DANIEL DECATUR EMMETT

Dan Emmet is best remembered today as one of the pioneers of the early Minstrel Shows with his compositions “The Blue Tail Fly”, “My Old Aunt Sally” and most notably, “Dixie”. His own company was instrumental in establishing many of the early minstrel routines and rituals, including the traditional costume of blue, swallow tailcoat, striped calico shirt, and the white pantaloons. A large group of minstrel show competitors were formed due to the great success of his shows. 

Daniel Decatur Emmett was born on October 29, 1815 in Mount Vernon, Ohio and learned to play the violin, as a young boy. At the age of 15, he first performed his composition “Old Dan Tucker” during a Fourth of July celebration on the village green in Mount Vernon. He worked in his father's blacksmith shop and at 17 enlisted in the Army. He was discharged on July 8, 1835 after the Army learned he had falsified his age to enlist. He left home soon after to join the Spalding and Rogers circus as a drummer. It was with the circus that Emmett learned the technique of Negro impersonation and shortly thereafter, he got a job with the Thomas "Daddy" Rice minstrel troupe, in which he played the banjo, and also sang. 

In 1842, Emmett formed his own Virginia Minstrels Troupe, making their debut in New York City's at the Bowery Amphitheater on February 6, 1843. In the year of 1844, "Old Dan Tucker" and "My Old Aunt Sally" were introduced in the Virginia Minstrels troupe. The troupe traveled to England meeting very little success and arrived back in the States, penniless. The troupe broke up and Emmett got a job with the Dan Bryant Minstrels. Emmett married Catherine Rives in 1853 in New York. The couple had no children and Catherine died in 1875. IN 1879, he would remarry Mary Louise Bird, a widow with two daughters. 

Introduced by the Dan Bryant Minstrels in 1859 during a tour of the South, “Dixie” was written as a walk-around. Much to the chagrin of Emmett who was anything but a Southern sympathizer, the song became identified as a Southern anthem and was used as a campaign song against Abraham Lincoln’s run for President and was played by General Pickett during the Confederate charge at Gettysburg. After the South surrendered to the Union, President Lincoln had the song played by the White House band in an effort to support the reunification of the United States. Emmett never capitalized on the popularity of the song after selling all rights to the publisher for $500.00.

Other songs produced in the pre-Civil War era were "The Boatman's Dance," "Jordan Is a Hard Road to Travel," "The Blue-Tail Fly" (a.k.a. “Jimmy Crack Corn") and “Dixie.”

In 1878, Emmett entered semi-retirement and moved back to his hometown of Mount Vernon. He became a chicken farmer and lived of a small pension from the Actors Fund. He occasionally appeared in guest stage appearances and at the age of 80, in 1895, he appeared with the Al G. Fields Minstrels to perform “Dixie”. The appearance was Emmett’s last tour. 

Dan Emmett died on June 28, 1904 in Mount Vernon. In 1943, Paramount Pictures released a film biography of his life starring Bing Crosby, entitled Dixie. The Dan Emmett birthplace is an historic landmark located off South Main Street in Mount Vernon. Established in 1987, the Dan Emmett Music & Arts Festival is held in Mount Vernon as a celebration of American music commemorating Dan Emmett.

List of songs:

BLUE TAIL FLY, THE

BOATMAN’S DANCE, THE

DIXIE

HIGH DADDY

Jimmie Crack Corn (see BLUE TAIL FLY, THE)

JORDAN IS A HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL

MY OLD AUNT SALLY

OLD DAN TUCKER

OLD ZIP COON

TURKEY IN THE STRAW

Dixie

by Daniel Decatur Emmett of Mount Vernon, Ohio

Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton,

Old times there are not forgotten, ( Alt Original: Cinnamon seed and sandy bottom,)

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land.

In Dixie Land, where I was born in,

early on one frosty mornin', 

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land. 

I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray! 

In Dixie Land I'll take my stand

to live and die in Dixie. 

Away, away, away down south in Dixie. 

Away, away, away down south in Dixie 

Optional Verses

Ole Missus marry "Will the weaver"

Willum was a gay deceiver

Look away! Look away! Look away!

Dixie Land

But when he put his arm around 'er,

He smiled fierce as a forty pounder,

Look away! Look away! Look away!

Dixie Land

His face was sharp as a butcher's cleaver

But that did not seem to grieve 'er

Look away! Look away! Look away!

