The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-01-28
BLIND TOMS" OLD MOTHER.

!
 Charity Wiggins, a colored woman,
 said to be one hundred and five years
 old, who died here last week in little
 tumble-down shanty on the outskirts of the city, was the mother of Blind Tom, one of the greatest prodigies the
 musical world has ever known. She
 was born in slavery, and belonged to
 the family of General James N. Be- 1 thune, wealthy Georgians, who lived
 near Columbus. She was the mother of twenty children, of whom the noted pi-
 anist was originally regarded as the
 least worthy.
 1 When Tom was born, his mother be- | longed to Colonel Wiley Jones, of Geor- 1 gia, and not long after his birth she
 and her children were sold to General
 Bethune. Tom being blind and con-
 sidered worthless, was "thrown in''-
 that is to say, in the transaction no
 value was set upon him.
 When the child was three years old,
 according to the story of his mother
 told just before eshe died he developed
 great fondness for music. General | Bethune's daughters were accomplished
 musicians, and the chief delight of the
 blind boy, who was allowed to crawl
 about the yard wearing single gar ment-a shirt-was to get under the
 window and listen to the young women
 playing the piano.
 1 Toms birth raises an interesting
 question in psychology, and has been | the subject of comment in the lectures 1 of some of the most eminent men of 1 science in the country. Just before his birth there were several young women | at the home of his mothers owner, all | musicians. They played on the piano l in the evenings, and freqently had i Tom's mother to dance for them, a duty which fell lightly on the shoulders of
 the negress, who violently loved not only the dancing, but the music. She took advantage of every opportunity to
 hear the piano. and seemed enchanted with it's melodies. She had good memory, and learned many of the se- lections, though not able to play herself. This is believed by many scientific men to account, largely, if not wholly, for the wonderful talent of hter son, In her decliningty ears the old wo- man delighted to tell stories illustra- ting the peculiar and remarkable &C., complishments of her blind offspring She always denied that he had only in- telligence in music, and she resented the idea that his gift of music was
 purely mechanical,
 When Blind Tom' was at the eight of his fame, some years ago, having
 won renown in this country and Flu
 rope. he invited his mother to go to New York and be his companion. She went, and for five years had every com fort of life, but she was supremely un- happy because she was removed from her old surroundings and associates. Accordingly, she returned to the little two-room cabin which General Bethune before his death had built for her on his old Georgia plantation There she and two of her daughters remained un- til last April. when her daughters re- moved to Birmingham. The old wo- men came with them, and the trio, on account of illness and natural infirmi- ties, became poverty stricken. The mother af the musician took to her bed
 in July and never rose, dying last Tuesday.
 Her body was taken back to the scenes of her childhood, near Columbus, Ga, for burial, benevolent white people paying the funeral expenses.-Birming- ham Age Herald.