engines were called and were already on their way to the scene of the inferno, before they could be convinced that the alarm was only part of a song.
As we have seen, the press regularly reported that the Hutchinsons' audiences filled concert halls to capacity - and evidently sometimes well beyond. On December 5, 1846, according to the Brooklyn Eagle, "every seat, nook and avenue, was packed." More dramatic still was a report of overcrowding in the March 9, 1848, issue of the Newark Daily Advertiser. "Library Hall was filled - inside and outside - last evening; that is to say, the seats, the aisles, the lobby and the entrance of the Hall presented one living mass in a jam, and as many as possible seemed to be clinging to the windows outside." Just a few days later, following a concert at the Broadway Tabernacle, a reporter for the New York Tribune said that the
audience was the largest we ever saw on such an occasion. Indeed, so large was the crowd that the seats were all occupied and the keeper of the Tabernacle was enabled to take advantage of his position to let out his rickety chairs and joint stools, bought at some second-hand auction for sixpence a-piece, at two shillings each.
Rev. Joseph Parrish Thompson was the pastor of the Broadway Tabernacle at the time. Years later, he said that the structure "was built to hold
"Instantly I would turn my head in the direction from which it was supposed": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:329-330).
It is worth remembering that, from ads, printed concert programs, and word of mouth, members of the audience should have been aware that they were listening to a song about a fire on board a ship. The song's very title gives that much away. Thus, the performances must have been truly remarkable to cause outbursts from audience members such as those that are amply documented in the Hutchinson Family literature.
"Just a few days later, following a concert at the Broadway Tabernacle": "City Items," New York Daily Tribune, March 14, 1848, p. 2 col. 5.
"Years later, he said that the structure was built to hold
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Though it makes for comical reading, perhaps audience reactions to this dramatic performance should be viewed in the context of sometimes serious overcrowding and the very real possibility of disaster, following an actual alarm.
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And the smoke, in thick wreaths, mounted higher, and higher, from "The Ship on Fire" |
Back in the election campaign of 1852, many abolitionists thought the selection of candidates showed that the Whigs and Democrats were under the control of proslavery forces. "It is difficult," said Senator Charles Sumner, "to see how any person, loyal to freedom and desirous of guarding it by constitutional means, can support the national candidate of either of these parties without surrendering the cause which he professes to have at heart. Let no man expect from me any such surrender."
Westward expansion was ongoing, and many Americans - probably most Americans - believed that slavery, too, must expand or perish as an institution. At the same time, slaveholders wanted to be able to take their "property" with them if and when they took up residence in the territories. This was an important issue in the slave state of Missouri, for instance, where many residents wanted to take part in settling Kansas and Nebraska. Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois stepped in with the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which President Pierce backed, evidently for strategic political reasons - to gain support in the Senate where he needed consent for his appointments and treaties. The Kansas-Nebraska bill could potentially provide a major benefit to Douglas' home state; it would encourage settlement of a considerable piece of territory along one proposed route for a transcontinental railroad - a route with its eastern terminus at Chicago.
Friends of freedom, probably of every stripe, viewed the Kansas-Nebraska bill with alarm and were united against it. Antislavery forces had never been brought together on anything close to this scale by the Garrisonian immediatists, the Liberty Party, the Free Soil Party, the Fugitive Slave Law, or anyone or anything else.
"Get Off the Track!" by Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., was still in advance of the view of most Americans, but at least one verse was not:
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Church and statesmen hear the thunder Clear the track or you'll fall under. Get off the track! Get off the track! Get off the track! all are singing, While the liberty bell is |
The thunder was getting louder and a growing number of Americans knew it.
"It is difficult, said Senator Charles Sumner, to see how any person": "Letters to the Massachusetts Free Soil Convention," New York Daily Tribune, July 8, 1852, p. 8 cols. 2-3.
"Westward expansion was ongoing, and many Americans - probably most Americans": For a discussion of the prevalence of this theory, see David Herbert Donald, Liberty and Union (Boston: Little Brown, 1978), 56-58.
"This was an important issue in the slave state of Missouri, for instance": E.g., Libra
At that time, the Kansas and Nebraska territories were huge stretches of land, far larger in size than the present-day states bearing those names.
"Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois stepped in with the Kansas-Nebraska bill": Four years earlier, Stephen Douglas' efforts had been crucial to the passage of the Compromise of 1850, which notably included the Fugitive Slave Law.
Franklin Pierce was a native of southern New Hampshire; and it is entirely possible, even likely, that Brother Benjamin - Benjamin Pierce Hutchinson - was named for the president's brother.
