User:Durno11/James Adrastus Lew

James Adrastus Lew, Jr., black, born in Dracut, Massachusetts (now Lowell, Massachusetts). Family: James Adrastus, Lew, Sr. and Elizabeth Haskell Freeman and seven brothers and sisters; their home on Mt. Hope Street was a station on the Underground Railroad in the 1840s and 1850s. James married Susan Amanda Talbot, just after the Civil War in 1865; they had six children. His great-great grandfather (Primus Lew) fought in the French and Indian Wars; his great-grandfather Brazillai Lew fought in the American Revolutionary War. He was educated in the Lowell public schools and pursued musical studies under several competent teachers. Upon leaving Dracut, however, his musical studies were broken off, much to the regret of his parents and friends, who saw in him a rare musical talent. While a mere boy, he was appointed organist in one of the large churches in Lowell. When the 54th Massachusetts Regiment (Colored Troops) was created to fight in the Civil War, Lew was too young to enlist, but insisted upon following the regiment (and his father James Adrastus Lew, Sr. 1821-1886) until he got a “shot at the rebels.” After the Civil War, Lew, Jr. and his family left Lowell and moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, where they lived for 27 years. There he owned a tailoring shop and served as a delegate to several state senatorial conventions.

“Six years ago, the Lew and his family moved to 40 Magee Street, Cambridge, where he has lived ever since. One fact should be remembered: Lew is not a politician. He did not seek to be chosen for the Cambridge School Committee, Cambridge, Massachusetts but had the nomination literally thrust upon him. His friends consider him a good and proper man for the place and are confident of his success. In 1903, the first African-American, James Adrastus Lew, Jr. was elected to the Cambridge School Committee.”

James Adrastus Lew, Sr., continued operating his Charlestown tailoring and dry-cleaning business until his death in Cambridge on December 4, 1925. _____________

Oldest Daughter: Edith Elizabeth Lew (1867-1915)

Edith Elizabeth Lew, black, born in Dracut, Massachusetts (now Lowell) her parents were James Adrastus Lew, Jr. and Susan Amanda Talbot. After the family moved to Charleston, Massachusetts, Edith Lew a soprano and her brother William studied piano, voice, and harmony. They played music for four hands and sang duets as children entertainers at church and society affairs. In 1889, Edith married renown musician Frederick Perry White (1861-1940), and they had four children.

Negro Musicians and Their Music by Maud Cuney-Hare, 1936 https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/cuney-hare/musicians/musicians.html

“Frederick P. White, a cultivated musician of Boston, was born in Providence, Rhode Island. Among his instructors was the noted teacher, B. J. Lang. White began his career as accompanist for Mme. Selika and finally became one of the best accompanists of more recent years. Upon one occasion, when Mme. Selika's trunk and box of music had been delayed, on concert tour, White played the entire program of operatic arias and songs, without notes. His talent embraced more than a gift of good memory, as can be seen from later criticisms. For over twenty-five years, he was organist at the (white) Methodist Episcopal Church in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He is now organist and teacher of piano in Boston.” _____________

Oldest Son: William Edward Lew (1865-1979)

Cambridge Chronicle, September 22, 1906. “CALLED TO LANE COLLEGE” https://cambridge.dlconsulting.com/?a=d&d=Chronicle19060922-01.2.121&srpos=7&dliv=none&e=---en-20--1--txt-txIN-james+lew

“William Edward Lew has been called to the head of the department of music of Lane College, Jackson, Tennessee. He was born in Dracut, Massachusetts (now Lowell), about 41 years ago, his parents were James Adrastus Lew, Jr. and Susan Amanda Talbot.

As a boy at school, William Edward Lew showed a great aptitude not only as a vocal singer, but a musician as well. He plays well upon the organ and piano. In 1894, he married Mary Love Owens and the had one daughter Adelaide, who died young. For a number of years, he has been a member of several musical organizations in and around Boston. The call to the head of the musical department of Lane College was unsolicited. He will accept, and will make an effort to impart to his new pupils in Tennessee some of the musical knowledge gained here in Massachusetts at the old Boston Conservatory of Music (now Boston Conservatory at Berklee), New England Conservatory of Music, and other musical institutions.

After Lane College, Lew taught at a wide variety of institutions of higher learning throughout the south, including Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, and Miles Memorial College in Birmingham, Alabama. From 1916 to 1933, he was director of music at what is now known as North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and established its renown 50-piece Blue and Gold Marching Band.”

In the early 1930s, Willian and his wife moved to New York City where he performed and taught piano in public schools. He was treasurer of the Oxford Piano Teachers Association of New York and the only Black member of the After School Piano Forum. In 1943, at the age of 78, he enlisted in Merchant Marines and served as a cook aboard a Naval ship during World War II. Lew died in New York City on January 30, 1949.

Resources

Cambridge Tribune – December 5, 1903. James Augustus Lew, Jr.