The St. Joseph observer. [volume] (St. Joseph, Mo.) 1906-1932, 1917-10-06
GEO. FREDERICK
ROOT, MUSICIAN


In the earlier and most doubtful
months of the Civil war in the United
states. when the North was meeting
with reverses. when IL had become
plain that the "3- Months Men" and the
| st contingent of "3-Year-or-During-
the War" men would not see the con-
test thru, President Lincoln at last
had his way about it, and sent out his
Ind call for volunteers. The great
mass OF the people of the north had
not begun to take the war seriously.
I'hey had expected II to be all over In
Few weeks, or a few months. at the
most, and they were disappointed and
annoyed because IL held on and dis
turDed business The president enter
tanned no illusions regarding it. but
he found difficulty in convincing Con-
gress Of the need OF action on n large
scale. Even some OF his cabinet Off
GERS pooh-poohed the notion that the
war could last year. IL outlasted the
year, however, and much more than
the year, and only after a series of
disasters had befallen the Union cause
was II possible for the chief magistrate
to bring the north to a proper realiZa-
tion of the situation. Then his End
and urgent call went out for help In
Chicago, at the time, was a young
musicisn, native of Sheffield, Mass.
who had migrated to the west 70 bet
ter his fortune, and who was now sem
ior partner in a music house destined
to become famous. This was George
Frederick Root. and the house he had
been largely instrumental in founding
was that OF Root q Cady. Young Root
had come honestly by his taste for
music. IT ran in the family. His
grandmother was soprano OF note
back in New England. At 13 her
grandson could play on 13 different in
struments. At Is he found employ
ment in a Boston music store. As a
side issue he taught and composed
music. Moreover. he studied. and was
Influenced by the English singers
Henry Russell and John Philip Knight.
II was in the year 1860 that he settled
in Chicago. In Omaha. at about the
time. were brothers named Lum-
bard. both excellent singers. They
were gifted not only with sweet, but
with powerful voices. They had sung
at intervals successfully in concerts
and other entertainments. At the out
break of the war they also moved TO
Chicago, where they were soon in
great demand. Local patriotic organ
izations took an interest In them, ond
brought them into personal contact
with George F. Root. who had by this
time composed several popular songs.
1t is a strange fact that he was asham-
ed of l of these ditties, "Rosaiie, the
Prairie Flower" q ballad that imme-
dfately sprang into favor thruout the
Engllsh-speaking world. Perhaps il
seemed too sentimental to the young
composer; at all events he credited it
to a fictitious author. to whom he gave
the name of wurzel, which is German
for Root. '"The First Gun Is Fired"
was his earliest war song: "I.av Me
Down and Save the Flag" soon follow
ed, and, in response to Lincoln's End
call for volunteers, he wrote the words
and music Of "The Battle Cry of Free
dom!" 1t Is history that the Lumbards
were eagerly waiting to take the man
uscript OF this song as soon as II was
written. They were under contract
with 1 OF the local patriotic organlza-
tions, already referred to. to sing in
spring war songs from the steps of
the old Cook county court house. with
the view of stimulating enlistment.
The 1st time the Lumbards sang THE
Battle Cry OF Freedom!" young men
| from the throng in the court houcc
square came forward by the dozen and
signed the enlistment rolls. An1 so
it continued to be day after day. and
week after week, for months. The
song Sold all over the north, as fast
as the printing presses could turn out
the sheets. IT was sung by the minstrel
troupes; it was sung by the soldiers
at the front; It became the rallying
song OF the Union cause. Following
this, Root composed 1.-The Vacant
Chair" "Just Before the Battle, Moth
err" and later. perhaps the most
catchy and popular of all his war bal
lads, Tramp, Tramp. Tramp. the
Boys Are Marching" Each of these.
and others Of his composition, the
Lumbards sang. So great a favorite
had George r. Root become. as
composed, that the throngs gathered
at Union war meetings called for his
sentimental as well as for his war
songs, and the Lumbards accommo-
dated them with "In the Hazel Dell
My Nelly's Sleeping" Rock Me TO
Sleep, Mother" and There's Music in
the Air"