Pamphlet Collection K's-roitv Library JOSEPH FUNK !> Father of Song in Northern Virginia. By JOHN W. WAYLAND, Ph.D. Price 25c. THE RUEBUSH-KIEFFER CO., Dayton, Va. Pamphlet Collection Duke University Library a t j Joseph Funk,— Father of Song in Northern Virginia. £ $ By JOHN W. WAYLAND, Ph. D. £ h ... t • Author of the “German Element of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia,” “A History • W of Rockingham County, Virginia,” Etc. • »_ _ _ c [This biographical sketch was written for, and published in The Pennsylvania-German,— a monthly magazine of Biography, History, Folklore and Literature, published at Lititz, Pa. It is by the kind permission of W. H. Kriebel, Editor of The Pennsylvania-German, that we reprint the same. — Editor]. O NE hundred and ten years ago a young Pennsylvania -German, then resident in the Valley of Virginia, crossed the low ridge in the forest east of his father’s house and, starting at a cool spring at the foot of the slope, began to chop out a clearing. Soon he took some of the splendid logs of oak and pine and built a dwelling; his young wife came into that dwelling, and it became a home; the clearing grew and became a heritage; the name increased and came into honor far and those gifts; his memory is perennial in the spirit of song. That young man was Joseph Funk, a native of Berks County, Pennsylvania. His domi- cile in the Virginia forest has grown into the beautiful little village of Singer’s Glen. The surrounding county of Rockingham is a fa- mous music center, not only for the adjacent districts of Virginia and West Virginia, but also for a number of States south and west. It is probably true that there is not another county in any State of the United States Home of Joseph Funk, where he lived and died; now occupied by a grandson, who with his wife, appears in this picture. The small house in the fore- ground is the old loom house, converted into the print shop in 1847. The big spring is in the shadow at the right. wide; for, having once established a home for where the rudimentary knowledge of music is his children, this man became a benefactor in so generally diffused among the people, or many homes; he and his sons have led one where the practice of home and congrega- generation after another into the discovery of tional singing is so generally prevalent as in divine gifts, and he still lives in the vitality of this county of Rockingham, in the Shenan- doah Valley of Virginia. A careful study of the situation, its causes and development, will reveal the fact that these conditions, as just outlined, have been brought about pri- marily by Joseph Funk; secondarily, by his sons and grandsons. To one familiar with the situation, this fact is obvious. Accord- ingly, we deem the term appropriate when we call Joseph Funk the father of song in Northern Virginia. Were it possible to use a term still more expressive of initiative, derec- tive, and stimulative influence, we believe that the tribute implied in such a term would not be undeserved. According to the date on his tombstone, Joseph Funk was born March 9, 1777. He was the elev- enth child — the seventh son — of Henry Funk and Barbara Showalter his wife. Henry Funk was in the earlier part of his manhood a preacher in the Menonite Church. In 1786 he with all his fam- ily, except his oldest son Jacob, left Pennsylvania and came to Virginia, to the then new county of Rockingham, and settled some nine or ten miles north of Harrisonburg, the county-seat, at the eastern foot of the Little North Mountain. Land was abundant and fertile. The forest was cleared away, and the wilderness was made to blossom like the rose. The land is still fertile, and the Funks are more abundant. They are still at Singer’s Glen and near it, though many have gone far abroad; Squire John Funk, sixth son of Joseph, is hale and jovial at the age of 89. He lives where his grand- father Henry Funk settled in 1786, just across the low ridge west from Singer’s Glen, where the cool spring still flows: the spring by which hi 3 father. Joseph Funk, began to chop out the clearing a hundred and ten years ago. Joseph Funk was twice married and twice widowed. On Christmas Day, 1804, he mar- ried Elizabeth Rhodes. She died February 7, 1813, leaving five children: Jonathan, Henry, Elizabeth, Susan and Barbara. On the 6th of September, 1814, he married Rachel Britton, who lived till December 9, 1833, and bore him nine children; Mary, Joseph, David, Samuel, Hannah, John, Timothy, Solomon, and Ben- jamin. A hundred years ago men were versatile. They needed to be so. Joseph Funk was a land owner and farmer; he was also a school- master; he knew something of herbs and their use as simple remedies for human ail- ments; he became a translator of religious works, the author of several controversial pamphlets, the author and publisher of music books, the head of a printing, publishing, and binding establishment, and a famous itine- rant teacher of vocal music. Above all, he was a man of deep piety, strict integrity, and a most influential factor in the moral uplift of his community and State. When, how, or where Joseph Funk received his educational training is a matter largely of conjec- ture. It is probable that he attended school very little. In the common phrase, he seems to have been chiefly a self-made man. Whether he learned mainly from living teach- ers or from his own mas- tery of books, he learned well. He had a wide knowledge of books as well as of men; he rarely misspelled a word; his penmanship at its best was elegant; his punctua- tion and use of capitals almost without exception followed accurately the approved standards of his day; his command of lan- guage in the expression of thought always shows power and nearly always exactness; his literary style, as exemplified in his manu- scripts and numerous extant letters, is ele- vated and dignified. On the slope of the hill, about eighty yards from his dwelling, and about half that dis- tance beyond the spring, Mr. Funk built a schoolhouse. It stood there many years, and was used for the purpose originally contemplated. Beside the spring, near the dwelling house, a loom house was erected about 1804. The main floor is five or six feet above the surrounding surface of the ground, and the apartment