San Francisco County
Biographies
HENRY CLAY WYSHAM
HENRY CLAY WYSHAM,
of San Francisco, was born in the
city of Baltimore, and comes from
an old Maryland family. His father was an old Baltimorean, and his
mother was of Spanish descent, and of musical celebrity. Prof. Wysham’s
grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
The subject of this
sketch was reared and educated at St. Mary’s College in his native city, and
after taking a preparatory course he entered Harvard
Law School
and graduated in the class of 1851. He
early developed talent for music, and began its study in his native city,
pursuing his studies at the Baltimore Conservatory of Music, under Prof. A. Hamerik, who has just received a decoration of the highest
honor from the king of Sweden. Mr. Wysham subsequently
went to Europe and entered the Royal College of Music,
where he completed his musical education, and after his return he went to Boston
and accepted the position of musical editor of the old Boston Journal, which he
conducted for some time. On account of
ill-health he came to California
in 1885, and since that time he has been successfully engaged in teaching
classes and private pupils. He is
proficient in playing on the organ, piano and Boehm flute, and on the latter is
one of the finest players in this country.
His silver alto flute, presented to him by Moses Hopkins, one of San
Francisco’s prominent citizens, is an instrument of
rare beauty and richness of tone. Prof. Wysham is also a teacher of harmony and devotes much time
to musical composition, and has attracted a great deal of attention in Eastern
cities. He has also contributed much to musical literature, being correspondent of the London Musical Opinion, which reflects
the standard musical thought of London,
and also correspondent of the Boston
Leader, which occupies the same position in this country.
Mr. Wysham has an extended acquaintance with musical
celebrities in this country and Europe, and was a
personal friend of Jenny Lind, having been entertained by her at her home in London. He has thousands of dollars worth of music
which cannot be duplicated, and has one of the finest musical libraries on the
Pacific coast.
Transcribed
by Cathi Skyles.
Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2,
page 322, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.
© 2005 Cathi Skyles.
California Biography Project
San Francisco County
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library