Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-11
"JOHN BROWNS BODY.~
How the Song which had Such Great
Popularity Originated.

From the Youths Companion.
In the song "John Browns Body" we have
an example of melody and a set of words
which seem never to have been written or COM
posed by anybody. tits a genuine '.folk-song,''
growing out of widespread sentiment, as
many old folk-songs have DONE which far more
closely respond to the musical wants of the
common people than any carefully prepared
and cleverly composed song could be. In the
case Of this song, however, its recent origin and
almost instant growth into common use give
us an opportunity to trace its beginnings and
development in a way which is impossible with
older songs.
The tune Of "John Browns Body" had its
| origin before the words that are now known
| or remembered in connection with it. It was
sung before the war of the rebellion, as long
| ago, at least. as 1856, to words which do not
now remain in use, at certain New England
| camp meetings and revival services.
| Two members of the Boston militia company
| called the Tigers" happening to be at a
| camp meeting in a small town in New Hamp-
shire, heard the song sung to religious words,
| and remembered the air. The name of one OF
these men was Purington and of the other John
| Brown.
Not long after this the war broke out, and
the Tigers" were made part of the twelfth
Massachusetts regiment of volunteers, which
! rendezvoused at Fort Warren, in Boston har-
Dor. Here the two men already named, Pur-
ington and Brown, formed, with two others,
named Edgerly and Greenleaf, quartet, and
| the quartet sang, among its other songs, all
sorts of words of their own getting up" to
this tune.
John Brown was good-natured Scotchman,
and the members of the quartet say they sang
John Brown this and John Brown that to the
tune UNTIL by an almost unconscious change,
the hero of them was changed from John
Brown, of the Tigers" to John Brown. of
Harper's Ferry, and the grand and simple verse
came into existence:
John Browns body lies a-mouldering in the ground.
But his soul is marching on.
Before this time the masses of the north had
not been in exact sympathy with the purposes
of John Brown, but the excitement of the early
days of the war called out a sentiment which
these words exactly fitted. Whenever the
soldier quartet were in Boston they were called
upon to sing this song. The twelfth regime mt
took it up. Saml c.. Perkins, of Brockton.
member of Maltlands band, which was sta
toned with the regiment at Fort Warren, wrote
down the air while soldier whistled it. Then
the band played it every day.
When Edward Everett formally presented
the set of colors of the twelfth regiment on
Boston common, the speech of acceptance be-
ing made by Col. Fletcher Webster, of the
regiment, the tune was played, and the multi
tude fairly went wild over it. The band played
the tune going up State street in June, 1861,
and the soldiers sang it as they marched along.
The crowd along the sidewalk took up the air
and joined in the chorus:
Glory, glory, hallelujah,
His soul is marching on,
Soon after the regiment sang it in marching
through New York. on the way to Baltimore,
with the same effect. 1t spread at once through
the army and throughout the country, and be-
came the anthem of the union
In December, 1861, Mrs. Julia Ward Howe
wrote for the air the words beginning:
Mine have the glory of the coming Of the
Lord,
which was called 'The Battle Hymn of the Re-
public" which soon became immensely popu-
lar, but never supplanted in common use the
old simple words.
This is the story of the origin of John
Browns Body" as told by the members Of the
band and the regiment with whom it had its
use as popular song.