Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

SANKEY'S STORY OF HIS OWN LIFE

SANKEY'S STORY OF HIS

OWN LIFE.

I was born in the village of Edinburg, on the Mahoning River in Western Pennsylvania, August 28, 1840.

The first hymn I remember having heard was from the lips of my beloved mother, when, as a child, she sang me to sleep with the strains of that sweet old hymn:

“Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber,

Holy angels guard thy bed."

As a boy, it was one of my chief joys to meet with other members of our family around the great log fire in the old homestead, and spend the long winter evenings singing with them the good old hymns and tunes of the church, which was the only music we had in those days. When at home, my father would frequently join us in these evenings of sacred song, singing a splendid bass, while other members of the family carried the other parts. In this way I learned to read music, and when I was about eight years old I could sing correctly such tunes as St. Martin's, Belmont, Coronation, etc.

The church to which I belonged was situated

13

several miles from our home, but my fondness for singing led me to be a regular attendant.

I received the usual school privileges which fell to the lot of boys and girls of those days. The very first recollection I have of anything pertaining to a holy life was in connection with a Mr. Frazer. I recall how he took me by the hand and led me with his own children to the Sunday-school held in the old schoolhouse. I shall remember this to my dying day. He had a warm heart and the children all loved him. It was not until some years after that I was converted, at the age of sixteen, while attending revival meetings at a church known as The King's Chapel, about three miles from my home, but my first impressions were received from that man when I was very young.

In 1857 our family removed to Newcastle, where my father assumed the presidency of the bank. Here I attended the high school, where every opportunity was given to study such of the higher branches as the student might have a taste for, and later I took a position in the bank. On arriving at Newcastle I joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. Soon I was elected superintendent of the Sunday-school and leader of the choir.

When I first took charge of the singing it was thought by many of the church members that the use of an organ, or any kind of musical instrument to

accompany the voices of the singers, was wicked and worldly. The twanging of an old tuning-fork on the back of a hymn-book was not objected to, nor the running of the whole gamut in subdued voice to find the proper key, nor the choir trying to get the proper note to their respective parts in the never-to-beforgotten, "Do, Mi, Sol, Mi, Do," before beginning the hymn. For several years we kept on in this way, but by and by we found that the majority were in favor of having an organ in the choir. I shall never forget the day on which the organ was first introduced. I had the honor of presiding at the instrument, and I remember well how carefully I played the opening piece. Only one or two of the old members left the church during the singing. It was reported that an old man who left the church on account of the introduction of the organ, was seen on his dray the next day, driving through the main street of the town, seated on the top of a large casket of rum, singing at the top of his voice:

"A charge to keep I have," etc.

It was here that I began to make special use of my voice in song, and in this way, though unconsciously, I was making preparation for the work in which I was to spend my life.

When about twenty years of age I went to Farmingtown, Ohio, to attend a musical convention, con

« ZurückWeiter »