Hutchinson Family (Singers)

Variant names

Dates:

Active 1842

Active 1937

Biographical notes:

The Hutchinson Family Singers were an American family singing group who became the most popular American entertainers of the 1840s. The group sang in four-part harmony a repertoire of political, social, comic, sentimental and dramatic works, and are considered by many to be the first uniquely American popular music performers. The group formed in the wake of a string of successful tours by Austrian singing groups such as the Tyrolese Minstrels and when American newspapers were demanding the cultivation of native talent. John Hutchinson orchestrated the group's formation with his brothers Asa, Jesse, and Judson Hutchinson in 1840; the Hutchinsons (11 sons, two daughters) gave their first performance on November 6 of that same year. The popularization of group singing in America arguably began with them. Jesse Hutchinson quit the main group to write songs and manage their affairs; he was replaced by sister Abby Hutchinson.

The Hutchinsons were a hit with both audiences and critics, and they toured the United States. They popularized four-part close harmony. The group's material included controversial material promoting abolitionism, workers' rights, temperance, and women's rights, all stances popularized by the Second Great Awakening.

The family lived in Lynn, Massachusetts in a 5.5 acre compound of multiple cottages on the southern slopes of what is now High Rock Reservation. Jesse Hutchinson sited the first cottage after a well on the site was located by a "clairvoyant". Jesse Hutchinson also commissioned Alonzo Lewis to build the first High Rock Tower between 1847 and 1848. The Hutchinsons later leased the Tower to a group for "electrical experiments". John Hutchinson gave the land to the City of Lynn just after the turn of the 20th Century, with the stipulation that an observatory be constructed.