Their names were Cuff, Jack, and Cato. They were violinists who lived around the time of the American Revolution. While forgotten today, their musical skills were noted by the newspapers of the time, which described them as good players who were valued by their audiences. Their instruments were so essential to them that they took their violins on one of the most dangerous journeys imaginable: they were enslaved Africans living in New England who had escaped their enslavers. Their names come down to us from newspaper ads in which their former masters searched for what they viewed as their lost “property.” Quite remarkably, the ads not only detailed the physical features of Cuff and the other musicians but also listed their proficiency as violinists as a key identifying feature.
Recent database projects, like the “Freedom on the Move” initiative at Cornell University, have made these ads accessible and offer a glimpse into the lives of thousands of fugitives from slavery. Often the information is sparse; however, a significant number of ads mention the musical skills of the escapees, most commonly the violin but also the flute, French horn, or banjo.
The newspapers do not report what kind of music these violinists played during their enslavement. It is well documented, however, that enslaved people provided music for the entertainment of their enslavers, playing dances for feasts and celebrations. Yet it would be wrong to assume that these violinists produced only scratchy tunes on their fiddles. After all, Cuff and others were enslaved by men who prided themselves on being part of the cultural elite of New England. Among them was Cuff’s enslaver, Stephen Deblois, a famous Bostonian, a musician and entrepreneur who served as organist at King’s Chapel and at Old North Church and successfully organized concerts at Faneuil Hall and at venues in New York. Deblois took out several ads to find Cuff, attesting in print that the man who had escaped his bondage was a good player and had escaped carrying his violin.
For Cuff, taking the violin on his journey to freedom was a great risk. It had to be carried, maybe hidden, and it made it easier for pursuers to identify him. And yet, Cuff was a violinist. He had mastered the instrument and, as every player knows, the instrument becomes part of the player’s identity. The violin that Deblois used to identify his “property” was surely also essential to how Cuff saw himself. Taking the violin was a risk, but it was also a necessity.
Cuff’s story is one of countless stories that have not been told. Most of them will never be fully recovered because their voices were silenced by history. But their names remain, as does their legacy as part of the music history of this country. When we write the history of music in North America, the narrative must also include Cato, Jack, and Cuff.