Praise for the Lord #149
Words: Mary A. Kidder, 1882 [1880?]
Music: James G. Dailey, 1882
Mary Ann (Pepper) Kidder was a Civil War widow in New York City whose pastime of writing poetry became the primary support of her family. In addition to patriotic and temperance-themed works, she became a prominent writer of gospel song lyrics. Fanny Crosby recalled that she, Kidder, and Josephine Pollard were referred to as "the Trio" at the Biglow & Main publishing house because of their standing as the go-to lyricists (Crosby, 136). Further information about Kidder's career is available in my earlier post on the song "Did you think to pray?."
The stanzas of "Fear not, little flock" appear in Sunday School Songs: a Treasury of Devotional Hymns and Tunes for the Sunday School (Cleveland, Ohio: Publishing House of the Evangelical Association, 1880), with a different chorus made from the original 4th stanza (now usually omitted), and with music by Joseph Garrison. The current setting with music by Dailey first appeared in Sing the Gospel (Chicago: E.O. Excell, 1882). (Though I have not been able to view a copy, the Dailey version is found in Excell's 1885 The Gospel in Song, which incorporates the contents of Sing the Gospel and gives an 1882 copyright date for this setting.)
The earliest hymnal used among Churches of Christ to include this song was The New Christian Hymn and Tune Book (Cincinnati: Fillmore Bros., 1887), edited by James H. Fillmore. This hymnal became a major competitor to the Christian Hymnal, the "official" hymnal begun by Alexander Campbell, having much the same content at a lower price (McCann 18). No doubt the fact that the Christian Hymnal was owned by and benefited the Missionary Society was additional incentive for conservative congregations to adopt Fillmore's book. "Fear not, little flock" did not appear in the original 1889 Christian Hymns published by Gospel Advocate, but was in the 1935 reboot of that title and has been included in most hymnals among the U.S. Churches of Christ since that time.
Stanza 1:
Fear not, little flock, says the Savior divine,
The Father has willed that the kingdom be thine;
O soil not your garments with sin here below:
My sheep and my lambs must be whiter than snow.
The first couplet is obviously from Luke 12:32, and introduces the first of two metaphors that underlie the lyrics: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). The original context is the Christian's relationship to material wealth (Luke 12:13-34, paralleled in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:19-34). The "fear" in question is a concern over material necessities. Jesus commands, "Do not be anxious about your life" (Luke 12:22), "nor be worried" (verse 29); instead, "Seek His kingdom and these things will be added to you" (verse 31).
Interestingly, Kidder lifts verse 32 from this context and applies it instead to a different area of anxiety: the assurance of salvation. The image of the "little flock" in need of rescue is a common one from the Hebrew Testament; God "led [His] people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron" through the wilderness (Psalm 77:20), and David defended a literal flock of sheep from the depredations of wild animals before he delivered his nation from the Philistines (1 Samuel 17). The prophets later used this imagery to describe the captivity and ultimate return of the people from Babylon: "I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply" (Jeremiah 23:3). Prophets speaking of the Messiah naturally used this comparison to describe the coming Son of David. "I will set up over them one Shepherd, my servant David, and He shall feed them: He shall feed them and be their Shepherd" (Ezekiel 34:23).
In view of these wonderful promises, the metaphor shifts in the second half of the verse to that of keeping our garments clean, so that we will be always ready for the King's return. The reference is doubtless to the Lord's letters to the seven churches at the beginning of the Revelation:
In the main body of the Revelation, white garments appear on the twenty-four elders surrounding the throne (4:4), are given to the Christian martyrs (6:11), and clothe the multitudes from every nation that are later seen to stand before the Lamb (7:9). An elder addresses John and explains, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (7:14). The white garment, then, represents holiness and purity before God, obtained not by our own efforts but through the cleansing blood of Christ.
Our goal, once cleansed, should be to keep the garments clean; but when they are soiled with sin, we can seek to renew them through Jesus, even as He encouraged the Christians at Laodicaea:
Whiter than snow (I long to be, dear Savior),
Whiter than snow (I long to be).
Whiter than snow (I long to be, dear Savior),
Whiter than snow (Whiter than the snow).
The chorus continues the theme of white garments and the purity they represent. It particularly references Psalm 51:7, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." It is from the famous Psalm of David that records his repentance after his terrible sins toward Bathsheba and her husband Uriah. Here David pours out his heart, a broken man pleading for a return to his former relationship with God. Despite all he had done, and the consequences he would suffer for the rest of his days, he still had hope of spiritual restoration. As Isaiah would say to a later generation,
Far whiter than snow, and as fair as the day,
For Christ is the fountain to wash guilt away;
O give Him, poor sinner, that burden of Thine,
And enter the fold with the ninety-and-nine.
