Lot 252

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Lot 252
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Author of Union Marching Song "John Brown's Body"
Author of Union Marching Song "John Brown's Body"
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Description:

Massachusetts Veteran Claims Authorship of Union Marching Song "John Brown's Body"

This important archive addresses the origin of the Civil War's most popular marching song, "John Brown's Body." One item, written by Henry J. Hallgreen in 1915, defends his assertion that he and other non-commissioned officers of the Massachusetts militia originated the song. He declared that while he was the sergeant of the guard one night in the Spring of 1861 at Fort Warren in Boston, he heard two Maine soldiers singing the old camp meeting tune and its familiar chorus of "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah." He rushed back to the non-commissioned officers' barracks and there he and other officers began writing lyrics for a new song, which in part poked fun at a young Scottish recruit who shared the name of the famous abolitionist martyr John Brown. His challenge to the connection between the song and the abolitionist John Brown, even more than a half-century later, raised the ire of Franklin Sanborn (1831-1917), Brown's supporter and biographer.

[CIVIL WAR.] Henry J. Hallgreen Archive, 1841-1915. 19 pp. + 3 volumes. Expected folds; some wear to bindings; two tears in Sanborn letter; some pages cut from journal; very good.

Highlights and Excerpts
• Henry J. Hallgreen, Autograph Document, ca. 1915, Massachusetts. 1 p.
"The Boston Herald of Thursday Feb. 25, in an account of a meeting of the Old Guard of Mass. mentions Capt. H. J. Hallgreen among the speakers and his subject 'The origin of the John Brown song' as follows:
"The story of 'John Brown's Body,' the song that was the inspiration of the marching thousands of Union soldiers during the civil war, was told vividly last night by its originator Capt. Henry J. Hallgreen at the annual meeting of the Old Guard of Mass. at the City Club. The song was brought out in April 61, during the service of the Boston Light Infantry at Fort Warren and was elaborated later by the officers and men of the 12th Massachusetts. Capt. Hallgreen said when he first heard the Glory, Hallelujah it was being hummed by two lonely recruits from Maine and the John Brown referred to was a young Scotch recruit of that name, the J. B. of abolition fame had no connection with the original song. – And now comes in the Sunday Herald of Feb. 28 a long question and his opinion of F. B. Sanborn of Concord which seemed to favor its origin by the 12th Mass.
"Now finding a good man who has only a partial knowledge of the subject, obtained by perusing the published versions of Howard Jenkins and Sergt. Kimball of the 12 Mass. I sent him the true version of how I discovered the merits of the chorus of the old pennyroyal of 'Oh say brothers will you met us in the"
• Franklin Sanborn, Typed Letter Signed, to Henry J. Hallgreen, April 2, 1915, Concord, Massachusetts. 1 p.
"I suppose you to have been one of those Bostonians who, in December 1860, were so fond of negro slavery, that they got up mobs to put down the abolitionists; not foreseeing that in two years more they would be fighting, south, east and west, to support President Lincoln in his wise policy of emancipation. John Brown foresaw that slavery must either be destroyed or it would destroy the Union, as it did its worst to do. The John Brown Song was an evidence that the Union armies recognized the foresight of Brown and encouraged the forethought of Lincoln. Your Ellsworth song had no currency, because Ellsworth had no standing in the world of thought, in comparison with Brown, a man such as only appears once in three centuries."
• Henry J. Hallgreen, Autograph Document, Memorial of Thomas G. Stevenson, May 18, 1864, Boston, Massachusetts. 1 p.
• Henry J. Hallgreen, Autograph Document Signed, Inventory of the Estate of Roland B. Hallgreen, ca. 1899. 1 p.
• Henry J. Hallgreen, Autograph Letter Signed, to Ruth, January 9, 1901, Chelsea, Massachusetts. 4 pp.
Delightfully illustrated letter to his granddaughter with a story about George Washington.
• Henry J. Hallgreen, Autograph Letter, to Roland [Gair Brown], August 26, 1909, Boston, Massachusetts. 2 pp.
• Henry J. Hallgreen, Autograph Letter, to Roland [Gair Brown], January 23-25, 1913, Everett, Massachusetts. 2 pp.
• Henry J. Hallgreen's copies of two music books:
o Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Elijah, An Oratorio, English version by William Bartholomew (Boston: George P. Reed & Co., n.d. [ca. 1853]). 296 pp.
o Music to be performed at the World's Peace Jubilee and International Music Festival, in Boston, June, 1872 (Boston: Oliver Ditson and Company, 1872). 177 + 35 pp. "H. J. Hallgreen" stamped on the cover.
• Hardbound journal with the texts of several poems or lyrics, including "My Own Native Home" and "Comfort" by Hallgreen. He copied others from publications, including Punch, the British humor magazine established in 1841. 92 pp.; 16 pp. with text.
• Roster and Payroll of Company H, 5th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, August 28, 1869, Boxford, Massachusetts. 5 pp. Henry J. Hallgreen was the captain, and his brother Robert P. Hallgreen (b. 1850) was a private in this company.
• Two pen-and-ink sketches of ships and ocean, one signed "H. J. Hallgreen." 2 pp.

Historical Background
The tune for "John Brown's Body" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" originated in religious camp meetings of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as "Say, Brothers, Will You Meet Us." In this environment of oral teaching and learning, the original lyrics changed and adapted in patterns common to folk music. The "Glory, glory, hallelujah" chorus developed out of the oral camp meeting tradition developed sometime between 1808 and the 1850s.

Although most agreed that the song originated in the spring of 1861, several people have claimed to have composed the song, including William Steffe, Thomas Brigham Bishop, and others. In an article in the December 1889 issue of The New England Magazine, George Kimball, a member of the 2nd Battalion of Infantry of the Massachusetts Militia, supported Hallgreen's assertion that the song originated from that unit at Fort Warren, and he mentioned Hallgreen among nine others who were "among the early singers and promoters of the work of composition," including the Scottish soldier, John Brown.

Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) wrote more refined and spiritual lyrics for the tune in November 1861 and first published them in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862.

Henry J. Hallgreen (1832-1927) was born in New York City to parents who immigrated from England. By 1855, he was a salesman in Chelsea, Massachusetts. In 1857, Hallgreen married Mary Ann Holden (1835-1913), with whom he had five children. Hallgreen was a member of the Handel and Hayden Society in Boston, founded in 1815 to promote the performance of sacred music. In the spring of 1861, Hallgreen served as a lieutenant in the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the Massachusetts militia, known as the "Tiger Battalion," which had garrison duty at Fort Warren in Boston. In October 1862, Hallgreen received a commission as captain of Company A of the 43rd Massachusetts Infantry and served until July 1863, when he was mustered out with his company. After his military service, Hallgreen returned to Chelsea, where he worked as a stationer.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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