C. M. Cady

Chauncey Marvin Cady (May 16, 1824, Westport – June 16 1889, Ashville) was an American music publisher, businessman and composer. One of the most eminent men of the trade, his public service to Chicago was pivotal to the advancement of the city's music scene in the mid-19th century. Among the numerous roles of authority he held were as the first music teacher at Illinois State Normal University and the first conductor of the Chicago Musical Union. ^[1] He was a founder and partner of Root & Cady that dominated Civil War and early Reconstruction-era music publication.

Early life and career

He was born on May 16, 1824.

Chicago career

Establishment of Root & Cady

No firm attained such success in publishing Unionist music as Chicago-based Root & Cady, "the largest of [...] the era" ^[2] and "most prolific producers of wartime music." ^[3] It was established in 1858 by Ebenezer T. Root and Chauncey M. Cady and, ^[4] from 1860 onwards, principally operated by George F. Root. ^[5] Root was one of the most renowned composers of the Civil War era, with such tunes as "Battle Cry of Freedom" and "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!" to his name. ^[6] By the war's opening weeks, his firm was receiving roughly sixty daily submissions; throughout the conflict, it published over a hundred songs. ^[7] In fact, it issued the very first Unionist composition, "The First Gun is Fired!", in response to the attack on Fort Sumter. ^[8]

Civil War efforts

In 1862 Cady hired acclaimed violinist William Lewis, later founder of the William Lewis & Son Co. publishing house, as a Root & Cady salesman. After the firm shut down, following the Great Chicago Fire and Panic of 1873, Lewis formed an alliance with Towner Root to create Root & Lewis, eventually amalgamated into George F. Root's firms owing to poor sales. ^[9] He served as president of the Hyde Park Board of Trustees from 1868 to 1874. ^[10]

Postbellum

The postbellum years were looking bright for Root & Cady. Publications and song anthologies, among them, the temperance song compilation titled The Musical Fountain, ^[11] were being churned out at a rate surpassing even their wartime production. The Chicagoan music scene was as lively as ever. George F. Root also distinguished himself as a prominent campaigner for Ulysses S. Grant in the 1868 presidential election. ^[12] However, their prospects came crashing down in the fall of 1871 when the firm burnt down in the Great Chicago Fire, incurring $315,000 ^{[lower-alpha 1]} in losses. ^[13] It raged on from October 8 to October 10, destroying all waterworks, banking houses and railway depots, and caused a minor depression in the national stock market. Every business in the city's south wing was obliterated; it was reported that over 20,000 buildings were demolished, wreaking over $200,000,000 ^{[lower-alpha 2]} in damages. ^[14]

Root remarked in the Song Messenger: "All is gone, my musical library and the thousand useful things that I have gathered about me in so many busy years, swept in a moment." ^[15] Unable to continue the business in its former rendition, Root & Cady's music copyrights were all sold to Ohioan publishers S. Brainard Sons and John Church & Co. The firm filed for bankruptcy in 1872. Root continued his former teaching profession and Cady left Chicago for New York. ^[16]

New York career

After Root & Cady shut down, Root pursued some more ventures in music firms, culminating in the Root & Sons Music Company which bore some success until dissolving in 1880. ^[17] His business partner Chauncey M. Cady also sought to reinitiate a profitable career as a music publisher. He established a business at 107 Duane Street, New York City, in 1875, lasting five years until shutting it down owing to fatigue from old age. ^[18] In 1876, while roaming in Broadway, he stumbled across his former employee Henry Clay Work who had quit songwriting, dispirited by financial and familial woes. Cady opportunely invited him to the new business. Eager to pick up songwriting once again, Work accepted; he published nine songs for Cady from 1876 to 1879. ^[19]

In 1876 he published a book of doxologies compiled by Theodore Wood, The Heavenly Choir. ^[20] Three years later, he published a compilation of renowned parlor songs incorporating hallmark piano tunes of the classical and romantic eras titled Parlor Gems. ^[21] He was the librettist of an 1894 cantata, Esther, the Beautiful Queen, narrating the story of the biblical heroine Esther. ^[22]

"Grandfather's Clock"

"Grandfather's Clock"
First verse and chorus

My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf,
So it stood ninety years on the floor;
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride;
But it stopped short never to go again
When the old man died.

