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We then set out for Nantucket. On our way we gave a concert in New Bedford, by invitation of a noted Quaker, John Bailey; we had an interesting audience, and were invited into the houses of many of the residents, among whom were several colored people, who presented us with testimonials and many little presents, a numerous variety of shells that had been brought from foreign coasts, for the New Bedford people then, as for many years before, followed the sea in whaling voyages for which they were noted, pursuing the profitable industry of securing great quantities of oil, for there was then "millions in it."

Reaching Nantucket after one session at the anti-slavery meeting, we were seized with an epidemic of influenza or what the inhabitants termed "Tyler grip," and although making strenuous efforts to produce our usual effect in singing, we were obliged to give up with a suitable apology and return to our hotel. After spending a few days with our friends, we again hied to our New Hampshire home. This disease, by the way, was not so fatal in its consequences as the modern la grippe, yet it proved a great annoyance, and in some cases terminated fatally.

With the temporary loss of his voice Asa came nigh losing his heart also, for he commenced wooing a daughter of Captain Chase, who followed the whaling business for a livelihood; and in 1847, the year after we returned from England, Elizabeth C. Chase became his wife, and went with him to his home in New Hampshire.   "No great loss but there is some small gain."

During the remainder of the summer we were engaged

"With the temporary loss of his voice Asa":   John seems to be getting ahead of himself here. Though it appears likely that Asa B. Hutchinson did, in fact, meet his future wife on this occasion, available evidence suggests quite strongly that he continued courting Jane French for some time to come. Elizabeth Chace, who was commonly called Lizzie, reached a spiritual turning point before age 12.   A friend spoke with Lizzie about Jesus, and the young girl experienced a religious conversion. Her mother was a Quaker, while her father was quite interested in the Methodist doctrine. We're not told exactly when, but not much later Lizzie united with the Methodist church. It is clearly implied that her sympathies were with that denomination by the time Asa Hutchinson met her. This is according to an obituary and a more extended written tribute, both by Lizzie's friend and co-worker, the Rev. W. W. Satterlee, and both preserved in Ludlow Patton's Hutchinson Family Scrapbook, Items 76r-78r.

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in making preparations for our promised visit to New York, and early in September we put out once more for the Empire state, giving concerts on the way at Nashua, Lowell, Boston, Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield.

On board the cars, at the conclusion of a song we had been singing on the way, a gentleman came forward and inquired if we had seen the new song just published, written by Longfellow, called "Excelsior." We answered in the negative, and he said, "I shall be very glad to send it to you." When we had reached New York we received this song from him through the mail. We at once set it to music of our own and sang it in our concerts.

At New York we first secured a good home in a boarding-house and then made a round of visits to the friends we had made the previous season. We found the field was broad and open and quite ready to harvest.

Our friend, Mr. C. M. Saxton, of the firm of Saxton & Miles, who kept a successful bookstore on Broadway, had officiated in our behalf, securing a hall, attending to advertising, etc. Friendly influence was secured through the medium of the Tribune, Horace Greeley, editor, and the Home Journal, edited by Morris and Willis. General good feeling was manifested among our personal friends, which bespoke us a large degree of success.

Noticing by the paper that Henry W. Longfellow was at the Astor House, one of us waited upon him with the request, that, if it was agreeable for him he would write an introduction for the notable song, "Excelsior." ["More lofty; still higher; ever upward." --Webster.]  He gladly complied with our request,

"On board the cars, at the conclusion of a song":   By the dawn of the twentieth century, Henry W. Longfellow's poem, "Excelsior," had been so heavily used that today we know it mostly from comic performances, such as a memorable send-up on television by Rocky and Bullwinkle. In L. Frank Baum's book, The Emerald City of Oz, one of Billina's hens recited "Excelsior," after eating an Elocution Pill. But in the 1840s, the Hutchinson Family's original musical setting was taken quite seriously and was treated as a major work. "Excelsior" makes better listening than reading matter. The only recording I know of is "Excelsior," on Homespun America (2-CD VoxBox, Vox Music Group CDX 5088, 1993).

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and before the day ended we received the note, which read thus:

"Excelsior" is a word in an unknown tongue; it represents the aspirations of genius. Disregarding the every-day comforts of life, the allurements of love, the warning of experience, it presses forward on its solitary path; even in death [it] holds fast to the device, and the voice from the sky still proclaims the progress of the soul in a higher sphere.

Owing to our adherence to radical principles, the newspapers were cautious in their criticisms of our concerts, but through the interposition of many individual friends who seemed to be enamored with our songs, many editorials were favorably written of our work. Our patronage was particularly or generally derived from the masses of New England settlers from Connecticut and other States who in their enthusiasm induced the more staid and conservative Gothamites to at least indorse and come out and swell the interest of our entertainments, and we soon reached an elevated point of popular favor, for our halls and places of entertainment were being constantly thronged, as our temperance and anti-slavery sentiments were presented to their understanding, through the medium of sweet sounds, until at last we were wholly indorsed by the general public and were made to feel perfectly at home. One individual was heard, in conversation with another, to say, "They sing the sweetest harmony I have heard, but  -  their politics!"

