Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-03-07
He OWNED BLIND TOM.
LATE GENERAL BETHuSE's GREAT
PICkASISSY PRODIGY.
child of slaves on His Georgia Plantation =
An Imbcciic but Yet Endowed
with the Divine Gift
of Music.

The death Of General James n. Bethune
removes man who was leading figure In
Southern affairs for many years. a sketch
of his remarkable career appeared In the
Washington Post, and mention was Incl
dentaliy made that he had been the owner
OF "Blind Tom"
Public interest will now naturally recur
to this phenomenon, and the question will
arise as to his whcreab bouts For years he
was one of the most familiar figures before
the public, and the source of continual
amazement to the thousands who went to
see and hear him. About two years or more
ago the telegraphc dispatches announced
that he had been killed in a railroad acct
dent near pittshurg. There was an appar-
entity authoritative denial of this intelli-
gencc, and nothing more was heard of the
matter. But at any rate about that time
Blind Tom disappeared to all purposes as II
the earth had swallowed him up and has
never been seen since. He was perhaps
the most remarkable human contradiction
that ever existed. He was the child of
Charity and Tom, slaves belonging to Gen.
cral Bethune. In Muscogee county, Ca, and
his brothers and sisters numbered no less
than nineteen. AS soon as he began to he
able to take notice II became evident that
he was an imbeclle. Charity. his mother.
was a type Of the ,old-time southern ne;
gress. tcnder-hearted and sympathetic, and
when she discovered that her child was
mentally useless her grief was TOUCHING.
Tom was nearly years old when Charity
made known her trouble to her master.
HE kin tawk, Mass Tom" she moaned,
but he don't say muffin 'eept w,hut you
say fust Den he say 1t arter YOU
Bring him to me- said the general '1f
I can teach my, pointer dog to bring me my
can teach a niger to do as ,nuch."
Charity brought Tom up to the big house
from the quarters.
Tom. sit down" ordered the general.
Ton, sit down. repeated the child, still
standing erect.
His master repeated the words at the
"A a. no hNs 10 Sbn a
seating him. The next time he said. Tom.
sit down" the boy did SO. repeating, how
passed out of contemporary sight. This OBJ
tect lesson of General Bethune's was fol-
lowed implicitly by Charity. and Tom was
taught to maize his wants known and to
follow instructions given him solely by the
direction of his instincts: trained, in a
word like a dog.
But hidden In the seemingly shapeess
mass of brain matter was a jewel of a
genius that was 10 be uncovered to dazzle
and astonish the world. Nature had been
IN her most fantastic mood when she fash
oned him, and with an uncouth figure and
an intellect only one degree removed from
imbecility she had joined her divine gift of
music, He was still baby when he
roamed away from his parents cabin one
day, and rayed up to the forbidden pre-
One OF General Bethune's daughters was
playing upon piano, which her father
We're touched. Trembling and writhing he
crawled up the steps and into the parlor
was not exactly proper, according to high
southern ideas, for half-noked picka-
ninny. to come uninvited into the mansion,
and the event naturally caused talk. Cen
eral Bethune was equal to the occasion
when he learned of the occurrence.
bng Sn Snd sa,d Is music crazy iGy sS tte tI
make its ne bearable''
Naturally his daughters objected to such
an object as a slave baby in the house. but
General Bethune prevailed upon them to
let Tom touch the, piano keys; Charity
he him m Up and he ns was tog taRn
bear down the keys. yet his touch brought
forth harmony-a faint echo of the air
the piano. General T3ethune was a man of
strong impulse and determination. He
made up his mind at once to cultivate the
they would bring forth. He was practic-
ing law at the time and editing paper in
Columbus, Ga, and Went into town from
his plantation every morning.
He had ample means to carry out any
fancy that might seize him. so, it was
entirely out Of the question for Toms tai
ent to be nurtured upon the piano at home,
he purchased another instrument for the
boy and had 1t placed in one of his office
rooms in Columbus. Every morning Char
his masters carryall, and every day the
little fellow would play the piano. OF
course. he really did not know one. key
from another, and sheet music to him was
like Sanskrit to a Choctaw, but the child
was able TO play any tune that was played
in his hearing. General Bethune would
hire wandering musicians to come and
play for Tom, and the prodigy would al
most go into spasms OF delight. Then he
would be placed on the piano stool and
would repeat everything that he heard.
When Alexander H. stephens, Robert
Toombs, the Lamars, and the other great
legal giants Of Georgia would come to
'n1 n tr1lht n
Come on, let's so down to Jim Bethune's
office and hear his niger boy play the
piano"
out at home it was with great difficulty
that Tom was kept under observation:
Sound owned him absolutely. He would
follow the birds songs out in the woods,
and frequently, when he was lost in this
way, he was brought back by the sounds
Bethune's sons, who performed eXcellently
on the instrument. The child's life. indeed,
was based upon harmony. When 1t rained
terspout and listen to the music made by
the patter, of the falling drops,
10 years old and his fame had spread ali
over Georgia His mental cloud still re-
mained and he knew no sentiment. There
moved only by, music, As stated, he re-
peated everything that was said to him.
and he began to display the most inor;;
Pretty soon the news of the miraculous
character of his performances attracted
attention in the North. and it was not long
before Charity, poor trusting creature
that she was, was approached by willy
agents of far-seeing managers. Visions OF
great fortune We're held out before her
tranccd eyes and the upshot of ii was that
she applied to have General Bethune re-
moved Toms guardian and another
person appointed In his place. Judge Bond
granted her request, and, Blind Tom began
that wonderful journey through the United
States which is so well remembered by the
of generation ago, Hun
dreds of readers Will remember that big,
black. powerfully muscular figure coming
on the stage with n silly smile illuminating
his heavy features, and his kinky hair rum
ming almost to point on the, high dome
will remember him shufing to the piano,
trembling like leaf with lips moving rap
idly and eyes blinking as fast, and then
see him transformed into a medium which
Music chose to be a wonderful translator
Of her heavenly language.
For years he was central figure In the
amusement world and the despair at once
Of scientists and musicians,