(Chorus)
The metaphor of Christ as a fountain naturally calls to mind other hymns, in particular the great American folk hymn "Come Thou Fount of every blessing." But the image is rooted in Scripture, starting (at least) with Jesus' unusual conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in John chapter 4. Moving deftly from the subject of physical thirst and wells to the spiritual equivalents, Jesus says in verse 14, "But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." There was "water in the plan" from the beginning, for nourishment and for cleansing; in a similar unusual encounter, Jesus told the Jewish leader Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Paul was told in similar fashion by Ananias, "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16).
The second half of the stanza promises that Christ will take away the burden of sin, recalling Jesus' words in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." In one sense this statement is hard to reconcile with some of Jesus' own descriptions of following Him, such as Matthew 7:14, "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few," or Matthew 16:24, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." To this question one can only answer that the burdens of sin lead to far worse, in this life and beyond, than anything Jesus will demand.
The final line references the famous parable of the lost sheep, which becomes the chief topic of the third stanza.
Stanza 3:
Yon sheep, that was lost in the valley of sin,
Was found by the Shepherd, who gathered him in;
With songs of thanksgiving the hills did resound,
"My friends and my neighbors, the lost sheep is found."
(Chorus)
The well known parable is found in Luke 15:4-7:
Another stanza, now often omitted, preceded the final stanza:
Look up, O my brother, and be not cast down,
While heavy the cross, you are sighting the crown;
Go, wash in the fountain, while waiting below;
Your sins shall, though scarlet, be whiter than snow.
The final line references Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." This colorful and thought-provoking Scripture reference is predicated on the "washing in the fountain" referenced in the second stanza, but the effect is weakened by the awkward introduction of the image of cross-bearing in the same context. The singer is first encouraged as one struggling under the cross, then is told to wash in the fountain. Bearing the cross is an act of obedience, however, and the difficulty found therein is not the result of unforgiven sin, but of the inherent cost of following Jesus. The confused message may be the reason this stanza is often omitted.
Stanza 4:
Ride over temptation and cease your alarms;
Your Shepherd is Jesus, your refuge His arms;
He'll never forsake you, a Brother and Friend,
But love you and save you in worlds without end.
(Chorus)
In conclusion, Mrs. Kidder exhorts the singer to take courage from the knowledge of this Shepherd's desire and ability to care for His own. When we think of the metaphor of the ancient shepherd, we tend to focus on the gentle, careful attention given to the flock, as expressed in Psalm 23. But the shepherd also had to be strong, as David proved by his defense of his flocks against wild animals. In the less famous Psalm 28, the shepherd-king of ancient Israel described his God in terms of the Savior-Shepherd:
James Gerald Dailey was born March 22 1854 in Rockland, Delaware, north of Wilmington ("James Gerald Dailey, Sr.," FindAGrave.com) to Irish immigrants James and Eliza Dailey. His father passed away when James was only four, and the family relocated to the western end of the state, settling in "Brockwayville," as Brockway, Pennsylvania was then called ("Eliza Dailey," FindAGrave.com). In the 1870 census James is listed as an apprentice shoemaker, and curiously, is indicated to be "blind, deaf, insane, or idiotic" (1870 census). There is no other information that Dailey had any such disabilities, so this remains a mystery. By 1876 he had married (1900 census), and the 1880 census shows him to have been working as a shoemaker in Brockway for a time, supporting his widowed mother in his household.
How and where Dailey acquired his musical training is yet to be discovered; but his rise in the field of sacred music coincided with the rise of the temperance movement, with which he held a lifelong association. In a New York Times article from 28 October 1887 describing the traveling tent-meetings of the Prohibition Party, we find this (rather snarky) report of James G. Dailey's leading a Sunday service:
Dailey got the last laugh on the New York Times, which had to admit at Dailey's death in 1927 the prophetic accuracy of his song (NYT, 16 November 1927, p. 5). On January 27, 1920, the Volstead Act took effect, making alcoholic beverages illegal and beginning the Prohibition Era in the United States.
References:
Crosby, Fanny. Memories of Eighty Years. Boston: James H. Earle, 1906.
http://books.google.com/books?id=MpoYAAAAYAAJ
McCann, Forrest M. Hymns and History: an Annotated Survey of Sources. Abilene, Texas: ACU Press, 1997.
"James G. Dailey, songwriter, dies." New York Times, 16 November 1927, page 5.
