THIS MUSIC IS IN MY BLOOD
My 4th great-grandfather John Toone crossed was one of the early Mormon Pioneers. Our family’s oral history records that he played the cello in Queen Elizabeth’s orchestra in the 1840’s. When he, in 1852, immigrated to what is now Utah, he brought with him a cello. This is before travel by train was possible which meant he had to bring the large instrument across the Atlantic Ocean and then across the Great Plains in a covered wagon.
I think of what it must have been like crossing the plains in a wagon train. After a long day on the trail, gathering around a campfire and playing hymns and fiddle tunes without accompaniment. The Mormon Pioneers made certain that every wagon train had a carpenter to fix wagons and a musicians to keep their spirits up. My ancestor actually crossed the plains 3 times! There is not enough space here to go into colorful history of John Toone but he is one of my absolute heroes!
In the picture above you can see the Mineer Band organized in 1867 with my ancestor on the far right side playing the cello. For several years in grad school I had the opportunity to play that very instrument. While doing some family history I located the distant relative who owns the cello and over the course of years eventually was able to take the instrument on loan and make some incredible music with it. The picture on the right is an artist’s rendering of John Toone. She painted it in just three or four hours while I played John Toone’s cello. A print of the painting is visible in some of my videos. It hangs in the front room.