John Jay Watson

John Jay Watson, the Fiddling Fisherman of Gloucester, Massachusetts, was born in that fishing port in 1830, the youngest of nine children in the family of fisherman Robert Watson and his wife Elisabeth.

John was going to sea in the fishing vessels by the time he was eight, and was a full-time crewman at fourteen.  He learned the rudiments of the violin from an older crewmate, Joseph Wonson, and was soon in demand as a talented fiddler to the fleet.  This was a period of casual music-making in America, when amateurs played as best they knew how on stringed and wind instruments in churches, at picnics and dances, and in marching bands.

In 1851, shortly after his marriage to Amelia Parsons of Gloucester, Watson was a crew member of the schooner Rival when it was wrecked at Prince Edward Island in the devastating "Yankee Gale."  This was the transforming event in Watson's life:  he and his captain, O. R. Gross, decided to work their way back to Gloucester by playing concerts along the route.  Their performances drew crowds, culminating in a triumphant success at a hall in Gloucester.

Watson struggled for several years to earn a living in music, conducting dance concerts and giving lessons on the violin and piano.  He was, however, continually forced to go back to fishing to support himself and his young family.  He advanced his command of the violin under the tutelage of the noted Manuel Fenollosa in Salem, and pursued advanced study in Europe, where he was befriended by the Norwegian violin virtuoso, Ole Bull.

After returning to America, Watson moved to New York City in search of broader musical opportunities.  There he taught, played, and organized musical events.  Successful tours of classically trained European artists like Jenny Lind and Ole Bull created a demand that brought professional musicians like John Watson to the American concert stage.  A highlight of his performing career took place in New York's Steinway Hall, where he was featured as solo violinist at a blue ribbon celebration anticipating the United States Centennial observances of 1876.

As an impresario, Watson staged dozens of "dime entertainments" for ordinary citizens of New York, many of them presented at the Great Hall of Cooper Union.

John Watson was also a prolific composer of piano and violin melodies, taking advantage of the parlor music revolution that swept the country in the decades after the Civil War.  He scored his sheet music with simple melodic lines and basic harmonies that were simple for amateur musicians to play for family audiences.

After a successful career in New York, Watson and his wife moved to Boston to enjoy the vibrant musical life of that city late in the 19th century, and to be close to friends and relatives in Gloucester.

Watson died in 1902 and is buried, together with the members of his family, at the Oak Grove cemetery in Gloucester.  Despite acclaim on the concert halls of New York, Watson remained close in spirit to the fishermen chums of his youth, "among whom he [counted] some of his most steadfast friends."