Henry S. Thompson (born 1824 or 1825) was an American
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...
of the mid-nineteenth century.
![Annie Lisle sheet music cover](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Annie_Lisle_sheet_music_cover.jpg)
Little is known of Thompson other than his works, mainly ballads used in
blackface minstrel show
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century.
Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spec ...
s; 48 works were published under the name H. S. Thompson between 1849 and 1885.
Birth and Family
Based on
U.S. Census, musicologist Ralph Richey estimated that Thompson was born in 1824 or 1825 in northern
Essex County, Massachusetts
Essex County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the total population was 809,829, making it the third-most populous county in the state, and the eightieth-most populous in the countr ...
, but the Massachusetts Birth Records listing the birth of his daughter, Sarah Oliver Thompson in 1848 in
Ipswich, Massachusetts indicate that his own place of birth was
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644.
Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...
, as do the birth records for his son, Frank Waldo Thompson in 1851, and daughter Ida May Thompson in 1853. In 1845, he had married Sarah E. Oliver in Boston.
Career
The 1850 census records him in
Georgetown, Massachusetts
Georgetown is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,470 at the 2020 census. It was incorporated in 1838 from part of Rowley.
History
Georgetown was originally settled in 1639 as a part of the town of Rowl ...
, but by 1851 he had moved to
Newburyport
Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...
where he was a teacher, performer, and impresario, first advertising his Singing School in January of 1851. By April of that year, he was offering a "Musical Entertainment," including a quartet singing his own composition, "Willie's on the dark blue sea." Later he was connected with several minstrel companies, including
Morris Brothers, Pell, Huntley's, and
Morris Bros., Pell & Trowbridge's Minstrels in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and
Morris and Wilson's Opera Troupe in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
(1865–66).
Works
* "Effie the maid of the Mill," E. H. Wade, 1855, Boston.
* "Mother's dead and gone, or, The Dismal Glen," G. P. Reed, 1850, Boston.
* "Willie's on the dark blue sea," published by Oliver Ditso, 1853, Boston.
* "Ida May," published by Oliver Ditson in 1853, Boston.
* "I'm lonely since my mother died," published by Oliver Ditson, 1863, Boston.
* "Cousin Jedediah," published by Oliver Ditson, 1863, Boston.
*Thompson's "Down by the River Liv'd a Maiden," published in 1863, is generally believed to be the basis for
Percy Montrose's 1884 "
Oh My Darling, Clementine
"Oh My Darling, Clementine" is a traditional American western folk ballad in trochaic meter usually credited to Percy Montross (or Montrose) (1884), although it is sometimes credited to Barker Bradford.
Members of the Western Writers of Ameri ...
."
*Thompson's most famous work, "
Annie Lisle
"Annie Lisle" is an 1857 ballad by Boston, Massachusetts songwriter H. S. Thompson, first published by Moulton & Clark of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and later by Oliver Ditson & Co. It is about the death of a young maiden, by what some have s ...
," is remembered as the melody for the
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
alma mater "
Far Above Cayuga's Waters
"Far Above Cayuga's Waters" is Cornell University's alma mater. The lyrics were written circa 1870 by roommates Archibald Croswell Weeks (Class of 1872), and Wilmot Moses Smith (Class of 1874), and set to the tune of "Annie Lisle", a popular 1 ...
" and other school anthems.
*A slightly altered version of the lyrics of "Lilly Dale," an 1852 song similarly about a young maiden felled by disease, appear in the 1916 novel ''
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' is the first novel of Irish writer James Joyce. A ''Künstlerroman'' written in a modernist style, it traces the religious and intellectual awakening of young Stephen Dedalus, Joyce's fictional al ...
'' by
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
.
Country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
ian
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...
recorded an arrangement as "Lily Dale," which itself was covered by
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
as "Billy Dale."
The tune of "Lily Dale" was paired with lyrics for "O Ye Mountains High" by
Charles W. Penrose
Charles William Penrose (4 February 1832 – 16 May 1925) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1904 to 1911. Penrose was also a member of the First Presidency, se ...
in hymnbooks of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
as early as 1880. It is number 34 in
their current hymnbook.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, H. S.
1824 births
Year of death unknown
Songwriters from Massachusetts
Blackface minstrel songwriters
People from Topsfield, Massachusetts
People from Newburyport, Massachusetts