"James Gerald Dailey, Sr." FindAGrave.com, page created by Jeff Donaldson.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/174973711/
"Eliza Jane Morrison Dailey." FindAGrave.com.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19454064/eliza-jane-dailey
"J. G. Dailey." Hymnary.org. https://hymnary.org/person/Dailey_JG
"James Dailey." United States Census, 1860.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4SW-WVS
"James Dailey." United States Census, 1870.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZP6-QGF
"James G. Dailey." United States Census, 1880. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWFK-BT8
"James G. Daily." United States Census, 1900. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS6V-Z3L
"James G. Dailey." United States Census, 1910. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGH3-3B7
"Bailey's tent campaign." New York Times 28 October 1887, page 1.
Words: Mary A. Kidder, 1882 [1880?]
Music: James G. Dailey, 1882
Mary Ann (Pepper) Kidder was a Civil War widow in New York City whose pastime of writing poetry became the primary support of her family. In addition to patriotic and temperance-themed works, she became a prominent writer of gospel song lyrics. Fanny Crosby recalled that she, Kidder, and Josephine Pollard were referred to as "the Trio" at the Biglow & Main publishing house because of their standing as the go-to lyricists (Crosby, 136). Further information about Kidder's career is available in my earlier post on the song "Did you think to pray?."
The stanzas of "Fear not, little flock" appear in Sunday School Songs: a Treasury of Devotional Hymns and Tunes for the Sunday School (Cleveland, Ohio: Publishing House of the Evangelical Association, 1880), with a different chorus made from the original 4th stanza (now usually omitted), and with music by Joseph Garrison. The current setting with music by Dailey first appeared in Sing the Gospel (Chicago: E.O. Excell, 1882). (Though I have not been able to view a copy, the Dailey version is found in Excell's 1885 The Gospel in Song, which incorporates the contents of Sing the Gospel and gives an 1882 copyright date for this setting.)
The earliest hymnal used among Churches of Christ to include this song was The New Christian Hymn and Tune Book (Cincinnati: Fillmore Bros., 1887), edited by James H. Fillmore. This hymnal became a major competitor to the Christian Hymnal, the "official" hymnal begun by Alexander Campbell, having much the same content at a lower price (McCann 18). No doubt the fact that the Christian Hymnal was owned by and benefited the Missionary Society was additional incentive for conservative congregations to adopt Fillmore's book. "Fear not, little flock" did not appear in the original 1889 Christian Hymns published by Gospel Advocate, but was in the 1935 reboot of that title and has been included in most hymnals among the U.S. Churches of Christ since that time.
Stanza 1:
Fear not, little flock, says the Savior divine,
The Father has willed that the kingdom be thine;
O soil not your garments with sin here below:
My sheep and my lambs must be whiter than snow.
The first couplet is obviously from Luke 12:32, and introduces the first of two metaphors that underlie the lyrics: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). The original context is the Christian's relationship to material wealth (Luke 12:13-34, paralleled in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:19-34). The "fear" in question is a concern over material necessities. Jesus commands, "Do not be anxious about your life" (Luke 12:22), "nor be worried" (verse 29); instead, "Seek His kingdom and these things will be added to you" (verse 31).
Interestingly, Kidder lifts verse 32 from this context and applies it instead to a different area of anxiety: the assurance of salvation. The image of the "little flock" in need of rescue is a common one from the Hebrew Testament; God "led [His] people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron" through the wilderness (Psalm 77:20), and David defended a literal flock of sheep from the depredations of wild animals before he delivered his nation from the Philistines (1 Samuel 17). The prophets later used this imagery to describe the captivity and ultimate return of the people from Babylon: "I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply" (Jeremiah 23:3). Prophets speaking of the Messiah naturally used this comparison to describe the coming Son of David. "I will set up over them one Shepherd, my servant David, and He shall feed them: He shall feed them and be their Shepherd" (Ezekiel 34:23).
Jesus came fulfilling that prophecy as "a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel" (Matthew 2:6, cf. Micah 5:2-4), proclaiming the kingdom of God to those whom He saw were "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). In His compassion He reached out especially to the poor and outcast, to the sinners, Samaritans, and even Gentiles. He fulfilled the promise of Ezekiel 34:12, "As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out My sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered." As seen in the 23rd Psalm, He promises to lead His kingdom-flock through every phase of life, good and bad, and to bring them at last into the culmination of His kingdom in heaven, where "the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7:17).
In view of these wonderful promises, the metaphor shifts in the second half of the verse to that of keeping our garments clean, so that we will be always ready for the King's return. The reference is doubtless to the Lord's letters to the seven churches at the beginning of the Revelation:
Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels (Revelation 3:4-5).The white garment is a symbol of holiness and purity throughout the Bible. At the Transfiguration Jesus was seen to be clothed in dazzling white (Mark 9:3), and in the first chapter of the Revelation He appears to John in the form described first in Daniel 9:7: "His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool." Angels were also identified by this kind of clothing in Mark 16:5 and Acts 1:10.