Dixie Land

Ole Missus acted the foolish part

And died for a man that broke her heart

Look away! Look away! Look away!

Dixie Land

Now here's a health to the next ole Missus

An' all the gals that want to kiss us;

Look away! Look away! Look away!

Dixie Land

But if you want to drive 'way sorrow

Come and hear this song tomorrow

Look away! Look away! Look away!

Dixie Land

There's buckwheat cakes and Injun batter,

Makes you fat or a little fatter

Look away! Look away! Look away!

Dixie Land

Then hoe it down and scratch your gravel,

To Dixie's Land I'm bound to travel,

Look away! Look away! Look away!

Dixie Land

from: SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME
Early American

7 UNBIBLICAL STATEMENTS CHRISTIANS BELIEVE

:

We don’t often stop to consider the magnitude of what the Bible represents. It is literally God revealing Himself and communicating Himself to mankind in written word.

Orthodox Christianity teaches that the Bible was inspired and authored by the Holy Spirit of God using human instruments. And many Christians believe that—in its original languages of Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic—it is without error and fault.

However, there are many things that Jesus-following, Church-going, Bible-believing Christians believe that are completely unbiblical. How does this happen? Often, we’ll hear someone quote a statement that sounds nice to us, and we’ll begin repeating it as though it’s biblical truth without ever researching it in Scripture.

Several of these unbiblical statements have gained enough traction that many people believe they’re actually Bible verses. Not only are the statements unbiblical; some of them teach the opposite of what the Bible teaches.

Here are some popular unbiblical statements that Bible-loving Christians tend to believe:

1. GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES:

This statement is actually anti-Gospel. Obviously God gave us gifts and talents that we’re supposed to use, but self-reliance and self-righteousness, or the attitude of trying harder and doing better actually gets in the way of the work of God.

In reality, Jesus saves those who die to themselves: “Then Jesus told His disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'” (Matthew 16:24).

2. GOD WANTS ME TO BE HAPPY:

It’s a common belief that God exists to be our “personal genie” waiting to give us our every wish. It’s amazing how we will justify our sinful actions by saying, “God just wants me to be happy.”

Happiness is tied to feelings and emotions that are often based on circumstances, and those change all the time. God wants us to be obedient to Him, trust Him and know that everything He does is for our good, even if it doesn’t make us feel “happy” in that moment. 

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

3.WE'RE ALL GOD'S CHILDREN

Although God has created everyone, not everyone relationally belongs to Him. Only those who have repented of sin, placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and possess the Holy Spirit of God inside of them can claim Him as their Father: 

“But you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:15-16).

"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ ... If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:26-29, emphasis mine in both verses).


4. CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS:

The people around you may appreciate you staying clean, but this is not Scripture. Parents may us this to motivate their kids to clean their rooms. However, I’d suggest using an actual biblical statement: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). (I can’t guarantee that will make your children want to clean up either, though).


5. GOD WON'T GIVE YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE:

Actually, all of life is more than we can handle. The point of living in a fallen world is not for us to try really hard to carry our heavy burden, but rather realize we can’t do it alone and surrender to God instead. That’s what faith is all about.

Everything is more than I can handle, but not more than Jesus can handle: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8).

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).


6. BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE:

The sentiment of this makes sense, but if we follow it all the way through, the idea of a good person is very subjective. Often, we place ourselves in the judgment seat of what is good and bad, or who is good and bad.

The most popular way to make that judgment is by comparison. For example, Bob is a good guy, because he is not as bad as Sam. However, according to the Bible we’re all on equal ground because none of us is inherently good: “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one’” (Romans 3:10).


7. WHEN YOU DIE, GOD GAINS ANOTHER ANGEL:

Plain and simple. Humans are humans, and angels are angels. This remains so even in eternity. In fact, angels are intrigued by the interaction between God and His “image-bearing” humans: “It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:12).

