Sacred Harp Cousins

Two important individuals to the “J. L. White Book” tradition of The Sacred Harp after the death of James Landrum White were cousins Sam C. Mann and Mary B. Lloyd White. Mary was J. L.’s daughter. The rights to the book may have passed to her; at the least she was the one from whom the book was ordered. Sam, son of J. L.’s sister Mallie, appears to have been after J. L.’s death the most active leader in promoting the book and the singings from it.

Lloyd, Mary Burdette White (1888–October 2, 1946) was the only daughter of J. L. White and Mary Melinda Clarke. She married Ewell Kenneth Lloyd (1894–1954) sometime between 1920 and 1930. Fourth Edition Sacred Harp books – probably printed in the 1930s or later – advises purchasers to “Address All Orders To” M. White Lloyd, 2199 Woodland Ave NE, Atlanta, Ga. City directories show that Mary lived on Woodland Avenue at least 1933-1936.[i] The book rights passed from J. L. to Mary. She “periodically has reprints made” – according to an anonymous Atlanta reporter in 1937 – and “the last two years have shown an increase in that demand…” Mrs. Lloyd may have been responsible for the last printing in 1946, the year she died. Mary and her husband are buried at the Westview Cemetery in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156170414/mary-burdette-lloyd

“Mrs. E. K. Lloyd Dies; Funeral Rites Today,” The Atlanta Constitution, Thursday, October 3, 1946, p. 24

Mann, Samuel Chupp (February 24, 1882–April 23, 1958) was the son of Wesley Brown Mann (q.v.) and Thurza Melvina “Mallie” White. He was born in DeKalb County, Georgia. He was a grandson of John J. Mann and Mary R Harper, of Griffin County, Georgia. He married Maude Stephens Smith, January 23, 1907 in Fulton County. Sam and Maud had six known children. He was a member of Calvary Baptist Church.[ii] He died in Fulton County and is buried at the Greenwood Cemetery, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. Sam’s obituary says that he was a 40-year member of Electrical Workers Local No. 84, and was a cable splicer for Georgia Power Company. Songwriter R. F. M. Mann was his uncle. S. C. Mann was not a composer, but he served on the revision committees in 1910 and 1911, and was one of the chief promoters of the “White book” after the death of J. L. White. He served many times as an officer of the B. F. White Interstate Convention. The Atlanta Constitution quotes Mann as saying, “We sing for what we can get out of it—the inspiration and religious environment…Once we get the spirit and inspiration of the hymn, there is no stopping. We are just carried along.”

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=88271638

“150 Voices Blend in Dixie Sing,” The Atlanta Constitution, Sunday, September 11, 1949, p. 2-A

”Samuel C. Mann,” The Atlanta Constitution, Thursday, April 24, 1958, p. 37

“200 Sacred Harp Singers Convene,” The Atlanta Constitution, Saturday, August 14, 1937, p. 7

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[i] She may have been there at the time of her death, though her obituary gives 2199 Stephen Long Dr NE instead of 2199 Woodland Ave NE.

[ii] Presumably the same Calvary Baptist Church where the White Book Convention met before moving to the Fulton County Courthouse in 1925.