![[1846 Margaret Gillies sketch of the Hutchinson Family quartet]](http://www.oocities.org/hfsbook/pic/gilliessketch342.jpg)
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1855-1857
Chapter 13 Part 2
The brothers divided their time in the early months of 1855 between their homes and various concert halls along the New England circuit. Then they made a tour to New York. The Hutchinsons' first concert at the Broadway Tabernacle took place on April 2. A large audience gave them a hearty welcome; and their current reform songs, along with favorites such as "Riding in a Stage" and Judson's "Italian Uproar," "were received with genuine and deserved applause." More concerts followed in New York, Brooklyn, and neighboring cities.
On the 23rd, the Hutchinsons sang at Henry Ward Beecher's Plymouth Church. The program led off with "We're with You Once Again." "Little Topsy's Song,"
In 1855 Abby published "Kind Words Can Never Die," perhaps the most beloved original song of the Hutchinson Family.
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Bright things can never die, e'en though they fade; Kind words can never die; cherished and blessed, Childhood can never die: wrecks of the past, |
Though many sources attribute the lyrics to Abby, she only claimed credit for the melody. Nonetheless, John said:
Looking back through the mists of those beautiful years, I realize that the words set to her own music, that have been sung by the children of America for nearly a half century, were more than a sentiment of her heart, - they were the expression of her
"Then they made a tour to New York": In 1855, the Hutchinson Family published a campaign song for Fernando Wood. Hutchinson Family (Singers), "Song for Mayor Wood," lyrics: Dean, first line of text: "The Mayor sits in his chair of state," first line of chorus: "Then here's for each and all a smile" (New York: Horace Waters, 1855). In their long careers, this may be the song the Hutchinsons most regretted.
"A large audience gave them a hearty welcome; and their current": "Amusements," New York Daily Times, April 3, 1855, p. 4 col. 4.
"In 1855 Abby published Kind Words Can Never Die, perhaps the most": Abby Hutchinson Patton, "Kind Words Can Never Die: Ballad" (New York: Horace Waters, 1855).
A "duett and chorus" version of "Kind Words Can Never Die," which is among the holdings of the Dartmouth College library, attributes the song's lyrics to someone who evidently wrote under the byline or literary pseudonym, "M." If you know or have a theory as to the identity of "M" and you would be willing to share your information, please e-mail us by way of the contact link near the bottom of the page.
Though Abby's song is generally given with only three verses, "Kind Words Can Never Die" actually has five. The following goes quite nicely between the "Bright things" and "Kind words" verses:
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Sweet thoughts can never die, Though like the flowers Their brightest hues may fly In wintry hours. But when the gentle dew Gives them their charms anew, With many an added hue They bloom again. |
Some Hutchinson Family songs were published with incomplete lyrics; and it seems entirely possible that they sang all five verses of this one.
"Though many sources attribute the lyrics to Abby, she only claimed": "We are requested by Mrs. Abby Hutchinson Patton," New York Tribune, n.d.
"Kind Words Can Never Die" is available among the Sunday school hymns in an authoritative collection of religious music. See Albert Christ-Janer, Charles W. Hughes, and Carleton Sprague Smith, American Hymns Old and New, 2 vols. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1980), 1:358.
"Looking back through the mists of those beautiful years, I realize": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:325).
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Several arrangements of "Kind Words Can Never Die" were published, and it appears to have sold quite well. Yet the Hutchinsons profited little from its publication. Abby sold the rights to John for just $10.
I gave it to a music teacher for publication, [ said John ] and he without my knowledge put it into a Sunday-School singing-book. It therefore never brought me in much money, but it brought Abby fame, being in great demand for many years.
Publication in that Sunday school songbook may have been one of the main things that gave "Kind Words Can Never Die" such a long life. For a number of years, in the 1860s, Asa's group closed many concerts with Abby's song - doing their part to maintain its popularity.
On Tuesday, August 28th, [ said John ] there came to Lynn a gentleman named Thayer, of Worcester, who was acting as agent for the Emigration Society, endeavoring to secure recruits to swell the number of Free-Soil emigrants in Kansas. He lectured in Lyceum Hall, explaining the necessities of the case. The Missouri Compromise having been set aside, and the territory opened to settlement, there was a great demand that the New England spirit should arouse and answer the call of "Bleeding Kansas." Asa and I sung at this gathering, which was large and enthusiastic. As I listened to the appeal, I determined to go home and arrange my affairs, and emigrate to Kansas. On the way, I saw Asa. "Asa," said I, "What do you think of it?" "I think well of it," was his response. We at once hurried to our house, packed up a few things, got out our buggy, and at
The trio crossed Vermont and New York State, giving concerts along the way, and continued through Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and into Wisconsin. At Rockford, Illinois, evidently late in September, they met William Butler, an old acquaintance who was making his way up the Mississippi. When he learned that the Hutchinsons were going to Kansas, he said, "I beg you will not go there until you have seen the upper Mississippi River." At Milwaukee, they encountered William W. Pendergast; and in later years, he reported convincingly that his conversations with the Hutchinsons proved decisive in pointing them toward Minnesota.