The fact that many Christians believe these unbiblical statements shows our unfortunate overall biblical illiteracy. Instead of swallowing popular statements hook-line-and-sinker, may we be like the Bereans in the Book of Acts. When they heard Paul preach, they wanted to research the Scriptures themselves to authenticate what he was saying: “They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:10-11).


by SHANE PRUITT

Eula Irene Driver Gravitt memorial

Mrs. Eula Irene Driver Gravitt went to be with her heavenly Father on March 21, 2015. She was born on April 19, 1948 in Arley, Alabama. She was of Christian faith. She was the daughter of the late Artis Driver and Alma Horton Driver. She was the youngest of five children. She graduated from West Point High School, Cullman, Alabama. She was a cosmetologist, nursing assistant and former Springs Carpet factory employee. She went Georgia Northwestern Technical College in Calhoun, Georgia and received a certificate for Customer Service and Business Administration. She loved being with family, friends and her church family. She loved the Atlanta Braves. 

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother Spruell; brother in law, Bill McQuillin; nieces, Marcella Driver and Bonita Thompson Keith. She is survived by her husband Oscar; sisters Bonnie McQuillin and Thelma (Joel) Thompson of Vinemont, Alabama; brother, Lehman (Dorothy) of Orlando, Florida; nieces, Katrina (Duane) Ray, Cindy Driver of Orlando Florida, Debbie (Bill) Brumbeloe and Kathryn (Michael Holmes) of Cullman, Alabama; nephews, Russell (Gwen) McQuillin and Joey (Stephanie) Thompson of Cullman, Alabama, and Kevin Driver of Orlando, Florida. Numerous great nieces and nephews also survive. Step Children; Jeffery Gravitt of Tennessee, Laurie Cape of Dalton, Georgia and Becky Hughes of Trenton, Georgia. 

Visitation will be held Monday, March 23, 2015 from noon until 2:00pm at Max Brannon & Sons Funeral Home in Calhoun, Georgia. The funeral service will follow immediately at 2:00pm with Pastor Norris Sexton, Rev. Frank Bramblett, and Rev. Terry Timms officiating. 

Graveside services will be Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 11:00am at Friendship Methodist Church in Vinemont, Alabama with Joel Thompson officiating. Pallbearers serving include Joey Thompson, Eric Brumbeloe, Alex Brumbeloe, Jake McQuillin, Michael Holmes and Millard Mason. Honorary Pallbearers serving include Russelll McQuillin, Doug Rampley, Ken Moorehead, Kenneth Gravitt, Noah Holmes, and Michael Collins. 

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the National Diabetic Foundation or Barrett Road Church of God in Calhoun, Georgia.

I worked at Springs with Irene for many years. We inspected, stacked and tagged rugs before we went to work in the dye house. Irene and I were dye weighers for many years working for Jimmy McDearis (dec), Bobby Dixon (dec), Doug Rampley and others. We had good times and bad. We finally advanced to the front office and worked there until I retired. Irene remained for a time. She was always ready with a smile or a grin. Ready to help at any time. She and I crochet many projects even though she was left-handed, they were still beautiful and uniformally made to perfection. She and I found out that we were diabetics about the same time and had to start watching what we ate. I am glad that she married Oscar and was happy at the end of her life.
So long, Irene. You will be missed, my friend.

Esther Williams, my favorite actress, died this week (June 6, 2013) at the age of 91. She was born on August 8, 1921 to Louis Stanton Williams and Bula Myrtle Gilpin Williams in Utah. She was their fifth and youngest child. Her acting ability included swimming, which I fell in love with at the young age of 6. I had started taking swimming lessons that summer and saw one of her movies. I was smitten. I couldn't believe how someone could do all of those things in the water. It was like a ballet. Since I lived close to the Desota Theater in Rome, Georgia, I would walk to see every movie that starred her when it was in town. I even watched it twice when I could talk the usher into letting me stay longer. They even showed them at the drive-ins and I could talk my daddy into taking me again. I tried to copy everything that she did in the water. She made it look so easy, but I found out that it was harder that I ever thought. You have to practice and I mean alot of practice. I started doing extra chores around the house and even went throughout the neighborhood collecting Coca Cola bottles to return for deposit just so I would have enough money to go swimming everyday in the summer. My favorite pool was in Celanese. You could pay one price and swim for a long time. But I would have to have bus fare. The city pool costs a quarter and was open from 2-5 and from 7-9 at night. I could walk to this pool. It was about 6 blocks from my house. It wasn't as big as Celanese but it still had two diving boards.  The day I was brave enough to climb the high dive, I thought I had accomplished my goal. Boy, was I fooled. I was so scared that I climbed back down the latter and stayed away from that board for two years.

