The Hutchinson Family singers were a very successful group of singers who worked hard for the abolition of slavery, woman's sufferage and the temperance movement. The peak of their popularity was between 1842 and 1852. The four core members of the group were the brothers John, Judson and Asa along with their sister Abbey. When Abbey got married, her husband prevented her from touring around the country, but still allowed her to sing at Abolitionist events in New York City. Judson was the musical genius of the group and wrote nearly all of their original songs. He was also the most emotionally troubled member of the group and committed suicide in 1859. Asa and John broke the group into two parts after Abbey quit and Judson became to ill to travel and perform. Asa, his wife and kids toured the western states, while John and his family toured the North east. They reunited briefly in the early stages of the Civil War, but since they were so politically controversial, the War Department banned them from singing to the Union Army before the end of 1862.
Sources: John Hutchinson wrote a two volume work called "The Tribe of Jessie: The story of the Hutchinson Familly singers" that includes long tracts from Asa's diary plus John's own diary. That book was published in 1896.
A more recent source is "Singing for Freedom: The Hutchinson Familly Singers and the Nineteenth century culture of antebellum reform" by Scott Gac, published in 2007