"I gave it to a music teacher for publication, [ said John ] and he": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 2:301-302).
If you know much about John's music teacher friend and you would be willing to share your information, please e-mail us by way of the contact link near the bottom of the page. On the face of it, it appears that this man may turn up later in the Hutchinson Family story in quite a different capacity.
"On Tuesday, August 28th, [ said John ] there came to Lynn a gentleman": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:337).
Eli Thayer was the organizer of the New England Emigrant Aid Company.
"When he learned that the Hutchinsons were going to Kansas, he said": William W. Pendergast, "Sketches of the History of Hutchinson," in Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Vol. 10, Part 1 (1905): 69-71.
Either way, this was not a new idea. Back in 1851 when Jesse, Judson, and John were on tour, Amos Tuck suggested that the Hutchinsons think about settling in Minnesota.
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Evidently they did much concert work in October, for they did not reach St. Paul until November 9. There they met
The brothers spent a few days looking up land warrants. Then on November 16, they began their search for a town site. They left Minneapolis with two wagons and four horses, and stopped at Fort Snelling to purchase supplies costing $100. At Shakopee they stayed at Gibson's Hotel, where they arranged a concert on an hour's notice. The next night they camped in the woods. The weather was cold, but they built a big fire and their spirits were high. By Sunday evening they reached Glencoe, where they added Andrew J. Bell and
On Monday, November 19, 1855, the Hutchinson party reached their claim and made camp on a fork of the Hassan River. The next day, members of the company went scouting. On Wednesday the brothers selected farm lots. Judson was first, choosing property to the west. Asa picked a lot in the east. John finally decided his farm would be to the north.
On November 22, the Hutchinsons made contracts for the building of cabins. Money would be needed, so they resorted to that most liquid of assets - their voices. They returned to Minneapolis, intending to resume their tour. But first, they recorded the town site.
The singers learned that the Mississippi had frozen over, putting a stop to boat traffic. So they chartered a team to take them along its bank. Rev. Charles G. Ames went along as far as Dubuque. On the way downriver, the party held meetings and gave concerts anywhere they could. Ames tended the door and gave talks of much interest. In one place where audience members hissed certain songs, he silenced them with his remarks. Around this time, they sang in Rochester, then a town of three cabins, and they gave the first concert ever held in Faribault.
Apparently traveling overland took much longer than the journey they had first planned - sailing down the Mississippi. "By the time we reached modern means of conveyance," reported John, "it was so late we had to return East to fill our engagements, and so we did not reach Kansas at all that year."
Meanwhile, Hutchinson, Minnesota, acquired its first frame building. On December 11, those pioneers who stayed behind completed a cabin measuring fourteen-by-sixteen feet.
On March 20, 1856, the brothers were in New York for a show at the Broadway Tabernacle. Their advertisements said they were back from the Northwest - "the Land of Free Prairies and
"Around this time, they sang in Rochester, then a town of three cabins": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:342-343); Charles G. Ames to John W. Hutchinson, Roxbury
"By the time we reached modern means of conveyance, reported John": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:342-343).
"Meanwhile, Hutchinson, Minnesota, acquired its first frame building": Carol Brink, Harps in the Wind: The Story of the Singing Hutchinsons (New York: Macmillan, 1947), 173.
For information about the cabin's demise, see John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:448).
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"On April 21st," said John, "we left Lynn, as my diary put it, 'forever.'" They ran notices that, after the first of May, their mail should be sent to Minneapolis, Minnesota Territory. John and Fanny went ahead, intending to declare residence; Judson and his family met them at Painesville, Ohio. They gave concerts on their way to Minnesota, finally stepping off the Golden Era on May 3. Sometime after that, Asa caught up with them.
The brothers found their travel plans hampered by fifteen days of rain. They broke up but were all back together in Hutchinson by May 29. They spent the next few weeks plowing and planting. On June 23, they went to Chicago where Fanny left for the East, as John wrote, "having occupied my claim with me, according to
On the way back, the party traveled in a big wagon, which Judson's family used for sleeping accommodations. One day they met Winnebago Indians.
