[When I shall stack my arms down here and quit the walks of men]

Composer: Chesley Bray

Aaron Chesley Bray, Sr. was born in Houlka Mississippi in 1905. He died in 1968 and is buried in Pinecrest Cemetery in Calhoun County, Mississippi. His musical education came from the Hartford Music Normal, the Vaughn Music Normal and instruction received from J.A. Roane, W.B. Walbert, Prof. Huddleston and Prof. Lancaster. He was principle of Southern Gospel School of Music for eight years and a harmony instructor at the Denson School of Music in Haleyville, Alabama. In a 1937 publication of the Who’s Who of Southern Singers and Composers, Bray was reported to have written 100 songs. It stated that Bray and his wife, Mattie, traveled the area performing as the Bray duet. He was engaged in the grocery business in Houlka. I… Go to person page >