The new Geocities ads on the right side of your browser window can be pushed offscreen by clicking on the tab that's marked by a couple
1857-1859
Chapter 14 Part 1
Judson and John sang together in the winter of 1857-1858 in Minnesota and Wisconsin, drifting as far east as Columbus.
Asa was not through fixing up his farm, and so stayed behind, later coming on with his team to Chicago, where we had our pictures taken in a group. Asa was expecting his wife, and as soon as she came, instead of joining us as we had hoped, he started off on a concerting tour with her, giving most of his entertainments in Maine.
"Each brother," observed John, "saw in his little family the germ of a successful concert troupe."
Judson and John split up; but a bit later, they met at Madison, Wisconsin. The next day, John placed a set of verses on his melodeon and played accompaniment while Judson composed a melody. "Mrs. Lofty and I" was the song that resulted from this session, and it was popular for years.
Somehow Judson and John persuaded Sister Abby to sing with them for a while, as a way to bring Asa back. By letter, he agreed to the plan. Abby met her brothers at Buffalo, but Asa never arrived; so the trio toured together through New York State and into Vermont, with William Vincent Wallace acting as their business agent. It may have been a matter of Judson's sense of humor that Wallace's name was often given in full in the group's advertising - for it was exactly the same as that of a popular and much-admired composer of art songs and operas. The William V. Wallace who tended to the Hutchinsons' business in 1858 was a musician, piano tuner, and sales agent for the Estey Organ Company. A friend of Judson's family, in particular, he lived in nearby Amherst.
Abby left the group, and soon so did Judson. Then - a little late - Asa and Lizzie arrived. With John and family, they went to Philadelphia for a series of concerts. Then they separated again. John, Fanny, Henry, and Viola made a tour through New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At this point, the Hutchinsons were disorganized, to say the least.
Viola remembered that the life of a touring musician could be hard for a girl her age.
I was troubled with sick headaches at first, but I could not give up and must make my appearance and do my part. Many were the times that I had to be held up while being dressed, taken to the concert hall and literally pushed on to the stage, and my will power did the rest, until after the crisis was brought about (between songs) by the usual cup of strong, black coffee, when I would recover and they would say I never sang better.
"Asa was not through fixing up his farm, and so stayed behind": John Wallace Hutchinson, Story of the Hutchinsons (Tribe of Jesse), 2 vols. (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1896), 1:356.
The photograph mentioned here may be the one captioned, "They started out for 'bleeding Kansas'," in the picture section of Carol Brink, Harps in the Wind: The Story of the Singing Hutchinsons (New York: Macmillan, 1947).
It is puzzling that Asa should pose for what certainly seems to be a publicity photo for the long-running trio of brothers, only to then set off with Lizzie for a series of concerts under his own name. It seems likely that much happened in this period that John did not care to account for in his book.
"Each brother, observed John, saw in his little family the germ": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:355).
"Mrs. Lofty and I" was the song that resulted from this session": J. J. Hutchinson, "Mrs. Lofty and I," lyrics: "a Lady of Buffalo"
Evidently around ten years earlier, for some reason Judson became shy about taking credit for the songs he composed. Ludlow Patton, in his Hutchinson Family Scrapbook, attributed the melodies of several songs to Judson - songs whose melodies were otherwise credited to the Hutchinson Family or which came with no attribution at all. Ludlow was in a position to know, and his notations are almost certainly correct.
Judson's publication in 1858 of "Mrs. Lofty and I" and "O Sweet the Spring with Its Merry Ring," identifying himself as composer, may represent a significant change in mood and thinking.
Mrs. Gildersleeve Longstreet scholars appear not to be numerous, and collaboration on this topic can come hard. But this study has made note of an Abby Buchanan who married Dr. Longstreet, a New York dentist. He is Christopher Longstreet in the 1870 census; and in 1880, the census recorded him as Chris S. Longstreet. In 1870, a housemate of the Longstreets was a medical student named George Gildersleve. Fascinating coincidence.
"The William V. Wallace who tended to the Hutchinsons' business in 1858": "Obituary," Milford (NH) Daily Pointer, March 25, 1901, p. 1 col. 3; "Local News," Milford (NH) Daily Pointer, March 26, 1901, p. 1 col. 3.
