The Dorsey Family, long-time summer residents of West Salisbury, NH, donated a framed lithograph of the Baker Family Singers, founded in Salisbury, to the Salisbury Historical Society. The Baker Family Singers were a well-known 19th-century American musical troupe celebrated for performing sentimental and folk songs, including a notable appearance for President Zachary Taylor in 1849. The framed lithograph was intriguing, and we have discovered much more about the family. Read on …
The Baker Family (also known as the Baker Family Singers) was a prominent 19th-century American vocal quartet formed in Salisbury, New Hampshire, around 1844.
Original Members:
The group originally consisted of four siblings: John C. Baker, George E. Baker, Sophia M. Baker, and Henry F. Baker. Other family members, including Jasper and Emilie, occasionally joined their performances. While actual photographs of the group from 1844 are exceptionally rare due to the early state of daguerreotype photography at the time, their image was most frequently preserved through illustrated sheet music covers and lithographs from the 1840s.
Musical Style:
They modeled their style, presentation, and repertoire on the famous Hutchinson Family Singers, who popularized harmony-based social and political music during that era.
Legacy:
The Baker Family became one of the most popular touring ensembles of their type, traveling extensively across the United States from the mid-1844 season through the 1880s.
Timeline of their work: Songs & Glees of the Baker Family of New Hampshire
Where to find their 1844 visuals and archival materials:
- Sheet Music Collections: You can view authentic 1840s lithographs of the family on the covers of their digitized scores held in the Library of Congress Historic Sheet Music Collection.
- University Libraries: The Harvard Theatre Collection holds extensive collections of 19th-century singing family ephemera, including promotional broadsides, concert programs, and portraits of the Baker Family.
- Historical Comparisons: To see how their visual presentation compared to that of their highly famous contemporary rivals, you can browse images of the Hutchinson Family Singers via the White House Historical Association, who wore similar formal, modest attire during their 1840s tours.
