Blind Tom Bethune

Pianist and composer

• Born: May 25, 1849
• Birthplace: Columbus, Georgia
• Died: June 13, 1908
• Place of death: Hoboken, New Jersey

An autistic savant whose musical genius astounded even the most accomplished musicians, Bethune played classical compositions to sold-out audiences all over the world. He was the first African American to perform officially at the White House.

Early Life

Thomas Greene Bethune (behth-YEWN) was born on May 25, 1849 to slaves Charity Greene and Domingo Wiggins. His parents were purchased at auction by Georgia slave owner James Bethune. Their blind, sickly baby was included in the sale at no extra cost. Bethune’s developmental problems became apparent early; the only intelligence he exhibited was an extraordinary ability to mimic sounds. For example, he could repeat—word for word—conversations ten minutes or more in length, but he could not voice his own needs beyond tugging and whining.

Because Bethune could do little for himself, Charity brought him to the big house with her when she worked. The Bethune family’s seven musically talented children always sang and played piano, and two-year-old Tom sang along with them. Charity thought her son was incapable of learning anything, so she did not try to teach him. However, James Bethune believed the child had at least as much intelligence as the family dog and could be taught to “sit,” “stand,” and “stay.” To his surprise, Bethune learned immediately and never forgot.

Bethune’s helplessness endeared him to his owners, but some of his habits were quite eccentric. According to a brochure promoting his talents, “The Marvelous Musical Prodigy, Blind Tom,” he seemed to love to hear cries of pain, and whenever a child got spanked or injured, “he would laugh and caper, and rub his hands in an ecstasy of enjoyment.” Sometimes he hit, bit, or choked other children to hear them cry, which was a great concern for the Bethunes.

At four years old, Bethune tried to duplicate the piano songs the other children played. They banished him from the parlor, but one night he crept in and played what he had heard—and played it well. From then on, he had full access to the piano.

Bethune’s master provided him with various music teachers who were astounded by his abilities. One teacher said Bethune learned in only a few hours what other musicians needed years to perfect. Another said his musical abilities were beyond comprehension and that he could not teach the boy anything because “he knows more of music than we know or can learn.” By the age of six, Bethune was performing to sold-out houses throughout Georgia.

Life’s Work

When Bethune was eight, his owner hired him out to a concert promoter. James received $15,000 and the promoter made $50,000, but neither Bethune nor his parents received a single dollar. Bethune became an instant celebrity, but at a high personal price: He was separated from his family and made to tour hundreds of cities with his manager. He did four shows a day, playing the classics and delighting audiences by turning his back to the piano and giving an exact rendition of the song—in reverse. In other words, his left hand played the right hand’s notes, and the right hand played the left hand’s notes. Experts were invited to challenge him to musical duels, but they never outwitted him. He always reproduced whatever was performed and could play a perfect bass accompaniment to the treble played by whoever sat next to him—after hearing the music only once. Years later, Mark Twain would write, “Tom could accurately play any piece of music, howsoever long and difficult, after hearing it once; and six months later…accurately play it again, without having touched it in the interval.”

In 1860, Bethune gave a command performance for President James Buchanan, becoming the first African American officially to perform at the White House. The press dubbed him the greatest pianist of the age—a musician whose skills surpassed those of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when he had been Bethune’s age.

When the Civil War loomed, Bethune’s manager took him south to give concerts to raise money for the Confederate cause. It was during this time, after hearing several lively discussions about the Battle of Manassas, that Bethune composed his own passionate piece about the battle. He used different melodies to represent the Union and Confederate armies, and his powerful composition became a favorite among southern audiences. They hailed Bethune as a musical genius and claimed his performances were proof of his loyalty to the Confederacy.

As the Civil War approached its conclusion in 1865, James Bethune, who by then was Bethune’s manager, arranged for the young man to be signed over to his care until the latter’s twenty-first birthday. He promised food, shelter, musical instruction, and a $20 allowance per month, and he paid Domingo and Charity $500 a year plus food and shelter. James kept for himself more than 90 percent of the profits from Bethune’s concerts. This totaled at least $18,000 per year, although many believe he earned closer to $50,000 per year.

After slavery was abolished, Bethune launched another tour that included dozens of major cities. When his twenty-first birthday arrived, James had him declared legally insane and petitioned the courts to become Bethune’s legal guardian. The courts complied, and James exhibited Bethune in far-flung locales in Canada, Great Britain, Scotland, and South America. “Blind Tom” became a household name.

Over the years, Bethune’s repertoire grew to several thousand pieces, one hundred of which were his own creation. He performed works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, and Frédéric Chopin. He also recited poetry and prose in several languages, played the French horn, flute, and cornet, and mimicked lengthy orations by noted statesmen right down to the speaker’s mannerisms. The money rolled in, and James bought a 420-acre estate for his family. Bethune’s only compensation was a room of his own and a Steinway concert piano.

Eventually, James’s son John became Bethune’s manager. John married a woman named Eliza, but their marriage soured and Eliza sued for divorce. When John was killed before the divorce was finalized, his will left Eliza nothing. Eliza sought revenge by partnering with Bethune’s elderly mother, Charity, and petitioning for Bethune to be surrendered to his mother. Three years later, a federal court ordered James to surrender Bethune to Charity and Eliza. Bethune returned to the mother he barely knew with nothing except his clothing and a silver flute someone had given him. Neither he nor his mother received any proceeds from the estimated $750,000 fortune that James had made from Bethune’s worldwide performances.

A month later, Charity returned to Georgia and Eliza put Bethune back on the stage. She billed him as Thomas Greene Wiggins (after his father’s surname), “the last slave set free by order of the Supreme Court of the United States.”

Bethune played concerts and vaudeville shows under Eliza’s management until 1904. Afterward, he lived in seclusion with Eliza until he died of a stroke in 1908 at the age of fifty-nine.

Significance

In addition to presenting an intriguing case study for autism and musical genius, Bethune’s life is significant because he was the first African American to officially perform at the White House. He was also one of the first African American composers and performers to gain worldwide attention. His powers of mimicry were astonishing; he could mimic physical mannerisms with expert precision, even though he could not see the person he was mimicking. Musical greats wrote glowing testimonies to his genius. However, despite his remarkable talent, Bethune’s status as a slave and the era’s limited understanding of autism allowed him to be cruelly exploited.

Bibliography

Davis, Rebecca Blaine Harding. “Blind Tom.” Atlantic Monthly 10 (1862): 580-585. A contemporary biography of Bethune, who is referred to by Davis as an “idiot-boy chosen by God.”

O’Connell, Dierdre. The Ballad of Blind Tom, Slave Pianist. New York: Overlook Press, 2009. Excellent book by a noted filmmaker and writer that re-creates the life and time of Bethune, sheds light on the attitudes of the day, and explores the symptoms and effects of autism.

Southall, Geneva Handy. Blind Tom: The Black Pianist-Composer (1849-1908) Continually Enslaved. Introduction by Dominique-René de Lerma. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1999. Well-documented and detailed account of Bethune’s life and the social conditions that led to his subjugation.

Watterson, Henry. “Blind Tom.” Louisville Courier-Journal, June, 1908, p. 4. Obituary published shortly after Bethune’s death.