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A. J. Showalter
1858 - 1924 Composer of "[O God of Light, to Thee we pray]" in The Gospel Way Anthony Johnson Showalter USA 1858-1924/ Born in Cherry Grove, VA, he became an organist, gospel music composer, author, teacher, editor, and publisher. He was taught by his father and in 1876 received training at the Ruebush-Kieffer School of Music, Dayton, VA. He also attended George Root’s National Normal school at Erie, PA, and Dr Palmer’s International Normal at Meadville, PA. He was teaching music in shape note singing schools by age 14. He taught literary school at age 19, and normal music schools at age 22, when he also published his first book. In 1881 he married Lucy Carolyn (Callie) Walser of TX, and they had seven children: Tennie, Karl, Essie, Jennie, Lena, Margaret, and Nellie. At age 23 he published his “Harmony & composition” book, and years later his “Theory of music”. In 1884 he moved to Dalton, GA, and in 1890 formed the Showalter Music Company of Dalton. His company printed and published hymnals, songbooks, schoolbooks, magazines, and newspapers, and had offices in Texarkana, AR, and Chattanooga, TN. In 1888 he became a member of the M T N A (Music Teachers National Association) and was vice-president for his state for several years. In 1895 he went abroad to study methods of teachers and conductors in Europe. He held sessions of his Southern Normal Music Institute in a dozen or more states. He edited “The music teacher & home magazine” for 20 years. In 1895 he issued his “New harmony & composition” book. He authored 60+ books on music theory, harmony, and song. He published 130+ music books that sold over a million copies. Not only was he president of the A J Showalter Music Company of Dalton, GA, but also of the Showalter-Patton Company of Dallas, TX, two of the largest music publishing houses in the American south. He was a choir leader and an elder in the First Presbyterian Church in Dalton (and his daughter, Essie, played the organ there). He managed his fruit farm, looking after nearly 20,000 trees , of which 15,000 are the famous Georgia Elberta peaches, the rest being apples, plums, pecans, and a dozen other varieties of peaches. He was also a stockholder and director of the Cherokee Lumber Company of Dalton, GA, furnishing building materials to a large trade in many southern, central and eastern states. He died in Chattanooga, TN, and is buried in Dalton, GA. He loved hymns, and kept up with many of his students over the years, writing them letters of counsel and encouragement. In 2000 Showalter was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
Note: Showalter received two letters one evening from former music students, both of who were grieving over the death of their wives. He had heard a sermon about the arms of Moses being held up during battle, and managed to form a tune and refrain for a hymn, but struggled to find words for the verses that fit. He wrote to his friend in OH, Rev Elisha Hoffman, who had already composed many hymns and asked if he could write some lyrics, which he gladly did.
John Perry
A. J. Showalter
Franklin W. Bartlett
1843 - 1915 Person Name: Franklin Weston Bartlett, D. D. Author of "O God of Light" in The Gospel Way Bartlett, Franklin Weston, D.D., born at Towanda, Pen., Aug. 30, 1843; B.A., Union University, N.Y., 1865; Hon. M.A., Williams College, Mass.; D.D., Union University; Rector of various churches in Pen. and N. England, and for some time Prof. of Hebrew in Williams College. His hymns appeared mainly in the weekly press, including "Thy glorious name of Love" (Sunday); "0 God Triune, we praise and bless" (Holy Trinity); "Sun of my life, Thy rays divine" (The Christian's Light ). His hymn for Holy Communion, "Saviour, Who didst come to give," in The Hymnal of the Trot. Episcopal Church, 1892, was first printed in The Living Church, 1885, and passed from thence into several collections. It is a great drawback to Dr. Bartlett's hymns that they have not been gathered together in book form.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)
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Bartlett, Franklin Weston (Towanda, Pennsylvania, August 30, 1843--ca.1917). Graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, B.A., 1865, which later honored him with a D.D. degree. In the 1880s he was living in Towanda, then in the next decade was rector of St. John's Episcopal Church, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and professor of Hebrew at Williams College. Williams gave him an honorary M.A. degree. After the turn of the century he was rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Rockport, Mass. His last years were spend in Mansfield, Ohio.
--Leonard Ellinwood, DNAH Archives
Franklin W. Bartlett
