The Songwriter
“As he read, his eyes kindled...”
Elkhorn, Wisconsin resident and songwriter, Joseph Philbrick Webster wrote three of the biggest hits in the eternal American songbook - LORENA, IN THE SWEET BYE AND BYE, the most popular American hymn ever written and, "I'll Twine mid the Ringlets", a song that would later be known as THE WILDWOOD FLOWER, made famous by the Carter Family and now recognized as a cornerstone in the foundation of Country Music. They are among many songs he published out of his Elkhorn home in the years during and just after the Civil War. Sanford Fillmore Bennett was a Poet and a veteran of the 40th Wisconsin volunteer infantry when he met Webster. He and other local writers and intellectuals were a part of the great composer's salon. At the time, everyone was aware of Webster as LORENA was the most beloved song of the era and the defining song of the Civil War. Soon, the two men would collaborate. Below, Bennett describes his moody friend Joe Webster and how the writing of the lyrics for "In the Sweet By and By" came about.
"Mr. Webster, like many musicians, was of an exceedingly nervous and sensitive nature, and subject to periods of depression, in which he looked upon the dark side of all things in life. I had learned his peculiarities so well that on meeting him I could tell at a glance if he was melancholy, and had found that I could rouse him up by giving him a new song to work on. He came into my place of business [in Elkhorn, Wisconsin], walked down to the stove, and turned his back on me without speaking. I was at my desk. Turning to him, I said, “Webster, what is the matter now?” “It’s no matter,” he replied, “it will be all right by and by.” The idea of the hymn came me like a flash of sunlight, and I replied, “The Sweet By and By! Why would not that make a good hymn?” “Maybe it would,” he said indifferently. Turning to my desk I penned the words of the hymn as fast as I could write. I handed the words to Webster. As he read his eyes kindled, and stepping to the desk he began writing the notes. Taking his violin, he played the melody and then jotted down the notes of the chorus. It was not over thirty minutes from the time I took my pen to write the words before two friends with Webster and myself were singing the hymn."
Like most Wisconsinites of his time - Joe Webster came from somewhere else. He was what my great grandfather, a Norwegian in Dane County called, a yankee - someone from New England. He was already a celebrated and well known musician when he arrived and settled in this state. And it was in Wisconsin where he would write his best known songs that live in the Great American Songbook to this day. In1856, he established a music school in Elkhorn and met Henry D.L. Webster (1824-1896 a universalist minister and a teacher and the principal of the Elkhorn schools. LORENA was originally a poem written by Webster about an instance unrequited love in his past. It was published in 1857 and a few years later, during the war, it caught on and sheet music sales soared. Like all great explosions in pop culture, It captured the moment. The name Lorena became very popular. It marked a generation of girls and boats and trains could be seen with the name proudly emblazened on their sides.
During the war, Joe Webster sidelined as a drill instructor for Wisconsin troops. He was too ill to join an active Wisconsin regiment, he suffered from upper respitory ailment known at the time as the “Lake Michigan Throat”, better known today as chronic bronchitis. His skill as a drill instructor for troops spread, not only in Wisconsin, but also in Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota.
The 1860s was his most productive time as a songwriter. Many were popular, but none as much as IN THE SWEET BYE AND BYE.. The song was written for Webster’s collection of hymn tunes, Signet Ring, published by Lyon and Healy in Chicago, 1868. He wouldnt live long enough to know that he had written THE hymn of the 19th century. The Great Chicago Fire in 1871 caused the loss of many of Webster’s manuscripts, as well as some instruments and other possessions, which were stored at the Lyon and Healy offices. It also substantially deprived Webster and his family of the royalties from his songs songs due to confusion in the transfer of Lyon and Healy’s assets to another publisher. Webster’s heirs filed suit in 1906, but did not receive their settlement money until 1921. Following the Chicago Fire, Webster’s mood and health declined, as did his songwriting. He died on 18 January 1875 and is buried in the Hazel Ridge Cemetery in Elkhorn. His marker displays the tune and words of his song IN THE SWEET BYE AND BYE.