Addenda for Songs Before Unknown

Addenda for Songs Before Unknown: a Companion to The Sacred Harp, Revised Cooper Edition, 2012

Butterfield, James Austin (May 18, 1837–July 6, 1891) was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England in 1837. He learned to play the violin by the time he was four years old. He dreamed of following music, but at age fifteen his parents put him to work in a trade. He came to the United States in 1856, first lighting in New England but shortly moving to Chicago. He gave violin lessons and taught singing schools, and later established Butterfield and Company in Indianapolis, Indiana. His composed When You and I Were Young for lyrics written by George Washington Johnson of Hamilton, Ontario. The tune was first published by Butterfield in 1866 and later by Oliver Ditson and Company. In 1868 he was made director of the Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church choir in Chicago. He moved to Connecticut for a period of time, but returned to Chicago and his directorship of the Centenary Church choir in 1888. He was the second president of the Music Teachers National Association. Though he is usually remembered as a secular composer, he also composed religious tunes – for example, Victory Over Sin for words by Henry S. Perkins (1833-1914). Butterfield died in Chicago and is buried in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. B. L. Andrews used When You and I Were Young as a template for the tune Long Ago, Comrades.
        582      Long Ago, Comrades (When You and I Were Young)

Butterfield, James Austin
A Hundred Years of Music in America, William Smythe Babcock Mathews, Chicago, IL: G. L. Howe, 1889, pp. 647-650

Hitchcock. “Hitchcock” wrote the music for Fairfield, No. 29a. This composer likely is Miles Hitchcock, the son of Asahel Hitchcock (1743-1824) and Abigail Law (1747-1827) – and a nephew of preacher, music teacher, compiler, and composer Andrew Law (1749-1821). He was born February 3, 1767 in Cheshire, New Haven County, Connecticut and died December 9, 1843 in Gowanus, Long Island, New York. He was a merchant in New York City for many years, having arrived there at least by 1798. After the death of his first wife (name unknown), Hitchcock married Caroline Catalina Vanderbilt (1782-1851) on October 24, 1825. She was born in August 1782 and died April 10, 1851. Miles and Catalina are buried at Flatbush Reformed Dutch Cemetery in Kings County, New York. According to The Genealogy of the Hitchcock Family, Miles Hitchcock had at least four children – two by his first wife and two by his second wife. Two compositions by Hitchcock appear in Andrew Law’s Rudiments of Music between 1786 and 1790. During this period, Miles Hitchcock was procuring music plates for these revisions. His relationship to Andrew Law and his involvement in the publication of Rudiments of Music make it very likely that this Miles Hitchcock is the “Hitchcock” who composed Fairfield. It is worth noting that Fairfield, Connecticut is in Fairfield County, a neighboring county to New Haven County, where Miles Hitchcock was born. Wilton by Hitchcock appeared in a variant second edition of Law’s Rudiments in 1786. There is a Wilton, Connecticut in Fairfield County.

            29a       Fairfield

Hitchcock

Thanks to Mary Huffman and Warren Steel for discovery and information on Miles Hitchcock, with additional information from Ancestry.com, Find-A-Grave.com, et al.

Fairfield is attributed to “Hitchcock” in the third edition of Rudiments of Music, by Andrew Law, 1791 (A Companion to the New Harp of Columbia, Marion J. Hatchett, Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2003, pp. 6, 245). “Fairfield first appeared in the variant second edition of 1787-90 [of Andrew Law’s Rudiments of Music].” (The Makers of The Sacred Harp, David Warren Steel, Richard H. Hulan, Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2010, p. 123).

History of Cheshire, Connecticut, from 1694-1840: including Prospect, which, as Columbia parish, was a part of Cheshire until 1829, Joseph Perkins Beach, Cheshire, CT: Lady Fenwick Chapter, D. A. R., 1912, p. 361.

“Died,” The Evening Post, Monday, December 11, 1843, p. 2

The Genealogy of the Hitchcock Family: Who are Descended from Matthias Hitchcock of East Haven, Conn., and Luke Hitchcock of Wethersfield, Conn., by Mrs. Edward Hitchcock, Sr., East Haven, CT: Press of Carpenter & Morehouse, 1894, p. 158

http://home.olemiss.edu/~mudws/errata.html

Howard, Samuel Lafayette Sr. (December 10, 1860–October 8, 1940) was born in either Muscogee or Harris County, Georgia, the son of James W. Howard and Tinsey Narramore of Muscogee County. He was a composer and singing school teacher, a student of A. J. and J. H. Showalter. He began teaching singing schools in 1886. He was editor of Gospel Banner and an associate editor of Crowning Vocalist and Hymns of Glory. Howard lived with his parents in Muscogee County, Georgia in the 1870, 1880, and 1900 censuses, and was living in Columbus in 1904. The 1900 census lists the occupation of the 38-year old Samuel Howard as “Music Teacher.” Howard married Lydia Dowdell on December 24, 1907 in Lee County, Alabama, and lived at or near Auburn in that county until his death in 1940. In the 1910 census, Howard’s occupation is “Farmer” and he is listed simply as “Prof. Howard”. The B. F. White Sacred Harp added At the Golden Gates to the book in 1950. It previously appeared in The Vocal Class Leader under the title They are Waiting for You and Me, tune by Howard and the words written by G. Beaverson. S. L. Howard died October 8, 1940. He and his wife Lydia are buried at the Pine Hill Cemetery at Auburn, Lee County, Alabama.
            476      At the Golden Gates
 
Howard, Samuel Lafayette
The Best Gospel Songs and Their Composers, A. J. Showalter, Dalton, GA: The A. J. Showalter Co., Dallas, TX: The Showalter-Patton Co., 1904, p. 285
The Montgomery Advertiser, Thursday, October 10, 1940, p. 8
U. S. Federal Censuses, Muscogee County, Georgia, 1870, 1800, 1900; Lee County, Alabama, 1910-1940

Lee, David Jonathan “Johnny” (July 20, 1934–November 1, 2016) Johnny Lee passed away Tuesday November 1, 2016. He was buried Friday the 4th at the High Bluff Cemetery near Hoboken, Georgia.

Obituary, Music Funeral Home

Helwig, Steven (November 18, 1957–January 21, 2018) Steven Helwig passed away Sunday, January 21, 2018 in Gridley, Butte County, California.

Find-A-Grave Memorial

Spurlock, Tom Junior “Tommie” (June 7, 1930—January 24, 2024) … Margaret died March 6, 2020. Tommie died January 24, 2024. They are buried at the Mabson Methodist Church Cemetery in Dale County, Alabama.

Obituary

Find-A-Grave Memorial