AN AMERICAN MUSICIAN
Born on a Georgia plantation in 1849, ‘Blind Tom’ Wiggins was a blind and and (presumably) autistic slave. Sold with his parents to the secessionist James Neil Bethune in 1850, people soon noted the toddler's ability to mimic sounds of nature and people's speech. He could repeat lengthy conversations verbatim, although he was for many years unable to form sentences on his own.
The slave child was assigned to accompany Bethune's daughters, and got exposed to the piano while they took lessons. By three years old, he was allowed to try the instrument, and inside a year was mimicking the girls' lessons and composing his own tunes. This ability was encouraged by Bethune, who soon had Tom giving concerts as a musical prodigy all across Georgia.
In 1857 Bethune hired concert promoter Perry Oliver; the child was shown across the U.S. (often three or four times a day), even appearing at the White House. Oliver touted Tom as a freak with advertising that compared him to a bear or an ape. He had reportedly memorized 7,000 pieces, and was able to play them at audience demand, often with his back to the piano or simultaneously playing a different number with each hand. These concerts earned Bethune and Oliver as much as $100,000 per year, even after the start of the Civil War - when he performed benefits for the Confederacy.
When Tom was emancipated by the 13th Amendment after the war, Bethune became his manager and conservator and continued his shows - commencing with a European tour. Ten years later, his son John took over Tom's management; he eventually lost custody of Tom to his wife Eliza when they divorced. Tom moved with Eliza and her new husband to New York, where they had him performing in vaudeville shows until 1904, when he became "partially-paralysed." He died of a stroke in 1908.
#anamericanmusician
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4ZmwXd_dJg