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Hubert P. Main

1839 - 1925 Composer of "[I'm a lonely traveler here]" in Chapel Melodies Hubert Platt Main DD USA 1839-1925. Born at Ridgefield, CT, he attended singing school as a teenager. In 1854 he went to New York City and worked as an errand boy in a wallpaper house. The next year he became an errand boy in the Bristow & Morse Piano Company. He was an organist, choir leader, and compiled books of music. He also helped his father edit the “Lute Songbook” by Isaac Woodbury. In 1866 he married Olphelia Louise Degraff, and they had two sons: Lucius, and Hubert. In 1867 he filled a position at William B Bradbury’s publishing house. After Bradbury’s death in 1868 the Bigelow & Main Publishers were formed as its successor. He also worked with his father until his father’s death in 1873. Contributors to their efforts were Fanny Crosby, Ira Sankey, Wilbur Crafts, and others. In addition to publishing, Main wrote 1000+ pieces of music, including part song, singing school songs, Sunday school music, hymns, anthems, etc. He also arranged music and collected music books. He 1891 he sold his collection of over 3500 volumes to the Newberry Library in Chicago, IL, where they were known as the Main Library. Some of his major publications include: “Book of Praise for the Sunday school” (1875), “Little pilgrim songs” (1884), “Hymns of Praise” (`1884), “Gems of song for the Sunday school” (1901), “Quartettes for men’s voices: Sacred & social selections” (1913). In 1922 Hope Publishing Company acquired Bigelow & Main. He was an editor, author, compiler, and composer, as well as publisher. He died in Newark, NJ. John Perry

F. A. Blackmer

1855 - 1930 Composer of "[I'm a lonely traveler here]" in The New Jubilee Harp Blackmer, Francis Augustus. (Ware, Massachusetts, February 17, 1855--October 8, 1930, Somerville, Massachusetts). Advent Christian musician. His parents, Augustus and Jane Blackmer, were among those caught up in the excitement of the Millerite Movement. One son, Fred, became an Advent Christian minister. Francis, with a talent recognized at an early age, consecrated his own life to Christian service as a musician. He was immersed in baptism at the Adventist campmeeting in Springfield, Massachusetts, by Elder Miles Grant. His early years were spend in central Massachusetts, his schooling at Wilbraham Academy. He was largely self-taught in harmony and musical composition. He wrote the words and music to his first gospel song, "Out on the fathomless sea," at the age of sixteen. Altogether he wrote over 300 gospel songs about the Second Coming, witnessing and working for the Lord, and praises to God's Holy Name. A few of these have circulated widely outside his own denomination. His final text, "I shall see him, And be like him," came when he was so weak that his friend, Clarence M. Seamans, had to supply the music. He used the pseudonym, A. Francis, with some of his early songs. Blackmer's first anthology was The Gospel Awakening, (1888). Subsequent gospel songbooks with which he was associated were: Singing by the Way (1895), Carols of Hope (1906), The Golden Sheaf, No. 2 (1916), and Songs of Coming Glory (1926). Most of his adult life was spent in Somerville, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, where he had a prosperous piano business. In the 1890s, his "Francis A. Blackmer Pianos" were made for him by the Washington Hall Piano Company of Boston. Later, his "Good as Gold Pianos" were manufactured by the Christman Piano Company of New York City and shipped directly to his customers throughout New England. In Somerville, Blackmer served as choirmaster and song-leader in the Advent Christian Church for many years. He was also an elder of the church until his death. From 1914 until his death, he was songleader at the mid-summer Alton Bay Campmeeting on Lake Winnepesaukee, New Hapshire. There his High Rock Hill was both a salesroom and a summer cottage over the years. He was a member of the board of directors of the campmeeting association for several years. Very popular were his singing sessions on the campground square between suppertim and evening services, and a final sing into the small hours of the night following the final service of the campmeeting. --Leonard Ellinwood, DNAH Archives

Charles Walker Ray

1832 - 1917 Person Name: C. W. Ray Arranger of "[I'm a lonely traveler here]" in The Revival Helper Rv Charles Walker Ray DD USA 1832-1917. Born at Otselic, NY, he became a Baptist minister. He was educated at Hamlton College, Clinton, NY. He earned his doctorate from Monongahela College, Jefferson, PA. That school closed in 1894. He pastored at North Stonington, CT, for a number of years. He also served at Plymouth, NY. He married Julia Tracy Sheffield, and they had a son, Arthur. He wrote a number of books and song books: “Grace Vernon Bussell, the heroine of western Australia” (1878); “Spicy breezes” (1883); “The day school crown” (1892); “The revival helper: a collection of songs for Christian work and worship” (1893); “Bright blossoms of song” (1895); “Zion’s delight” (1901); “The song of songs of the King and his bride-an interpretation” (1913); “The fallacies and vagaries of misinterpretation” (1914). He died at Philadelphia, PA. John Perry

I. I. Leslie

Author of "I'm a lonely traveler here" in The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book Leslie, Dr. I.I. An Advent Christian writer. --Doris Colby, DNAH Archives

Nathaniel Billings

1768 - 1853 Person Name: N. Billings Composer of "I'M A TRAVELER" in The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book Nathaniel Billings, born in Northbourough, Massachusetts in 1768. It is not known how Billings learned music, but there were several singing masters close to where he lived. He may have been mentored by Abraham Wood, Joseph Stone, or Jacob French. Woods and Stone published Billing's first-published tune NEW SPRINGFIELD in their 1793 The Columbian Harmony. However, Billing's style more closely resembles that of Jacob French. Billings taught a singing school in Cooperstown, New York in 1794. In 1795 he moved to the Troy-Lansingburgh area north of Albany where he published a newspaper, the Recorder with George Gardner, and issued his tunebook The Republican Harmony. In 1797 he married and settled in Paterson, New Jersey. It is not known what sort of work Billings did in Paterson, but he is listed in the 1850 census as a musician. Dianne Shapiro, from "The 'Other' Billings: The Life and Music of Nathaniel Billings (1768-1853), an Early American Composer" byKarl Kroeger and Joan R. Callahan in Notes Second Series, Vol. 60, No. 2 (Dec., 2003), pp. 377-392 (16 pages) Published by: Music Library Association