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