William McKinley

U.S. President William McKinley, born today in 1843, served in office from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. He became a Methodist at age sixteen, and was known in later years for praying and reading the Bible daily.  He apparently considered ordination, and his mother believed that he would be a Methodist bishop some day.

McKinley remained close to his mother throughout her life, and when she became ill in 1897 he had a direct telegraph wire installed between her home and the White House so that he could receive frequent updates on her condition.  When he learned that she was near death, he wired back "Tell Mother I'll be there."  He traveled to Canton, Ohio by train and was at her side when she died on December 12, 1897.

The story spread through the news media and "Tell Mother I'll be there" became a well-known phrase in its day.  Gospel song writer Charles M. Fillmore was inspired to write today's song from the President's words, changing the context a bit.

When I was but a little child, how well I recollect
How I would grieve my mother with my folly and neglect;
And now that she has gone to heav’n I miss her tender care:
O Savior, tell my mother, I’ll be there!

Refrain
Tell mother I’ll be there, in answer to her prayer;
This message, blessèd Savior, to her bear!
Tell mother I’ll be there, heav’n’s joys with her to share;
Yes, tell my darling mother I’ll be there.

Though I was often wayward, she was always kind and good;
So patient, gentle, loving when I acted rough and rude;
My childhood griefs and trials she would gladly with me share:
O Savior, tell my mother, I’ll be there!
Refrain

One day a message came to me, it bade me quickly come
If I would see my mother, ere the Savior took her home;
I promised her, before she died, for heaven to prepare:
O Savior, tell my mother, I’ll be there!
Refrain

Text and Tune: Charles M. Fillmore, 1898
TELL MOTHER I'LL BE THERE (Irregular with refrain)

McKinley only survived his mother by a few years and was murdered by the anarchist Leon Czolgosz six months into his second term of office.  He lived just over a week after being shot, and his last words were reportedly "Nearer, my God to thee, Nearer to thee..."

Following his death, his favorite hymns were widely reported: Nearer, my God to thee and Lead, kindly light, and both were sung during the funeral services at the Capitol and elsewhere.  Enterprising music publishers released the sheet music to these hymns, as seen below.

Four Years Ago: O God, to us show mercy

Steps Unto Heav'n

Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me;
Still, all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God to thee;
Nearer to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Though like the wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness be over me,
My rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be,
Nearer, my God, to thee;
Nearer to thee,
Nearer to thee!

There let the way appear,
Steps unto heav'n;
All that thou sendest me,
In mercy giv'n;
Angels to beckon me,
Nearer, my God, to thee;
Nearer to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts
Bright with thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs,
Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to thee;
Nearer to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Or if on joyful wing,
Cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot,
Upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to thee;
Nearer to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Sarah Flower Adams, 1841
Tune: PROPIOR DEO (6.4.6.4.6.6.4.4.)
Arthur Sullivan, 1872

Context is here at the bottom of the entry.

Catching Up

I haven't changed this to a weekly blog, but I'm still having trouble with my computer and the internet. Ordinarily I bring the hymns to you, but this week I'm sending you out to find some on your own.

These are some of the entries you might have seen this week.

Monday, February 22

James Russell Lowell (1819 - 1891) American poet and educator

Sarah Flower Adams (1805 - 1848) British Unitarian poet

Friday, February 26

George C. Stebbins (1846 - 1945) American gospel song composer and author of a 1924 book containing his personal reminiscences of his fellow composers (which I consult often when writing about them).

Saturday, February 27

William J. Kirkpatrick (1838 - 1921) American gospel song composer

Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848 - 1918) British composer

In addition, Wednesday, February 24 was the feast day of Saint Matthias. the first apostle chosen following the Ascension, who has had a few hymns written for him. Also, Tuesday, February 23 was the feast day of the lesser-known Saint Polycarp, about whom I might have written...

O Polycarp, Saint Polycarp,

We sound your praises on the harp;

We wish this hymn were longer, true,

But few have ever heard of you,

C.W.S., 2008

Tune: VOM HIMMEL HOCH (L.M.)

Geistliche Lieder, 1539

harm. Johann Sebastian Bach, 18th cent.

But I didn't, because of my computer troubles.

Hope to resume regular posting sometime this week. Come back again.

Eliza Flower

Composer Eliza Flower, born on this day in 18o3, was the older sister of hymnwriter Sarah Flower Adams. However, her music is all but unknown today.

She displayed musical talent from an early age and composed songs under the direction of a teacher who was also the organist at the village church in Harlow, where the Flower girls grew up. In 1831 her first published composition appeared: Fourteen Musical Illustrations of the Waverley Novels (of Sir Walter Scott).