Several very popular poetic contributions were furnished by our dear friend, General George P. Morris, among which were "My Mother's Bible," "Westward, Ho," "The Sword and Staff," "Washington and Franklin," "The History (or Origin) of Yankee Doodle."  Jesse first enlisted Morris's sympathy, and through

"Excelsior is a word in an unknown tongue":   The text of "Excelsior" and Henry W. Longfellow's explanation of it sound as though they originate from Roman Mithraism.

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Morris we became acquainted with Henry Russell, the author of "The Maniac," who then lived in Rochester.

We had frequent visits from a notable man, a Quaker friend, Isaac T. Hopper, though he could not make his appearance in our popular audiences, for it was against the rules of the Friends, but our best sentimental and freedom songs he was very much pleased to hear, and we accommodated him at our private apartments, in our hotel or boarding-house. Thrilling were the instances that he related to us of the slaveocracy, and his great display of wit in emergencies connected with underground railroading in which he baffled the slave-hunter by display of his sagacity, for he was wiser than a serpent and feigned to be harmless as a dove. He was one of the most congenial and loving souls the society of whom we were permitted to enjoy. We made frequent calls at his house and there met his intelligent and sympathizing wife, and also became acquainted with Lydia Maria Child, who was then acting editress of the Anti-Slavery Standard.  "Owe no man anything," and "lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth," were passages of Scripture which found a lodgment in Hopper's great heart. He was a friend of the slave and an enemy to all oppression. In after years at our frequent visits to that city and until he passed to glory he was very true and kind with his advice. We learned that his financial affairs were so arranged that there were no great investments made in bank stock or other securities, to be left to greedy heirs, but his mighty powers of mind, heart and will were so displayed that when he yielded up the ghost, all his obligations to every one were fully met.

Our reception in Brooklyn from the first was an ovation. The amphitheatre of the Brooklyn Institute

"We had frequent visits from a notable man":   Isaac T. Hopper was an interesting character in life, and evidently he was no less so in death. I've seen seemingly countless references to the appearance of his spirit at seances over a period of decades following his earthly demise.

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was nightly crowded with interested and sympathetic listeners, and the hall rang out with enthusiastic applause for our best efforts.

We were favored by a call from the Rev. Dr. Cox of the Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, and he stated to us the position that he had assumed in regard to the great question of emancipation before his congregation, the opposition he had received and his determination to abide by his resolution to devote himself to the cause of the oppressed. We were made glad by his announcement and trusted that, having put his hand to the plow, he would never look back or retreat a single inch. What weight of personal entreaty from domestic or church influence or pro-slavery threatenings, served to weaken his resolution, I never learned, but we know that it was more than his human soul could withstand, for when the whirlpool of anathemas and threatenings of loss of friendship, position and salary came, he was induced to retreat from his laudable position. The opportunity was passed, and another who could wield the sword, sceptre and pen, his chosen implements, in the face of the Goliath of slaveocracy, effectually slung his potent words with an honorable determination that challenged the highest respect and regard of even the vanquished foe. So Brooklyn saw another sight, and the earnest believers in an honest purpose sustained the great preacher of Plymouth Church, who proved a light and guide to honest patriotism and free religion. How often did I notice that brother beloved, fresh from his parish engagements with hymn-book and manuscript  -  Henry Ward Beecher  -  among the hearers of these Institute concerts.

We were most earnestly besought to join and take charge of the music, and become the choir at Beecher's Church, but declined.

"We were favored by a call from the Rev. Dr. Cox":   Rev. Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox (1793-1881).

[1844]

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After three months of continued successes in our concert enterprises throughout the city of New York and some of the larger towns environing it, we bade it adieu for a visit to our Southern friends and public, in Trenton, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.

On reaching Philadelphia, we were greeted by some old friends who were cognizant of our efforts and by a few faithful spirits who were foremost in the anti-slavery enterprise in that city. The Hicksite Quakers were far more advanced in liberal sentiments than the Orthodox, and were ready to hear and receive truth from any source. Their kindly offered assistance in our enterprise was most opportune, and constantly awoke in our hearts gratitude and thankfulness, which forbade anything like grief or disappointment. We were previously heralded through the medium of favorable critics or notices in the papers, as also by correspondence from friends in New York and Boston. Here they came with their proffers to aid by work and deed. The names of Neil, the McKims, Motts, Davis, Palmers, Wrights and others, are all of those who let no opportunity go by to extend to us the right hand of fellowship, socially and otherwise, and we realized that we were in the midst of brothers and sisters. The friendships that were established in those early days were manifested increasingly, as the time passed, and never lessened in after years.

Our first entertainments [in a series which began on Wednesday, January 3]  were given to a very respectable audience, comprising some of the leading and influential people of the city, and Musical Fund Hall rang out to our delight the approval of this popular audience. At once we were favorably impressed by the acoustic properties of this hall, which were of a nature to give the best effect to our simple harmony.

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This was inspiring. Our first number was heartily cheered and encored, and we were made aware as we proceeded with our programme that we had produced the best impression possible. We knew it was best to exercise wisdom in the introduction of our sentiments, for there was an intense, bitter spirit existing in the city; many of our audience had been called together out of curiosity, and some were ready to catch at anything that might be said or sung that should appear tinctured with the unpopular movement towards emancipation. Therefore, we confined ourselves to the introduction of a general programme of glees, sentimental and harmonious pieces that attracted the attention of the music-loving people, not forgetting the duty of fully declaring our position in the final song of the evening:

We also declared our opposition to the traffic in liquor and the custom of rum-drinking.

