John William
"Blind" Boone (1864 - 1927)

Warrensburg and Columbia, Missouri

On May 17, 1864, as the Civil War entered its final year, John William Boone was born in Miami, Saline County, Missouri. His mother, Rachel Boone, worked as a cook in the federal military camp of the Seventh Militia. She later told her son, whom she called Willy, that his father was a bugler in the army. Born into slavery, Rachel had either escaped or was freed by federal soldiers.

Rachel Boone Hendricks Rachel Boone was born a slave in Kentucky to a family that moved to Missouri before the Civil War. Boone never knew his father. Rachel died in 1901 and was buried in Warrensburg at Sunset Hill Cemetery.

[Blind Boone: His Early Life and Achievements, by Melissa Fuell. SHS 006701]

Warrensburg, circa 1867 This is how Warrensburg looked when Rachel and Willy Boone first arrived.

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As Willy grew, the townspeople noticed his talent for music. They encouraged him with gifts of simple instruments, such as a tin whistle, a French harp (or harmonica), and a triangle. Willy started a band with his friends. They played for parades and special gatherings to earn money.

When Willy was about eight years old, his mother married Harrison Hendricks. Rachel and Willy moved into a one-room cabin

Young Willy Boone lived with his mother, stepfather, and stepbrothers and stepsisters in a small one-room cabin on Mill Street in Warrensburg.

[Blind Boone: His Early Life and Achievements, by Melissa Fuell. SHS 006701] The Hendricks property was located near the Land Fike Mill on Mill Street (starred). When Boone became successful, he built a home for his mother on the same property and promised to care for it and keep it as long as she lived. Boone kept his promise.

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with her new husband and his five children.

Missouri School for the Blind Boone spent a little over two years at the Institute for the Education of the Blind in St. Louis, which later became the Missouri School for the Blind. The school is still in operation.

[SHS 2003-0012]

With his disability Willy needed a special school. Several Warrensburg residents helped Rachel send her son to the Missouri School for the Blind in St. Louis. Former Missouri senator Francis Cockrell persuaded Johnson County officials to pay for the train ride to St. Louis and tuition at the school. A group of ladies helped sew the clothing Willy would need. In the fall of 1872, nine-year-old Willy traveled alone 225 miles to St. Louis.

Boone's name in
the enrollment ledger

Enrollment ledger, page 1.

The school's enrollment records show that John Wm. Boone entered the school on October 8, 1872. The remarks at the very end of the enrollment record were added many years later. Blind Boone did not finish school but always appreciated his time at the School for the Blind.

[Missouri School for the Blind] Enrollment ledger, page 2.

The school's enrollment records show that John Wm. Boone entered the school on October 8, 1872. The remarks at the very end of the enrollment record were added many years later. Blind Boone did not finish school but always appreciated his time at the School for the Blind.

[Missouri School for the Blind]

Boone quickly learned to love the school. The program taught students skills to help them gain their independence and also emphasized music. The teachers tried to get Boone to study Braille and to learn the broom trade so he could support himself, but he was not interested in reading or making brooms. He would often steal away from his studies to listen to the advanced students as they practiced piano.

Enoch Donnelly, an older white student, appreciated the young boy’s curiosity and often invited Boone to hear him play. After he heard Boone mimicking one of his classical music pieces on the piano, Donnelly gave up a portion of his own practice time to teach the eager student. Boone could remember and play everything he heard, even if he had only heard it once.

Soon the young prodigy was entertaining gatherings at the home of the school superintendent. At home in Warrensburg during school breaks, Boone played piano for church services and social gatherings to earn money to help his family.

The darker side
of St. Louis The “Tenderloin District” lay around Morgan and Franklin streets west of the school. The sound of musicians playing in saloons and gambling halls drew Boone away from school and provided him with a different kind of musical education. It was in this area that ragtime music later developed.

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Once, upon his return from a school break, he found a new superintendent who did not believe black students should have the same privileges as whites. He would not allow black students to play piano. Unable to bear the new rules, Boone started skipping class to go to the “Tenderloin District” near the school. In the district, a poor and densely populated area, he listened to and played music with the African American musicians who worked in the saloons. The principal eventually dismissed Boone from the school because of his absences.

