Tom's second competency case dragged on for years until 1887 when Eliza Bethune and Charity Greene were confirmed as his guardians. Tom, who had been under James Bethune's custody almost his entire life, was bewildered by the change (which left him with a lifelong suspicion of lawyers). His mother was a virtual stranger to him and Eliza seemed determined to separate him from the family that he knew best. When he finally went to his new home in Hoboken, New Jersey, Tom had nothing more than his clothing and his silver flute. This was despite the fortune that Tom had earned for the Bethunes over the years.
His concert career continued as before (although his stage name was changed to Thomas Greene Wiggins) with Eliza in charge. She and her new husband oversaw Tom's career with an almost nonstop series of concerts across the entire United States and Canada. While Tom was able to adjust to his new home with Eliza, things were never the same for him. As for Charity Greene, she returned to Georgia after signing away all rights to her son. In a 1900 newspaper interview, Charity bitterly reported that she had not seen her son in years and had made almost no money from his career despite his success. She died in 1902.
The musical touring continued until 1904 when Tom's health problems made life on the road impossible. His last concert was in Boston in 1905. Even living in seclusion at Eliza's Hoboken home, Tom spent his days playing the piano and pretending that he was still giving concerts. He died from "cerebral apoplexy" (stroke) on June 13, 1908 at the age of 59. While news of his death received nationwide attention, most obituaries failed to mention that he had been exploited his entire life and that his actual family had been left in poverty. The most commonly run obituaries declared Tom to have been "a child all his life"and a "freak pianist" as well as stressing the loving care that he had received from Eliza. Strangely enough, there seems to be some dispute over his actual resting place. While the official record lists his burial place in Evergreen Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, memorial ceremonies have been held in Brooklyn and Columbus, Georgia with gravestones in both cities.
It was John Langdon Down (of Down syndrome fame) who first coined the term idiot savant in 1887 based on his research into mentally defective individuals with amazing cognitive abilities. The term has since been replaced with the (slightly) less objectionable autistic savant. While autism was first independently identified by Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger in the mid-20th century, researchers have established that an estimated 10% of patients falling along the autistic spectrum (including Asperger's syndrome cases) have some form of savant syndrome.
Abilities that have been associated with savant syndrome include phenomenal memory, absolute pitch, mathematical ability, or other splinter skills.Musical and artistic talent tend to be the most commonly occurring savant skills with a special "triad" of blindness, musical talent, and mental disability being noted in the clinical literature over the last century. Savant syndrome occurs in males more frequently than females at a ratio of 6 to 1. Despite different theories relating to brain pathology and savant skills, no clear consensus concerning the role of specific areas of the brain in savant syndrome has emerged.
Other developmental disabilities that have been linked to savant syndrome include mental retardation, prenatal brain damage, or even brain damage occurring later in life in some rare cases. While cases of phenomenal memory have been observed without accompanying brain pathology, the link between savant syndrome and autism appears strong. The actual incidence of savant remains rare with no more than an estimated 100 cases of strong savant ability worldwide. Famous modern cases include Alonzo Clemens, Matt Savage, and Kim Peek (the real-life inspiration for Rain Man).
Despite being a true superstar of the nineteenth century and one of the most
prolific African
American composers of all time, Thomas Green Wiggins faded into obscurity for many years after his death. It was in 1999 when a commercial CD titled John Davis Plays Blind Tom released by pianist John Davis helped revive interest in Tom's work. A play by Robert Earl Price titled Hush: Composing Blind Tom Wiggins was first performed at Atlanta's 7 Stages Theater in 2002 to critical reviews.
The legend of Blind Tom lives on.
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