Darling Nelly Gray Sheet Music
Dublin Core
Title
Darling Nelly Gray Sheet Music
Subject
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
Music--United States--19th century
Music--United States--19th century
Description
The sheet music for Benjamin Russel Hanby's song "Darling Nelly Gray" was published in 1882 as one in a series of World Renowned Plantation Songs. Although they were published separately and are not included here, the cover page lists other songs in the series, "Dearest Mae, " "Old Shady, " "The Old Folks at Home, " and "Lilly Dale."
Composer Benjamin Russel Hanby (1833-1867) was born in the small town of Rushville, Fairfield County, Ohio, southeast of Columbus. Hanby's father was a minister with strong abolitionist sympathies and their home was a station on the Underground Railroad. Hanby was by deeply affected by the story of a fugitive slave who took refuge in the Hanby home in 1842 while escaping from Kentucky. Before his death from pneumonia, he told about his sweetheart Nelly Gray, who had been sold into slavery in Georgia. This was the inspiration for the song "Darling Nelly Gray, " which Hanby composed in 1856 while attending Otterbein College in Westerville. The song became popular among Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War and has often been regarded as the "Uncle Tom's Cabin" of song. Hanby also wrote "Santa Claus, or Up on the House Top."
Composer Benjamin Russel Hanby (1833-1867) was born in the small town of Rushville, Fairfield County, Ohio, southeast of Columbus. Hanby's father was a minister with strong abolitionist sympathies and their home was a station on the Underground Railroad. Hanby was by deeply affected by the story of a fugitive slave who took refuge in the Hanby home in 1842 while escaping from Kentucky. Before his death from pneumonia, he told about his sweetheart Nelly Gray, who had been sold into slavery in Georgia. This was the inspiration for the song "Darling Nelly Gray, " which Hanby composed in 1856 while attending Otterbein College in Westerville. The song became popular among Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War and has often been regarded as the "Uncle Tom's Cabin" of song. Hanby also wrote "Santa Claus, or Up on the House Top."
Creator
Benjamin Hanby (Composer)
Source
Otterbein University, via Ohio Memory
Publisher
Oliver Ditson Company
Date
1882
Contributor
Callie McCune
Rights
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Relation
http://www.ohiomemory.org/u?/p267401coll36,5473
Coverage
Westerville (Ohio), Franklin County (Ohio)
Contribution Form
Online Submission
No
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Files
Click the Image for Full Size
Collection
Citation
Benjamin Hanby (Composer), "Darling Nelly Gray Sheet Music," in Ohio Civil War 150 | Collections & Exhibits, Item #1942, http://www.ohiocivilwar150.org/omeka/items/show/1942 (accessed May 25, 2013).
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Special Thanks to Ohio Memory, a joint project of OHS and the State Library of Ohio.
