Benjamin Hanby
The Hanby House, c. 1905
The Hanby House in 2020

Benjamin Russell Hanby (July 22, 1833 – March 16, 1867), sometimes spelled Benjamin Russel Hanby,[1] was an American composer, educator, pastor, and abolitionist. He is known for composting approximately 80 songs and hymns, most notably "Darling Nelly Gray" and the Christmas songs "Up on the Housetop", and "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas".

Life and legacy

Hanby was born in Rushville, Ohio on July 22, 1833.[2] In 1849, he moved to Westerville to enroll at Otterbein University,[3] and was later involved in the Underground Railroad with his father Bishop William Hanby.

In 1856, at what is now the national historic site the Hanby House,[4] Hanby composed the popular anti-slavery ballad "Darling Nelly Gray",[5] based on his encounter with Joseph Selby, a runaway slave from Kentucky who had died in the Hanby's Rushville home.[6] Hanby went on to write several other notable anti-salvery songs, including "Ole Shady", "The Song of the Contraband", and "Little Tillie's Grave".[7]

After graduating in 1858, Hanby briefly taught school before becoming a minister in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1860, he became the principal of Seven Mile Academy in Seven Mile, Ohio.

By Christmas of 1864, after some time as a minister in a church in New Paris, Ohio, Hanby was operating a singing school in the town.[5] Here, he composed "Up On The Housetop" as a Christmas sing-along, originally titled "Santa Claus". In 1865, Chicago-based publisher George Frederick Root published the song and brought Hanby to Chicago to pursue other ventures.

On March 16, 1867, Hanby died in Chicago from tuberculosis at the age of 33.[5] He is buried in Otterbein Cemetery in Westerville. Today, the Hanby House is a museum managed by the Westerville Historical Society.

References

  1. ↑ "Benjamin Russel Hanby, Ohio Composer-Educator, 1833–1867 (1987)" in C. B. Galbreath, Song Writers of Ohio, in 14 Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications 180 (1905).
  2. ↑ Benjamin Hanby at Ohio History Central
  3. ↑ William Osborne, Music in Ohio 421 (2004); Galbreath, supra, at 183.
  4. ↑ "Hanby, Benjamin, House (added 1970 - - #70000493)". National Register of Historic Places.
  5. 1 2 3 ""Benjamin Russel Hanby", Hanby House". Archived from the original on 2015-04-12. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  6. ↑ "Benjamin Hanby and His Anti-Slavery Song". Westerville Public Library. Archived from the original on January 28, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  7. ↑ "The Civil War in Sheet Music". Ohio History Connection. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
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