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William Johnson: Barber, Musician, Parable

William Johnson: Barber, Musician, Parable DAle CoCKrell William Johnson: b arber, m usician, Parable William Johnson lived in Natchez, mississippi, from 1830 until his mur- der in 1851. He was an astute and successful businessman who built a fine, three-story brick home in a fashionable neighborhood on State Street one block from the busy town center. by the time of his death he also owned an 800-acre plantation just outside Natchez and had held a total of thirty-one slaves in bondage. His estate was worth about $25,000 at a time when $50,000 marked the passage into high-elite status. Johnson also had an abiding interest in music. He was proficient on the violin and could play somewhat the flute, guitar, and piano (which according to the tax rolls was his most prized and valuable household property). He attended concerts and performances by many of the day’s leading musicians and actors; he bought, used, and treasured sheet music and books on music. This short biography would be of only some modest interest but for one detail: William Johnson was a black man, living near the epicenter of antebellum southern slavery. Dale Cockrell is professor of musicology emeritus at Vanderbilt university, a research associate of the university http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Music University of Illinois Press

William Johnson: Barber, Musician, Parable

Cockrell, Dale.
American Music , Volume 32 (1) – Sep 5, 2014
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Publisher
University of Illinois Press
ISSN
1945-2349

Abstract

DAle CoCKrell William Johnson: b arber, m usician, Parable William Johnson lived in Natchez, mississippi, from 1830 until his mur- der in 1851. He was an astute and successful businessman who built a fine, three-story brick home in a fashionable neighborhood on State Street one block from the busy town center. by the time of his death he also owned an 800-acre plantation just outside Natchez and had held a total of thirty-one slaves in bondage. His estate was worth about $25,000 at a time when $50,000 marked the passage into high-elite status. Johnson also had an abiding interest in music. He was proficient on the violin and could play somewhat the flute, guitar, and piano (which according to the tax rolls was his most prized and valuable household property). He attended concerts and performances by many of the day’s leading musicians and actors; he bought, used, and treasured sheet music and books on music. This short biography would be of only some modest interest but for one detail: William Johnson was a black man, living near the epicenter of antebellum southern slavery. Dale Cockrell is professor of musicology emeritus at Vanderbilt university, a research associate of the university

Journal

American Music – University of Illinois Press

Published: Sep 5, 2014

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