below was used as a dairy. The heavy oak logs of Joseph Funk’s printing office, where he set up his press in 1847 — said to have been the first Menonite press in America. the structure seem to bear lightly the marks of a century and more, even where the weather-boarding has been some time re- moved. This old log loom house was used, at least occasionally, for school purposes during the period from 1837 to 1847 ; in 1847 it was fitted up as a print shop, and a bindery was built adjoining it. For many years there- after— thirty or more — books and periodicals by the thousand were sent out from that little log structure, far and wide into the great world. One may be confident in the assertion that in all of those books and papers there was not a single sentence or word that would need to be expurgated before a mother could read them to her children. The old log loom house, alias schoolhouse, alias printing house, has had all the subsidiary structures removed, and now again at the last, as at the first, it stands by the spring alone. May it long be spared — preserved — as a relic of bygone days, as a monument to a great man and a great work well done. Joseph Funk’s chief work was done as a teacher, particular of vocal music, and as a compiler and publisher of music books. Ac- cordingly, the remainder of this paper shall be devoted to his work in those phases: other things being mentioned only incidently. Thus we hope to be true to the caption chosen, and to prove its fitness. When exactly Mr. Funk began studying or teaching music has not been ascertained, but by the year 1832 he had attained to a con- siderable degree of experience and efficiency in the art of song; for in that year he pub- lished the first edition of his music book that has since become famous. * I have before me a copy of that book in its first form. It is bound in paste boards, covered on the outside with mottled paper. The back and corners are leather. The size of the volume outside is six by nine inches, and it opens at the end. It contains 208 pages. The first twenty-six are taken up with the title-page, preface, a metrical index, and mainly with an “Elucida- tion of the Science of Vocal Music.” The last two pages of the book are devoted to the “General Index” and “Erratta.” *Mr. Funk evidently published an earlier music book, the title of which was “Choral Music.” According to an article by Elder Daniel Hays, of Broadway, Va., published April 23, 1908, in the Harrisonburg, Va., Daily News, “Choral Music” was printed by Lawrence Wartmann, Harrisonburg, Va., and appeared in 1816. Says Elder Hays: “The text was printed in German, while the music was printed in Andrew Law’s four shaped notes.” The contents of the title-page are as follows: A COMPILATION OF GENUINE CHURCH MUSIC, COMPRISING A VARIETY OF METERS, ALL HARMONIZED FOR THREE VOICES TOGETHER WITH A COPIOUS ELUCIDATION OF THE SCIENCE OF VOCAL MUSIC. by Joseph funk. “And the ransomed of the Lord shall re- turn, and come to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.” — Isa- iah, ch. XXXV. v. 10. winchester: Published at the office of the Republic. (J. W. HOLLIS, PRINTER.) 1832. The above is an exact copy, except as to the different size of type, length of lines, etc. The quotation from Isaiah is all in one line, in small type. “Genuine Church Music” is displayed as the title proper. Inside the front lid is a small yellowed label, “E. Watts, Book- Binder, Charlottesville.” It appears, therefore, that the first edition of Funk’s “Genuine Church Music” was printed in Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia, bound at Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and sold from the home of the author at Singer’s Glen (then Mountain Valley), in Rockingham County. From Singer’s Glen to Winchester is sixty miles; from Winchester to Charlottesville, eighty miles; and from Charlottesville to Singer’s Glen, a little more than forty miles; in each case as the bird flies. It was much futher by the wagon roads of 1832. A consideration of these facts will give us an appreciation of the difficulties under which Joseph Funk began his work. The original title of this book was retained for the first four editions, that is, till 1847. In 185 L, when the revised form of the fourth edition came out. the new title “HARMONIA SACRA” appeared. It was by this new title that the book became best known; and it is by that title that thousands of men and wo- men of the older generations still know it. By 1860 the Harmonia Sacra had reached the tenth edition. By the middle seventies the final edition, the seventeenth, had been reached. The first two were printed at Win- chester; the third was printed and bound at Harrisonburg, in 1842; beginning with the fourth, all the remaining editions were printed and bound at Singer’s Glen. The number of volumes thus produced will be indicated further on. In all the editions of Harmonia Sacra “patent” or shaped notes are used: seven in the later editions; four in the earlier. The four characters used in the book before me are MI, the “master note”; FAW, SOL, and LAW. On this score Funk and his successors, as well as others who have used patent notes, had to meet a good deal of criticism. Even in this edition of Harmonia Sacra the author deems it necessary to justify the use of the shaped characters. This justification he makes in good style, referring in the course of his remarks to Andrew Adgate, whose sixth edition of “Rudiments of Music” had appeared in Philadelphia in 1799; to Samuel Dyer, whose sixth edition of the “Art of Singing” hsd been printed at New York in 1828; to the ^American Psalmody,” second edition, published at Hartford in 1830. Fur- ther on he speaks of having consulted “more than a few” noted authors of vocal music, “both German and English.” Thus we get an idea of the man’s breadth of culture. A few of the hymn tunes in this old book are still familiar friends: “Old Hundred,” “Pleyel’s Hymn,” “Lenox,” and perhaps “Olney.” But the great majority have gone to join the other great majorities. One of the more extended compositions is entitled “Heavenly Vision,” and covers a little more than two pages. The great climax of the book, however, is reached in the “Easter Anthem.” This, too, covers somewhat more than two pages. When a