antedating banjo (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Not quite so early, but also of interest:

1757 _Pennsylvania Gazette_ (Phila.) (Nov. 17) 3: Run away from the
Subscriber, living in Chester Town, Kent County, Maryland, some time in
July last, a Negroe man, called Scipio, formerly the Property of Mr. Marcus
Kuhl, of the City of Philadelphia...; he is a little short thick
Fellow...and plays well upon the Banjoe.

On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 1:06 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      antedating banjo (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> OED has 1764
>
> 1749-07-13; _Pennsylvania Gazette_ p 3 col 1 [Newsbank Early American
> Newspapers]
>
> "Runaway, some months ago, from Capt. Thomas Prather, of Prince George's
> county, Maryland, a Negroe man, named Scipio, is of short stature, plays
> on the Banjo, and can sing."
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
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