Ashamed to return to Warrensburg and face his mother, the young boy tried to make a living with his music in St. Louis. Eventually, broke and hungry, Boone returned home through the kindness of A. J. Kerry, a white railroad conductor. Kerry befriended the homeless boy and arranged for Boone to travel home on the train.

Boone organized a band After returning to Warrensburg from school, Boone organized several bands and tried to make a living playing music again. For a while he rode railroad trains and played for the passengers for tips. Eventually, he traveled to Fayette and Glasgow to play in mid-Missouri churches.

[Blind Boone: His Early Life and Achievements, by Melissa Fuell. SHS 006693]

Back in Warrensburg, Boone earned money playing piano for the Foster School, a white school, and again formed a band of street musicians. After hearing Boone play his harmonica, a local gambler named Mark Cromwell convinced the young boy he could supply him with concert engagements. Lured away from his mother by Cromwell’s tales and flattery, the young boy soon realized he would see none of the promised money.

Boone's life story

In 1912 Boone told a reporter from the Columbia Tribune about his experiences growing up, including his time with gambler and con man Mark Cromwell.

[Columbia Tribune, July 25, 1912, p. 1] In 1912 Boone told a reporter from the Columbia Tribune about his experiences growing up, including his time with gambler and con man Mark Cromwell.

[Columbia Tribune, July 25, 1912, p. 1]

Boone played his harmonica on the streets of many Missouri towns just as he had done in Warrensburg, but now Cromwell kept the money. At one point, the gambler lost Boone in a card game. The winner kept the boy in a locked room until Cromwell managed to “steal” him back three days later. Boone’s stepfather searched for the boy and finally brought him home. Throughout his life, some people tried to take advantage of the good–natured Boone.

John Lange Jr.

John Lange Jr.

Born to a slave mother and free father in Kentucky on October 4, 1840, John Lange Jr. moved to Missouri with his family around 1850. James Shannon had moved his family and slaves, including Lange’s mother, Louisa, to Columbia when he accepted the position as president of the University of Missouri. Even though his father was free, young John Jr. was a slave because his mother was a slave. It is unknown exactly when the Langes were freed.

John Jr. worked in his father’s butcher shop and helped to build the first permanent black school in Columbia. He later became a public works contractor and supervised the construction of roads. Despite his lack of formal education, Lange became a successful businessman and respected community leader. He later learned how to read and write so he could manage the Boone Company records. Many would say that John Lange was the best entertainment manager of his time—black or white.

[John William “Blind” and Wesley Boone Papers (C2883), The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection- Columbia] After suffering many hardships at the hands of corrupt and abusive managers, Boone met John Lange Jr. in 1879. The two developed a fair partnership and a solid and lasting friendship.

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Boone met John Lange Jr. in December 1879. A contractor by trade, Lange owned an entertainment hall in Columbia and hired Boone to play the Christmas program there. He recognized Boone’s talent and also the young boy’s vulnerability.

Lange wrote to Rachel Boone Hendricks to ask if he could take over the musician’s career. He promised to handle Boone’s training and care. The boy’s mother would receive part of his earnings every month until Boone turned twenty-one. When he turned twenty-one, Boone would become a partner in the Blind Boone Company. Lange kept his word. Boone played one of his first concerts as part of the Boone Company in January 1880. The ticket sales totaled a disappointing $7.00.

Blind Tom Wiggins Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins

By the time Blind Boone played with Blind Tom, the latter was already nationally known. Unlike Boone, Tom Wiggins could not learn piano technique from others and was unable to care for himself. He did not interact with others and today would probably be diagnosed as autistic. Born into slavery, Tom Wiggins was retained by his owner, Colonel James Bethune, even after gaining freedom through emancipation. Bethune displayed Tom as a “curiosity” and made him play a grueling schedule of performances while pocketing the proceeds.

[Courtesy of the Library of Congress]

Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins came to play a concert in Columbia in March 1880. Like Boone, Tom could play any music he heard. As part of the program, his manager challenged anyone in the audience to repeat Tom’s tunes. Tom would play back any tune others played for him. Unlike many others before him, Boone was able to repeat Tom’s music note-for-note.