class could once sing the “Easter Anthem” through without a break, they were adjudged capable of doing almost anything in the line of vocal music. It is really a fine composition, and worthy of immortality. OUBTLESS Joseph Funk was brought up to speak German, or Pennsylvania- German; and he must have retained his familiarity with that tongue all his life; yet almost all his extant writings — printed books and pamphlets, manu- scripts and letters — are in excellent English. In 1837 he published an English translation that he had made of the Mennonite “Confession of Faith.” This volume, a 12mo of 460 pages, contained also an extended in- troduction, written by himself, giving a brief sketch of Mennonite history, with other matter of interest. Some twenty years later he became involved in a religious discussion with Elder John Kline of the Dunker Church, and wrote at least two considerable pamph- lets. These, in the original manuscript, I saw on a recent visit to Singer’s Glen. All these writings prove that Joseph Funk was well read in the Bible and kindred literature. If furture evidence that he was a man of broad culture were needed, it might be found in a list of the books he gave his daughter, Mary, in the year 1837, when she married John Kieffer, and journeyed to the far-off land of Missouri. A CATALOUGE OF BOOKS GIVEN TO MARY, MY DAUGHTER, AND HER HUSBAND, JOHN KIEFFER. 1 The Bible $1.37 1-2 2 Goldsmiths Animated Nature, 4 vol. 5.00 3 Rollin’s Ancient History, 4 vol. 4.00 4 Buck’s Theological Dictionary 1.37 1-2 5 Pilgrim’s Progress 0.87 1-2 6 Young Christian .87 1-2 7 Dodridge’s Rise & Progress .37 1-2 8 Baxter’s Saints Rest .37 1-2 9 Young’s Night Thoughts .50 FOUR GENERATIONS. Timothy Funk, 1824-1909, Edith R- Funk Bowman, 1810-. Joseph R. Funk, 1855-1911, Marguerite Bowman, 1900-. 10 Woodridge’s Geography & Atlas 1.00 11 Walker’s Dictionary .27 1-2 12 Hervey’s Meditations .50 13 Pollock’s Course of Time .50 14 Pike’s Guide for Young Disciples .43 15 Burders Village Sermons 2.00 16 Watts Psalms & Hymn .75 17 Gems of Sacred Poetry .37 1-2 18 Cowper’s Poems, 3 vol. 1.00 19 Wandlende Seele 1.00 20 Edwards on the Affections 0.25 21 Baxter’s Dying Thoughts .12 1-2 22 Alleine’s Alarm .25 23 Flavel’s Touchstone .18 3-4 24 Bennetts Letters to a Young Lady A Present to Maiy 25 Keeping the Heart by the Rev. John Flavel .18 3-4 26 Hannah Moore’s Private Devotion .50 27 Pike Persuasives to Early Piety .37 1-2 28 Advice to a Married Couple .25 29 A New Testament .37 1-2 30 Epitaphs & Eligies .25 The yellow old manuscript, from which I have made this copy, occupies in Joseph Funk’s clear, neat hand almost exactly the same space as my typewritten manuscript, single spaced. Some thirty letters that he wrote Mrs. Kieffer during the ten years she was in Mis- sourri are also before me. They should be published in full, for they are brimful of facts that would be of interest not only to the thousands of Funks in all parts of the country, but also to other persons who may wish to get an intimate picture of long-ago conditions in Virginia and adjacent States. For their gen- eral interest, and to bring out more clearly the character of Joseph Funk and the nature of his work, I shall present several quotations from these letters. Rockingham County, Va., December 24, 1837. As respects the music books, we may reasonably infer, that it will take some time to intro- duce them, especially where others are in the way, but this must not discourage us to make exertions, as they have went ahead of many others in this country. (Kieffers had taken about 100 of Funk’s music books to Missouri.) I have since you left this, had a letter from a teacher of Music, about 60 miles below Rich- mond, for books, who also solicits me to recommend him an assistant, a young man, who understands music, whom, when he has made up his schools he will give $30.00 per month. He wishes to introduce my work generally. To hear that your books (those listed above) were uninjured brought to your journey’s end is gratifying to me; I hope you will make good use of them. What pleasure it is to a contemplative mind, to read about that heavenly country to which we are all travelling, and to acquaint ourselves with the privileges of its inhabitants, and their blissful abodes! .... May 10, 1838. I am now sitting at my writing table, where you saw me sit hundreds of times; through the window before me I have a view of your tender Mother’s Grave; your Brother David planted thereon two flowery Almonds, before he left this, which both are now in full bloom I will attend to the business which you request me to do concerning Jonas Beam. Your brother Samuel is summoned to attend at court as a witness in the case, but from what he tells me his evidence will be more against the opposite party than you. Concerning a paper, I hardly know which to forward you, the “Winchester Virginian,” now edited by L. Eichelberger, or the “Rockingham Register.” But as the Rockingham Register is printed immediately in the neighborhood where you resided and in your native place, it will probably prove the most interesting: I will therefore send it by this mail, and if you should prefer the Winchester Virginian you may let me know in your next and I will send it on to you. Mr. Robin- son is broke up and has left Winchester; and Mr. Hollis is now printing for me. I purchased the font of Music types with the letter types used for the printing of my work, with which he is now printing my Ap- pendage, which will contain 32 pages splendidly exe- cuted and fraught with very interesting Music. You will endeavor to have my musical work intro- duced into the different parts of your state, which will also tend to your own interest, as I intend to allow you a good and generous commission for all you dispose of September 12, 1838. I wish you would not be discouraged about the sale of Music books, for, notwithstanding Mr. Seats opposition, I think they will work their way through. This summer, a very respectable Methodist preacher, who got some of my books in Richmond, Va., has ordered 100 copies to be sent on to him. I sent him the books; and he is now laying aside the Metho- dist Harmonist and giving mine a general introduction into his schools. This is in North Carolina September 14, 1839. May the Lord