Concluding the concert, many of the audience gathered around us to congratulate us on our first effort and the request came from the president of the Philharmonic Musical Society, to join with it in its forthcoming concert. Fifty dollars was tendered and the use of the beautiful hall for another concert. This we agreed to and the engagement proved a great success. A few selections were announced on their programme, but answering to the encores, we were not able to leave the platform till we had sung four of our characteristic songs; and the delighted musicians, who had listened with the deepest solicitude, came down at the conclusion with vociferous cheering, and the exercise fully

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settled our status in the good opinion of the cultured scientific musicians of the City of Brotherly Love. Then followed a series of increasing audiences; and 1,700 people, for that was the capacity of the hall, nightly filled the spacious, magnificent concert-room.

One night the whole mass, as well as the singers, were destined to hum a tune as they were going out of the hall, towards "Home, Sweet Home," on the sliding scale.

The sky was clear, the stars shone out, while the audience gathered on this occasion. During the two hours' concert there came up a very thick fog which congealed upon the cold stony pavements and brick sidewalks, freezing as it fell, producing a glaze of ice of some thickness. The great throng, six or eight abreast, in making their exit from the hall in solid phalanx, pressed forward and as their feet came in contact with the ice, down they went. The unfortunates had only time to gather themselves up out of the way of the next falling crowd. Then came a great uproar and shouts of laughter, some with explosive and staccato notes of sudden or violent emotion, while others made points of exclamation, "Oh!" while there were some unpleasant tones on the minor key; and when the last row had fallen, at least 1,500 people had passed through the ordeal.

As we went out upon the street, we could hear in every direction, the merry shouts of those astonished and delighted people as they wended their way through the streets and avenues on that freezing night, "Homeward Bound." They were all in the ice business, chanting till they had come to rest at "Home, Sweet Home."

During this, our first visit, we had frequent invitations

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from our personal friends to visit the curious and remarkable places, buildings, etc., throughout the city. We were shown the great United States Bank, that was flourishing a few years before, with a capital of $14,000,000, under the presidency of Nicholas Biddle. With the crash of this institution many people who had confidence in it lost their all. Many poor widows were ruined by this great crisis. The gentleman who escorted us said that he had had all his ready money in this institution, $13,000, sacrificed.

Our next visit was to the United States Mint, where we were very much pleased to witness the manner of coining silver; and a very interesting sight it was to see the quarters and halves dropping out of the hopper, with the national inscription and date  -  the eagles, the fives, the two-and-a-half and the twenties, all the varied denominations of the United States coin, gold and silver.

Then we visited the great Girard College, founded under the written declaration and bequest of Stephen Girard, who devoted his great energy to the acquiring of immense property. In his will regarding the structure he emphatically declared that this institution should be entirely non-sectarian; and, as far as I am aware, the city of Philadelphia has observed his declaration.

As is often the case with America's great men, idiosyncrasies appear that will not commend them to the good opinions of the generations that come after them. It was said of this gentleman, that he was unkind and neglectful of the interests of his wife and helpmeet, for she was left to spend her latter years in the almshouse, where she died and was buried in the Potter's field.

The grand structure at this time (1844) was yet to

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be completed. Since that date thousands upon thousands have imbibed through the institution liberal sentiments; become lovers of humanity and true patriotism and great workers in the field of ethics.

Among numerous acquaintances we came across one old townsman, brought up in Milford, Luther Wallace. He was quite an expert player on the clarinet, and frequently played in an orchestra in choirs. He entertained us at his house, kept by his two maiden sisters. They together sustained a very good reputation for their kindness and uprightness of character. By trade he labored in a type-foundry. As we sat at the bountiful repast, the conversation was led to the scenes of our childhood, most vividly related as we recounted the early settlement of the varied families of Wallaces in Milford.

Rev. Mr. Perry, pastor of one of the Baptist churches, extended the right hand of fellowship. He was also a native of New Hampshire and acquainted with our ancestry. He invited us to attend a lecture on "The True Matrimonial Relations of Man and Woman," and his criticism on the manners and shortcomings of the present civilization elicited encomiums and commendation. He ever proved a warm friend. He became a settled minister in the city of Cleveland, O., where we often met him in our frequent visits going and coming through the West.

Extract from my diary of January 9, 1844:

Why are we highly privileged so much above our fellowmen? Is it because we are better than they? No. We must give an account for all the blessings that we have in this world. I fear sometimes we don't realize the responsibility that is resting upon us. God help us to conquer our passions and prejudices, worldly honors and fame, for they will perish when God taketh away the soul; then we shall want a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

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We had calls from many interesting people, among them Mr. Swain, the notable manufacturer of a panacea so famous for its medicinal qualities that every family thought they must have a bottle. He had set up in his house one of the largest musical instruments in the country, of European manufacture.

Here in Philadelphia was the adopted home of our beloved friend, Charles C. Burleigh, with his worthy partner, Gertrude Burleigh. They were sojourning in a pleasant tenement, not far from our boarding-place, and we had frequent visits from them.

