antedating banjo (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Jonathan Lighter]

That occurred to me too, but there may have been more than one
banjer-frailin' Scipio in Maryland.

(I checked the usual news-database suspects for the forms "banjer,"
"banja," and "bajah" too, but found nothing.)

JL

On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 6:32 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: antedating banjo (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Clearly he ran away from Maryland in 1747 to the less harsh
> neighboring province of Pennsylvania, but didn't like it there either
> and ran away again ten years later.  (Perhaps this time to avoid
> being drafted into service in the French and Indian War, when the
> pacifist Quakers sent their slaves as substitutes.)  Both Scipios are
> described as short.
>
> Joel
>
> At 4/24/2012 02:05 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >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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