Blind Boone at age 15 Blind Boone at age 15.

[Blind Boone: His Early Life and Achievements, by Melissa Fuell. SHS 006703]

The first few years Boone traveled with Lange, he was billed under the name “Blind John.” In addition to the fifteen-year-old Boone, a ten-year-old soprano named Stella May accompanied them. Lange often had to bring a good piano along in a wagon or by train because the churches and halls in the small towns where they played did not own one.

Marshfield tornado,
April 18, 1880

“Marshfield Tornado” became one of Boone’s most popular pieces. The music was very complicated so the notes were never written down. No musical transcription or recording of the song exists. Boone composed other works over his lifetime but considered “Marshfield Tornado” his finest.

[SHS 027114-4] “Marshfield Tornado” became one of Boone’s most popular pieces. The music was very complicated so the notes were never written down. No musical transcription or recording of the song exists. Boone composed other works over his lifetime but considered “Marshfield Tornado” his finest.

[SHS 027114-5]

Just before Boone was scheduled to play in Marshfield, Missouri, a tornado hit the small town on April 18, 1880. The twister killed almost 100 people and injured twice as many. Few buildings other than the courthouse remained standing. Lange read Boone the newspaper articles reporting the tragedy. The musician was inspired to compose “The Marshfield Tornado,” which included effects that sounded like the tornado. After some discussion, Lange and Boone decided to continue on to the scheduled performance in Marshfield.

Many survivors of the tragedy came to hear Boone play. His first piece was the new cyclone composition. Much to the performer’s dismay, the true-to-life sounds of his music caused some to panic and flee the building, thinking another tornado was coming. Despite their own financial hardships, Boone and Lange donated the proceeds from the concert to help rebuild the town. “Marshfield Tornado” became a regular part of Boone’s program, but he always played it last in case it frightened his audience away.

Concerts announced
by Ed the parrot

After arriving in town, Lange and Boone would walk up and down the streets with Ed the parrot, attracting the attention of children. They would tell the children about the upcoming concert. The children would soon spread the word around town and ask their parents to take them to the performance.

[Blind Boone: His Early Life and Achievements, by Melissa Fuell. SHS 029411] Ed the parrot can be seen above the heads of the children. Boone never refused a child entrance to a concert for lack of ability to pay and always encouraged children to learn music.

[Blind Boone: His Early Life and Achievements, by Melissa Fuell. SHS 029411]

Without the advantage of modern radio or television, word of Boone’s talent spread slowly. As the Boone Company struggled in its early years, Lange sometimes feared he would have to get a job digging coal to keep the company going. When funds ran low, Lange sent the other musicians home, and the two partners traveled the country alone. They were often broke and suffered many difficulties, such as hotel and music store fires and train wrecks. At one point, a business partner ran off with the company piano.

Promotional leaflet A committee of notable citizens attended the first concert in Michigan so that they could confirm the claims made about Boone's abilities. There were instances where others claimed to be Boone, which made it difficult for the company to succeed.

[Ellie Fike Diaries, 1879-1892 (C2216), The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection- Columbia]

Although many of his friends believed he was foolish to give up his business to promote a little-known black musician, Lange never regretted it. “I have lost all I had more than once, trying to make Boone a success, but I am proud today that I have stuck with it.”

Mary R. Sampson Mary R. Sampson

Over a period of just two months, Sampson taught Boone twenty-five new classical pieces and helped him work on the "correct interpretation of the classics."

[Blind Boone: His Early Life and Achievements, by Melissa Fuell. SHS 029448]

Blind Boone played piano by ear. Since he could not read music, he learned new songs by listening closely to other musicians. Around 1883 he took lessons from Mary R. Sampson in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sampson helped Boone acquire better piano technique and taught him new classical music pieces. After his work with Sampson, Boone’s career began to take off. It was around this time that the group began billing themselves as the Blind Boone Touring Company.

Lange wanted everyone to understand that Boone was a person of talent and achievement, not just a figure of curiosity and sympathy like Blind Tom. He developed the motto “Merit, Not Sympathy, Wins,” which was often printed on the concert program.