In the main body of the Revelation, white garments appear on the twenty-four elders surrounding the throne (4:4), are given to the Christian martyrs (6:11), and clothe the multitudes from every nation that are later seen to stand before the Lamb (7:9). An elder addresses John and explains, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (7:14). The white garment, then, represents holiness and purity before God, obtained not by our own efforts but through the cleansing blood of Christ.
Our goal, once cleansed, should be to keep the garments clean; but when they are soiled with sin, we can seek to renew them through Jesus, even as He encouraged the Christians at Laodicaea:
"I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see" (Revelation 3:18).Chorus:
Whiter than snow (I long to be, dear Savior),
Whiter than snow (I long to be).
Whiter than snow (I long to be, dear Savior),
Whiter than snow (Whiter than the snow).
Seek the LORD while He may be found;Stanza 2:
call upon Him while He is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7)
Far whiter than snow, and as fair as the day,
For Christ is the fountain to wash guilt away;
O give Him, poor sinner, that burden of Thine,
And enter the fold with the ninety-and-nine.
(Chorus)
The metaphor of Christ as a fountain naturally calls to mind other hymns, in particular the great American folk hymn "Come Thou Fount of every blessing." But the image is rooted in Scripture, starting (at least) with Jesus' unusual conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in John chapter 4. Moving deftly from the subject of physical thirst and wells to the spiritual equivalents, Jesus says in verse 14, "But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." There was "water in the plan" from the beginning, for nourishment and for cleansing; in a similar unusual encounter, Jesus told the Jewish leader Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Paul was told in similar fashion by Ananias, "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16).
The second half of the stanza promises that Christ will take away the burden of sin, recalling Jesus' words in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." In one sense this statement is hard to reconcile with some of Jesus' own descriptions of following Him, such as Matthew 7:14, "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few," or Matthew 16:24, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." To this question one can only answer that the burdens of sin lead to far worse, in this life and beyond, than anything Jesus will demand.
The final line references the famous parable of the lost sheep, which becomes the chief topic of the third stanza.
Stanza 3:
Yon sheep, that was lost in the valley of sin,
Was found by the Shepherd, who gathered him in;
With songs of thanksgiving the hills did resound,
"My friends and my neighbors, the lost sheep is found."
(Chorus)
The well known parable is found in Luke 15:4-7:
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost." Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.This perennially popular story touches the heart in several ways. There is the determination of the Shepherd to recover the lost sheep, however long it takes. There is the realization that no matter how many other sheep He has, each one is valuable enough to receive His individual attention, as if it were His only one. And finally, there is the tender care with which He brings the missing one home; not with rebuke or punishment, but with gentleness and joy.
Another stanza, now often omitted, preceded the final stanza:
Look up, O my brother, and be not cast down,
While heavy the cross, you are sighting the crown;
Go, wash in the fountain, while waiting below;
Your sins shall, though scarlet, be whiter than snow.
The final line references Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." This colorful and thought-provoking Scripture reference is predicated on the "washing in the fountain" referenced in the second stanza, but the effect is weakened by the awkward introduction of the image of cross-bearing in the same context. The singer is first encouraged as one struggling under the cross, then is told to wash in the fountain. Bearing the cross is an act of obedience, however, and the difficulty found therein is not the result of unforgiven sin, but of the inherent cost of following Jesus. The confused message may be the reason this stanza is often omitted.
Stanza 4:
Ride over temptation and cease your alarms;
Your Shepherd is Jesus, your refuge His arms;
He'll never forsake you, a Brother and Friend,
But love you and save you in worlds without end.
(Chorus)
In conclusion, Mrs. Kidder exhorts the singer to take courage from the knowledge of this Shepherd's desire and ability to care for His own. When we think of the metaphor of the ancient shepherd, we tend to focus on the gentle, careful attention given to the flock, as expressed in Psalm 23. But the shepherd also had to be strong, as David proved by his defense of his flocks against wild animals. In the less famous Psalm 28, the shepherd-king of ancient Israel described his God in terms of the Savior-Shepherd:
Blessed be the LORD!
For He has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to Him.
The LORD is the strength of His people;
He is the saving refuge of His anointed.
Oh, save Your people and bless Your heritage!
Be their Shepherd and carry them forever.
