August 9 Tuesday – Theodore Frelinghuysen Seward wrote to Sam, asking if he might have the “idiot” comment Sam made about Tonic-Sol method being a “rational mode” over the conventional (Staff method), “which was the invention of an idiot.” Sam wrote “NO. SLC” on the letter [MTP].

Franklin G. Whitmore (Whitney ca. Aug. 9 enclosed) wrote, “Your letter with the Pratt & W’s enclosures rec’d,” and that Paige was down sick under a doctor’s care [MTP] 

August 9 Tuesday, after – In Elmira Sam responded with a one-liner to Theodore Frelinghuysen Seward (1835-1902), American musician and teacher. He managed performances of the “Jubilee singers,” and wrote down more than 100 of their plantation melodies during their 1875-6 European tour. Seward wrote and lectured on a new musical notation system he adopted while in London in 1869. He also founded the Brotherhood of Christian Unity, the Don’t Worry Clubs, and the Golden Rule Brotherhood. His book, The Temple Choir, sold more than 100,000 copies (interestingly, not listed in Gribben) [N.Y. Times Sept. 1, 1902 obit]. Sam responded:

I judge the “Tonic-Solfa” notation to be a rational mode of representing music, in place of the prevailing fashion, which was the invention of an idiot [MTP].

Note: for several years there were spirited debates between advocates of the staff system of music notation and the Tonic Sol-fa system, which Seward advocated.