grant his blessings, that all my chddren may, as they grow up, become useful members of both Church and State — a pattern of meek- ness and piety — and an ornament to society. Thus it is my aim to use my feeble effort, with His aid, to bring them up Beware of bad so- ciety — bad company— shun them, my dear children, unless it be for the purpose of making them better. . Your brother Joseph has prevailed on me to suffer him to get a violin, by promising to devote it to sacred music. He has progressed rapidly learning to play on it, so that he can now play a good many tunes pretty well. He sometimes plays the violin, and your brother Timothy the Flute, which in conjunction produce sweet sounds, which are highly gratifying and cheering. May it have a tendency to animate“us to press forward to that world above to join the company there who are harping on their harps and singing hallelujahs to God and the Lamb for ever and ever. Your Sister Hannah has learned flowering and paint- ing and is anxiously waiting for you to pay your visit to us, so that she may then learn you the same also. The second paragraph above is of special interest in several connections. For one thing, it shows how keen and lasting was the sense of filial duty in the Funk home. Joseph, when his father “suffered” him to get a vio- lin, was twenty-three years old. It shows also the habitual disposition of Joseph Funk, Sr., to seek the spiritual values in the ordinary things of life. In the third place, it shows that Mr. Funk was much more liberal and progressive than many of his coreligionists. Few of them, we suspect, would have felt justified in suffering their sons to have violins and flutes upon any condition. Apropos, we have this little story. Some of the prominent brethren — possibly a bishop or two among them — came one day in their journey to Brother Funk’s hospitable home. It was evidently after both Joseph and Timothy, and perhaps another son or two, had learned to play pretty we 1 on their respective instru- ments; for Father Funk, to entertain his guests, and may be to encourage the diligence of his sons as musicians, gave a modest little concert of sacred music in the living room. When the pause of silence came — the proper time for expressions of appreciation and gratitude— imagine his surprise when the brethren began to take him sharply to task — to haul him over the coals, if I may use a colloquial phrase common in Northern Vir- ginia — for his vain worldliness in permitting and even encouraging the use of instruments of music in hi3 house! In a letter to Mrs. Kieffer, dated January 11, 1840, Joseph Funk makes use of the only German sentence that I have thus far found in any of hi3 letters or manuscripts. He is congratulating his daughter and her husband upon the fact that they had secured an 80- acre tract of land for their own. He con- cludes the paragraph thus: “I am well ac- quainted with the fact, that an own home is a great blessing. The German proverb is: ‘Eine eigene Herd ist gold werth’.” February 20, 1840. This moment, as I was sitting at my table, writing this letter by candlelight, your brothers, David and Timothy, played the instruments so delight- ful that I had to stop a while and go to the apartment where they were playing — David on the violin, and Timothy on the flute — and hear them play. How charming! How heaven inspiring! is the sound of sacred music on these instruments! What pity that they ever should be preverted and abused to the vilest purposes! The present writer’s mother was many years ago a member of Joseph Funk’s singing classes at Woodlawn, Shenandoah County, Virginia, and perhaps at other places in the vicinity; and I remember distinctly hearing her remark upon the ecstatic enthusiasm that would seize upon the old master when his class would sing well. Evidently, from the above quotation, the violin, flute, and other instruments were capable of affecting him similarly. I have introduced this quotation also for ihe purpose of illustrating the minute and exact care with which he detailed many of the home happenings to his daughter, through the medium of occasional letters. Missouri in those days was weeks distant from Virginia for either the emigrant or the postman. It took the emigrant wagon seven or eight weeks to make the journey, and the mail carriers about half that time. We need not wonder, therefore, at the solicitude con- tinually expressed in this father’s letters for the welfare of his daughter and her family, nor be surprised that he should employ his best efforts to tell her of himself, her brothers and sisters, and their interests. He also doubtless felt that there was a depth and power of response in her nature that would answer the best in his own. Later she spoke out to the world in the poetry of her son; but from her childhood, we may well believe, she gave expression to many a thought and emo- tion that stirred a kindred chord in her father’s heart. Music and poetry, with the things that are akin to both, must have been a common source of joy to father and daughter. May 14, 1841. I would farther inform you, that be sides our farming work, we are busily engaged in building a house for a printing office. It is high time that we do something towards getting a third edition out. I had a letter from Richmond this spring, for 300 books and could send them but 106; however, I suppose I can gather some few from other agents to send on to them. Since then I had a letter from Mr. Moorehead, to whom I ordered Mr. Bell, my Agent at Winchester to send what he could spare. And a few days ago I had a letter from Mason County, Va., on the Ohio river, for books. If I now had those books in your State I could soon dispose of them. We must use every means in our power to get a third edition out as early as practicable. I sent to Baltimore with Mr. Shacklet, for to see about a printing press and paper. The types we have ready to commence with at -any time. From the above, as well as from a letter written March 22, 1841, it is evident that Mr. Funk and his sons were preparing to print this third edition of “Genuine Church Music” themselves at Singer’s Glen The excerpts following will show what changes were made in their plans. The house in building, referred to above, was likely one of the additions