Mrs. Burleigh was a welcome guest at any hour in the day. She would go to the door and exercise her faculty of imitating one of our American domestic fowls, and it carried us back to the farm-yard, when we used to have turkeys fattening for Thanksgiving. It was certainly interesting to hear her "gobble."

While we were sojourning in Philadelphia, our brother Jesse sent us a request asking us to come to Boston to attend the American Anti-Slavery Society meeting, at which Jesse, Joshua, Caleb, and Fanny, my wife, having formed a quartet, were to sing. Brother Zephaniah was at this time acting as our agent.

We also had a very pleasant letter from our friend N. P. Rogers, of Concord, inviting us to come; but, however strong our inclinations to join with them in their grand crusade, we felt our duty call us to utter sentiments before people in Baltimore who had refused, years before, to listen to the voice of the prophets  -  where Torrey was imprisoned, so enfeebling his constitution that he went into a decline, and where Garrison, also, suffered imprisonment. Here the worst features of the slave system were practised. We visited Hope Slatter prison [On Monday, February 12], where were confined slaves of every

"We visited Hope Slatter prison":   Hope H. Slatter was a slave dealer. The set of slave pens referred to here as "Hope Slatter prison" is not to be confused in any way with a corrections facility. The Hope Slatter slave mart was a place of business of the slave trade. Just 40 years later, John, Asa, and Abby took a trip together to Washington. John wrote, "The slave-pen had disappeared from the District of Columbia forever, and with it had gone the great iniquity it fostered." [John Hutchinson (1896, 2:124).]

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texture of skin, old and young, male and female, gathered up from all the surrounding country like cattle, forced into this den to fatten in preparation for the great Southern mart and the plantations of the South. Here to our great surprise we saw men, women and children  -  some so bleached out that you could scarcely trace the African blood. They gazed with the greatest solicitude upon us three peculiarly-dressed individuals, whom they apparently suspected were from the far South and were long-haired slave-traders.

While standing looking on these unfortunates a gate was swung ajar, and in came a company of stalwarts who went through the routine of some athletic exhibitions, cutting up some of their antics, by which they were taught to show their power, their health, their ambition and their spirit, so they would be purchased in all confidence as contented, happy servants. The keeper tried their muscles. They rolled up their sleeves to show what strength they had. Some would make good field hands, others were for domestic use.

This was a national institution, approved by the Constitution and laws of the land. Our hearts sickened at the sight. As we turned to retreat from the prison we inwardly cursed such an institution, and resolved and re-resolved to do everything in our power to ameliorate the slaves' condition, and wash from our escutcheon the bloody stain, and we emphasized with greater force that night at our concert,

Years before, Garrison, Whittier and Torrey, who had come on an errand of mercy and emancipation, were obliged to retreat from the city without a hearing, barely escaping with their lives. We had a less dramatic

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experience, but still suffered inconveniences. We were conducted to our boarding-place, went into the parlor, and at once commenced to talk and laugh cheerfully, rejoicing that we had arrived at our destination and desiring to feel at home. When we had spent five or ten minutes talking matters over since we had come to the city, in came the landlady and said: "I am sorry to announce that the rooms that I had for you, were previously taken by a New York party; we therefore shall be obliged to dispense with you, and shall not be able to accommodate you." And out we put into the darkness. It was then about nine o'clock; but our friend, Jonas Hayward, said he knew of another place. We started off and met our baggage on the road bound for the first place, and told the man who pushed the hand-cart to follow us. We approached the house and asked the landlady if she could accommodate the Hutchinson Family  -  a musical company  -  for a few days, and she was very glad indeed that we had come to her. We went into the parlor, began to acknowledge ourselves living, and commenced to talk and laugh. Pretty soon Asa spoke out and said: "I went down to see the hall; and  -  what do you think?  -  it belongs to a Catholic [priest]."  Pretty soon in came the landlady and said: "We have ascertained that the rooms we were to let you have are not vacated yet and we have no place for you in the house." And out we went again; and finding nowhere else to go, we concluded to go to the American House, went there and put up. It was a novel experience, then.

On the evening of January 23d we gave our first concert in Baltimore, achieving a pronounced musical success, although the audience was small. I remember that I sang the "Maniac." In the audience we noticed

"Pretty soon Asa spoke out":   That sentence reads oddly. The published Hutchinson family journals shed some light on this matter. The Hutchinsons rented Calvert Hall from a Catholic priest. Evidently in Baltimore at the time, there was some prejudice among Protestants against attending entertainments in that room. [Excelsior: Journals of the Hutchinson Family Singers, 1842-1846 (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1989), 199, 201, 208.]

"In the audience we noticed":   The Haywards came to Baltimore from Milford and were family connections of the Hutchinsons. Now it's worth considering that the singers are at present, in John's narrative, in a slave state; and they have been concerned with the slavery question in a variety of ways. For instance, during this trip, they were asked by Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., and Nathaniel Peabody Rogers to return to New England to sing at an antislavery meeting. And more recently, they viewed with disgust the Hope Slatter slave mart. But not all of the Hutchinsons' friends and kin were friends of emancipation. Later in this book, referring to early 1861, John wrote about one of the Baltimore Haywards, "His family were still in sympathy with the system of slavery, and had one or two slaves at their command." [John Hutchinson (1896, 1:373).]  This is worth considering because a strong case has been made that, in her book Our Nig, Milford's Harriet Wilson based the Bellmont family on these Haywards.