     When I got older, my swimming techniques improved but only for my benefit. I would watch other people swim and it would be choppy and they would slap the water. I didn't think this was swimming. It should be smooth and you just glide through the water like a fish. This is how I taught my children.
     I still watch Esther's movies when they are on T.V. They still take my breath away because of her style. Dancing in the water is the most beautiful thing on earth.
Esther was a National AAU champion in the 100 meter freestyle. She won 3 US National championships for breaststroke and freestyle. She learned the butterfly stroke which was considered for "male" only swimmers. She broke many records with this stroke. She had plans to enter the 1940 Summer Olympics but it was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II.

PICKLED GREEN TOMATOES AND A BLUE PIANO

     Along about 1972, we lived close to Tolbert School in Resaca. Jimmy and Jeff  Burns were in school but the other 3 were not , they stayed at home with me. Sandra Franks, Marvin's cousin, would visit quite often. She wasn't married and loved the kids. She came by our house as she didn't work and I think she was lonesome. She brought me some material and I made us some dresses to wear to church. She taught me more advanced crocheting and we made an afghan.
     Now Marvin Burns had a cousin named Harlan Patton. Harlan bought a double wide trailer on the Cline Road. If anyone knows about trailers, you have probably guessed that a trailer floor will not hold much weight. Recently, he had lost his mother-in-law and inherited an old piano. This was the ugliest piano that I had ever seen. Someone had painted it "blue." Harlan was trying to sell the piano for $25.00 because he couldn't put it in his trailer and but needless to say, I didn't have any money. Now I wanted that piano and I wanted it bad. I tried everything to get that piano So here is what transpired. I traded him a can of pickled green tomatoes for the piano. Crazy huh..... Ruby's garden was gone except for a few tomatoes. It was nearly frost, so we gathered all the green tomatoes along with some hot peppers and preserved them. I had never eaten a green tomato from a jar until I tasted Ruby's. We had alot of the preserves in 1/2 gallon jars. Ruby did not waste anything. So because of the big families, canning was done in quarts and 1/2 gallons. No pints used except for jams and jellies.
Well anyway, Harlan wanted some green tomatoes so we traded plus I would have to sing for him when I could play again. I think I got the better end of the deal. I had taken piano lessons in my youth but I had forgotten just about everything. Sandra Franks brought me an old hymnal from her home. I found middle "c" and I knew that an old song called "There is a Fountain" was in the key of "c" with no sharps or flats. My aunt Lillian taught me the song when I was about 8 years old. F A C E are the names of the space notes for the treble and E G B D F are the line notes. Hey, I was getting the hang of it again. Now to learn the bass cleft. Sandra taught me about playing cords with the left hand. Hey, playing cords was alot easier than playing all the notes with your left hand. Now to get the timing right. 3/4 time and 6/8 time were the easiest. ONE two three, ONE two three- I could do this, but the song I was learning was in 4/4 time. one two three four- one two three four. Just had to keep practicing and practicing and practicing. Yip-eee I learned a song. I practiced it until I could play it from memory. Then on Sunday morning at church, Sandra's sister, Phyllis asked me to sing the song. So I sat down on the piano bench and froze. I couldn't remember a note much less sing. Finally, Phyllis said she would play for me. Then she told me not to look at the crowd but up at the ceiling. I held the book and looked at the ceiling and sang to God. How much simpler it became when I sang to the one the song was written for and all His majesty. He gave me strength and I never faltered again.
     Sandra is no longer with us but I know she is singing to our Lord and Savior that she loved enough to share with me. I miss her.
     What happened to the blue piano? That I could not tell-a short time later, we moved up close to my children's grandmother(Ruby) and into a trailer. The trailer floor would not hold the piano so we had to sell it. After that, I went to work and did not have much time to play.