In addition to serving as business agent for the Hutchinsons, William V. Wallace performed with them in concert. He was bandmaster of a New York regiment during the Civil War; and, according to the Pointer obituary, he is said to have originated the idea of combining a drum corps with a brass band in a single performance. Later in life, he worked as an inventor.
This book was written in Brattleboro, Vermont, at the Jacob Estey homestead.
"Abby left the group, and soon so did Judson": John's narrative throughout this period is hazy, and it is hard to be sure how various passages fit with events and dates that we may learn from other sources. The sequence of events is often uncertain.
"I was troubled with sick headaches at first, but I could not give up": Viola Hutchinson Campbell, Memories of a Busy Life (Plymouth, Mass.: privately printed
Page 2
On February 16, Asa and Lizzie began a tour of New England that lasted more than a month. Sometimes Joshua sang with them.
By early April, the Hutchinsons were advertising engagements at New York's Mozart Hall. The plan seems to have been to reunite the quartet. It did not work. Evidently, though, the chaos among group members was not interfering with their ability to entertain. After the first concert on April 6, the New York Times published a review that, for most groups, would have been a major career milestone.
The entertainment is in every respect remarkable, and affords a very agreeable contrast to the usual concert programme. The unquestionable earnestness which characterizes some of the pieces, and which is highly pathetic in spite of ultraism; the utterly reckless absurdity and buffoonery of some other pieces; the wild, unkempt, prophetic look of the singers; the extraordinary harmony, unisons and accompaniments they adopt, and the marvelously-dry and chip-like speeches they address to the audience, are circumstances in the Hutchinsons' entertainment which give it a peculiar and thoroughly-enjoyable character. Originality is not easily obtained in these days, and we are glad to see that the Hutchinsons, who are so perfectly original in everything they do, are remembered with the old favor. The few concerts they give in this City should be crowded nightly.
The Hutchinson Family, in one combination or another, entertained in the New York area through April 21.
Asa's record of this period is quite telling. April 1: "Am sick at confusion of our business - Abby 'announced' and her husband says no! I wish it was only Asa B. and Lizzie C." April 6: "First concert - struggle - John 'bent' on introducing discordant elements - Lizzie sung well." April 7:
"On February 16, Asa and Lizzie began a tour of New England": Carol Brink, Harps in the Wind: The Story of the Singing Hutchinsons (New York: Macmillan, 1947), 187; "The Hutchinsons,"
"The entertainment is in every respect remarkable, and affords": "Amusements: The Hutchinson Family," New York Times, April 7, 1858, p. 4 col. 5.
"Am sick at confusion of our business - Abby announced and her husband": Asa was having a judgmental moment. Abby was not a well woman. Evidence exists that she was run-down after her recent appearances with her brothers. And it is worth adding that it was Asa who "announced" and didn't show up for those engagements in New York State and Vermont.
"First concert - struggle - John 'bent' on introducing discordant elements": Hutchinson Family biographer Carol Brink colorfully referred to John as "not inexpert" in causing family differences. See Carol Brink, Harps in the Wind: The Story of the Singing Hutchinsons (New York: Macmillan, 1947), 179.
"By advice of friends he consents to go to the hospital at Hartford": The "hospital at Hartford" must refer to the Retreat for the Insane. Judson's mental state sounds very troubling. We know from his professional activities after this that, if he was admitted to the Hartford Retreat, he did not stay for long.
"April 16: Jerusha writes Judson better": These entries from Asa's diary were originally published in Carol Brink, Harps in the Wind: The Story of the Singing Hutchinsons (New York: Macmillan, 1947), 188-189; and Philip D. Jordan, Singin' Yankees (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1946), 212.
Page 3
While Asa was recording strife with his brothers and sister and their families, it seems that he and his wife could do no wrong. This is very unlike Asa Hutchinson. The key passage in his diary may have been this: "I wish it was only Asa B. and Lizzie C."
Soon after the concert at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute on Wednesday, April 21, 1858, the vocal group, the Hutchinson Family, Tribe of Jesse, was but a fond memory.