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the faces of several familiar friends from our native town, Nehemiah and Jonas Hayward and Elizabeth and Mary Fuller. Mrs. Nehemiah Hayward, who was also there, wrote later in my album after listening to our song, "My Mother's Bible":

We stayed several days in Baltimore, our brother Zephaniah, who acted for two years as advance agent for us, meanwhile going on to Washington and arranging for our appearance there. Our closing concert was given January 29th to a full house. On Tuesday, January 30th, we for the first time entered the capital of the nation. It was at an important era in the great debates that for three decades or more were focusing the eyes of the world upon the Congress of the United States. John P. Hale had just entered the arena where he was to win fame and an undying name as the champion of the oppressed. While we were there the great discussion went on regarding the "twenty-first rule," relating to the right of petition. Daniel Webster, the "expounder of the Constitution," was in the height of his then undimmed fame; John Quincy Adams, "the old man eloquent," was still wearing the harness, which he never laid off until Death's summons found him in the post of duty. In my book of autographs, collected at the time, is his name, written in trembling characters. Webster shows his pride in the Commonwealth which he so powerfully eulogized in his reply to Hayne, by the inscription, "Dan'l Webster of Massachusetts." Among other names in this little volume, which, by the way, no money would buy, are those of John P. Hale;

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Jeremiah Russell, New York; Howell Cobb, Georgia; Hannibal Hamlin, Maine; Julius Rockwell, Massachusetts; Henry A. Wise, Virginia  -  the man who afterward hung John Brown; Alexander H. Stephens, later Vice-President of the Confederacy; James Buchanan, Pennsylvania, afterward president; Robert C. Winthrop, Massachusetts, and many others of the giants of those days.

After a short stay at our boarding-place, kept by a Mrs. Chisholm, we went immediately to the capitol. After a brief view of its architectural features and its beautiful frescos, we went into the Representatives' Chamber. The debate on the twenty-first rule, to which I have referred, was going on. A Georgia member made a few remarks and then John Quincy Adams spoke. Then the matter was laid on the table until the next day. We shook hands with the president in the evening, and made arrangements to pay a visit to the White House the day following. Early the next day Hon. John P. Hale called upon us. He was a man of determination, a great lover of liberty, his sympathies entirely with the North, a patriot indeed. We had previously met him at anti-slavery meetings in New Hampshire, although then he had not fully espoused that cause. He referred at this interview to criticisms which had been made upon a recent vote of his on a sectional question. I told him that we had added to our family song this verse, which we intended to sing at our first concert in Washington:

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He then made no objection, but offered complimentary comments. The denouement will come later.

After Mr. Hale's call, we went again to the capitol. When we came away Asa said he pitied this country. So did I. The subject of anti-slavery advanced slowly enough. A man from Tennessee, Mr. Johnson, spoke for an hour to no effect whatever. We believed the politicians, especially those in Congress, to be a curse to the country.

In the evening, in company with Ex-Governor Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire, then in Congress, we went to the White House and were formally introduced to President Tyler, afterward dining with him. My impression of him, as recorded in my diary, was that he was not as bad a man as he had been represented to be. He wanted us to sing and we gave him "The Land of Washington," "A Little Farm well Tilled," "My Mother's Bible," "The Old Granite State" and "Good-Morning."

On the evening of February 1st we gave our first concert in the city in Assembly Hall. In the audience, together with many more of the greatest men of the time, were John Quincy Adams, Hon. Levi Woodbury with his family, Postmaster-General Wyckliffe and family, Hon. Charles Atherton, famous as "Gag" Atherton, of New Hampshire, Mr. Hale and others. There were many Southern men of note included. Mr. Hale, very solicitous for our success among such diverse elements, came into the anteroom during the intermission, and inquired, "Are you going to sing that verse you read to me?" I told him that we were. "Don't," said he; "I beg you not to sing it to-night; I had rather give you my head for a foot-ball than have you do it." In deference to his desire that there should

"A man from Tennessee, Mr. Johnson":   Future president Andrew Johnson was a member of Congress representing Tennessee at the time. Could he be the person who "spoke for an hour to no effect whatever" and prompted the observation that politicians and especially members of Congress are "a curse to the country"?

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be no exhibition of sectional feeling to mar our first appearance, we omitted the objectionable verse, though not forgetting to embody its sentiments, in a less pronounced form, in other verses. Those were trying times and the effort to make an artistic success without doing violence to our consciences was no very easy matter.

After the concert we went to a social gathering opposite the hall, where for the first time we shook the hand of Daniel Webster. When Webster came in, before being introduced to the company, he stepped to the table, poured out a glass of champagne and swallowed it. Then he poured out another and gulped it down. This started his conversational powers; and as he lifted another glass, he paused, and inquired of his host, "Doctor, what makes this wine sparkle so?" It was a poser for the man of pills, scientist though he was, but my boyhood friend, Osgood Muzzey, whom I here met for the first time in many years, at once joined the group, and explained to Webster, for whom he acted as private secretary, the entire phenomenon. The "godlike Daniel," quite satisfied, then turned to his social duties. Webster was then some fifty-five years old. His appearance was impressive. His whole harmonious figure, face, form, carriage, was superbly grand. Men in public station rarely appreciate how much influence a little act will exert, or what will be the impressions of their acts. It wounded us deeply, teetotallers as we were, to see this much admired and almost worshipped man partaking so freely of wine; but we could not forget that it was Webster, and listened and looked with respect and awe. We sang several selections, to his evident satisfaction.

