Legacy of the Sacred Harp

Acknowledgments

xiii ACkNOWLeDGMeNTS For their help with Legacy of the Sacred Harp, I am indebted to the following people and sources: The genealogy book, Dumas Families of Union Parish, Louisiana, by John H. Wilson, Carine Dumas Nolan, and Lorena Craighead Dumas, which was published in 1979 by the Dumas Family Reunion. John H. Wilson’s research, plus that of professional genealogists Dr. John e. Manahan and Yvette Longstaff , contributed needed information to publications by other branches of the family tree and furnished me with the names, dates, and places of my early family history. Carine Dumas Nolan provided almost daily guidance and support during my research, and after her death, Carine’s youngest sister, Melba Dumas Brashier, generously continued to share special knowledge of the family. Four long lost, but now found, cousins—Mabel Crenshaw Goehe, Martha Dumas Abel, Faye Dumas Kimbrell, and Jo Rice—simplified the complex list of family members by agreeing to speak through one important composite character, the resulting cousin Barbara. My immediate family kept me focused and motivated through the investigative process: my husband, Douglas Webb, who insisted that I continue on this historical path as far as it could lead me; my mother, Hettie Stradley, who overcame her hesitancies of disturbing long-buried issues and became entranced, like myself, with each new discovery; my son, Michael Arden, who devotedly provided technical support through numerous computer disasters; my brother, John Stradley, who grew steadily more involved with the unfolding story of a family Bible listed in an ancestor’s estate and presented me with a similar, rare Geneva translation of the Bible, published in 1599. My friend and fellow church choir soprano, Dr. kay Norton, associate professor of music history at Arizona State University and author of a defining book on pre-Sacred Harp music, Baptist Offspring, Southern Midwife, Jesse Mercer’s Cluster of Spiritual Songs (1810): A Study in American Hymnody, provided precision-focused insights and unfailing academic guidance. kay Norton’s mentor, C. Ray Brewster, author of The Cluster of Jesse Mercer, also shared his special knowledge with me. Legacy of the Sacred Harp xiv I relied extensively on the scholarship and writings of kiri Miller in her books The Chattahoochee Musical Conventions, 1852-2002 and Traveling Home, Sacred Harp Singings and American Pluralism; on David W. Music’s I Will Sing the Wondrous Story, A History of Baptist Hymnody in North America; and on Warren Steel’s postings on www.Fasola.org and in email correspondence. Ian West directed me to superb websites for information in the United kingdom, such as www.NationalArchives.gov.uk, where I obtained a copy of an ancestor’s will dated 3 February 1625/6. Innumerable singers generously shared their personal knowledge about Sacred Harp music: John Plunkett, a Sacred Harp scholar; Don Clark; Buell Cobb; Richard DeLong; Amanda Denson; Harry eskew; Mike Hinton; Hugh McGraw; Richard Mauldin; David Music; Gaylon Powell; Donald Ross; and Robert Vaughn. Joe Dan Boyd shared his research of Sacred Harp music in the black community and allowed me to use photographs from his book, Judge Jackson and the Colored Sacred Harp, published by Alabama Folklife Association. Jason Runnels of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary gave able assistance with historically important music and rare books. Margaret (Maggie) Leonard, a Tucson singer, read an early version of this manuscript, and her questions and comments helped clarify the story. esther Huckaby, long-time teacher at Texas Christian University and my dear friend, gave freely of her knowledge and heart while opening doors that were beyond my field of vision. The Sacred Harp Publishing Company, publisher of The Sacred Harp 1991 edition, deserves special thanks for the music notation referenced in this text. Judy Alter, then-director of TCU Press, saw promise in the manuscript I submitted, and the skillful expertise of the editorial and production staff, Susan Petty, Sarah Dombrowsky, and Melinda esco, has brought the promise to fulfillment. An unnamed reader, who read the manuscript twice, gave generous advice and encouragement that I greatly appreciate. Finally, I am most grateful to my grandmother, Terry Louisa Dumas Nolan, who gave me her worn Sacred Harp songbook that began the long journey of Legacy of the Sacred Harp that has become for me, as it was for her, a joyful expression of life on an unending path. ...