Ninety years without slumbering (tick, tick, tick, tick)
His life seconds numbering (tick, tick, tick, tick)
It stopped short never to go again
When the old man died. ^[23]

Work's most profitable hit, also his last, was "Grandfather's Clock," issued by Cady in January 1876 and popularized by African-American entertainer Sam Lucas in New Haven. ^[24] Inspired by his sympathetic attitude toward disaffected individuals, he anthropomorphizes a clock to signify its owner; it had stood for ninety years throughout the "old man"'s life and accompanied him. When he dies, the clock also stops functioning, a symbol of human mortality and irreplaceable companionship. The song remains most memorable for its onomatopoeic "ticking" chorus and effortlessly inventive rhymes: "Ninety years without slumbering [...] / His life seconds numbering." ^[25]

Although Work awaited nothing beyond a moderate hit, ^[26] Cady expected a widespread success. ^[27] His prophecy was proven correct: the song secured over 800,000 sheet music sales. ^[28] It also coined the phrase "grandfather clock" to describe a longcase clock. ^[29] After Work sold the copyright to "Grandfather's Clock," Cady paid him a royalty of $4,000, ^{[lower-alpha 3]} helping to lift him out of poverty. ^{[30] [lower-alpha 4]} In total, this was the highest bestowed to any American composer at the time, only possibly surpassed by Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home." ^[26] An 1879 issue of the San Marcos Free Press highlights its ubiquity, claiming that not knowing the song "argues yourself unknown," being "nightly played in theater and concert halls to applauding auditors." ^[33] American music historian John T. Howard claims that "there is scarcely a school songbook" excluding "Grandfather's Clock." ^[34]

"Grandfather's Clock" performed by the Edison Quartet in 1905.

In 1878 Work composed a follow-up simply titled "Sequel to Grandfather's Clock," continuing the song's narrative after the grandfather's death. A relative of his returns to the old man's home to encounter his beloved clock being burnt for kindling wood; in its place now stands an unsightly wall ornament. ^[35]

Legacy

He formed part of the inaugural executive committee of the Old Republic Life Insurance Company founded by Paul Cornell. ^[36]

References

Notes

1. Roughly equating to $8.1 million in 2024.
2. Roughly equating to $5.1 billion in 2024.
3. Roughly equating to $125,000 in 2024.
4. Cady paid Work $250 in monthly royalties for "Grandfather's Clock," amounting to $4,000 by 1879. ^[31] However, an 1884 issue of the Evening Capital claims that Work earned $300 a month, as opposed to $250. ^[32]

Citations

1. • Chicago Tribune 1892
   • Epstein 1944b, p. 51
2. • quoted in Kelley & Snell 2004, pp. 121–122
   • Root 1891, pp. 139–140
   • Root et al. 1892, p. 5
   • Epstein 1944b, p. 43
   • Tribble 1967, p. 425
   • Carder 2008, p. 2
3. quoted in Tribble 1967 , p. 425
4. Toledo Chronicle 1875 , p. 2
5. • Root 1891, pp. 122–123
   • Birdseye 1879a, p. 147
   • Epstein 1944b, pp. 45–46
   • Howard & Bellows 1967, p. 134
   • Kelley & Snell 2004, p. 5
6. • Birdseye 1879a, p. 148
   • Epstein 1944b, p. 43
   • Howard & Bellows 1967, p. 134
   • Carder 2008, pp. 1–2, 149
   • McWhirter 2012, p. 17
7. McWhirter 2012 , pp. 15, 17
8. • Root 1891, p. 132
   • Silber 1995, p. 7
   • Carder 2008, p. 102
   • McWhirter 2012, p. 17
9. • Andreas 1884, p. 551
   • Epstein 1944b, p. 49
10. • Andreas 1884, pp. 514–515
    • Epstein 1944b, p. 57
11. • Root 1891, p. 223
    • Carder 2008, pp. 165–166
12. • Root 1891, pp. 151–152, 171
    • Epstein 1945c, p. 81
    • Carder 2008, p. 168
13. • Root 1891, pp. 152–153
    • Birdseye 1879b, p. 286
    • San Marcos Press 1879, p. 3
    • Howard & Bellows 1967, p. 134
14. • Mineral Point Tribune 1871, p. 4
    • Nashville Union 1871, p. 1
    • Epstein 1945c, p. 89
15. quoted in Carder 2008 , p. 179
16. • Root 1891, pp. 157–158
    • Birdseye 1879b, p. 286
    • Epstein 1945c, pp. 88–89
    • Carder 2008, p. 181
17. • Epstein 1945c, p. 90
    • Carder 2008, p. 181
18. • Epstein 1944b, pp. 58–59
19. • Hill 1953a, pp. 214–215
    • Hill 1953b, p. 381
    • Tribble 1967, p. 427
    • Kelley & Snell 2004, pp. 121–122
    • Graham 2018, p. 568
20. Wood 1876
21. Cady 1879, preface
22. Bradbury & Cady 1896, synopsis
23. • Work 1884, pp. 178–180
    • Birdseye 1879b, p. 287
    • Grant County Herald 1905, p. 7
    • Herder 1998, p. 122
24. • Work 1884, p. 7
    • Birdseye 1879b, p. 286
    • San Marcos Press 1879, p. 3
    • Hill 1953a, p. 214
    • Ewen 1962, p. 189
    • Tribble 1967, p. 428
    • Finson 1994, p. 132
25. • Birdseye 1879b, p. 287
    • Finson 1994, p. 130
26. Birdseye 1879b , p. 286
27. San Marcos Press 1879 , p. 3
28. • Work 1884, p. 7
    • Ewen 1962, p. 189
    • Kelley & Snell 2004, pp. 122–123
29. • Merriam-Webster 2007, p. 544
    • Oxford English Dictionary 2015
30. • Work 1884, p. 7
    • Birdseye 1879b, p. 286
    • Narragansett 1879, p. 1
    • San Marcos Press 1879, p. 3
31. • Morning Herald 1878, p. 2
    • San Marcos Press 1879, p. 3
32. Evening Capital 1884, p. 2
33. quoted in San Marcos Press 1879 , p. 3
34. quoted in Howard & Bellows 1967 , p. 135
35. • Work 1878
    • Birdseye 1879b, p. 287
    • San Marcos Press 1879, p. 3
    • Finson 1994, p. 133
36. Lakeside Monthly 1871 , p. 288

