'The Ballad of Blind Tom': Charity and Mingo asked a neighbor to save their family by buying it

[The Ballad of Blind Tom, Slave Pianist: America's Lost Musical Genius; Deirdre O’Connell; Overlook Press (2009)]

Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins (1849-1908) is featured at AfriClassical.com, which presents a complete Works List compiled by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University Conservatory. The most recent biography is the critically acclaimed 272-page The Ballad of Blind Tom, Slave Pianist: America's Lost Musical Genius. The author is Deirdre O'Connell, a documentary filmmaker in Australia. Her work was published by Overlook Press (2009). Ms. O'Connell focuses on a number of facts which have not previously been fully considered. Thomas Wiggins was born blind on May 25, 1849 on the Wiley Edward Jones plantation near Columbus, Georgia.

Tom's parents knew their owner planned to sell them at auction to pay his debts, the author writes, and in December, Charity and Mingo asked a neighbor to save their family by buying it. O'Connell tells us General James Neil Bethune refused, and “Charity and Mingo had to endure another month of anguish and uncertainty.” The auction was held in January, the author writes. She continues with a quote from Bethune, “'I attended the sale and purchased the whole family,' he later reported. 'Tom at that stage was eight months old and simply regarded as an encumbrance.'” O'Connell says that for Bethune, “It was a selfless act of redemption – though little did he realize it would prove the best deal of his life.”