Eliza and Sarah had became the wards of the Unitarian minister William Johnson Fox following the deaths of their parents. They sang in the choir at Fox's South Place Chapel, and when Fox planned a hymnal for his congregation, both girls made contributions to it. Eliza, in fact, became the musical editor of the book, Hymns and Anthems, writing sixty-three original tunes (out of the 150 hymns) and arranging some of the others. Sarah's hymn Nearer, my God, to thee, appeared here, with a tune by Eliza. Sadly, the only edition of this hymnal that is available online does not include the tunes. I am continuing the search.

So what happened to all of those tunes? The Church of England Quarterly Review, in 1842, pronounced Eliza's work in Fox's hymnal to "exhibit genius of the highest order," "finely harmonized, and vividly depict(ing) the feeling of the words." Another (unnamed ) critic says that, "in musical composition, (she) attained a higher rank than, before her time, had been reached by any of her sex." Were the tunes simply too out of fashion for later generations?

I have only found one of them which appeared in the Bristol Tune Book (1891), though it's not quite a hymn -- more of a national song: Now pray we for our country (scroll down to the bottom of the page). It's also possible that the five tunes in Christopher Wordsworth's hymnal The Holy Year (1864) credited to "E.F." were Eliza's, but that was nearly 20 years after her death. The only tenuous connection I have found is that the Flower sisters were friends of Wordsworth's more famous cousin, the poet William Wordsworth.

One possible explanation for the disuse of Flower's hymn tunes stems from her personal life. In 1835, following the marriage of Sarah, Eliza returned to William Fox's house, reportedly to manage his household. But Fox also separated from his wife around this time, and Flower continued to live with Fox and his children until her death in 1846 (of consumption). In A Historical Dictionary of British Women (2003), we read that "although their relationship was platonic, the connection brought a degree of social ostracism upon her." It seems that that disapproval (the situation was widely known and appears in a number of contemporary accounts) might have kept hymnal editors from considering her tunes.

One Year Ago: Anna Laetitia Waring

Sarah Flower Adams

English Unitarian hymnwriter and poet Sarah Flower Adams (February 22, 1805 - August 14, 1848) was born in Essex. Her father, Benjamin Flower, was the editor of the Cambridge Intelligencer, a "journal of weekly events,"and was known as a radical, urging political reform (he was jailed temporarily for referring to a Church of England bishop as an apostate). Sarah's mother, Eliza Gould Flower, who once operated a school for girls, had met Benjamin after first corresponding with him regarding their shared ideals, as expressed in his newspaper.

Followiing the death of both parents, Sarah and her sister Eliza became the wards of William Johnson Fox, a popular Unitarian minister and orator. Fox wanted to produce a hymnal for his London congregation, and both sisters contributed to it. The first edition appeared in 1841, containing thirteen hymn texts by Sarah and more than sixty tunes by Eliza. This text by Sarah, now loved around the world, survived and flourished, though Eliza's tune for it did not.

Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me;
Still, all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God to thee;
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Though like the wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness be over me,
My rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be,
Nearer, my God, to thee;
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

There let the way appear,
Steps unto heav'n;
All that thou sendest me,
In mercy giv'n;
Angels to beckon me,
Nearer, my God, to thee;
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts
Bright with thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs,
Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to thee;
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Or if on joyful wing,
Cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot,
Upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to thee;
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!

Sarah Flower Adams, 1841
Tune: BETHANY (6.4.6.4.6.6.6.4.)
Lowell Mason, 1856

This tune by Lowell Mason became the most familiar one in the US, printed in many hymnals, and also as sheet music (pictured above). It has been sung at the funerals of several Presidents such as Ford, Garfield, and McKinley (the first lines were reportedly among McKinley's dying words).

Of course, its most enduring historical association is with the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic in 1912. Several survivors reported that the ship's band continued to play as the lifeboats were launched, and that the last song played was this hymn. At least two film versions of the disaster (1963 and 1997) used Mason's tune, though it seems unlikely that the band (all British) would have played the American tune. Anglican hymnals usually used a tune by John Bacchus Dykes, HORBURY (used in the 1957 British film A Night to Remember) while British Methodists knew Arthur Sullivan's PROPIOR DEO. The band leader, Wallace Hartley, was a Methodist and his family later said that he would have chosen the Sullivan tune (which was used for this hymn at his funeral) but did all the other band members know the same tune? Also, both British and American survivors claimed to have recognized the hymn, so it's impossible to say with any certainty exactly what tune was played. The text is certainly appropriate to the tragedy.