Legacy of the Sacred Harp

Chapter 4. The Home Place, 1822

Legacy of the Sacred Harp 36 Chapter 4 The Home Place, 1822 in Georgia in the autumn of 1990, only a few months after the Dumas reunion in Louisiana, Doug and I found ourselves attending the reunion of another family branch, descending from Benjamin Franklin Dumas’ son edmund. We were welcomed warmly and introduced throughout the chatty crowd as “longlost kin, from the brother who went west.” My pictures from the Louisiana occasion were examined with interest, and several newfound “cousins” delightedly commented on seeing resemblances to other known relatives. As I attempted to catch up, not on the past year’s events, but on the past century and a half, I was disappointed when no one could locate the original Dumas home. Despite having deep roots in the state, I found this branch had little knowledge of their ancestry—these descendants of edmund Dumas were not aware that he had composed Sacred Harp music or music of any kind. One woman who was familiar with the music told me that her mother, edmund’s great-granddaughter as well as an accomplished musician and vocalist, had been classically trained and therefore looked down on the shape-note music and its “country” roots. Most of the family had not heard the story of Davie Dumas’ California gold either. The oldest great-aunt recalled that the Davie Dumas uproar occurred about the time she married, but she could not remember how the story ended. “No one ever got any money, as far as I know,” she said, laughing. “It’s obvious we didn’t.” Finally, I struck an easy friendship with a recently retired teacher from an Atlanta suburb. Barbara was interested in documenting her personal family tree, a project initiated by her long-deceased mother. She mentioned an elderly cousin, Mary, who had in her possession the edmund Dumas family’s Bible with a page listing all the children’s birth, marriage, and death dates. “Mary couldn’t come today because she’s having hip problems,” Barbara said. “She lives in Roswell, north of Atlanta. I’ll get in touch with her, and we’ll see what Mary and the old family Bible can tell us.” Barbara, who was 37 eager to join in my search for the original home site, then promptly contacted her cousin Mary. early the next week, Barbara and I met to begin our exploration at the depot in Barnesville and together examined the edmund Dumas family’s Bible, borrowed from Mary. Thoughtfully Mary had made copies of the handwritten documentation for Barbara and me to keep, but we were eager to look at the real thing. Barbara carefully opened the box, lifted the large Bible onto the table, and turned to the Family Tree. Tied with a dainty thread, an unidentified lock of golden hair fell from between the pages. I pictured edmund’s wife, Isabel, clipping the delicate strand of baby’s curls and tucking it into the Bible for safekeeping. That lock, placed there with the list of her babies, spoke of a tender moment in time. Perhaps Isabel had clipped the curls from the head of her first born, before she was constantly busy with one new baby after another. “edmund left tracks all over history,” I pondered, “But did you ever hear about Isabel? Other than having all these children, I mean?” Thinking of my daughter elise’s long-ago disagreement with edmund Dumas’ view on a woman’s role in marriage, I wondered if Isabel would agree that a woman’s role should include obedience. At a recent Sacred Harp singing, I’d heard other singers object to the words of edmund’s controversial song, “edmonds” #115 in The Sacred Harp: “The woman is commanded her husband to obey, In everything that’s lawful, Until her dying day.” The song was seldom sung, and some suggested that it should be omitted from the songbook’s next edition. Someone had taken great care to insure that the edmund Dumas family of thirteen children was well documented in the family Bible. The edmund Dumas (1810-1881), county ordinary (or judge) of Monroe County, Georgia, was a circuit-riding preacher, singing school master, and composer of shape-note sacred harp music. edmund Dumas also served in the Georgia legislature. Chapter 4 The Home Place, 1822 Legacy of the Sacred Harp 38 delicate handwriting appeared unhurried and flowed smoothly across the page with...