He Whispers Sweet Peace to Me -- William Morgan Ramsey

 

He might have answered you if you called him ‘Pop’, or ‘Professor’, or just plain ‘Will’. There’s probably some who live in Little Rock, Arkansas that still remember William Morgan Ramsey, and the focus of his life – his God and music. One might readily see that Will heard those two things fused in the words of one of his creations, “He Whispers Sweet Peace to Me”. The professor in him knew how to make the music and teach it to others, while the ‘pop’ in Will Ramsey, perhaps more especially by 1932, was eager to communicate to a younger crowd what he had discovered as his senior years ensued. He had instructed countless numbers in the art of singing by this time, by travelling all over the American South and publishing songs for 30 years, including through a company that he’d started. You could say that Will was deeply invested and driven. Meet Will Ramsey.

 

The Cen­tral Mu­sic Com­pa­ny in Lit­tle Rock was one of the more notable accomplishments of Will Ramsey’s six and one-half decades of life, but it was really an extension of his character and beliefs that would have shone in some other way, had he not started this venture in 1902. He published at least two volumes of musical works (in 1916 and 1917), which contained probably most of the several dozen songs credited to him. But, these were merely the outgrowth of what he’d been doing since his teenage years, when he first began teaching singing by way of shape notes. This affinity for instruction continued when Will attended Normal schools to hone his skills as a teacher of music, a time when his music-writing was also probably refined by three like-minded teachers under whom he studied (Ephraim Hildebrand, Stephen Oslin, and Benjamin Unseld). Was there some of these three’s influence in Ramsey’s music even as he penned ‘He Whipsers…’, decades later as a 60-year-old? His energy for the life of gospel music he chose to pursue was reputedly what drove him on many occasions to rise in the wee hours and drive to a singing convention, often ultimately at financial loss. He loved what he did, and could apparently see light that others might have missed in these episodes. Some of that character perhaps can be seen emerging in what he wrote in the four verses of ‘He Whispers…’. His refrain-song title is the response he provides to times ‘…when misgivings darken(ed) the day’ (v.1), or when his surroundings threatened to ‘o’erwhelm my soul’ (v.2). Holding God’s hand (v.3) and bible study (v.4) were apparently constancies in Will’s life of consecration to Him. This poet-hymnist really did not need much else. The journey he was on was what the ‘Professor’ really wanted others to see, perhaps. Maybe he could have composed more songs, but by travelling around to teach so many and by publishing songs that directed others to Him, Will accomplished a lot, nevertheless.   

 

Will’s motto might have been ‘I’m a coach, and a signpost’. He was tuned in to other people, as a teacher, and evidently received a lot of positive feedback regarding his tutoring. Technically, Will was skillful, but as ‘Pop’ he was reportedly loved by those whom he met. That second quality lent him the unteachable – the attention of his hearers, so that he could point them to another. To look toward his own ‘Pop’, the One that was the source of his enthusiasm, was what lay deep inside Will Ramsey. It wasn’t below the surface, so that others needed to dig to notice this in him. He reaffirmed his focus in his 60^th year, telling us that hearing His whisper was a skill that he was still teaching others. Is there too much noise in my environment, or can I hear Him today?  

 

See biography of the author here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/r/a/m/s/ramsey_wm.htm

See his obituary here, including the newspaper article lauding his life: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55427543/william-morgan-ramsey

 

In Sorrow I Wandered -- James Rowe

 

James Rowe got a lot of inspiration from where, or what, or whom? To say he was productive while living in New York state, including in the Albany area in 1913 when was 48, would be too modest. With thousands of hymns to his credit, including “In Sorrow I Wandered” (also commonly titled “I Walk with the King”), James evidently had plenty to say that just never seemed to be exhausted. Was it the variety of experiences that motivated his spirit, including the multiple spots on either side of the Atlantic Ocean that he’d lived? And, from what he poetically composed in 1913, were there emotional valleys in which he found himself occasionally, and a resolution to those episodes that he had found? We could also guess that he must have been surrounded by others who appreciated his musical expressions, or he would not have continued filling the hymnals of his era with songs. We’ll have to quiz James and get our answers to the many clues that he’s left us someday in the future.

 

By his 48^th year when he wrote ‘In Sorrow…’, the Englishman James Rowe had lived in many places and worked in a variety of jobs, perhaps partially helping to explain his musical output. Indeed, perhaps someone had suggested and he’d admitted that he’d been a bit of a wanderer – ‘I wandered…’ (v.1). Born in England, he worked in Ireland as a government surveyor for a brief period before emigrating to America in 1890 and working for the railroad in New York for 10 years. Subsequently, he was an inspector for the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society for another 12 years. He apparently began writing hymns only by age 31, and ‘In Sorrow…’ came along some 15-20 years later. Was James reflecting back on his life by 1913, when he penned the words of his three verses? ‘For years…in sin..’ (v.2), he mused, and called out to others ‘near despair…in the lowlands of strife’ (v.3), offering that the answer to this gloom was the refrain ‘I walk with the King’. His hope must have been part of the urge he felt to write, and not just as a hobby. Could it be said that James was reaching back to all the people in the various avenues in which he’d travelled, perchance some who James knew had been afflicted with melancholy, and that the way out was through the God he knew? Perhaps James’ hymns were a kind of therapy for himself and his workmates. James worked with three music publishers in Texas and Tennessee by mid-life, and to produce some 9,000 hymns and other works after a relatively late start in life shows he had become not just a peaceful fount, but a surging river of music and poetry that continued for the remaining years of his life. He evidently had discovered something that drove him to write, and this ingredient in his life endured for decades.

