Samuel Francis Smith & "Can I Leave You"

[Carol Medlicott]

Hi All,
  I'm seeking information on where the 385b Can I Leave You text was published before it appeared in Southern Harmony.  Sacred Harp id's the source of the words as Samuel F. Smith, 1832.  I didn't find anything on Smith in The Makers of the Sacred Harp.

  Thanks so much.

 Carol Medlicott

[Warren Steel]

At 11:28 AM 5/24/2012, Carol Medlicott wrote:
> I'm seeking information on where the 385b Can I Leave You text was
> published before it appeared in Southern Harmony. Sacred Harp id's the
> source of the words as Samuel F. Smith, 1832. I didn't find anything on
> Smith in The Makers of the Sacred Harp.

One location is in Ebenezer Porter, The rhetorical reader,
5th edition, 1833, p.300, exercise 126, where it is called
"New Missionary Hymn" by S.F. Smith, Theological Student,
Andover. Porter was president of the Andover seminary. The
first edition of the Rhetorical Reader was 1827, before
Smith enrolled at seminary, so the poem probably appeared
in 1831 or 1832. In the 5th edition, the copyright is 1832
and the preface is signed 1831, and the primary publisher,
Flagg and Gould, is located in Andover, so it seems close
to the author.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ULIAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA300&lpg=PA300&dq=%22s.f.+smith%22+%22can+i+leave+you%22&source=bl&ots=C4ny--5cSW&sig=U2xpXqzociJYR8jfvmgCz_cXVVc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FHS-T823Dqai2gWf5KidDw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22s.f.%20smith%22%20%22can%20i%20leave%20you%22&f=false



--
Warren Steel mu...@olemiss.edu
Professor of Music University of Mississippi
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/

[Wade Kotter]

Carol:

Here's a non-hymn book printing of Smith's text dating to 1832 in vol. 28 of "The Missionary Herald", although Smith's name is not mentioned:

http://books.google.com/books?id=MZQUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA412

hymnary.org cites three 1832 printings of this text, one 1833 printing, four 1834 printings, and three 1835 printings (including the Southern Harmony):

http://www.hymnary.org/text/yes_my_native_land_i_love_thee?tab=instances&sort=date

I've seen several additional pre-1835 printings of this text in books I own which are not indexed at hymnary.org, but none dates earlier than 1832. I suspect that it was also circulated on broadsides during the same period.

Wikipedia has a brief biography of Smith, who is best known for writing "My Country, tis of Thee."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Francis_Smith

The entry for "Can I Leave You?" on p. 225 of "The Makers..." indicates that Smith's text is a parody of "Sweetest Love, I'll Not Forget Thee" by Thomas Moore:

http://books.google.com/books?id=NSs3AAAAIAAJ&pg=254

Wade Kotter

South Ogden, UT

PS: This text was included in the first Mormon hymn book, dated 1835 but printed in 1836, and was often sung by 19th Mormon missionaries as they departed on their missions.

---

From: Carol Medlicott <medli...@nku.edu>
To: "Fasola Discussions ‎[fasola-di...@googlegroups.com]‎" <fasola-di...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 10:28 AM
Subject: [fasola-discussions] Samuel Francis Smith & "Can I Leave You"

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[Carol Medlicott]

Dear Wade, Warren, and all,
   Thanks so much for the input you've sent on the "Can I Leave You" text.  In my Shaker research, I discovered a clear parody of the text written by an Ohio Shaker convert named Brant Agnew, who was forced by a hostile family member to leave the community where he was living (White Water, 25 miles from Cincinnati).  Several sources suggest this was a very reluctant departure. The evidence is ambiguous as to whether Agnew wrote his parody at the time of his departure or somewhat later.  He departed in 1831 or 1832.  So I'm interested in the sources he might have had to learn the text circa 1832.  From what you've all told me, it sounds, like there were several ways he might have encountered it.

Carol

---

From: Wade Kotter [wadek...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2012 1:53 PM
To: Carol Medlicott; Fasola Discussions ‎[fasola-di...@googlegroups.com]‎
Subject: Re: [fasola-discussions] Samuel Francis Smith & "Can I Leave You"

Carol:

Here is a reference to this text being sung at "Religious Exercises on the Sailing of Mr. Cutter, Printer, to Burma" held in Cambridge on October 2, 1831 as reported in the December 1831 issue of The American Baptist Magazine:

books.google.com/books?id=PQQPAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA382

Looks to me like we can push the date back to 1831.

[Wade Kotter]

Carol:

Here is a reference to this text being sung at "Religious Exercises on the Sailing of Mr. Cutter, Printer, to Burma" held in Cambridge on October 2, 1831 as reported in the December 1831 issue of The American Baptist Magazine:

books.google.com/books?id=PQQPAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA382

Looks to me like we can push the date back to 1831.