Home / Full timeline / Musical prodigy Thomas Greene Bethune (Blind Tom) is born.
Musical prodigy Thomas Greene Bethune (Blind Tom) is born.
1849 (May 25)
By the time Thomas Greene Bethune was four, the blind child, who was born into slavery, was being exhibited as the "musical marvel" of the Bethune plantation in Georgia. The exhibition of Tom, however, soon turned into exploitation as his enslavers made several fortunes on his talent, including an estimated $100,000 from an 1866 European tour showcasing his talents as a pianist and composer. Colonel James Bethune even used Tom's talent to benefit the confederacy throughout the Civil War. When Tom was 15, colonel Bethune gained guardianship of the boy, supposedly with his parents' consent. In 1865 with the end of the war, an attempt was made to liberate Tom from the guardianship that was akin to slavery. That, however, failed and Tom's "guardianship" was eventually passed on to the colonel's son, and later, the son's widow and her second husband who profited off the last fifteen years of Tom's life. Tom reportedly died penniless on June 13, 1908, in Hoboken, New Jersey. His accomplishments included performances before foreign dignitaries and President James Buchanan, the composition of over 100 piano and vocal pieces, and the mastery of over 700 pieces by European greats such as Beethoven and Bach.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.