Lost Honey

     When Jeff was a baby, in 1966, Marvin and I lived across the road from the "Dean's Trading Post" on 41 Highway. Esco Dean, Marvin's step dad, had rented an old house to store his furniture that he bought at auction sales. This was the old home place called the Tom B. David house. It was a five room house with a bath. Marvin and I used the living room, bedroom and kitchen and the other two rooms contained furniture. The thing that I loved most about the house was the big front porch. Just off the living room was a smaller area that used to be a pantry. I used this for the baby bed since it had access from the bedroom. The kitchen did not have built in cabinets so we had one of the older cabinets that contained a flour container with a sifter on the bottom of the box. I don't remember what they called it but there was a roll door in the middle with 2 doors above. It had 2 doors on the bottom where we stored pots and pans. There was no double sink here just a single one. I learned very quickly that dishpans come in handy.
It was getting further into Spring and every night when we went to bed, we heard a buzz saw. Buzzz-Buzzz- This noise kept us awake for many weeks. We could not figure out where it was coming from so I asked the next door neighbor, Ann Hall, if she could hear it. Her bedroom was on the other end of the house so it didn't bother her or her girls. Ruby couldn't hear it either as it was too far away. No one could hear it but us. I finally walked around the yard one day and I heard something coming from inside the house. As I looked closer, their was a small hole in the side of the house just beneath a window sash. I noticed a few bees crawling around and then a couple disappeared. Now I am deathly afraid of bees of any kind. I didn't know if they were wasps or hornets or whatever. All I knew was that they had stingers. So I went back in the house and stayed away from that area. When Ruby came in from work, I told her about the bees in the side of the house. She called her brother, Claude, to come down and check it out. He told us that they were honey bees and he would come by on Saturday and salvage the honey. I had never seen this happen. I was raised in the city. I knew that people kept boxes for hives of bees, I just never expected any hives to be in a house.
     On Saturday, Claude drove to our house and got out with some things that looked like some kind of costume. The hat had net hanging down to his shoulders and he wore gloves as well as an extra thick shirt. He had something similar to a lantern that he lit and all of a sudden, smoke came out the end if it. He sprayed smoke all up and down the side of the house. Then he took a crow bar and removed a board from under the window. I never saw so many bees flying around. I high tailed it away from that area and made a bee line for the house. I decided that looking through the window was close enough for me. By the time I got in the house, he had removed the comb with a shovel. It was covered with honey. He hurried and filled up about 3 five-gallon buckets with the comb and honey. He then brought it in the house to be put in jars. I don't remember how much honey we put in pint fruit jars, but we had honey for the next two winters. It had the taste of rose blossoms. Ruby told me later that it was because of the rose bushes in the yard. This city girl learned a valuable lesson that Spring. You don't always go to the store for food.
     I still don't know how Claude removed those bees to his house but by the next summer, he was still harvesting honey for all the family. H built some boxes for the bees and I think he finally had 5 boxes as the swarm kept growing. I still try to get honey that comes from Gordon County. I just don't think I have found any that tastes as good as that honey from the old Tom B. David house.

Mystery of Judge Josiah Beall's wife

I have been searching for the wife of Josiah Beall (1715-1768) to no avail. With so many people with the same name, it is hard to match everyone up. Their is a Josiah Beall (1725-1808)
(of John, of James, of Alex 1625). who married Millicent Bradley (daughter of Robert Bradley) but it is not through my line.These two Josiah's were born 10 years apart. Judge Josiah Beall had a brother named Col. Samuel Beall and his daughter (Amelia Beall) married Thaddeus.
Thaddeus Beall 1741 - 1808 was son of Josiah (of John, of Alexander 1644)Beall.
According to the will of Judge Josiah Beall, Thaddeus Beall was the said administrator. An inventory and appraisal of the "Goods and Chattel's" of Josiah Beall was made on December 1, 1768 and recorded in Sept. 1769. This inventory details hundreds of items of personal property along with a list of seven slaves. These items were left to the seven children of Josiah.
None of the documents give any clue to the identity of Josiah's wife with the possible exception of the monogram "IMB." appearing on 1/2 dozen old teaspoons. "Engraving authorities identify the "I" as an early day capitol "J". This could have been for Josiah Magruder Beall or it could have been her initials after marriage. Either way, in those days, the women had things like silverware,dishes, and stemware monogramed along with sheets, pillowcases and napkins. Why it was done this way, I don't know.
In all my searching, I have not found any documents stating who was the mother of Thaddeus. There is one clue in that he (Thaddeus) named a daughter Maezah. Most of the children were named for previous family members. First daughter after father's grandmother, second daughter after mother's grandmother, third daughter after father's mother and so on down the line. The third daughter is Maezah Beall who married Thomas Dent. This name has not shown up in the family before this time. Each generation after has a daughter named Maezah/Mazie/Maxa. I would like some opinion's on this theory. How can I found out for sure- what is the name of the wife of Judge Josiah Beall?