To return for a moment to Muzzey. We had several

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pleasant interviews with him during our stay in Washington. He had led a life full of adventure and incident in the fourteen years since we picked hops together for Brother David. I well recall how he used to sit in the hop-house and tell stories. He was a splendid specimen of a man, but, alas! died a few years later a victim to the drink habit.

The next day we made another call at the capitol, and heard Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, speak for the abolition of the twenty-first rule. His speech was able, heartfelt, and consequently effective. After an hour's session the House adjourned, and we departed, confirmed in our conviction that public men were nuisances. We were anxious for the triumph of freedom, and could not calmly wait for the slow processes of legislation.

While in Washington, news came that the harbors of Boston, New York and Philadelphia were frozen over, and that Long Island Sound was impassable. This was the coldest winter on record, and we were rather glad to be in a warmer climate. All travel was of necessity by land. As the fare from New York to Boston by rail was then fifteen dollars, we were rather interested to have the Sound become passable before our return.

Five hundred attended our second concert, in a popular hall known as Carusi's Saloon, and the most fashionable people from all parts of the country were represented. Mr. Giddings, that brave and noble Abolitionist, was there, to hear the Yankees sing. At the close of the concert the people rushed, almost en masse, behind the curtain to offer congratulations.

During the next week we spent an evening with the family of Postmaster-General Wyckliffe. We entertained them with songs, and they offered as entertainment champagne, oranges and chicken salad. We did

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not drink the champagne, for we were teetotallers  -  a very good excuse, they said. Mrs. Wyckliffe we found to be a very motherly woman. The same week Mr. Hale took us into the Supreme Court, and we were privileged to hear Webster argue the celebrated Girard case. On February 8th we gave our closing concert in Assembly Hall, to a great concourse of people. The room was jammed. On the following day we returned to Baltimore, parting tearfully with many dear friends who we had learned to love during our stay.

On the same evening we gave a concert in Assembly Hall to an audience which represented in money as much as we had taken during our entire previous stay. We notified them that we would repeat the concert on the following Monday night, and they received the announcement with cheers.

On Monday evening, February 12th, we gave what we intended should be our last concert in Baltimore, but the attendance was so large and enthusiastic that we consented to give another on the following Wednesday evening.

While this last concert was in progress, an incident occurred which illustrated the fact that our family quartet was made up of very human beings, and that, as Whittier says,

Amid the excitement of the concert, while we were in the anteroom, some word of criticism was spoken, and in an instant Judson and Asa had pitched into one another. I at once assumed the rôle of peacemaker, stepping in between, and as a result suffered the most damage. I began to rub my hurts, making fully as

"Amid the excitement of the concert":   The records of the Hutchinson Family singers are truly massive, so there are bound to be a few notes of behavior that is out of character. Compare this incident to one that also seems to have started with Judson and Asa, which occurred in the trip across Vermont during the quartet's 1842 grand start. [Excelsior: Journals of the Hutchinson Family Singers, 1842-1846 (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1989), 21).]  The lines of verse quoted here are from John G. Whittier's "The Furnace Blast."

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much ado as my injuries would warrant. This was enough. The anger of my brothers was forgotten in mutual sympathy and sorrow over my sufferings. A moment more and all three of us were on the stage, singing as sweetly as though nothing had happened:

February 16th we reached Philadelphia. During our stay there I visited the grave of Franklin. On Sunday the 18th, we went to hear Father Miller, the great Millennialist, preach in the saloon of the Chinese Museum. I never witnessed such a gathering in my life. He proved quite plainly, according to the record in my diary, made at the time, that the end of the world was near at hand. There was some disturbance, and an officer was sent for. When he came, the disturbers began to scatter, and the congregation thought there was to be a mob; but quiet was soon restored. Father Miller preached two hours, and then bade his hearers farewell forever.

February 24th we left Philadelphia for New York, where we remained several days, giving concerts, and enjoying the society of old friends. While we were there word came of the terrible explosion on the ship Princeton sailing on the Potomac, of the big gun called the "Peacemaker." The President and his cabinet were on board, and Secretary Upshur and other prominent men were instantly killed. The tragedy

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was one of thrilling interest to us, for several of those with whom we had become intimately acquainted were on the vessel. The ladies, of whom there were at least two hundred, were in the cabin, having a social time; and just as the catastrophe took place our friend Miss Wyckliffe was being cheered for the toast, "The American Flag: the only thing American which will bear stripes!" None of the ladies were hurt. President Tyler had just been invited on deck, and had reached the cabin stairs on his way to the place of death when the explosion occurred.

