Eliakim Doolittle
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Eliakim Doolittle (August 29, 1772 – April 1850) was an American composer, schoolteacher, and singing teacher, the younger brother of
Amos Doolittle Amos Doolittle (May 18, 1754 – January 30, 1832) was an American engraver and silversmith, known as "The Revere of Connecticut." His engravings included portraits and maps, made in his New Haven, Connecticut studio. He became famous for his ...
, first cousin of composers Reuben Munson and Amos Munson, and uncle of senator
James R. Doolittle James Rood Doolittle Sr. (January 3, 1815July 27, 1897) was an American lawyer, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He represented Wisconsin for 12 years as a United States senator, from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1869. During h ...
. His most well-known composition was the
hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...
"Exhortation", a fuging tune that was first printed in ''The Musical Harmonist'' and later included in '' The Sacred Harp''.


Biography

Born in
Cheshire, Connecticut Cheshire ( ), is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The center of population of Connecticut i ...
, the son of Ambrose Doolittle and Martha Munson, he attended
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
(then Yale College), gaining the reputation as a composer, but did not graduate, and became a school- and singing- teacher. He married Hasadiah Fuller in 1811, with whom he had six children (one son and five daughters), and lived in
Hampton, New York Hampton is a town in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 938 at the 2010 census, an increase of 7.2% since the 2000 census. The town of Hampton is loc ...
. His ''Psalm Singer's Companion'' was 41 compositions (covering 48 pages) of psalm music for four voices, out of a total of 45 works that he composed. Such works included ''Solemnity'', another hymn tune published in Asahel Benham's ''Social Harmony'' in 1798, and the war song ''The Hornet Stung The Peacock'' that celebrated the 1813 sinking of HMS ''Peacock''. Later in life Doolittle suffered from what is now understood to be
dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
; he was then living in Pawlet, Vermont, where 19th-century chronicler of that village Hiel Hollister described him graphically as "nervous and sensitive, impulsive and excitable, in tattered garb, with untrimmed locks and beard, in a state bordering on insanity, anderingthrough our streets for many a year", before entering the Washington County
poorhouse A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), "workhouse" has been the more ...
in Argyle where he eventually died.


References


Cross links


Reference bibliography

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Further reading

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doolittle, Eliankim 1772 births 1850 deaths American composers People from Cheshire, Connecticut Doolittle family