Our driver, who could talk some Indian, [ said Judson's daughter Kate ] attracted their
Back in Hutchinson, they occupied their claims, spending nights in comfortable bark-covered log cabins. A couple weeks later they were singing to crowded houses on the way to New England.
During the summer of 1856, the Hutchinsons often went back and forth between Lynn and Milford; and of course they managed to fit in a few concerts. They made a short tour of the White Mountains, singing as a quartet with Sister Abby. Then they continued without her, on a trip that led from New England across New York State as far as Buffalo.
Hutchinson Family records say little about the singers' activities in the election of 1856. We know, though, that they were friends with several New Englanders - Amos Tuck and John G. Whittier, for instance - who were early advocates of what became the Republican Party. And Rev. Ames, their new friend, served as secretary at the meeting that established the Republican Party in Minnesota Territory. An acquaintance,
"On April 21st, said John, we left Lynn, as my diary put it": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:344).
"They ran notices that, after the first of May, their mail should be sent": Philip D. Jordan, Singin' Yankees (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1946), 198-199.
"On June 23, they went to Chicago where Fanny left for the East": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:345).
"Our driver, who could talk some Indian, said Judson's daughter Kate": Kate L. Birney, Milford, NH, May 4, 1904, in "Hutchinson Day," Milford (NH) Cabinet, May 12, 1904, p. 1 cols. 2-3, p. 7 cols. 2-3.
A lesson to be drawn from this? Never underestimate the power of novelty songs.
The Hutchinson brothers' imitation of a Scotch bagpipe was probably "The Scotch Highlander's Bagpipe."
"Back in Hutchinson, they occupied their claims, spending nights": Available sources make no mention of Asa's family nor of John's children. Evidently they stayed behind in Lynn. Lizzie Hutchinson seems not to have visited Minnesota for several years. This question would be worthy of further study, since, later, Lizzie became thoroughly identified with the community of Hutchinson.
"An acquaintance, Rev. I. S. Kalloch, who they met during": Rev. I. S. Kalloch, in John W. Hutchinson (1896, 2:80-81). Later published sources also reported that the Hutchinson Family sang for Republicans in the 1856 campaign. - E.g., "Bard of High Rock Dead," Boston Daily Globe, October 29, 1908, evening edition, p. 1 cols. 3-4, p. 5 cols. 2-3, at p. 5 col. 2. See also "A Song for Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Men," s.l.: s.n., n.d., in Item 43r, Ludlow Patton's Hutchinson Family Scrapbook, Wadleigh Memorial Library, Milford, New Hampshire.
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The Hutchinsons were singing many songs by the finest writers of the day. "Darling Nelly Gray," by Benjamin R. Hanby, appeared quite often in their programs. Judson worked in a few minstrel tunes, including Stephen C. Foster's "Old Uncle Ned;" and he set his own "Hope for the Slave" to the tune of Foster's "Ellen Bayne." Judson and John sang a number they simply called "Hard Times." Asa's newer pieces tended to be set to music by himself. One new work that seemed to attract all three brothers equally was Stephen Foster's "Gentle Annie." This simple and pretty, but very sad song would appear frequently on Hutchinson Family programs well into the 1860s.
About this time, the Hutchinsons met Walter Kittredge.
His sisters came to Milford to school [ said John ] when he was a young man, and later worked in the cotton mill in that town. During one of his visits to them Kittredge became acquainted with Joshua. He took lessons of Joshua, and finally went on the road with him giving concerts.
Walter Kittredge became a professional musician in 1856, starting from his home in Merrimack, New Hampshire, then touring across the state, and through the towns of the Connecticut River Valley. During the fall of 1857, he took a similar tour in partnership with Joshua, though problems with the national economy that year forced them to go their separate ways for a time.
Speaking of Brother Joshua, he got an interesting notice, following a late January 1856 concert before an audience of good size at Brattleboro, Vermont.
Of all concert singers, we have always looked upon the Hutchinsons as the best. It is very seldom that our citizens are invited to an entertainment equal to that of Saturday evening. Mr. Hutchinson has a full, rich voice, and performed his pieces admirably. In addition to the excellent singing was the inculcation of high moral principles in the pieces performed, for which the songs of the Hutchinsons are generally distinguished.
On Thursday, January 15, 1857, Oliver Dennett Hutchinson was born in Lynn. Not much later, the group was off on another tour that would lead them back to Minnesota. By February 5, they were in New York for an engagement at the Broadway Tabernacle. Entertainments followed in various nearby spots.
