Nehemiah Shumway (August 26, 1761 – July 1843) was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of sacred music, teacher, and farmer.

Life

Shumway was born in

Oxford, Massachusetts Oxford is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,347 as of the 2020 United States Census. It was the birthplace of Clara Barton, the first president and founder of the American Red Cross. History Pre-Co ...

, the youngest of seven children of Amos Shumway and Ruth Parker. He graduated from the College of Rhode Island in 1790, and became principal of the Freehold Academy in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. Shumway married Sarah/Sara Tice/Tyse on December 10, 1795. She was baptised in Freehold on July 4, 1773, and died in

Lyme, New York Lyme is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 2,185 at the 2010 census. The settlements of Chaumont and Three Mile Bay are located within the town. Lyme is in the western part of Jefferson County and is north ...

, in 1831. They had four children together, but no known grandchildren.George F. Daniels, ''History of the Town of Oxford, Massachusetts'', Oxford, Mass.: Published by the Author with the Co-Operation of the Town, 1892
p. 688
Shumway moved to

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, where his first two sons were born in 1796 and 1798, relocated to Schenectady in around 1800, and returned to Albany in 1806. In 1820 he settled in Lyme; after he lost his farm there through a

title defect In United States property law, a cloud on title or title defect is any irregularity in the chain of title of property (usually real property) that would give a reasonable person pause before accepting a conveyance of title. According to Investoped ...

. A few years later he returned to Freehold, where he died in 1843.

Music

Shumway is best remembered today for two

fuguing tune The fuguing tune (often spelled fuging tune) is a variety of Anglo-American vernacular choral music. Fuguing tunes form a significant number of the songs found in the American Sacred Harp singing tradition. They first flourished in the mid-18th ce ...

s included in ''

The Sacred Harp Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music which developed in New England and perpetuated in the American South. The name is derived from ''The Sacred Harp'', a historically important shape-note tunebook printed in 1844; multipl ...

'', "

Schenectady Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

" and " Ballstown," though others, including "Pennsylvania," "

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

," "Judgment," and "Creation," are still found in

shape note Shape notes are a musical notation designed to facilitate congregational and Sing-along, social singing. The notation became a popular teaching device in American singing schools during the 19th century. Shapes were added to the noteheads in ...

books in print as of 2012. He is also believed by some to have been the composer of the tune "New Jordan" (''Sacred Harp'' p. 442), attributed to him by

Ananias Davisson Ananias Davisson (February 2, 1780 – October 21, 1857) was a singing school teacher, printer and compiler of shape note tunebooks. He is best known for his 1816 compilation '' Kentucky Harmony'', which is the first Southern shape-note tunebook. ...

.D. W. Steel, ''The Makers of the Sacred Harp'', U of Illinois P, 2010, p. 155 ("While Davisson's attributions are not always accurate, this is at least plausible, as the tune was first published in an 1815 edition of '' The Easy Instructor''."). His sacred tunebook ''The American Harmony'' was published in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1793 (2nd ed. 1801). (Note: There were several publications of this name in the same period.)

Footnotes

External links

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Schenectady sheet musicBallstown sheet music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shumway, Nehemiah 1761 births 1843 deaths People from Oxford, Massachusetts American male composers Shape note Brown University alumni Farmers from Massachusetts Musicians from Massachusetts 18th-century American composers 18th-century American male composers 18th-century American male musicians 19th-century American composers 19th-century American male musicians