He sounds like a man on a mission, with the words of
his conviction forthrightly in the title of what he crafted at the age of 52. In
fact, perhaps it was really someone else’s mission that spurred Palmer
Hartsough to pen most of what he had to say in “I Am Resolved” in the latter
years of the 19th Century. Palmer had only recently moved to Cincinnati
to work hand-in-hand with a publisher, when in 1896, his boss asked him to stretch his creative muscles, to go further than he had with the song’s original words, evidently with a plan in
mind to use the newest words in a wider way. Palmer initially may have had some
folks in mind at a mission or a church whose music he guided, but perhaps it
was the experience of a lengthy train ride that gave Palmer’s boss the idea for
something more wide-ranging. After all, does a person have more than one
resolution in life -- perchance multiple sub-resolutions that flow from one
that is paramount?
Palmer Hartsough had been a music professional for all
of his adult life when he spelled out his convictions in “I Am Resolved”, a musical
pledge that someone could say eventually took him deeper into devotion some 10
years later. Hartsough may also have had some musical bloodlines that helped fix
his calling in life, even as he progressed through his later years. Another
Hartsough, Lewis T. (14 years Palmer’s senior), was active in music-writing and
as a Methodist minister in 19th Century New York, Utah, Wyoming, and
finally Iowa; whether Palmer and Lewis T. were related is unclear, however. Palmer’s
calling at the time he wrote “I Am Resolved” was music direction at a Baptist
church and the Bethel Mission in Cincinnati, concurrent with his association
with the Fillmore Music Company in the city. The company’s owner apparently
coaxed Palmer's creativity toward some additional words for the song after accompanying several
travelers who sang the original song on the way to San Francisco for a
convention. This request no doubt posed no serious predicament for the music
veteran Palmer, who’d been a travelling music teacher and music studio owner in
the Midwest for many years before arriving along the banks of the Ohio River in
1893. Nevertheless, did this episode stick with Hartsough, or cause him to
consider a new, tangential direction in its wake? Some 10 years later, as a
62-year old, Hartsough became an ordained Baptist minister, later serving in
Michigan in that role until he retired in 1927 at the age of 84. That epilogue
to “I Am Resolved” tells us something about Palmer: He wasn’t a malingerer, someone
who was satisfied with marking time. He examined himself, and wasn’t afraid of
a resolution that challenged his direction – even if it was one that he’d spent
decades pursuing.
What was it Palmer resolved, or persuaded others to resolve
in 1896? Don’t loiter about with insignificant pursuits in the world (v.1);
keep the Savior Jesus in sight, with Him as your guide and end goal (vv. 2-3);
doing these will get one to the only destination that really matters, despite potential
opposition from others (vv.4-5). Are you set in your ways? Has the direction
become a bit predictable, the air a little stale? Can you imagine Palmer Hartsough
doing a little self-inspection, and implementing a course correction? Was it a
10-year process? If he could do it, can you or I do the same?
See information on the song’s
author here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/a/r/t/hartsough_p.htm (Palmer
Hartsough)
See the song’s verses and a brief report on the song’s
use here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/a/m/r/iamresol.htm
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/h/a/r/t/hartsough_lt.htm
(Lewis T. Hartsough)
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