to the old loom house, which have been removed in recent years. October 9, 1841. In my last letter, I told you, that I had ap- pointed a day to go to Martinsburg to purchase a printing press. But as the demand for my music be- came so urgent, I found that we could not possibly get ready to have an edition out in time to supply the de- mands, and consequently hinted to Wartman & Way (Harrisonburg printers) that if they did the job for me on accommodating terms, I might be induced to let them have my types toward part pay, and give them the job to print; the which they were very anxious to do, and we soon came to an agreement. They print the edition, for my music type and $100. And are bound to bring it out in neat and elegant style; which is much cheaper than any of the former editions. Moreover, your brother Joseph has the privilege of working with them, in the effice, while it is in print, and learn the printing business. We are still going on to build a house for a printing office, and bindery, so that, when a fourth edition is wanted, (which in all probability will not be long) we may be ready. Joseph Funk was a man of business as well as a devotee to music and poetry. April 4, 1842. As I expect to see you in a few montns, I shall be brief in my letters. However I think it ad- visable to put you in mind to be careful when you go on your journey, not to expose yourself to the perils of water, or inclemency of the weather; but sooner let your journey be a few days longer, to avoid danger. I traded books, (The Confession of Faith) for Cop- per Kettles, two of which I intend for you, when you come to see us, a small one and a large one: they are very good kettles, and will not be heavy carriage for you to take with you when you return to the Missouri again. I told you before, if I mistake not, that your Brother Benjamin will try to be ready for the thimble when you come. The proposed visit of Mrs. Kieffer and her family to Virginia was delayed — was not made in the summer of 1842, as contemplated. October 2, 1842. Now concerning the music books I would just say that you will do with them the best you can. As they unfortunately fell in the river, of course they are not worth as much as if that had not happened them. If you think you are safe in allowing me $100 for all the music books which Jonathan left in the Missouri (147), and those which you took (103), I am willing so take it, and let it stand against you as so much of your inheritance of my estate. If you think proper to take them at this offer you will inform me in your mxt letter. The third edition of music is now out, and it is with difficulty that I can get them bound fast enough to meet the demands. These books sold regularly at $1 each; occa- sionally at $1.25, when there was a scarcity of supply. February 28, 1843. I was very much pleased to hear that John (Kieffer) has undertaken to teach music. I know it is calculated to instil into the mind, sentiments of relig- ion and refined feeling. May the practice of it be profitable to you, my dear children, both in this life and that which is to come. Persevere in it, and when your Brother Joseph comes to you, your united efforts in teaching music, may perhaps be profitable to you and the country you live in My third edition is now selling fast, so that I doubt not it will be neces- sary for us to commence a fourth edition, if spared, by next fall. In order to do the most of the work within ourselves— your brother Timothy is now in Har- risonburg learning the Bookbinding business. Mav 5, 1843. After a long and cold winter, we are now enjoying beautiful spring weather, vegetation comes out very luxuriant, and seems to promise a fruitful summer. Our cherry trees are in full bloom, and the apple trees are just beginning to open — there is a prospect for a rich crop of fruit. I must not forget to tell you that the Flowery Almond, on Your Mother’s grave, is again opening its beautiful flowers. It appears that Mrs. Kieffer and her family paid her father the long-talked-of visit in the spring of 1844. On their return they took a steamboat on the Great Kanawha River, at or near Charleston, went down the Kanawha to its mouth, down the Ohio to the Missis- sippi to St. Louis; then, presumably, on the Mississippi to the mouth of the Missouri, and thence up the Missouri to Saline county of the young State. The steamboat on which they took passage at Charleston was the Utican, and the charge for taking the Kieffer family and their effects from that point to St. Louis was $15.00. The Kieffers were ac- companied to Charleston by Mrs. Kieffer’s father. Joseph Funk, and her brother Timo- thy. Returning to Rockingham, the two men were on the road eight days. On July 19, 1844, some time after their return, the father wrote his daughter a letter from which I quote the following: Our journey was gratifying, in a high degree, to me and to Timothy both. And I suppose it will be matter of wonder to you if I tell you that after I (had) seen the conveniences of travelling in a Steamboat, I came to a firm conclusion to pay you a visit, if the Lord spare me yet a few years, and give me health and strength to accomplish the journey: especially so, as more of my children are going to settle in your country. I am now making arrangement to go to Baltimore to have my Scale printed, which I want to accomplish ere Joseph starts tor the Missouri. Solomon Funk, 1825-1880. Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Sunday Morning, Novr. 23, 1845. You are aware of the fact that myself and your brother Timothy are teaching Music, in the above county, about 100 miles from home. And as we have eight singing schools on hand, and sing every day, except some Sundays, I have but little time to write else I should have written you ere this. By the goodness of God I have enjoyed more health since I have engaged riding about, with your brother Timothy, teaching music, than I did, when in a seden- tary state, I taught school or read my books and wrote. And as I mean to devote the remnant of my days, exclusively, to the teaching of Music, I have, in order to be disencumbered from other cares of a secu- lar kind, sold my place to your brothers David and Samuel for $4001), reserving a room and homestead for me. About five weeks ago we were at home, attend- ing the sale of my property, which was on the 15 & 16 days of October by public sale. I sold off all my per- sonal property excepting a bed & bed clothes, my books & secretary Table, chairs one stone & some other articles. The sale bill amounted to upwards of §1000. All your sisters and brothers were at my sale, & I could have wished that you also were with us! . . Myself and Timothy will close our schools in this place, if nothing prevents, by the 12 or 15 of next month. They will be worth to us about $200 nett. Teaching music, to a competent teacher, is, in this place, pretty good business. We are solicited to teach this side the mountain (east of the Blue Ridge) next summer, when we expect to have larger schools than we had this summer. Culpeper County Virginia, Tuesday, October 13, 1846. I believe I informed you heretofore, that I, and your brother Timothy, have been engaged for some time, in teaching music in these parts; (Old Vir- ginia) but as Timothy is the Bookbinder, he had to stay at home, and bind books, as there is a strong de- mand for the books at present. We will soon have to engage in making a fourth edition. Solomon is now qualified to print the books; and Timothy binds them very neatly, and thus our book business may yet be- come profitable to us So soon as we return home and can get ready I in- tend going to Philadelphia, accompanied by one of your brothers — Timothy or Solomon— to have my Mus- ical Scale or map printed, and to see about procuring materials to print a fourth edition of our music. . . . This trip to Philadelphia was made by Jo- seph Funk and his son Solomon the latter part of January and the first part of Febru- ary, 1847. In 1845 or 1846, Joseph Funk, Jr., instead of going to Missouri, went to Hamp- shire county, Virginia, buying land and set- tling on it. His postoffice was North River Mills. He was thirty miles northwest of Winchester and ten or twelve miles east of Romney. To his home Joseph Funk, Sr., and Solomon went in 1847, to take the train for Philadelphia. They rode horseback from their home at Mountain Valley (Singer’s Glen) in Rockingham County, to young Joseph Funk’s home in Hampshire County, a dis- tance of at least 60 miles, air line; and then they were still ten or fifteen miles from the railroad. They boarded the Baltimore & Ohio train about 14 miles below Cumberland, and young Joseph Funk took their horses back to his home and kept them against the return. I now give extracts from a letter that Jo- seph Funk wrote to Mrs. Kieffer, March 26, 1847. Rockingham County, Va., March 26, 1847. I have had more than a usual share of bus- iness to attend to the past winter; as I and your bro- ther Solomon have been to Philadelphia, to get my Map on Music printed; also, to procure type and print- ing materials to print a fourth edition of our music. We succeeded in both cases; but our musical Map we had to get Lithographed or engraved, as it could not well be printed typographically; neither had they a press, in Philadeiphia, large enough to print it. It is Lithographed on three Stones, two for the Map, and a third for the Moving Scale. It is handsomely done, and will look splendid by the time it is mounted and ready for sale. Its usefulness, I doubt not, will rec- ommend itself to the public, and thus, by the blessing of God— as it is intended to be used in singing His praises — it may also be a means of emolument to me; and a compensation for time and money spent in get- ting it out: it will however be a month or two from this before it will be fairly ready for sale. Your Bro- ther Solomon is now engaged in setting up type for the music; and also for a Pamphlet which is to accom- pany the Musical Map, to give instruction how it is to be used. Our printing press, which I bought in Rich- mond, has not yet arrived, but we are looking for it every day— thus we will, gradually, get our printing establishment erected, ready to commence printing: and it is high time we should commence, for our third edition is nearly sold out . . ... . Your brother John has been working at home this winter in the shop at his trade, and is yet. And before he leaves he has some work to do for me, which is to cover the Loom or Spring house, and build a small end to the Loom house part, as we intend to convert it to a printing establishment (and) put up the loom in the kitchen: Your Brother Benjamin is now going to school, where he is learning Latin Grammar; he seems to be very studious and making good progress in his studies, and has improved in the different branches of learning very much. I judge he will turn his atten- tion principally to Medicine: however in a month or two he will have (to) aid Solomon in the printing office till he gets through with the fourth edition. . . . In a letter that Solomon Funk wrote Janu- ary 29, 1847, at Philadelphia, to his brothers John, Timothy, and Benjamin at home, I find the following: We found things quite different in regard to print- ing to what we expected. Instead of having the map printed in the ordinary way, we find that it has to be engraved on Stone & printed from that, as are all Maps. The engraving process is much more simple, however, than you would imagine. The engraving will cost $65, & printing $8 per hundred We have been looking for a printing press, but as yet have made no purchase. They have been offered to us for $140 Our traveling expenses (to Phila.) have been 29 dollars; & our city expenses will be about $12. From Solomon’s letter we also learn that he and his father stopped in Philadelphia at a private house, that of Mr Wm. Hopkins. It is evident from Joseph Funk’s letters and memoranda books that he and his sons got most of their supplies for their print shop and bindery, at least early in their business, from Philadelphia. There are numerous en- tries in regard to the purchase of types, paper, paste-boards, and leather in the far- off City of Brotherly Love. They used leather — usually sheepskin— in binding most of the books they sent out. The music books had leather only on the backs and corners: but all the other volumes I have seen from their bindery are bound in full sheep. There was a paper mill about twentv miles south- west of Mountain Valley, on Mossy < reek in Augusta County; and I find an entry