Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-08-24


sTges of them, the three voices which
simultaneously cemanate from his
throat, sound discordant. He has by
dint of many years unasststed train
ing, reached that degree of skill in
Handling his assortment of voices
that he can sing the solo part Of his
song in his normal, clear DarytOne,
Teserving the wierd effect of the three
voices in conjunction TO the chorus or
Pefrnin. Besides this abnormal prof
cheney in emitting Il job lot of notes,
Mr.. Yancy is likewise the proud owner
of yentriloquistic powers, and the lat
ter lac knows how to use to even bet
ter effect than his vocal talents.
Is Janitor of Il Church.
William Yancy is now the jaEitor OF
Quinn chapel, that large and hand
some church at the corner of Wabash
avenue and Twenty-fourth street. of
which Rev. James TownSwell is the
pastor, and to whose congregation be-
longs thousands Of the better class
OF colored people in Chicago, says the
Herald. he is eminently respectable
and though his hair is turning gray,
he carries his SO years with ease and
"a certain amount OF buOyancy. Yet
Williams life has not been so fun of
sunshine as it might have been. lie
was born of slave parents down South
and at the age OF he was sent 10 the
big shave market of those days. to
Richmond, where, after spending a
few days in Lumpton's jail for safe
keeping, lac was knocked down It auc-
ticn to Samuel Bowman, the price
being $500. and was carried off to
The shenandoah valley, in Rockingham
county, where his new master had a
large plantation. He never spent a
day at school, and the little he new
Knows OF reading and writing he
taught himself as he did his singing
and ventriloquism, in after life and
without q bit of assistance. He was
'''raise1'' in Virginia, the old state and
the West Virginia, and when n youth
he Was sold TO another master, Peter
Rolla, nownt Harrisburg, w. Va Aft
'er the war he drifted to Chicago, in
1867, =and has since made this city
his home living for eight years OF the
time ut us Third avenue, and travel
ling for long while in the capacity Of
assistant to an advertising agent for
n big New y orS buckwheat firm, al
,over the country. Fer time, too,
he sold n cough syrup Of his own
making, and IN this emi-profcssional
capacity he was honoreG with the title
of professor" All through, though,
In slavery ana. since, bc has been an
honest man, az good rfpute, has re-
manned a: gay and festive bachelor and
llaS5 always enjoyed good health. His
powers Of observation are keen and
his conversational ability considerable,
unemployment OF 1t heigh ened for the
nearer, perhaps, by Mr.. .Yancy's I'M
diluted negro didiect and his predilec-
HiOn Tor big words.
AS 40 how he came to discover his
peculiar gifts, above described. that
was as follows: Being then n boy Of
shout 10, and working one Gay in the
oarnfiGld on She plaI tation Of Mr.. Bow
INan, he suddenly discovert1 while
singing some darker tunes, that he
c0lild strike awo voices, when he sang
very high" He tried it again AID again
and then ran ID his Ia stress Miss Mary
Bowman, who had always been very
kind to Kim, and tok her Of his dis
coyeTy. But how car you do it VIII
lang she said in amazement Where
upon ne started off with that tue old
pegrO hymn:
When the rocks in the tnountains will
al fleee away,
/ shall find a new hiding place thepa
He sang 1t, pitched in n high key of
Ibis Youthful voice. and, sure enough,
ahe vibrations in the roof of his mouth
suddenly sounded double. then treble.
and Miss Mary stood and wondered
and said: "Oh. how strange 1t is?"
But that was ali. Ne further ado was
made OF the queer facts in this case.
His whites skinned employers then and
since may have looked upon these ply
nhnOrmifiAl AnOgn
negro nature. And William went on
through the even tenor of his ways,
hoeing corn and feeding cattle and at
tending 90 other chores, reservtng his
peculiar gifts for his own private
amusement in the evening. and not
thinking much about II.
He Encounters N Professor.
Thus It was rntil recently when DR..
Ira ID IahaL.a A.hnsn sIlnnlalLu L. the !