Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1897-06-11
BLIND TON IN RETIREMENT.
His Life and History-His Remarkable
MuslcaI Genius.

His Life and History-Hts Keinarkable
Musical Genius.
Blind Tom, the weak witted, sightlcss
negro whose phenomenal gifts as a pianist
and whose unnatural powers of memory
and mimicry We're the wonder of the
world some years ago, is now gray-head
ed, infirln Old man living in retirement in
a little cottage on the highlands of Nave
sink, on the New Jersey shore of New
York Bay, in charge of Mrs Eliza Lerche,
who was appointed his guardian several
years ago After the death of her first
husband, John & Bethune, who was
Toms manager nearly the entire time he
was before the public there was long
legal struggle between her and her father
in law, James n Bethune, who owned
Tom and Toms mother as slaves, and
still claimed the sole proprietorship of the
musician Tom had been valuable
piece of property, and had brought him n
large income for many years. 1t is said
that he earned several hundred thousands
of dollars, and Colonel Bethune naturally
objected to losing 50 lucrative an invest
ment.
"Justice Andrews of the Supreme court
of New York, to whom the case finally
came by appeal, decided that Tom was q
free man and permitted him to choose his
own guardian, for, altho over fifty years
old, he was incapable of caring for him.
self, and Charity Wiggans, his mother,
who still lives In Georgia on the old plan
tation where Tom was born, declined to
accept the responsibility. In fact, Tom
did not know his mother. He met her at
the trial for the first time since his child
hood nearly forty years before, when his
musical genius was discovered, and he was
taken out for exhibition by his owner
Nor did he have sufficient intelligence to
appreciate the relationship, and she, an
illiterate negress over seventy, was fright
ened by his Outlandish gibberish and pc
culiar habits, for when he is away from
the piano Blind Tom is a most repulsiye
animal He has an abnormal appetite, his
passions are strongly developed, and he
has no respect for persons or places. He
Is simply an idiot and his mother believed
him 10 DE possessed of the devil. With
the instincts Of a child, however, when
Tom was made TO understand that he must
select the person who should care for him,
he naturally olung to the lady who had
cared for him most of his life, and the
court recognized Mrs. Bethune as the
natural and proper guardian. Short ly
after she married Mr., Lerche, who had
been her attorney in the litigation, an d
her circumstances are such that it is not
necessary for Tom TO return TO the stage
She prefers TO support him i'm idleness. and
has him comfortably placed in a eott age
under the charge of a negro attendant, who
seldom allows him ont Of his sight.
1T is not probable that Tom will ever
appear in public again. Altho his peculiar
fnculties are retained his health is feeble
and his mind has weakened with age. He
spends much of his time at the piano play
ing mis- old pieces and practising new ones,
which he picks up as readily as he did
years ago. He can repeat with remarkable
accuracy any simple composition that is
played for him William f. Curtis in
The Record Chicago