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One of the basic documents of the day was first published in late January 1854. It was printed in many American newspapers under various headlines, over different sets of signatures, and following varying degrees of editing. Today it is often known as the "Appeal of the Independent Democrats in Congress to the People of the United States." The Hutchinsons likely saw this item in the issue of a favorite newspaper, the New York Tribune, dated January 25. The "Appeal of the Independent Democrats in Congress" rambles a bit and can be a little hard to follow as it gives information about the background of the Nebraska bill. But then in a passage that must have been written far more carefully by its authors, it says,
Whatever apologies may be offered for the toleration of Slavery in the States, none can be urged for its extension into Territories where it does not exist, and where that extension involves the repeal of ancient law, and the violation of solemn compact. Let all protest earnestly and emphatically, by correspondence, through the press, by memorials, by resolutions of public meetings and legislative bodies, and in whatever other mode may seem expedient against this enormous crime.
For ourselves, we shall resist it by speech and vote, and with all the abilities which God has given us. Even if overcome in the impending struggle we shall not submit. We shall go home to our constituents, erect anew the standard of Freedom, and call on the People to come to the rescue of the country from the domination of Slavery. We will not despair: for the cause of Human Freedom is the cause of God.
The Kansas-Nebraska bill, if enacted, would repeal the provision of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 that forbid the expansion of slavery beyond the line of the 36°30' north latitude. The "popular sovereignty" provision of the bill declared that the question of slavery in the territories should be settled by the people living there. It was during this momentous debate that the Hutchinson Family arrived in Washington. There, they heard Senators Sumner and William Henry Seward address this controversy. Four years later Seward would state that the struggle between slavery and freedom was an "irrepressible conflict," but this phrase is very descriptive of the forces now being set in motion by the Douglas plan.
Support for the Kansas-Nebraska bill was strong in the South, but was generally opposed by Northern Whigs. If any one issue could be said to have divided and brought down the Whig Party, it would likely be the Kansas-Nebraska bill. The Northern Whigs and those Democrats who opposed this legislation were not enough to prevent it from becoming law.
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The Hutchinsons no longer had Jesse to put into words their thoughts and feelings about the great issues of the day. But Henry Hill wrote verses known as "The Neb-Rascality." And Brother Asa found suitable music, arranging and adapting it in keeping with his own ideas. Asa began singing "The Neb-Rascality" in concert, with its Giant's bass solo, "Fe Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of freedom, Fe Fi Fo Fum, dead or alive I'll have some." The Giant, of course, was Stephen A. Douglas, nicknamed the "Little Giant." John commented that this song "subjected us to a great deal of criticism and caused some disturbances in our concerts." Yet Asa said that he had sung the song since March 24, 1854, and that he would continue to sing it until this abomination was defunct. Asa B. Hutchinson could be a very determined man.
As a songwriter, Brother Judson was known mainly for his melodies. So it is surprising that, when in later years friends and family would reminisce about him, they would often bring up a song where his contribution was the lyrics. It was an antislavery parody of "Jordan Is a Hard Road To Travel." In a broadside publication, Judson's "Jordan" was dedicated to "Slaveholders, Old Fogies, and Doughheads generally."
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I look'd to the South, and I look'd to the West, And I saw old Slavery a comin' With four Northern doughfaces hitched up in front, Driving Freedom to the other side of Jordan. Then take off coats, boys, roll up sleeves, |
The Hutchinsons' tour continued through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. It ended on Monday, May 29, 1854.
The relative calm that followed the Compromise of 1850 was in an early stage of coming undone. The Hutchinson brothers saw an important sign of a major change in American politics when they witnessed some of the debate in Washington over the Kansas-Nebraska bill. John, Asa, and Lizzie were eye witnesses to another example much closer to home.
Anthony Burns, who was said to be a fugitive slave, was arrested on May 24. John recalled:
Asa and I went to Boston, and going up Court Street at first secured a stand in the window of a dry-goods store opposite the court-house. It was a stirring though disgraceful scene we gazed upon. Several regiments of militia had been ordered out by the Governor, to prevent disorder, and the United States troops, with fife and drum, were also out. There were bands of music, and cannon, to awe the people who it was feared would make a strike for liberty and free that poor miserable black man. Every avenue leading into the street was crowded with people, and every window and roof was black with them. It was estimated that a hundred thousand were massed about the street, silent, quiet, but indignant that Boston was compelled to witness such an outrage, the logical result of the fugitive slave law.
"John commented that this song subjected us to a great deal of criticism": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:332).