While in New York each of us suffered more or less from sickness, occasioned, doubtless, by the life of excitement we were leading, and our inexperience in the business of making such long concert-tours. Our callers consisted of such cherished friends as General Morris, who was always more than welcome, and another class of people whom I find denominated in my diary as those with "axes to grind." Many of those who invited us to their homes were anxious to hear us sing, but the invitation was always very carefully worded. Just before we made our advent, an Englishman of note with his company had been giving concerts in the city, with great success. One of the class of individuals mentioned, with axes to grind, invited them to come to his house to a social gathering. The invitation was accepted, and soon after supper the host asked if he would not give the guests a little music. He hesitated and remarked that he did not know they were expected to sing. "Why," said the host, "that was what we invited you for."  "Oh," said the artist, "then we will." He at once stepped to the door, ordered his coachman to go to his hotel and get his instruments, and when they came, stood his musicians in the corner of the

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parlor and went through his entire programme. The party was of course highly delighted. Then he said "good-night" and returned to his hotel. The next day the man who had invited him received a bill for eight hundred dollars. As a result of this incident, we found that when we went into similar gatherings, the form of request to sing was, "If you feel like singing, we should be very much pleased to hear you."

We made a short trip into Connecticut, singing at Stamford. On the day we started we arose, dressed and calmly waited until within a half-hour of the time of the boat's start for our carriage, and then learned that none had been called. Zephaniah hastened into the street and secured a hack, which landed us on the wharf just as the last bell rang. When we started back from Stamford, we were landed on the wharf only to learn that the boat did not stop. It soon steamed by, signalling that it would wait for us at a landing six miles away. We secured a carriage and met it after it had waited a half-hour.

Our closing concert was given in the Broadway Tabernacle March 21st. For several days the indications had been unmistakable that we were to have an ovation. Our friend George Endicott offered us nine hundred dollars for our receipts, agreeing to pay all expenses. The old Tabernacle was full. All told, there was a little over fifteen hundred dollars, a half-bushel of bills.

While at New York on this trip we made the acquaintance of Henry C. Bowen, who has so long been the publisher of the Independent. He was then a merchant on Williams Street. He was so much impressed with the success of this last concert that he begged us to stay and give others. He said he would give us four thousand dollars for four nights if we would only stay.

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Much as I longed again to greet my dear wife and the loved ones at home, I felt this too good an opportunity to forego, but it was of no use. Judson had been reading a book on hens, and had the fever badly. He must go home to his chickens; we had given our last concert and that was all there was to be said. Asa, too, had his plans, although he would have stayed had Judson been more tractable. Finding [that] that plan was useless, Mr. Bowen then insisted that we must stop at Woodstock, Conn., the place which he has since made famous by his Fourth of July patriotic gatherings, and give a concert. To this we consented and he went with us. Our concert at Woodstock was given by daylight, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. We took ninety-four dollars and gave fifty dollars to the academy of the place. The people were so pleased that they asked us to sing on the following day, Sunday. So on Sunday evening, we gave a free sacred concert in one of the churches.

We reached Boston March 25th, and in our boarding-place at Father Francis Jackson's on Hollis Street, counted up our gains for the three months and found we had $4,750 left in the treasury. Two or three days later we made a flying trip to Milford and greeted again the dear ones from whom we had been so long absent. We stayed about Boston several weeks, giving well-attended concerts in the Melodeon, in Charlestown, Cambridge, Salem, Lynn and other contiguous towns. We also heard frequent lectures from Wendell Phillips, Rev. John Pierpont, Garrison and others. Garrison came to us in trouble at one time, and seemed to sincerely appreciate the financial aid we were glad to give him.

On April 14th we left Boston on a three weeks' tour to Hartford, New Haven and other towns along the

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valley of the Connecticut. It was a trip full of pleasant, though not very exciting experiences. By a happy chance our good friends, Rev. John Pierpont and wife [Mary née Lord Pierpont] were on the train when we embarked, and we not only had their company on the journey, but met them frequently while in Hartford. We went to Springfield by rail, thence down the river by boat. It was the first time we had seen a propeller, and the other passengers seemed rather amused at our wonder over it. Brothers Zephaniah and Andrew were at the wharf waiting for us when we reached Hartford. Our first concert was given on Tuesday evening, all of the best people in the city being represented in the audience. We stopped at the Eagle Hotel, opposite the State capitol. My diary gives some interesting hints of the way we amused ourselves between our concerts. Up to the time our concerting commenced we had been more or less apart, but when our travels were begun our hearts became closer and closer knit together, and particularly when we were in new places we depended entirely upon each other for society. In the privacy of our hotel apartments we were like innocent children and played together like kittens. Mingled with our pleasures, however, was a vein of anxiety and foreboding, for Brother Andrew's spirits were far from light, Brother Zephaniah's health was poor, Brother Judson had a habit of viewing things from their tragic side, and all of us took rather a solemn view of life, joyous as we naturally were. At that time all the country was stirred up by the Second Advent excitement, and though we were not "Millerites," we naturally talked more or less on the subject. Thus, I find in my journal such entries as these:

Andrew, Judson and I have been talking about that grim messenger, "Death." I believe we may live so that death will not be the

"Brothers Zephaniah and Andrew were at the wharf":   Zephaniah K. Hutchinson was serving as the quartet's advance agent at the time. The fact is, sometimes group members caught up with their advance agent; so Zephaniah's presence is no great surprise. Brother Andrew B. Hutchinson, on the other hand, could seldom get away from his Boston wholesale business. So his arrival is definitely much bigger news. Dale Cockrell understood that Andrew had recently suffered some sort of business reversal that fell somewhat short of forcing him into bankruptcy. [Dale Cockrell, ed., Excelsior: Journals of the Hutchinson Family Singers, 1842-1846 (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1989), 176).]  We know a little about one instance of misfortune in Andrew's business, though at first look a later date would seem more likely. Who knows. If you have information about this matter, please use the contact link toward the bottom of this page to e-mail us.

