- Tom Turpin
Thomas Million John Turpin (
November 18 ,1871 –August 13 ,1922 ) was an African-American composer ofragtime music.Tom Turpin was born in
Savannah, Georgia , a son of John L. Turpin and Lulu Waters Turpin. In his early twenties he opened a saloon inSt. Louis, Missouri which became a meeting-place for local pianists and an incubation point for early folk ragtime, such as musician Joe Jordan. Turpin himself is credited with the first published rag by an African-American, his "Harlem Rag" of 1897 (it was composed by 1892, a year before ragtime's introduction to the world at the 1893 Worlds Fair). His other published rags include "Bowery Buck," "Ragtime Nightmare," "St. Louis Rag," and "The Buffalo Rag".Turpin was a large man, six feet (1.83 m) tall and 300 pounds (136 kg); his piano had to be raised on blocks so that he could play it standing up, otherwise his stomach would get in the way. In addition to his saloon-keeping duties and his ragtime composition, he controlled (with his brother Charles) a theater, gambling houses, dance halls, and sporting houses. He served as a deputy constable and was one of the first politically powerful African-Americans in St. Louis. His influence on local music earned him the title "Father of St. Louis Ragtime."
Date of birth
Turpin's date of birth is uncertain; both 1871 and 1873 appear in published sources. His gravestonecite web
url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=7357&GRid=22602
title=Tom Turpin at Find a Grave|accessdate=2008-08-31] says simply 1871. The 1870 Federal Census for the city of St. Louis (Enumeration District 220, Sheet 9, Line 79) listed his birthdate as "November 1871", but on his draft registration card he wroteNovember 18 ,1874 .cite web
url=http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=6482&iid=MO-1683744-0611&fn=Tam+J&ln=Turpin&st=r&ssrc=&pid=31904295
title=Ancestry.com] However, some historians believe he was born in 1873.cite book
last=Jasen
first=David A.
coauthors=Trebor Jay Tichenor
title=Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History
publisher=Dover Publications, Inc.
year=1978
isbn=0-486-25922-6]References
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