Fond brothers - the ten male siblings of the Hutchinson Family Singers, daguerreotype, circa 1845

 

From left: Asa, Andrew, Jesse, Joshua, David, Caleb, Noah, Judson, Zephaniah, and John.

Asa, Andrew, Jesse, and Joshua.

David, Caleb, Noah, and Judson.

Zephaniah and John.

Descendants of the Pilgrims, Jesse Hutchinson and Mary Hastings Leavitt of Milford, New Hampshire, were the parents of sixteen children, thirteen of whom survived to adulthood. Their children came from a long line of musical ancestors, principally on the maternal side. And in 1840, four of their sons - John, Asa, Jesse, and Judson - formed a singing group, performing in four-part harmony, and calling themselves The Hutchinson Family Singers. Jesse Hutchinson soon quit to focus on writing for the group and managing their affairs. Their twelve-year-old sister Abby took his place; an alto, she sang the first tenor part. At first, the group sang mostly European songs at their concerts but, very early on, the family began adding original material which often explored controversial themes such as abolitionism, temperance, worker's and women's rights. Despite the disapproval this material engendered with some of their audiences - the singers were sometimes booed and even physically threatened - the group was very successful, touring New England and later, in 1845, they traveled to England -in the company of Frederick Douglass, no less - spending nearly a year there. Their success inspired imitators, and other of their siblings formed additional groups; while the original quartet was in Britain, Caleb, Joshua, Rhoda, and Zephaniah Hutchinson toured the United States under the name "Home Branch of the Hutchinson Family". The quartet - later, trio, when Abby retired from performing - sang at antislavery rallies, supported Lincoln’s presidential campaigns, backed the North in the Civil War, and performed slave songs to call attention to the predicament of black Americans during the postwar period. In subsequent years the families of individual brothers formed several Hutchinson Family groups.

The most celebrated configuration of the group: Judson, Abby, John, and Asa, circa 1843.