Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-20
JOHN BROWNS BODY"
HOW THE HISTORIC SONG CAME
TO BE WRITTEN.
Words Set to Music of an Old Metho-
dist Tune Sung at Camp
meeting.
From the Chicago Tribune,

From the Chicago Tribune.
Efforts by veterans of the great civil war
to discover the authors of John Browns
Body" from the ash heap of time have
brought to light the history of the stirring
song.
A man in Oshkosh is able to tell the story,
for he was one of the original quartet that
sang 1t over forty years ago, and he assist
ed In the evolution of the song. This mod
est veteran Of the rebellion, who was one
of the men who made the memorable es-
cape from the tunnel at Libby prison, is
James Howard Jenkins, president of the
German National Bank of Oshkosh.
This is how Mr.. Jenkins tells of the birth
OF the song: In the early spring of 1861
the Boston Light Infantry, battalion Of
three companies, under command Of Major
Rogers Of the Boston Journal, was sent to
Fort Warren, in Boston harbor for drill
and garrison duty. This battalion was
made up largely of the better class of city
boys and was to Boston what the 18th Regi-
ment was to New York.
Quartet Of Sergeants.
When the demand for troops became
pressing the battalion offered its services,
which, however could not be accepted, save
as it could be Incorporated in one of the
regiments then forming. Accordingly the
battalion disbanded and a rush was made
by it's members to enlist in the 18th and
18th Regiments. The 18th was completed
first and was sent to Fort Warren for Or
ganization and drill.
Among its members were many excellent
singers. One of the male quartets was COM
posed of four Observation-Disclosures, Brown,
Edgerley and Eldredge-who were continu-
ally on the lookout for a good marching
melody upon which to construct a regi-
mental war song From some unknown
quarter came verse:
John Browns body lies a-moldering in the grave;
His soul is marching on.
Glory, glory, halleluJah!''
In searching for fitting tune they adapt
ed an old campmeetfng melody sung by the
colored Methodists at the Martha's Vine
yard campmeetings to the words:
Come, brothers, will you meet us?''
The song took" at once and the SIM
plicity of the cho, us. with its swing and lilt
made 1t at once popular. The verses that
followed were improvised from time to
time. The death of Col Ellsworth, which
occurred at that time, occasioned the verse:
I'VE lament the death of Colonel Ellsworth
And his pets this Zouaves) will meet him tho
way"
Another Verse Added.
The second tenor of the quartet was a
short, broad-shouldered Scotchman named
John Brown. When he put on his KNAPP
sack for the first time. with his red-lined
overcoat rolled on it's top he looked so
topheavy that the boys laughed at him.
But quick witted and good-natured, he re-
torted by marching up and down, singing:
John Browns knapsack is strapped upon his
back
This was straightway added to the list of
verses. wen hang Jeff Davis to a sour
apple tree" was the natural expression of a
rampant Massac husettS man.
On Saturday afternoons Gilmore's Band
came to the fort to play at dress parade
and large numbers of visitors were also
present. One Saturday the quartet went
sang the song to him, he following with his
cornet till he had fixed the air in his men,
DRY. On his return to Boston he had it ar
ranged for his hand. The following Satur-
day it was played for the first time in
front of the 18th Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry at dress parade at Fort Warren,
Boston harbor.
Sung by Regiment.
On its way to the front the regiment
passed through New York and dined on
City Hall Square. When the line was form
ed to march down Broadway to the ferry
the band struck up John Brown" and the
regiment sang it to the cheers and Shout
ing and excitement of the thousands that
lined the street. While the song became a
national one, yet the 18th Massachusetts
was always known in it's department as the
''hallelujah regiment
OF the original quartet John Brown was
drowned while crossing a swollen stream
near Fort Royal. Eldredge died some years
ago. Edgerley at last accounts was living
in Boston The fourth member of the
quartet ]. H. Jenkins, has lived in Oshkosh
since 1865, and has presented the foregoing
what he conceiveS to be the correct YER
sion of the origin of the most famous of
the northern battle songs of the civil war;