Forsyth County, North Carolina
Forsyth County is located in the northwest Piedmont of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 382,590, making it the fourth-most populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Winston-Salem. Forsyth ...
. He was the son of Martin Hauser and Leah Billiter.
William Hauser united with the
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
Church in 1827 and was licensed to preach in 1834 and was a circuit riding preacher for two years. On March 23, 1837, he married Eliza M. Renshaw (1813-1880), and they had three children: Carolina Elizabeth Hauser Parker (1838-1926), William Clarke Hauser (1844-1919), and Victor McLandhton Hauser (1847-1919). William Hauser raised his family in
Ogden, Utah
Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...
. William Hauser attended Henry College in Virginia, beginning in 1839. After moving to Georgia in 1841, he began the study of medicine. He later taught at Oglethorpe Medical College in
Savannah, GA
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...
.
Hauser died on September 18, 1880. His last words were ″I feel that my work on earth is done, and there is not a cloud between me and God.″ William and Eliza Hauser are buried on their plantation, Hesperia, near Wadley in Jefferson County, Georgia. According to a family member, "Hesperia Plantation was located on the southwestern corner of E. A. Goodson Road and Cooper Road Cooper Road changes its name to West Smith Street and ends on the east end at the Cheatham/Hauser (Wadley City) Cemetery in Wadley, Georgia." The house is evidently no longer standing.History of Wadley, Georgia—home
Music
Hauser made two significant contributions in the area of
shape note
Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The notation, introduced in late 18th century England, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools. Shapes were added to the noteh ...
music: (1) ''
The Hesperian Harp
''The Hesperian Harp'' is a shape note tunebook published in 1848 by Dr William Hauser, with reprintings issued in 1852, 1853, and 1874.Patterson 1988, p. 34 n. 1 Subtitled ''A Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, Odes and Anthems'', it is named a ...
: a Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, Odes and Anthems'', published in four shapes at Philadelphia by T. K. Collins, Jr. in 1848; and (2) ''Olive Leaf: A Collection of Beautiful Tunes, New and Old; the Whole of One or More Hymns Accompanying Each Tune, for the Glory of God, and the Good of Mankind'', published in seven shapes at
Wadley, Georgia
Wadley is a city in Jefferson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,061 at the 2010 census.
History
The community was named for William Morill Wadley, a railroad official.
The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Wadley as a town ...
, by Hauser and Benjamin Turner in 1878. The ''Hesperian Harp'' was probably the largest shape note tune book of its day, containing 552 pages of music, including 36 songs composed by Hauser. His ''Olive Leaf'' was produced in the seven shape notes of
Jesse B. Aikin
Jesse Bowman Aikin (1808–1900) was a shape note "singing master", and compiler of the shape note tunebook ''The Christian Minstrel''. He was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania and lived on a farm in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. Aikin, a member of th ...
and contained only eight of his compositions from the older book. But his new compositions numbered forty-eight. Thirteen of his compositions are included in the
Shenandoah Harmony The Shenandoah Harmony is a 2013 republication of the works of Ananias Davisson (1780–1857) and other composers of his era, in the format used by modern shape note singing groups. Although a number of new shape note tune books were compiled and ...
(2013) in four shapes. The Moravian Music Foundation calls William Hauser "Appalachia's most significant contribution to American music."
References
* Jackson, George Pullen. ''White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands: The Story of the Fasola Folk, Their Songs, Singings, and "Buckwheat Notes"'', Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, Reprint, Dover Books, 1965. This is an unaltered reprint in a smaller format and size of the original 1933 edition.
*Scott, Joseph Dennie, ''The Tunebooks of William Hauser'', D.M.A. thesis, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 1987.
Southern Historical Collection
The Southern Historical Collection is a repository of distinct archival collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which document the culture and history of the American South. These collections are made up of unique primary mat ...