Around this time, Susan B. Anthony asked Abby to sing at the woman's rights anniversary on the 13th of May. "I want so much to help you;
By this time, Brother Judson had organized a company with his daughters, Kate and Jennie, along with William V. Wallace. Probably he was not among the group at the anniversary in New York; for, just the night before, the Tribe of Judson gave a concert in New Hampshire, offering "a splendid programme of the best music in the country which has been received with applause in Europe, and the universal Yankee Nation." "His announcement," said John, referring to a whimsical bill, "was a curious literary effort, but it brought him lots of business."
The Hutchinson Family now had four acts on the road - companies led by Judson, John, and Asa, plus Joshua singing solo or with Walter Kittredge.
That summer John and Asa found matters to occupy them at High Rock. They renovated the observatory on the summit. And sometime during 1858, John made arrangements for the construction of his future home, Daisy Cottage. Asa was living at Bird's Nest Cottage on High Rock and John reported that Judson "had built a sightly house" in Milford.
"The key passage in his diary may have been this: I wish": About this time, Asa gave up diary-keeping, and Lizzie took over.
"I want so much to help you; [ replied Abby ] I have longed to do some good": Ida Husted Harper, The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony, Vols. 1 and 2 (Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill, 1898), 1:162.
During research for this book, Abby's original letter, held by the Library of Congress, was not available for inspection; so it was not possible to establish its exact date. We only know that it was written prior to, and in connection with, this woman's rights anniversary.
"When the woman's rights anniversary convened at Mozart Hall": Even the fullest news report does not tell whether Abby sang. See "Woman's Rights Convention," New York Times, May 14, 1858, p. 5 cols. 2-3.
"Probably he was not among the group at the anniversary in New York": Amherst, NH, Farmers' Cabinet, May 12, 1858, p. 2 col. 4.
The basic Tribe of Judson band seems to have been Judson J. Hutchinson, Kate L. Hutchinson, and William V. Wallace. It is true, though, that Judson's youngest daughter, Jennie Lind Hutchinson, did sing with the group on some occasions.
"His announcement," said John, referring to a whimsical bill": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:359).
The bill mentioned here is [ Judson J. Hutchinson, ] "Concert!" (Boston: Forest and Farwell [ 1858 ]) - reproduced in John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:359-360); Philip D. Jordan, Singin' Yankees (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1946), 211; Carol Brink, Harps in the Wind: The Story of the Singing Hutchinsons (New York: Macmillan, 1947), 190-192.
"The Hutchinson Family now had four acts on the road - companies led by": The histories of Judson and Asa become much, much harder to follow after this.
"They renovated the observatory on the summit": Elizabeth Hope Cushing and others, Historic Landscape Report: High Rock Reservation, Lynn, Massachusetts (Boston: Boston Univ., American and New England Studies Program, 1986), 8.
"Asa was living at Bird's Nest Cottage on High Rock and John": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:355).
If you know the location of the late-1850s home of Judson and Jerusha Hutchinson and would be willing to share your information, please e-mail us by way of the contact link toward the bottom of the page.
Page 4
Asa and John published an announcement under the headline, "High Rock Not Sold," declaring that they were still in possession of their land and that those who interfered with their property rights would be dealt with according to law. At the same time, they renewed Brother Jesse's invitation to the public to visit and enjoy the premises. A reporter found that the Hutchinsons had purchased a lot extending from High Rock to the north, believing the deed was good. Later,
In the summer of 1858, members of the Hutchinson Family were giving an entertainment in St. Paul. Judson was late. During the show, the missing brother burst into the hall and ran down the aisle carrying hand luggage. Jumping onto the stage, he kissed each singer enthusiastically. This caused a sensation, as one might imagine; and apparently the story was told and retold.
The next evening Dan Emmett's minstrel troupe, which ordinarily performed in that room, started their show with one of the end men conspicuously absent. After the program began, the missing musician rushed into the hall carrying a carpetbag, hopped onto the stage, and kissed everyone there. The audience, recognizing the scene, was convulsed with laughter.
John was giving concerts with his family in Maine, evidently that fall, when he received a message calling him to Minnesota to divide the town of Hutchinson. As he recalled:
Judson was worried about our affairs; and with his wife, and Asa and wife, we held a meeting. Asa wouldn't consent to go concerting unless his wife could sing too. Jerusha, Judson's wife, was opposed to Asa's wife and wouldn't allow him to have anything to do with the scheme. Judson was exceedingly excited about the matter.