(Psa 28:6-9)Micah predicted that the Son of David would fulfill this desire, in the same passage in which Bethlehem is named as the Messiah's birthplace: "And He shall stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they shall dwell secure, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth" (Micah 5:4). In such hints and shadows the faithful Israelites could see a Good Shepherd coming; how much more should we, with the full revelation of His gospel to reassure us, trust in Him and follow His example? Peter so exhorts us, expanding on the language of Isaiah 53:
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to Him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1Peter 2:21-25).About the music:
 |
| From Simpson's Daily Leader, Kittaning, Pa., 12 May 1916. |
James Gerald Dailey was born March 22 1854 in Rockland, Delaware, north of Wilmington ("James Gerald Dailey, Sr.," FindAGrave.com) to Irish immigrants James and Eliza Dailey. His father passed away when James was only four, and the family relocated to the western end of the state, settling in "Brockwayville," as Brockway, Pennsylvania was then called ("Eliza Dailey," FindAGrave.com). In the 1870 census James is listed as an apprentice shoemaker, and curiously, is indicated to be "blind, deaf, insane, or idiotic" (1870 census). There is no other information that Dailey had any such disabilities, so this remains a mystery. By 1876 he had married (1900 census), and the 1880 census shows him to have been working as a shoemaker in Brockway for a time, supporting his widowed mother in his household.
How and where Dailey acquired his musical training is yet to be discovered; but his rise in the field of sacred music coincided with the rise of the temperance movement, with which he held a lifelong association. In a New York Times article from 28 October 1887 describing the traveling tent-meetings of the Prohibition Party, we find this (rather snarky) report of James G. Dailey's leading a Sunday service:
The Professor's presence is calculated to lend sanctity to Gospel temperance meetings such as were held on Sundays in the tent. It diffuses also the solemnity necessary to the success of secular gatherings. He is tall and dark-complexioned, and has a mournful expression which well befits an evangelist wedded to his calling. His voice is mellow and melodious, two qualities indispensable to a singer of sweet prohibition songs.Times reporters could make fun all they wished; Dailey was becoming known for his temperance songs, which led to a string of publications:
What's the News? A Collection of Gospel, Temperance and Prohibition Songs. Brockwayville, Pa. and Buffalo: J. G. Dailey, c1889. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20569029
Love: for Use in the Sunday-School, Home, Social, and all Kinds of Religious Services. Brockwayville, Pa.: J. G. Dailey, 1892. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/35303952
Popular Pearls for Gospel Temperance Meetings. Brockwayville, Pa.: J. G. Dailey, 1894. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39141117
Prohibition Chimes: for Temperance, Prohibition and all Reform Meetings. Fredonia, New York: Dailey & Mead, [1900?] http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33005380
"But now abide faith, hope, love; these three, howbeit the greatest of these is love." Philadelphia: J. G. Dailey, [1914?] http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/953416393
The Prohibition Wringer. Philadelphia: J.G. Dailey Music Company, c1915. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/893059890The 1910 census shows that Dailey eventually settled in Philadelphia, a center of music publishing. Though he is remembered today for his hymn tunes--including the winsome music for "Why did my Savior come to earth"--he was best known in his own time for the temperance songs. In one of his better known efforts in this genre, written in 1911, Dailey made the following prediction:
 |
| Public domain, from Hymnary.org https://hymnary.org/hymn/WS1916/page/157 |
Dailey got the last laugh on the New York Times, which had to admit at Dailey's death in 1927 the prophetic accuracy of his song (NYT, 16 November 1927, p. 5). On January 27, 1920, the Volstead Act took effect, making alcoholic beverages illegal and beginning the Prohibition Era in the United States.
References:
Crosby, Fanny. Memories of Eighty Years. Boston: James H. Earle, 1906.
http://books.google.com/books?id=MpoYAAAAYAAJ
McCann, Forrest M. Hymns and History: an Annotated Survey of Sources. Abilene, Texas: ACU Press, 1997.
"James G. Dailey, songwriter, dies." New York Times, 16 November 1927, page 5.
"James Gerald Dailey, Sr." FindAGrave.com, page created by Jeff Donaldson.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/174973711/
"Eliza Jane Morrison Dailey." FindAGrave.com.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19454064/eliza-jane-dailey
"J. G. Dailey." Hymnary.org. https://hymnary.org/person/Dailey_JG
"James Dailey." United States Census, 1860.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4SW-WVS
"James Dailey." United States Census, 1870.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZP6-QGF
"James G. Dailey." United States Census, 1880. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWFK-BT8
"James G. Daily." United States Census, 1900. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS6V-Z3L
"James G. Dailey." United States Census, 1910. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGH3-3B7
"Bailey's tent campaign." New York Times 28 October 1887, page 1.
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