The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1889-05-14
A SONGS HISTORY.
The Unknown Composer Of ''Ever
of Thee"


song that will be interesting reading
TO all lovers Of old melodies.
Perhaps the most popular song ever
written is Ever of Thee" There is
no country on The face of the earth
where this sweet melody is not sung.
Many and many love-sick mortal
tsld the story of his woes by singing il
t. his idol, or, if he was to bsshful, by
sending his inamorata copy Of it.
Ii is not untrue to state that no song
ever had such sale, and certainly no
publisher ever reaped so much profit
from a song as did Mr.. Turner from
the publication of Ever OF Thee.
But there is romance attaching to
ii which, until now, has not been writ
ten. Until now the millions who hum
it and sing it and knowit never dreampt
that Mr.. Turner was not the CO.
poser, and it is strange that the nuJn
concerning il ,uid only be learned in
New York, 5 600 miles from the place
where it WIS composed thirty eight
years ago.
1t happened in this way. On a
cold day In the January of 1850 the
door of Mr.. Turner's music store, in
Poultry, London, was VIGOROUSLY
opened, anu most uncIean-looking,
ragged specimen OF humanity dragged
himself in. He looked as though he
had not been washed i5r months. His
beard was unkempt and dirty and
matted. For boots he wore some folds
Of filthy rag, and ali 10 al! he was a
specimen ot the genus God he - us. !"
One OF the clerks, Mr.. Mills, said
10 him, You get out o here"
Two ladies who happened to be in
the shop noticed his woe-begone look
and were abou; to offer hin some mon
ey, when a Mr.. T (then clerk
in the establishment and now pros
porous merchant in New York;, see
ing the. poor fellow shiver with cold
ana apparent hunger, pitied him and
brought him into the Workshop so that
he might have "warm-up" by the
stove A few minutes after MIR.
Turne. 49, proprietor. came in, and
seeing t'.o ragged individual, asked
what he wanted aud who allowed
him ill.," II did," said Mr.. E.
"the poor fellow looked so cold AMI
miserable | couldn't send him out In
this piercing wind without giving him
a warm, and, besides, he says be has
some business with you"
Business with me?"
Eyes, sir have a song / should
like you to listen to-"
Turner eyed him from head to foot,
and then laughed outright.
The miserable looking object at the
stove began to grow uneasy, and
begged to be allowed to play the air of
mis- song, which he then unearthed
from his rags and handed to the mu-
sic publisher. Turner looked at it
and said
"Who wrote this?
II did, sir" came from the rags.
You! Well, I'll have it played
over, and if it's any good I'll give you
something for it"
81 beg your pardon, sir! I'd PIE
fer to play it for you myself"
"What! You play? Well, bring
him up to the pianO-room when be
gets warm, and we'll humor him."
In very few minutes the bundle
ofrags was seated at concert grand
piano, and Ever of Thee" was
played for the first time by its COM
poser, James Lawson.
His listeners We're electrified when
they heard this dilapidated-looking
tramp make that piano speak. His
touch was SIMPLY marvellous, and his
very soul seemed to be at his finger
tips. When he had finished he
turned to the little audience an! said:
sid like to sing it fer you, but have
a terrible cold. | haven't been in
bed for five nights. I'm hungry, sir,
and feel that could not do itiustice."
Turner was almost dumb with amaze
men,. The air would take, he knew
it wodld be a success, and he decided
that this man had history which.
perhaps, might advertise the song.
So be determined to cultivate him,
and in fattery Gas he thought) pressed
him to sing lust one stanz,." Law
son protested, but finally agreed, and
if Turner was amazed when he heard
him play, he was positively enrspt-
ured when that hungry voice. hungry
with love, hungry physically, poured
cut in the sweetest of tenors the first
stanza of the song in which his soul
lived. 1t was the story of a lost love,
but be cherished it, and as he sang it,
it was easy to see that he lived and
u IL