Judson, with Jerusha and her brother Andrew, started on a singing trip. Asa and Lizzie also began a tour. And soon John received a message calling him back to deal with home matters. It must have been late in 1858 before he reached Lynn. Daisy Cottage took a good deal of his time - apparently much more than he expected. A benefit concert was coming up in January for the Free Church of Lynn, and Fanny wanted John to perform.
Back in Evansville, Wisconsin, Judson advertised a concert, then canceled it and started for New England. Before he left, he wrote a letter to Asa from Beloit.
I have had a strange fate, and probably it will grow stranger and stranger until death. But it is all owing to my strange make
"Asa and John published an announcement under the headline": "High Rock Not Sold," Lynn (MA) Weekly Reporter, July 24, 1858, p. 2.
"A reporter found that the Hutchinsons had purchased a lot": This would seem to refer to a life-lease held by Jesse and discussed briefly in John W. Hutchinson (1896, 2:140). It was not understood to be a life-lease, though, until decades later.
In a letter to Lynn's Mayor and Common Council, dated May 10, 1873, John identified the Rocks Pasture parcel of land as "6th lot 3 range."
"Later, H. A. Breed and James N. Buffum bought the same lot": "Highrockland," s.l.: s.n., n.d., Asa B. Hutchinson Papers, Microfilm Number 1244, University of Minnesota Library Film Collection. Most likely this item was published in or around July 1858.
"The Hutchinsons' claim to the actual summit, though, was never in doubt": E.g., On Tuesday, August 17, 1858, the High Rock summit was the site for a gathering to celebrate the laying of the Atlantic Cable.
"The next evening Dan Emmett's minstrel troupe, which ordinarily performed": Emmett's company performed in St. Paul from April 26, 1858, through July 26, 1858, first at Irvine's Hall and later at the Melodeon, though it is known that they appeared in Minneapolis on July 8, 1858. Also they performed in St. Paul back in 1857, but we are given no details. See Hans Nathan, Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1962), 225-226.
"After the program began, the missing musician rushed into the hall": Philip D. Jordan, Singin' Yankees (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1946), 203-204; Carol Brink, Harps in the Wind: The Story of the Singing Hutchinsons (New York: Macmillan, 1947), 192; both retelling a story from Frank Moore's Reminiscences of Pioneer Days in St. Paul (1908).
"John was giving concerts with his family in Maine, evidently that fall": By this time or not much later, Judson tried - evidently without success - to dispose of his western land holdings. Various sources report that this weighed heavily on his mind.
"Judson was worried about our affairs; and with his wife, and Asa and wife": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:360-361).
It is apparent from Asa's diary entry of April 7, quoted above, that bad feeling existed between him and Jerusha. It seems likely that Jerusha's current dispute was with Asa at least as much as with Lizzie if not more. We are left to wonder what their differences were about.
"I have had a strange fate, and probably it will grow stranger": "The Death of Judson Hutchinson - His Last Letter," Chicago Daily Journal, January 20, 1859.
Page 5
John was surprised and quite happy when his brother arrived. Judson felt discouraged, though; and we may surmise that the characteristic "merry twinkle in his eye" was gone.
On January 8, 1859, at Sagamore Hall, the brothers performed together at the Free Church benefit, along with Judson's daughter Kate and John's children. Some folks in attendance thought Judson was depressed. But then he and John began making plans for a tour. "On Monday," said John, "I observed Judson standing motionless in a moody state. I endeavored to wake him up, rubbed him, and did all possible to cheer him." Jerusha came down from Milford for part of a day.
"I was worried about my brother," said John. "He had become so despondent that he had distinctly said he would never go to Milford again." On Tuesday, they went to Daisy Cottage. "The masons had plastered it, and as the furnace had been put in, I tried to keep his mind employed by having him prepare the wood for a fire to dry the walls." John, feeling ill, returned to Stone Cottage, expecting Judson to follow. That evening, they would go to the residence of Dr. Addison Davis for a visit.