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king of terrors, but so that we can say with one of old, "O death, where is thy sting, O grave, where is thy victory!" Then let us, brothers, try and get into the path of wisdom. God have mercy on us all, and save us in Thy kingdom at last to praise Thee without cessation, Amen.

Another entry, at New Haven:

Asa wanted to go and hear the Virginia Minstrels to-night, but I persuaded him not to. So we had a family meeting, sang "Old Hundred" and talked about heaven. How happy we shall all be when we get home!

Later:

I got scared yesterday at the noise of a lamp. Thought it was the last trumpet. Oh, that I might be ready when God calls!

Again, at Northampton:

Judson says: "Get ready, John, the time is at hand." God have mercy on everybody. Amen.

But it was not all solemn, for I find such entries as these:

All went to the hall this afternoon except Abby, and had a good play pinching one another. Andrew scratched me some accidentally.

Pinching was a favorite pastime with us, and our arms were black and blue most of the time from the exercise.

At another time:

We have been playing at rubbing noses until the tears ran down Judson's cheeks.

All of us played ball a good deal for exercise. On our walks and other excursions, Asa and Abby, the two youngest, usually went together, while I paired off with my loved Judson.

While we were on this trip Brother Jesse published a new anti-slavery song, "Get off the Track":

"While we were on this trip Brother Jesse published":   These concerts ran from Tuesday, April 16, 1844, through roughly Wednesday, May 1, 1844. The origin of "Get Off the Track!" was a major episode in Hutchinson Family history, but it didn't involve any of the members of the Hutchinson Family quartet  -  an important point.  Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., and Nathaniel Peabody Rogers asked the members of the professional vocal group to start singing antislavery songs in their concerts. Up 'til then, they had only performed such material at meetings connected with the cause. The quartet did not start anytime soon singing antislavery in its paid entertainments, because a group member had serious reservations about the idea. Then Jesse Jr. wrote "Get Off the Track!", introduced it by way of an impromptu vocal group, and published the score himself. Though the song seems tame enough today, it was considered by many to be highly inflammatory at the time. So when fans went to Hutchinson Family concerts, a lot of them wanted to hear Jesse's controversial new song. They got their wish. Starting with "Get Off the Track!", the Hutchinson Family became the tuneful champions of freedom, putting a friendly face on the antislavery cause. Once they decided to sing emancipation to the general public, none of these young vocalists ever regretted it. But credit must go to Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., for forcing the issue by creating a tough-to-resist demand for "Get Off the Track!"  Jesse's so-called protest songs actually weren't very protesty for the most part. He was more interested in optimistically singing the praises of the glorious future  -  "The Good Time Coming"  -  than in complaining about how things were at the moment. His approach was very much in keeping with a thing that Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, in the 1960s, told a Saturday Evening Post reporter: "We're not out to protest anything. Our purpose is to affirm."  Parts of this footnote first appeared in my local newspaper, the Brattleboro Reformer, in the October 21, 2004, issue.

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This immediately aroused the antagonism of the pro-slavery press, and the Boston Atlas was especially bitter in its attack upon the song and upon us as its singers. At this time we distinguished our newspaper notices as "puffs," that is, compliments upon our singing, and "blows," criticisms on our anti-slavery songs and appearances at emancipation meetings. Much as we desired success, in an artistic sense, we desired to see the triumph of the cause of freedom more, and the result of the "blows" was only to make us utter a prayer for help to stand for the right.

At Hartford we made a call upon Mrs. Sigourney, the noted Connecticut poetess, leaving with her admissions to our concert, which she seemed to appreciate very much. We went to New Haven, where we enjoyed looking over Yale College. We attended an exhibition at the college chapel, where Johnson's Philadelphia Band was among the attractions. Then we went on to Springfield, where we gave a concert, and thence up to Northampton, a town that pleased us so much that it was with difficulty we tore ourselves away.

We spent two days, one of them a Sunday, with the Florence Community, and were loth to leave it. We looked over the farm, viewed the silk establishments and enjoyed the society of the communists, some one hundred and twenty-five in all. On Sunday, in the dining-room, Frederick Douglass spoke, as did one or

"This immediately aroused the antagonism":   Reactions to "Get Off the Track!" and certain antislavery verses added to "The Old Granite State" were, indeed, surprisingly harsh. We're so far removed from those times that it's very hard to understand why the proslavery element, as well as many of those on the fence, took these song lyrics so hard. The United States was a very different place in the decades before the Civil War, and many Americans were heavily indebted to the forces of slavery.

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two others, and we sang. The next day I made a trip to the summit of Mount Holyoke, which I greatly enjoyed.

While at Northampton we sang at an anti-slavery meeting in the town hall, at which Douglass spoke for three hours. This singing, of course, aroused more criticism, but we endeavored to take it patiently.

Notes by Alan Lewis