T. J. Allen: “My beloved friend and brother”

Allen, Thomas Jefferson (February 9, 1853—January 26, 1948) was born in Fayette County, Georgia, the son of John Bryan Allen and Nancy Tilghman. Allen was a singing school teacher, composer, and church music director. He married Sarah E. Helms in 1875 and they had 3 children. After her death, he married Laura Addrana Jernigan (1854-1940) and they had two children. The song She is Sleeping was written upon the death of his daughter Ava (1876-1914). (Ava was married to William Shaw, grandson of John Shaw & Dora Parish and either a brother or a cousin to composer J. M. C. Shaw).[i] Allen’s daughter Maud wrote some alto parts for songs in the Cooper book. T. J. Allen was a member of the Revision Committee of the Fifth Edition of The Sacred Harp (Cooper Revision). W. M. Cooper’s tune Allen (p. 576) is dedicated to T. J. Allen. He is buried at Shady Grove, Pike County, Alabama. 496a was “Inscribed to Dr. W. A. Allen, Atlanta, Ga.” William Aaron Allen (1862—1916), was a younger brother of T. J. (One could assume that Mrs. Emma Jernigan, who wrote the words to 584 and 589 might be some of his wife’s relatives; Emma Alice Dean Weed married Henry R. Jernigan, Allen’s brother-in-law, in 1898.)

33        Gathering Home

97        Gone to Heaven

98        Glory Shone Around

109b    My Home Above (words; removed in 2006)

116      I Will Shout and Sing in Glory

181      The Gospel Invitation (alto)

303      The Fountain (an arrangement of Sincerity)

343b    Nearer My God to Thee (removed in 1992)

355      Hinder Me Not (an arrangement of Augusta)

357      God’s Eternal (an arrangement of Complaint)

392      Over There (removed in 1992)

450      Leaning of Jesus’ Breast (No. 1)

496a    We Shall Meet Again

509      We are Going Home

513b    Whosoever Will

515      When the Lord Shall Come for Me

517      We’ll Wear a Crown (treble)

529      When Jesus Calls

532      O, Jesus, Ever with Us Stay (an arrangement of Present Joys)

540      She is Sleeping

545      I Have a Precious Friend

550      Gone Home (an arrangement of a song by W. T. Dale)

555      Praise the Redeemer (an arrangement of New Hope)

560      Singing As I Go

568       Gone to Rest

578      God’s Wondrous Love

584      I Love to Sing of Jesus

589      The Gates of Paradise

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[i] Probably a brother, since John Shaw died in the Civil War and they are living with Dora Parish’s parents