About fifteen minutes later, Fanny called John to tea. John wrote:
"Has any one called Judson?" I inquired. He had not been seen for some
On Tuesday evening, January 11, 1859, Judson Hutchinson took his own life. The rope was not tied; it was simply wound around his neck. Perhaps he had been in a hurry. "Many months before the melancholy event took place,
Among Asa's papers was an odd clipping - "Curious Letter from a Suicide" - with no explanation of why it was kept. Possibly certain passages held special meaning for Judson, and he carried it with him for the last few days of his life. A couple sentences seem to stand out. "There is a power that drives us on like a feather before the wind, and we have as little power to direct our course as the feather in the gale." "I am going unbidden into the presence of my God, to ask him why I am not the man I always desired to
"On Monday, said John, I observed Judson standing motionless": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:362).
"Jerusha came down from Milford for part of a day": It was said that, on this occasion, Judson gave Jerusha the right and title to the house in Milford.
"I was worried about my brother, said John. He had become": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:362).
"Has any one called Judson? I inquired. He had not been seen": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:362-363).
"Many months before the melancholy event took place": Alonzo Lewis and James R. Newhall, History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts: Including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscott, and Nahant, 2 vols. (Lynn: G. C. Herbert, 1890), 1:455.
Some attributed Judson's suicide to spiritualism, though we have no reliable, contemporary reports of such activities on his part much later than 1850, after his well-documented episode of mental illness. For the account of a personal friend, Harriet McEwen Kimball, see "Judson, of the Hutchinson Family," Amherst, NH, Farmers' Cabinet, February 16, 1859, p. 2 cols. 1-2.
It seems readily apparent that Judson had a disorder of both mood and thought. We have many reports of times when he would sink into a deep depression. Others tell of hallucinations and of times when he became quite frightened - when the cause of this fear must have been primarily internal.
"More recently, he had been asking people what is the best way": This information was reported after Judson's death. Nothing came to hand suggesting that his family knew about such talk before his decease.
"Among Asa's papers was an odd clipping - "Curious Letter from a Suicide":
Evidently the original publication of this letter - or at least a very early publication - was in the Columbus (GA) Times and Sentinel, December 23, 1858. Source: Untitled Web page, accessed March 14, 2006. For an idea of when Tucker's letter ran in Northern newspapers, note "Curious Letter From a Suicide," New York Times, January 3, 1859, p. 3 col. 5. If the copy which was preserved among Asa's papers originally belonged to Judson, as has been supposed, Judson may have been carrying it for only about a week.
It was Asa who collected and preserved the greatest number of obituaries for Judson. If, again, "Curious Letter from a Suicide" was Judson's own clipping, it could be that Asa acquired and kept it so it would be part of the record of Judson's death.
Incidentally, Asa, who was on tour at the time and may have been hard for family to locate and contact quickly, first learned the sad news of Judson's passing from a reporter.
Page 6
Judson Hutchinson did all he could to make this world a happy place for a great many people. But what he could do for others, his illness kept him from doing for himself.
Judson's passing was of national interest, and probably more death notices were published for him than for any other member of the family; but notices of greatest interest are those from close to home and written by the people who knew him best. "He was just, and generous to a fault," said the Farmers' Cabinet, "and possessed many estimable traits of character, and his early and untimely end has cast a shadow over the community."
"You may easily imagine," said William Lloyd Garrison, "how, in common with a great multitude of his friends and admirers, I was made sad, beyond expression, at the sudden termination of the earthly life of dear, impulsive, noble Judson, in the manner it happened. Of course, he knew not what he did."
Joshua wrote of "the dear, confiding, generous, loving, humorous, gifted Judson." Joshua said that the age has not produced a sweeter voice and asked, "Who in the last twenty-five years in America has not heard, or heard of, the humorous, eccentric, and charming Judson?"
"Words are weak indeed," said John, "when I would do justice to my brother, who was my closest companion during my boyhood and manhood."
To my mind a star of brightest magnitude had been added to the immortal constellation. The shadow that had been over him ever since the days when his mind first became clouded, nearly a decade before, I believed was removed, and that noble soul, that had in it so much that could help and uplift humanity, was released from a bondage that had so hindered its fullest development.
Harriet McEwen Kimball wrote that Judson's life "was one of rare beauty and full of gentle and noble acts."