in Jo- seph Funk’s little note book, under date of November 1857, that seems to refer to a pur- chase of paper from the proprietors of that mill— Sheets, Miller & Co. Joseph Funk likely made a trip to Richmond soon after his return from Philadelphia, since he speaks of having purchased his printing press in Richmond. A large screw for the book press was obtained in Lynchburg. It was doubtless the sort of screw that was com- monly used at Lynchburg and other market towns of Southern Virginia in the tobacco presses. This screw seems to have been brought by water from Lynchburg to Scotts- ville, the latter place being on the James River in the southern corner of Albemarle County; and from Scottsville it was hauled in a wagon the remaining seventy or eighty miles, across Piedmont Virginia, the Blue Ridge, and the Valley, to Singer’s Glen. The screw and the nut which it fits, cost $25.00. I use the present tense; for this old screw may still be found at Singer’s Glen. Only a few days ago I saw it there, forming a part of the old book press that Father Funk’s son John made more than sixty years ago. That skilled workman himself, now more than ninety years old, walked briskly with me around the house and showed me the massive oak frame, equipped with the iron screw, standing under an apple tree, where it was last used to make cider. The music map or scale, frequently re- ferred to above, was a large chart, with a mov- able zone, used to illustrate and explain the transposition of the musical scales. In size it was about 35 by 55 inches. On my recent visit to Singer’s Glen, a number of these charts were brought forth from some secure resting place by Mr. Wm. C. Funk, one of the accomplished grandsons of Father Funk. I value very highly the copy of this chart pre- sented to me. I am only sorry that it did not prove as profitable to the publisher as he had fondly hoped. Now a few more extracts from the letters of Father Funk to his daughter in Missouri. Rockingham County, Virginia, July 17, 1847. Solomon & Benjaman are printing a fourth ed tion of our music, and are bringing it out in the most splendid and elegant manner, far superior to any of the former editions. We have converted the loomhouse to a Printing office, and built a shed to the porch end for the Bindery, and we are handsomely fixed. Myself and Timothy have seven singing schools on hand. We have, at this time, a short vacation, but next Tuesday if the Lord will, we will have to take charge of our schools again ; October 24 1847. A few days ago myself and your brother Timothy returned home from our singing schools east of the Blue Ridge, having closed them all for this sea- son. We had seven schools and did a pretty good busi- ness: Solomon and Benjamin were wanted at home to print the fourth edition of our music, (with which we are now nearly through, with the printing; and now Timothy and Benjaman must be busily em- ployed binding them.) We have now orders for books which to supply, will take at least 500 copies. Moreover John will have to be engaged, for sometime, in mounting the Musical Maps. And so soon as a quantity of books are bound, and maps mounted, some of your brothers will have to take them out to their destined places to sell. Jan. 15, 1848. We have printed our fourth edition of music and bound about 500 copies the most of which are now out among our agents. We also have printed a Key to the Map or General Scale of the Scales of Music; and your brother Solomon is now engaged in printing a book for a Gentleman in Giles County, which will be a profitable job for us. Your brother Timothy is still engaged in binding, and your brother Benjamin is go- ing to school at present studying the Latin language, but he will in afew weekshave to help Solomon to print. Your brother John is engaged in Mounting and Varn- ishing the Musical Maps. After we get through with printing the job now on hand we intend printing Sturms Reflections — by subscription for which we are now tak- ing Subscribers names; in all probability we will get a large number of Subscribers. It appears from the foregoing statements, under the respective dates, that, most of the year 1847 was occupied with setting up the equipment and getting out the fourth edition of “Genuine Church Music.” Beginning with this edition, the remaining editions of the book, up to and including the final 17th Joseph Funk and his sons taught singing clas- ses in no less than ten counties of Virginia, outside Rockingham, namely: Shenandoah, Augusta, Spotsylvania, Greene, Madison, Orange, Culpeper, Page, Nelson and Hamp- shire. This was by the year 1858. Possibly they had classes in Albemarle. In a letter written by Father Funk from Spotsylvania County to his children at home under date of August 23, 1815, I find the following passage: I have been solicited by a Student from the Univers- ity at Charlottesville, to come here to teach. He was 5 days at our schools, and acknowleged that the singing was superior to that at the university; it is likely, if the Lord will, that we will take a school there next summer others in its vicinity ; this however I do Grave of Joseph Funk, Just to the Right of the Large Cedar. edition, were printed and bound in the little log printery and annexes at Mountain Valley, now Singer’s Glen. The first edition, printed at Winchester, was 4000 volumes; the second edition printed at the same place, was 8000 volumes; the third edition, printed and bound at Harrisonburg, was 12,000 volumes. The editions brought out at Singer’s Glen, accord- ing to the statement of Mr. John Funk, were of 4000 and 5000 volumes each. Basing a calculation, therefore, upon the minimum numbers, the total number of copies of the single book, in its seventeen editions, must have aggregated no less than 80,000. I find, from letters and other records, that not wish to b« or blazed as it might savor boasting which is not expedient and of which I disapprove. A few words in the above are worn off of the manuscript but their sense can easily be supplied from the context. At one other place I found some intimation that some teaching might have been done at Charlottesville. Whether it is actually so or not, I have not thus far been able to determine. Charlottesville, the seat of the State Univers- ity, is in Albemarle