Boone played classical music to please one section of his audience and to demonstrate his skill. Then he would play popular music, folk tunes, and Negro spirituals to please another. He called this approach “putting the cookies on the lower shelf” so everyone could enjoy them. Like Blind Tom, Boone challenged his audience to play music for him to imitate.

Haden Opera House Advertisement

Reviews from as far away as Toronto and Chicago praised Boone’s musical talent. The Chatham Planet (September 28, 1891) relates Boone’s ability to create “plaintive and stirring” music that at times made the piano seem to shake with laughter or dissolve in grief and tears. This advertised performance was a special benefit for the poor at Columbia’s Haden Opera House, sometime before 1893.

(Click to open the full advertisment in a new window)

[John William “Blind” and Wesley Boone Papers (C2883), The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection- Columbia] Stella May joined the Boone Company as a singer in 1880 when she was around ten years old. She remained with them until her marriage thirteen years later. Both Boone and May sang “plantation songs,” or black folk songs. After May left the group, the company hired a succession of female vocalists.

[John William “Blind” and Wesley Boone Papers (C2883), The State Historical Society of Missouri, Manuscript Collection-Columbia ] Near the end of her singing career and before she left the company to get married, Melissa Fuell wrote the only biography of Boone published during his lifetime. Without it, little would be known about Boone today.

[Blind Boone: His Early Life and Achievements, by Melissa Fuell. SHS 029447]

Eugenia and John William Boone

Eugenia and John William “Blind” Boone.

[SHS 001576] Eugenia and John William “Blind” Boone with Ruth and John Lange.

Eugenia traveled with her husband when she could. The touring life was a rigorous one, and only Boone seemed to have the energy to manage his full schedule.

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In 1889 Boone married Eugenia Lange, John Lange’s youngest sister. She traveled with the company for many years as treasurer and often read to her husband. Boone was especially interested in the geography of the country. With his excellent memory, he recalled all the railroad routes he had taken when young and the many places he had traveled.

The young couple purchased a home

Boone enjoyed spending his summers in Columbia. In this picture, he is seated on the front porch, surrounded by children. Lange is standing on the sidewalk to the right.

[SHS 003063] Boone's house as it is today.

[SHS] Boone owned several pianos and claimed to have worn out sixteen during his lifetime.

[SHS 002314-1] Boone at home

[SHS 028786] The specially-made oak Chickering piano housed in Boone’s home until his death is now at the Boone County Historical Society Museum.

[Boone County Historical Society]

at 10 North Fourth Street in Columbia. With Boone’s growing financial success, he was able to buy several pianos. Boone could play almost any instrument, but the piano remained his favorite. Often in the summer, when he was not on tour, he spent six hours a day practicing new music. Boone believed the only way to achieve greatness was through study and practice.

John Lange and Boone This advertising photo from around 1914 quotes the Kansas City Sun , a black-owned newspaper, that refers to John Lange and John Boone as “philanthropic, generous and kind-hearted to a degree.”

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Once Boone met someone—child or adult—he always recognized the voice and remembered the name, even many years later. He also talked about his ability to “see” colors, often identifying the color of fabric or the hair on a child’s head through touch. Boone could describe the appearance of a person after hearing the sound of his voice. He called his ability “seeing with my mind.” In 1920 a Columbia Missourian reporter described meeting Boone for the first time: “While he is talking, there comes over those about him an uncanny sensation that he does actually see, and that he observes every movement that they make…. ‘I knew what you looked like almost as soon as you came into the room,’ he said. He then told the exact weight, height, complexion and general characteristics of his interviewer…. His description was too nearly accurate to be guesswork.”

[Evening Missourian , July 31, 1920, p. 4, col. 3]

Like his partner John Lange, Boone was generous to those around him. He supported churches and other organizations through donations and loans. He provided loans to Christian College (now Columbia College) and the First Christian Church of Columbia. In gratitude, the church accepted Boone as their first black member.

Once in Kansas, the members of the Boone Company were denied rooms at the only local hotel. An elderly relative offered them the use of her home. When Boone learned she had approximately $360 remaining on her mortgage, a large amount in those days, he paid off her loan. Lange often said, “Boone is charitable and I have been authorized by him whenever I see a deserving person in need of assistance to assist such person in his name.”