Who that ever knew him can forget him? Not alone his rare vocal powers, of which I have no time to speak - not alone his eccentricities, which were unassumed and unostentatious - not alone his face, which, like his character, was a blending of manly and womanly beauty - not alone his style of dress, which, though peculiar, was worn from his boyhood up, and not assumed because of its becomingness - but his character, of which I have given a truthful though unworthy
"He was just, and generous to a fault, said the Farmers' Cabinet": "The sudden and sad decease of Judson J. Hutchinson," Amherst, NH, Farmers' Cabinet, January 19, 1859, p. 2 col. 4.
"You may easily imagine, said William Lloyd Garrison, how, in common": William Lloyd Garrison to John W. Hutchinson, Boston, March 15, 1859, in John W. Hutchinson (1896, 2:346).
"Joshua wrote of the dear, confiding, generous, loving, humorous, gifted Judson": Joshua Hutchinson, A Brief Narrative of the Hutchinson Family (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1874), 35, 37.
"Words are weak indeed, said John, when I would do justice": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 2:255).
"To my mind a star of brightest magnitude had been added": John W. Hutchinson (1896, 1:363).
"Harriet McEwen Kimball wrote that Judson's life was one of rare beauty":
Harriet McEwen Kimball wrote a wonderful tribute to Judson, and it is well worth locating and reading in its entirety. See John W. Hutchinson (1896, 2: opposite p. 254) for an excellent photograph of Judson's eccentric style of dress, including his famous hat.
Kimball's reference to Judson's grave, though figurative, is one of the very few, strange to say, in the Hutchinson family literature. It is not commonly known where he was buried. If you can locate Judson J. Hutchinson's final resting place and would be willing to share your information and its source, please use the contact link near the bottom of the page to e-mail us.
Page 7
A funeral was said to be held for Judson in Lynn. His Milford funeral took place at his own home on Saturday, January 15, 1859.
The last song he ever sang on earth [ said his daughter Kate ] was, "Hark I hear an angell sing." Uncle John has often told me how he listened at the door to hear him, and thought Judson's voice never sounded so beautiful before. In one hour's time he lay dead in that very room.
By the middle of February, both John's company and Asa's were on the road again. John's family sang at the Duxbury Odd Fellows Hall on the 15th. Joshua joined them, and the expanded troupe gave concerts through Massachusetts and into Connecticut.
Meanwhile, Brother Asa and company were on a tour of their own, generally avoiding the larger cities with their heavy competition and often jaded audiences. They were not profiting financially, but they were gaining much-needed experience.
Asa received a few "blows" from the press, though we might not know it if he, himself, had not taken the trouble to save a couple samples. One comes from a series of concerts his family gave in conjunction with the African-American Luca Family. On March 3, the two companies made a joint appearance at the Melodeon in Cleveland. Ossian E. Dodge, who once was part of the Hutchinson Family New Branch, criticized Asa's performance and took him to task for "three distinct falsehoods." First, Asa announced a concert featuring "The Hutchinson Family," when only one member of that group - Asa - would actually appear. Second, ads referred to the "established reputation of both companies." Asa's troupe, he said, had been touring only a short time and had but a limited reputation of any kind. Third, ads mentioned original compositions. Dodge claimed that the Hutchinsons borrowed most of their melodies and lived off the creativity of others. A notice in the Union and Advertiser of Rochester, New York, was as negative. Both pieces singled out Asa for particularly harsh criticism.
Asa's performing career, to date, had centered on singing bass in part-songs and playing accompaniments. Now he was learning to host shows, sing numerous solos, and make people laugh - and he was doing all this on stage in front of audiences, some of whose members could be quite critical. Asa was a well-known artist and much was expected of him. Though Lizzie apparently was not entirely sure of her abilities as a performer, journalists, and probably concert-goers, too, were more prepared to postpone judgment and give her time to develop. Little Freddy had no problems - critics and audiences loved him.
"The last song he ever sang on earth said his 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.
"Hark! I Hear an Angel Sing: Ballad." Lyrics: W. C. B. Music: R. G. Shrival. First line of text: "Hark! I hear an Angel sing! Angels now are on the wing." New York:
"They were not profiting financially": Philip D. Jordan, Singin' Yankees (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1946), 214.
