Wed, 1873-06-18 Tom Turpin was born on this day in 1873. He was an African American businessman and musician from Savannah, Georgia. Turpin was the second child of John Turpin and Lulu Turpin. His father was active in politics during Reconstruction, and was known as “Honest John”. He was proud to have never worked for another man since Emancipation. A street in Savannah is named after him. The Turpin family moved from St. Louis in the 1880s to St. Louis where Honest John established the Silver Dollar Saloon. It was then torn down to make way for a railroad station to prepare for the 1904 St. Louis Exposition. Young Tom Turpin learned to play the piano by himself. However, he did not possess the same musical drive that Scott Joplin and Otis Saunders. He saw music as a way to have fun and make money. Turpin and Charles, his brother, bought a stake in a Nevada gold mine. They moved to Nevada in 1885. The mine produced little gold and Turpin and Charles were forced to leave St. Louis. Turpin then opened The Rosebud Cafe. Turpin was already a notable author of “Harlem Rag”, an instrumental rag first published by an African American composer. Turpin’s influence on the development ragtime was enormous, even though he published only four rags during his lifetime: “The Bowery Buck”, “A Ragtime Nightmare”, “St. Louis Rag”, (1903), and” “The Buffalo Rag”. The Rosebud Cafe was a frequent stop for St. Louis’ top rag players and was also the first stop for any musician who traveled through the Gateway City to West. Tom Turpin died in 1922. from http://www.aaregistry.org
