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The Songs
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Original Songs by JBT The original songs in this book were written by Jeremiah, in his later years in school, by this time he was working as a teacher in the same school that he attended. His friend Moses Meals was a co-writer on a few and one is dedicated to Barbara Thomas, who became his wife. Most of the original songs are topical or political in nature. There is a "protest" song, against the advent of the railroad. There are several campaign songs written for the most obvious hero of this young man, William Henry Harrison. These songs leave no doubt at to the political aversion to the elite Martin Van Buren. Some of these songs are marked as being published, and this makes them among the earliest published political campaigns songs. The traditional songs presented here have variances from other published versions. It is also the case that I believe JBT was the actual author of some listed in this category. At any rate, I believe that many of the traditional songs have much value in the study of the ballad as passed down through the ages. Jeremiah's father was a sea captain who sailed from Nova Scotia to Cape May, NJ in his younger days, and doubtlessly was a source of many old ballads that he passed on to his young son. Jeremiah's mother had a parlour organ that was brought in covered wagon when the family moved to Illinois in 1856. His mother had passed away by this time, but his father, wife and daughter Martha Jane made the trip. The author remembers playing with this ancient organ as a child. |
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The Copybook