Over the River, Temperance, and Charles Dickens

The Lingo Family Singers of Peterboro NY will reenact the Hutchinson Family Singers of Milford NH on Saturday, November 15 for the third program of four planned for the autumn by the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro NY. The selections for the holiday season will include Over the River and Through the Wood: A Thanksgiving Poem written by Lydia Maria Child in 1844 about her childhood memories in Massachusetts. Child was inducted into the National Abolition Hall of Fame in 2007 due to her steadfast commitment to her studies and writings against slavery - to the detriment of her successful career as a novelist. With the holiday spirit may come the temptation of alcohol so the Lingos will sing temperance songs- such as King Alcohol which was written and sung by the Hutchinsons. 

A tabletop display, created by Donna Dorrance Burdick, Smithfield and Peterboro historian, will demonstrate George Washington Putnam as the connector of Charles Dickens, the Hutchinsons, and Peterboro. From Lynn MA, Putnam was an abolitionist, an artist, an inventor, a poet, a reporter, and Charles Dickens’ personal secretary in 1842 on the author’s first trip to America. In 1867 Putnam was reunited with Dickens on Dickens’ second trip to the U.S. Putnam lived in Peterboro from (ca.) 1858 to 1868 working for Gerrit Smith. Putnam later became an agent for the Hutchinsons when they went to Minnesota to develop a community there.

The Hutchinson Family (eleven sons and two daughters) began musical performances in the 1840s in their home state of New Hampshire. Their four-part harmony copied the touring Tyrolese Minstrels, but soon they started writing their own songs which addressed the reforms of abolition, emancipation, temperance, and women’s rights. The first Hutchinson group was three brothers and one sister, but through the years the group was composed of differing arrangements of the talented siblings.

Much like the Hutchinsons, The Lingo Family Singers' roots began on a farm filled with singing.  Lowell Jr started singing in local churches, community theatre productions, and sang with the Syracuse Oratorio Society.  His wife and children began joining him by singing special music in the Welsh church in Nelson, and in the Peterboro United Methodist Church.  The Lingo Family Singers initially included Father Lowell Jr., Mother Kristin, siblings Karen (Zamora), Lowell III, Rebecca (Noble), and Robinson. Besides singing together in local churches, the family often participated in community theaters and from 1990 to 1995 Robinson and Rebecca sang in the Syracuse Children’s Chorus performing in concerts from Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks to the Disney World Musical Showcase in Orlando, Florida.  This year the Lingo Family Singers include grandson Liam Noble. The Lingo family will also be joined by Alex Bodenham and other musical guests.

One December day in the early 1990’s a routine visit by the family to the DMV in Wampsville turned into an impromptu Christmas Caroling session for the Honorable Hugh C. Humphreys and the Madison County Clerk Perry Tooker III. A few years later Humphreys, a founder of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, and an ardent supporter of the Gerrit Smith Estate Emancipation Days, remembered the Peterboro based family while writing the play Balm in Gilead. Judge Humphreys recruited The Lingo Family to sing together for this event and future programs. 

This project is made possible through the CNY Arts Grants for Regional Arts and Cultural Engagement regrant program thanks to a New York State Senate Initiative supported by the NYS Legislature, the Office of the Governor and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.

The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum will open at 5:00 pm at the Smithfield Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley, Peterboro NY before the Hutchinson program begins at 6 pm at that same address. For more information www.PeterboroNY.org, nahofm1835@gmail.com, and 315.308.1890.