The Lingo Family Singers of Peterboro NY will enact the Hutchinson Family of Milford NH on four occasions this
autumn. 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.
The Hutchinson Family Singers visited and performed in Peterboro. In his book Story of The Hutchinsons, John
Wallace Hutchinson writes: We sang at an anti-slavery meeting at which Gerrit Smith spoke and gave a concert to a
fine audience. In 1865 the Hutchinsons “spent the 3d and 4 th of September (1865) with Gerrit Smith in Peterboro
NY. We (Hutchinsons) always cherished a high regard for him (Smith), and I have letters from the great reformer
among my choicest possessions. In his diary Gerrit Smith wrote (p.24, June 9, 1868) Joshua Hutchinson, of the
musical family, comes this evening. Five months before his death, Smith wrote to John Hutchinson, Your
forthcoming history of the Hutchinson family I shall read with pleasure. For I love all the members of that
remarkable family.”
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 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 theatre 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 1990s, 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 who had
serenaded the courthouse with carols while writing the play Balm in Gilead. The judge recruited The Lingo Family
to sing together for this event and future programs at the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the
National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro – as well as on other occasions. Thanks to Judge
Humphreys for sharing his love of law, music, books, art, music, and local history and enlisting the Lingos to
perform.
The Lingo Family Singers will present the Hutchinson Family Singers during the autumn of 2025:
Friday, September 19 th 7 pm at the Smithfield Community Center
5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134 with attention to women’s rights
Saturday, October 11, 2025, 8 am at the Fourth Abolition Walk
102 South Peterboro Street, Canastota NY 13032 with attention to abolition
Saturday, November 15, at 6 pm at the Smithfield Community Center
5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134)
Watch Night for Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation 4 pm Location to be announced
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.
For more information: http://www.NationalAbolitionHallofFameandMuseum.org
NAHOFm1835@gmail.com