Despite many hardships, Boone never appeared down or sorry for himself. Toward the end of his life, he said, “Blindness has not affected my disposition. It has never made me at outs with the world. Many times I regard it as a blessing, for had I not been blind, I would not have given the inspiration to the world that I have. I have shown that no matter how a person is afflicted, there is something that he can do worthwhile.”

Blind Boone The partnership between Boone and Lange lasted thirty-six years, until Lange’s death in 1916. Boone never recovered from the loss of his partner, mentor, and best friend.

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After seeing his protégé achieve success, John Lange died in 1916 at the age of seventy-six. Boone hired several managers in succession to take Lange’s place, but never found a replacement for his longtime friend. He continued to tour and practice with the same rigorous schedule. In January 1926 Boone played two live performances at the KFRU radio station in Columbia, Missouri. The Columbia Tribune reported that the programs were the most popular ever heard on the station.

Obituary from
Columbia Tribune Many newspapers carried the news of Blind Boone’s death. Like others, this article from a Columbia paper contains factual errors about the musician’s life. It names Marshfield as Boone’s hometown.

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John William “Blind” Boone retired in June 1927 after completing forty-seven touring seasons. His health had gradually declined, and he planned a trip to a health spring in Arkansas. Shortly before he left in October of that year, he stopped in Warrensburg to visit his stepbrother, Samuel Hendricks. While there Boone suffered a heart attack and died at the age of sixty-three.

After his death, Boone’s estate contained only $132.65 and his house in Columbia. The nationally known and beloved musical genius was buried without a marker in the black section of the Columbia cemetery.

Blind Boone

In this later photograph of Blind Boone, he is wearing a medal given to him by John and Ruth Lange on his birthday in 1887. His watch chain is visible. Today the watch is housed at the Boone County Historical Society.

[SHS 002313] In many photographs, Blind Boone wears a medal presented to him by John and Ruth Lange on the occasion of his twenty-third birthday. The inscription reads:

BLIND BOONE
CHAMPION PIANIST OF THE WORLD
PRESENTED BY Mr. & Mrs. John Lange
To
Blind Boone
On his Birthday
May 17, 1887


Today the medal is in the collection of The State Historical Society of Missouri.

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With the growing popularity of jazz, Boone’s music was soon forgotten. While ragtime musicians kept Boone’s rag compositions and history alive within their sphere, as time passed, few remembered the name that was once a household word.

Since the mid-1950s, however, momentum to reestablish Boone’s place in music history has grown. A park in Warrensburg

Blind Boone Park
In the 1950s Warrensburg built West End Park for its black community, which was barred by segregation from using the other public parks in town. It was renamed Blind Boone Park not long afterwards. After segregation ended, the park fell into disrepair. The Blind Boone Park Renovation Group formed in 2000. They were interested in reclaiming the park and honoring its namesake. The park is open to all and maintained by a group of dedicated volunteers who wish to keep Boone’s legacy alive in their community.

[Courtesy of the Blind Boone Park] Blind Boone Park
In the 1950s Warrensburg built West End Park for its black community, which was barred by segregation from using the other public parks in town. It was renamed Blind Boone Park not long afterwards. After segregation ended, the park fell into disrepair. The Blind Boone Park Renovation Group formed in 2000. They were interested in reclaiming the park and honoring its namesake. The park is open to all and maintained by a group of dedicated volunteers who wish to keep Boone’s legacy alive in their community.

[Courtesy of the Blind Boone Park]

now bears his name. In 1961 the Blind Boone Memorial Foundation formed in Columbia and gave a concert of Boone’s music at the University of Missouri. The Columbia-Boone County Sesquicentennial Commission erected a tombstone on Boone’s grave in 1971 forty-four years after his death.

Boone’s home in Columbia is on the National Register of Historic Places and is being restored through the efforts of the John William “Blind” Boone Heritage Foundation. His Chickering piano can be seen at the Boone County Historical Society in Columbia. An annual ragtime festival in Columbia bears Boone's name.