County. Funk’s books were sold, as I find by the records, not only in the counties named above where classes were conducted but also in the following: Greenbrier, Randolph, Monroe, Preston, Boone, Bath, Upshur, Floyd, Mercer, King George. Barbour, Harrison, Lewis, Bucking- ham, Washington, Raleigh, Frederick, Fair- fax, Botetourt, Appomattox, Louisa, and Po- cahontas; several of these now being in West Virginia; in the following cities and towns of importance: Richmond, Lynchburg, Lexington, Chris- tiansburg, Lewisburg, and in Columbus, Ohio, and in the following States, outside of Vir- ginia: Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, North Carolina, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Missouri, and Canada West. All this by 1858. Apparently, the best individual buyer of the Funk music from 1856 to 1858 was Charles Myers, of New Hope, Va. The second edi- tion of the now famous Kercheval’s History of the Valley of Virginia was printed about 1850, at Woodstock; and I am imformed that these books were bound at Mountain Valley. On January 6, 1857, Joseph Funk made an entry in his little book to the effect that he had written “to Revd. Joseph A. Seiss No. 120 German St., Near Green, Baltimore, Md., & sent him proof sheet &c. ” They must have been doing printing for Dr. Seiss. Later in 1857 the Funks seem to have printed 3000 copies of some book for Geo. Hendrickson, of Midway, Craig County, Virginia, for which they were to receive $800.00. And so on. Enough examples have been given to show the rapid development and wide scope of their book publishing and book binding business. In July 1859 Joseph Funk and Sons began the publication of a periodical. It was a 16- THE SOUTHERN The original head piece of Joseph Funk’s music journal, the first published south of the Mason & Dixon line, in the years 1859-60. Discontinued on account of the civil war. This journal was the forerunner of THE MUSICAL MILLION. Beazley, of Crawfordville, Taliaferro County, Georgia. It will be observed that Joseph Funk and his sons no sooner had their establishment equipped for printing and binding books than they also b°gan to print and bind other books. The book that was being printed for the gentleman of Giles County, in January 1848, is mentioned above in the extract from one of the letters, as is also the project for get- ting out Sturm’s Reflections. This project was carried successfully to completion, for I have before me one of the volumes, an octavo of 490 pages, printed in 1848. In 1849 the Funks bound a 16mo volume of 476 pages, printed in Harrisonburg by J. H. Wartman & Brothers, entitled “Sketches on a Tour Through the Northern and Eastern States, The Canadas and Novia Scotia,” by J. C. page monthly magazine, entitled, “The South- ern Musical Advocate and Singers Friend.” In a little while the subscribers to the Advo- cate were numbered by the hundreds, as one may see by the printed lists of names in the successive issues; and were to be found in all parts of the surrounding country. Twenty-one issues of this magazine were printed, the last appearing in March 1861; then the war came, and for awhile destruction and chaos. The publication of the Advocate was resumed in 1867, and continued for a year or more. It was the precursor of the Musical Million, a monthly magazine started at Singer’s Glen in January 1870. This maga- zine is still being published the enterprise hav- ing been transferred, with the related publish- ing interests, from Singer’s Glen to Dayton, ten miles southwest, in 1879. At Dayton the work begun at Singer’s Glen by Joseph Funk & Sons is being carried on bv their descendants in the Ruebush-Ivieffer Company and the Ruebush- Elkins Company, which are among the best known publishing houses, especially as regards music publications, in the Southern States. Among the contributors to the Musical Ad- vocate in 1859, 1860, and in 186 L were two men that are today counted among the foremost poets, scholars and literary men of the Shen- andoah Valley: one of these was Joseph Sal- yards, already distinguished as a teacher, poet, and scholar, and later more famous still as the head master of a great school at New Market; the other was young Aldine Kieffer, Joseph Funk’s grandson — son of that daughter to Aldine S Kieffer — 1840-1904. Grand- son of Joseph Funk. Poet and author. whom the elegant letters of Father Funk were written from 1837 to 1848. Joseph Funk died December 24, 1862, and we end this sketch of him as we began, by terming him the Father of Song in Northern Virginia. He began his publication of the Harmonia Sacra when he had to have the printing done sixty miles away from his own place of work. He set up a printing press and bindery of his own when he had to get the press at Richmond, 120 miles away; the book press screw at Lynchburg, 100 miles away; and most of his printer’s supplies from Philadelphia, 240 miles away; and all this when the nearest point on the railroad was 100 miles away. He and his sons taught hundreds of singing classes all over Northern Virginia, and to his school at Singer’s Glen young men came to study from various places distant many miles. His publications were sent all over Virginia, and to a dozen other States; and his work is being perpetuated in the music school and collegiate institute at Dayton, as well as in the publishing houses already named. If any further justification of the term applied to Joseph Funk were needed, it might be found in the following incident: A year or two ago the writer of this paper asked a dozen competent judges to elect the twelve leading singers and musicians of Rock- ingham County, and to name in addition others deemed worthy of mention. About eighty different men and women were named. Joseph Funk’s name was first on mo3t of the lists, and when the elect twelve were fixed upon, one was found to be Joseph Funk’s son, an- other his grandson, two others his great grand- sons, and nearly all the rest direct or remote descendants. Of the large number receiving honorable mention, a large proportion were persons who were kin to him by blood or had felt the influence of his work. One of the most popular diversons in Rock- ingham and adjacent counties to-day is to have “old folks’ singings,” in which the Harmonia Sacra is used.