"Yet Asa said that he had sung the song since March 24, 1854": "The 'Neb-Rascality'," s.l.: Daily Union Print
"It was an antislavery parody of Jordan Is a Hard Road To Travel": J. J. Hutchinson, "Slavery is a Hard Foe To Battle,"
"In a broadside publication, Judson's Jordan was dedicated": Judson J. Hutchinson, "A Few Stanzas on Jordan," s.l.: s.n., n.d.
"I look'd to the South, and I look'd to the West, And I saw old Slavery a comin'": "Jordan" is interesting for its busy phrasing and its seeming lack of rhythm in many passages. Judson's lyrics often contain more syllables than necessary. For instance, the line
I'd let every slave go free, over land and on the sea,
Let 'em have a little hope this side of Jordan
could easily be rewritten, with many fewer syllables:
I'd set slaves free, over land and on sea,
Give 'em hope on this side of Jordan.
This passage is much easier to sing when the number of syllables is reduced and the rhythm is made more regular; yet when Judson sang this song, evidently there was no need. He was, after all, a very musical man and he seems to have had a remarkably nimble tongue.
"Asa and I went to Boston, and going up Court Street at first secured": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:332-333).
This incident took place on Friday, June 2, 1854.
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Buildings were decorated in black, and an American flag, draped in mourning, was displayed above Court Street.
President Pierce ordered the district attorney in Boston to "Incur any expense to insure the execution of the law." Evidently the government had no shortage of funds, for this incident cost the taxpayers
At 2¼ o'clock, Burns was taken from the Court-house, and placed in a hollow square of one hundred Special Deputies of the United States Marshal, each armed with a
The Marines, Infantry, and a detachment of the 4th Regiment of Artillery, with a brass nine-pounder, loaded with grape, under command of Major Ridgely, U.S.A., acted as a special escort. The United States troops numbered one hundred and forty-five rank and file.
The State troops, under Major General Edmonds, embraced the Lancers and Light Dragoons, with a regiment of Infantry and another of Artillery, altogether
The entire police force of the city was also engaged and rendered efficient service.
Well, not quite the entire police force - this article reported that "Joseph K. Hayes, Captain of Police, resigned his office at noon
John remembered that "the procession moved, more like a funeral cortege than anything
That night from the piazza of the stone cottage on High Rock, we told the story of the day to a large gathering of Lynn people. We also sang many abolition songs. Finally someone suggested that Commissioner Loring, who gave the order that the man should be sent back, be hung in effigy.
In his diary, John added: "How we cheered when the body was hanging! We sang some songs to the crowd which had been gathered by the sight of the flames."
"[L]ooking towards Washington Street, said John, I saw": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:333).
"President Pierce ordered the district attorney in Boston to Incur": Quoted in James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 119.
The phrase, "execution of the law," is an interesting if grim choice of words in view of Boston's "Liberty" coffin.
"Evidently the government had no shortage of funds, for this incident": James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 120.
"At 2¼ o'clock, Burns was taken from the Court-house, and placed": "Boston Slave Case," New York Daily Times, June 3, 1854, p. 1 cols. 1-2. The New York Times devoted a good deal of reporting to this incident, and it told much the same story as John.
"John remembered that the procession moved, more like a funeral cortege": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:334).
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The New York Times, then arguably quite politically moderate, tried hard to find some middle ground on the slavery issue. Yet the use of such a large armed force, coming into a Northern city to return one man to slavery, was simply too much.
It is probably our duty to rejoice in this result as a triumph of Law and Order [ said a Times editorial] . The Constitution has been sustained. The supremacy of the law has been maintained. Some may dream that the Union has been strengthened by this result. They will live to see their mistake.
"It is probably our duty to rejoice in this result as a triumph": "Order Reigns in Boston"
The activities of the Hutchinsons are ordinarily documented in remarkable detail. Thus, odd as it is to say, we have no further commonly-known records of the vocalists through the end of 1854. Accounts of their efforts would remain relatively spotty over the next several years.
On June 29, 1854, spiritualist John Murray Spear demonstrated his "new motive power" machine at High Rock. It is not clear whether this strange event had any connection with the Hutchinsons, except, of course, that he and they were acquainted with one another and that this incident happened in their neighborhood. For a particularly colorful account, see Andrew V. Rapoza, "Touched by the 'Invisibles': Communicating with the Dead in Nineteenth Century Lynn," in No Race of Imitators: Lynn and Her People, an Anthology, ed. Elizabeth Hope Cushing (Lynn, MA: Lynn Historical Society, 1992), 69-72.
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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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Brattleboro, Vermont: Published by the author. 2006, 2007.
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