"On March 3, the two companies made a joint appearance": Ossian E. Dodge, "The Amalgation Concert," Dodge's Literary Museum, Cleveland, March
Dodge slipped in one reference that Asa may have understood but that probably went right past Literary Museum readers. It was about judging the weight of a dead man. It seems there was a rumor, persistent but of doubtful origin, that when their father died, some of the Hutchinson brothers argued about how much he weighed. They then carried his body to a grocery store, according to this rumor, placed the body on a platform scale, and settled the dispute. For a telling of this odd rumor by Tribe of John bass vocalist Samuel B. Spinning, see "The Hutchinson Family: Recollections of the Famous Band of Concert Singers," New York Times, November 17, 1889, p. 13 col. 3; originally published in the Providence (RI) Journal, November 15, 1889.
"A notice in the Union and Advertiser of Rochester, New York, was as negative": "The Hutchinson Concert," Rochester (NY) Union and Advertiser, n.d., in Asa B. Hutchinson Papers, Microfilm Number 1244, University of Minnesota Library Film Collection.
"Though Lizzie apparently was not entirely sure of her abilities": Philip D. Jordan, Singin' Yankees (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1946), 219.
"Little Freddy had no problems - critics and audiences loved him": A fine photograph of Fred Hutchinson is one where he appears with his parents, brother, and sister, above the caption, "The Tribe of Asa: Dennett, Abby, Asa, Lizzie, Fred," in the picture section of Carol Brink, Harps in the Wind: The Story of the Singing Hutchinsons (New York: Macmillan, 1947).
Page 8
Apparently Asa and company worked through their growing pains with impressive speed. Though Dodge and the Rochester critic took him to task for his comedy and recitations, it would not be long before he would be praised for the same. Asa's concert programs are sprinkled here and there with what sound like rather picturesque - if perhaps deranged - "scientific explanations" of phenomena, such as the spirit rappings. One production of this nature was called "The Down-Easter's Explanation of the Aurora Borealis." And in later years Asa became known for the humorous speeches he gave at public events.
Lizzie's confidence as a vocalist was strengthened by one of Asa's new compositions. "Hannah Binding Shoes" was a poem by Lucy Larcom, which Asa set to music. In this context, it became known as "Hannah's at the Window Binding Shoes," and it was one of his most popular songs. Hutchinson Family fans always loved to hear Lizzie sing this piece, and it was frequently encored.
After the Judson, John, and Asa trio broke up, John sang in various groups - with Judson, with Asa and Lizzie, and with his own family. It was only after Judson's death that the Tribe of John became a regular company. In September they started a trip that lasted through the end of the year. They began in New Hampshire and moved into Massachusetts. "At first our travelling," said Viola, "consisted of short trips through New England, using our especially constructed travelling carriage, with a span of
"Hutchinson Family fans always loved to hear Lizzie sing this piece": Philip D. Jordan, Singin' Yankees (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1946), 219.
Asa B. Hutchinson, "Hannah's at the Window Binding Shoes," [ lyrics: Lucy Larcom, ] first line of text: "Poor, lone Hannah! Sitting at the window binding shoes" (Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1859).
Wilson Ludlow Scott, a descendant of Sister Rhoda, was a Hutchinson Family historian of some importance. Many readers will be familiar with a long-playing vinyl album of Hutchinson Family songs called, for short, There's a Good Time Coming which was released by the Smithsonian. A Washington, DC, concert was presented in connection with the recording and release of this LP. Wilson L. Scott and his wife Margaret were in attendance. Call it the long reach of the Tribe of Asa; but the high point of the show, which was held at the Renwick Gallery, is said to have been the performance by alto Patricia Deckert of "Hannah's at the Window Binding Shoes." For a brief notice, see Richard Harrington, "Hutchinson Family," Washington Post, April 4, 1978, Final Edition, Style Section, p. B4. "Reprinted from yesterday's late edition." Thanks to Wilson L. Scott for the many ways his efforts helped this project.
"At first our travelling, said Viola, consisted of short trips": Viola Hutchinson Campbell, Memories of a Busy Life (Plymouth, Mass.: privately printed
|
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 |
E-Mail Us
Brattleboro, Vermont: Published by the author. 2006, 2007.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.