[1] Horace left home as a child, learned several musical instruments when young, including accordion, violin, and guitar, and worked as a dance teacher.

He entertained fellow crew members with his banjo playing, before joining the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment.

Over the next few years, he played with various minstrel shows in Boston and New York, and toured Canada, as well as undertaking work in theatres.

He played on the boat Plymouth Rock, and then in the company's production of Uncle Tom's Cabin, which they presented in Europe in 1878.

[3] He was among the first African Americans to gain a significant reputation as a musician, was a major star of minstrel shows, and was billed as "The World's Greatest Banjoist".

"[1] In later years he was increasingly affected by rheumatism and then by dropsy, which led to his death at his home in Bleecker Street, New York, in 1890.