"The Hutchinsons were singing many songs by the finest writers": "Hope for the Slave" is frequently listed by its first line, "Millions lie bleeding."
It would be worth knowing whether "Hard Times" is the song that appeared in their programs in the 1840s or is, instead, Stephen Foster's wonderful, recent piece, "Hard Times Come Again No More."
"His sisters came to Milford to school [ said John ] when he was": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:417).
"Walter Kittredge became a professional musician in 1856": "Favorite War Song," Boston Herald, April 4, 1897, p. 28 cols. 2-4.
"Of all concert singers, we have always looked upon the Hutchinsons": "The Concert," Vermont Republican, February 1, 1856, p. 2 col. 5.
Concert notices from Joshua's tours under his own name are not numerous in the main collections of Hutchinson Family papers. Not a single example comes to mind which mentions an accompanist nor any instrumental work on Joshua's part. Instead, these concert reviews give the impression of him singing solo and
"On Thursday, January 15, 1857, Oliver Dennett Hutchinson was born": Oliver Dennett Hutchinson, "The Hutchinson Family - 'Tribe of Asa,'" typescript, March 12, 1936.
It is great to get this information from a typescript that Oliver Dennett Hutchinson personally prepared, since other sources differ as to his year of birth. It is unfortunate that John did not collaborate with Dennett when he was compiling his Story of the Hutchinsons. Two letters by Dennett from very late in life - one written for publication, the other a more personal letter to his daughter - show clearly enough, along with the 1936 typescript cited here, that Asa B. Hutchinson's branch of the family could have been recorded far more fully with Dennett's help. Each of these documents proved to be quite an asset in the production of this work.
It is likely that Asa had been visiting the family of the late Oliver Dennett at Portland, Maine, in the few weeks prior to his son's birth.
"By February 5, they were in New York for an engagement": Advertisements imply that this visit lasted much longer than planned, suggesting a greater than expected level of success.
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They gave their farewell concert at the Broadway Tabernacle on Saturday evening, March 7. It was the Hutchinson Family's last farewell there; for, like many other churches, the Tabernacle was moving.
The residential population of Manhattan was shifting from the lower sections to other parts of the city, making it hard for the old churches to maintain congregations - while the commercial value of their property was rising fast. "At the time of its erection," said the New York Times, "it was regarded as quite a miracle of taste, spaciousness and splendor, but the rapid advance made in the arts has quite thrown the once elegant Tabernacle into the shade, and it is now regarded as a very gloomy and dismal hole." Gloomy and dismal or not, this final show must have been memorable for the Hutchinsons. They had been a part of thrilling scenes there during antislavery and temperance meetings. Many of their greatest concert triumphs took place at the old Tabernacle. Soon it would be gone forever.
After engagements in New England, New York City, and Philadelphia, the trio's tour led them through New York State, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas City, and St. Paul, passing through some of these more than once. They reached Hutchinson on May 10 and went to work on their claims.
That fall, Judson was at his home in Hutchinson.
One morning [ said a visitor ] we stepped with him outside the door into the woods, by which his house was surrounded; all was silent and still in the dreamy flush of an Indian summer; not a bird was chirping in the branches. He said, "Now we will have a concert," and he poured forth such a flood of melodious sound as we never dreamed it in the power of mortal to produce. Then there was a rush of wings overhead, and an answering gush of song from the throats of a thousand birds. From whence they came, we could not discern. His bird-like, beautiful nature was in unison with theirs, and their little hearts beat responsive to his gentle heart, and recognizing their lover they welcomed him with a flood of rapturous melody, wonderful as divine.
Judson still had that old magic.
A number of events are not noted in Hutchinson family records for no other apparent reason than that the singers were away on tour at the time or simply, as in this instance, in another part of the country. While the Hutchinsons were in the Old Northwest tending their Minnesota properties, Ludlow's mother,
"The residential population of Manhattan was shifting": "Last Service at the Tabernacle," New York Daily Times, April 27, 1857, p. 4 cols. 5-6; "Religious Intelligence: The Sale of New-York Churches," New York Times, May 28, 1869, p. 8 col. 3-4.
"At the time of its erection, said the New York Times, it was regarded": "Sale of the Tabernacle," New York Daily Times, February 25, 1857, p. 3 cols. 1-2.
"One morning [ said a visitor ] we stepped with him outside the door": Milwaukee, WI: s.n., n.d., in John W. Hutchinson (1896, 2:257). Most likely this comes from a January 1859 publication or not much later.
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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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