 

James Rowe was connected to a tireless power source. That’s the bottom line for this fellow who wrote thousands of prescriptions, at least sometimes probably for occasional bouts with dejection. One of James’ predecessors warned his followers that God’s opponent is a roaring lion, seeking to devour us (1 Peter 5:8), signaling that this hungry beast is also rarely fatigued. So, someone might say it’s a contest that I play with my enemy, to see who wins. But, the prospect of being eaten alive hardly sounds like a game, and it doesn’t seem that James thought so either. He chose to keep in touch with the King as much as he did, through songwriting, maybe because he discovered it was a tried and true method for keeping out of the doldrums. Stay outta those blues, and you’ll avoid that beast who’s after you, James would probably say, especially when you’re walking arm-in-arm with the One who made us musical creatures.      

 

See all three verses and the refrain here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/w/w/k/iww_king.htm

 

Some biography of composer here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/r/o/w/e/rowe_j.htm

 

See more biography on author here: https://hymnary.org/person/Rowe_James

Let the Redeemed -- Ward L. Ellis

 

He was happy to share, and coaxed others to do likewise. But, most of what else might be said about Ward L. Ellis is pretty much up for grabs. Where was he from? He liked to have a little fun, as he indicates in a short description of a Christmas singing engagement at which he agreed to perform; so, we might say that Ward liked to laugh (perhaps not unlike these guys shown in the 16^th Century artistic masterpiece by Hans von Aachen, Two Laughing Men). And, he had at least one album with 13 songs. If you happen to know more about Ward, please share. He sounds, including in the song “Let the Redeemed”, like a guy who was joyful, and is/was somebody good to know. Though there’s not much more currently known about him, Ward’s one evident character trait – joy – is one that could make him stand out in a crowd. It’s an attitude that would have incalculable value if its infectious potential were maximized.

 

Ward L. Ellis has at least 13 songs to his credit, including most that are one album. It’s called Good Time Praisin’, and includes the 1978 song ‘Let the Redeemed’. The album is apparently from 2009, however, so we can presume that Ward was still active/alive as recently as 12 years ago. One other song that he wrote, “Barefoot in the Sand”, was a bit of mirth that he concocted for a Christmas engagement in a friend’s home, by his own admission a parody of a well-known Christmas tune. His words in ‘Let the Redeemed’ suggest a similar mindset of merriment, of unbridled happiness. And, it’s not based on some vague sense of well-being and contentment. Ward’s source of joy is the state he wanted others like himself to acknowledge: salvation, from the hand of a gracious Creator. It might sound repetitive to the cynic, but Ward invites the ‘redeemed’ to remind each other that that’s who they are. We aren’t just human waste, we’re saved! Celebrate that the ‘enemy’s hand’ has not kept us captive, that we no longer are ‘wandering’, but that we are ‘free’ (v.1). While verse one tells of the deliverance, Ward’s second verse is where the merrymaking really begins. ‘Give thanks’, ‘sing’, and ‘praise’ all inhabit the heart of the celebrant who has ‘the Lord’, ‘His love’, ‘His grace’, and ‘His name’ in which to dwell. There is where no minor keynotes sound, where no grain of doubt or regret sit beside us to restrain the thrill of this new home. It’s no longer a dream that I have to gaze upon with hope, for it has become reality. Each moment is one in which I can radiate the never-ending smile of a liberated life that He’s made secure. What made Ward marvel at this circumstance, to direct my attention toward celebration of my redemption? Had he come from a dark place himself, still remembering how it felt to be lost? Or, was it just Ward’s personality to be upbeat, to focus on the positive? We’ll have to find our answers later.   

 

We all know about the word infectious, in this past year. Medically, it’s not been a good thing, in this COVID year, has it? Distance and protection – those two words have been guides for staying healthy. Ward Ellis and the rest of us have never been through a pandemic before, and none of us want to endure another one. But, I long for infection, like the one Ward persuades me to risk. Shout and give a bear-hug to someone, he’d say, and tell the dazed expression of that person that he too can have what I’ve been given. Laughter is best when it breeds the same in a whole roomful of once-stricken souls. How would it be if a whole country, or a whole planet could be enticed to join in this party? None will want to miss this, once it starts.    

 

 

 

 

Hear the entire song here, including the two verses that go with the oft-heard chorus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liBL5C6kFMs

 

Read some of the author’s own words about an episode in which he wanted to have a little musical fun with some friends: https://towerrecords.com/products/ward-l-ellis-barefoot-in-the-sand