Bibliography

Books

Primary sources

• Bradbury, William B.; Cady, Chauncey M. (1896). Esther, the Beautiful Queen: A Sacred Cantata (2 ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Oliver Ditson Company.
• Cady, Chauncey M. (1879). Parlor Gems: A Choice Selection of Music, Instrumental and Vocal, by the Best Composers, to Which Is Added Original Charades for Parlor Performance. New York City, New York: C. M. Cady.
• Root, George F. (1891). The Story of a Musical Life: An Autobiography by Geo F. Root. Cincinnati, Ohio: The John Church Co. ISBN   978-1-4047-8329-4.
• Root, George F.; Sawyer, Charles C.; Work, Henry C., eds. (1892). Our National War Songs (2 ed.). Chicago, Illinois: The S. Brainard's Sons Co.
• Wood, Theodore (1876). The Heavenly Choir: A Collection of Hymns and Tunes for All Occasions of Worship, Congregational, Church, Prayer, Praise, Choir, Sunday School, and Social Meetings. New York City, New York: C. M. Cady.
• Work, Henry C. (1884). Work, Bertram G. (ed.). Songs of Henry Clay Work. New York City, New York: Little & Ives.

Secondary sources

• Andreas, Alfred T. (1884). History of Cook County Illinois: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. Chicago, Illinois.
• Carder, P. H. (2008). George F. Root, Civil War Songwriter: A Biography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   978-0-7864-3374-2.
• Drury, John (1975). Old Chicago Houses. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. ISBN   0-226-16555-8.
• Ewen, David (1962). Popular American Composers from Revolutionary Times to the Present: A Biographical and Critical Guide. New York City, New York: H. W. Wilson Company, Inc. ISBN   978-0824200404.
• Ewing, George W. (1977). The Well-Tempered Lyre: Songs and Verse of the Temperance Movements. Dallas, Texas: Southern Methodist University Press. ISBN   0-870-740-008.
• Finson, Jon W. (1994). The Voices That Are Gone: Themes in Nineteenth-Century American Popular Song. New York City, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-505750-3.
• Graham, Sandra Jean (2018). "Chapter 25: Composing in Black and White". In Hall, Patricia Ann (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Music Censorship. New York City, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780199984183.
• Herder, Ronald (1998). 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc. ISBN   0-486-29725-X.
• Howard, John Tasker; Bellows, George Kent (1967). A Short History of Music in America. New York City, New York: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   0-8152-0162-1.
• Kelley, Bruce C.; Snell, Mark A. (2004). Bugle Resounding: Music and Musicians of the Civil War Era. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. ISBN   0-8262-1538-6.
• McWhirter, Christian (2012). Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN   978-0-8078-3550-0.
• Merriam-Webster, Inc., ed. (2000). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (3 ed.). Springfield, Massachusetts. ISBN   978-0-87779-807-1.
• Shepherd, John (2003). Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. Vol. 1. New York City, New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN   0-8264-6321-5.
• Silber, Irwin (1995). Songs of the Civil War. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications. ISBN   0-486-28438-7.

Studies and journals

• Birdseye, George (1879). "America's Song Composers: II. George F. Root". Potter's American Monthly. 12 (86): 145–148 – via Internet Archive.
• Birdseye, George (1879). "America's Song Composers: IV. Henry Clay Work". Potter's American Monthly. 12 (88): 284–288 – via Internet Archive.
• Epstein, Dena J. (1944). "Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871 An Introduction". Notes. 1 (3): 3–11. doi:10.2307/891124. JSTOR   891291 – via JSTOR.
• Epstein, Dena J. (1944). "Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871: The Firm of Root & Cady, 1858-1871". Notes. 1 (4): 43–59. doi:10.2307/891291. JSTOR   891291 – via JSTOR.
• Epstein, Dena J. (1944). "Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871: Chapter III. Root & Cady Prior to the Civil War". Notes. 2 (1): 16–26. doi:10.2307/891018. JSTOR   891291 – via JSTOR.
• Epstein, Dena J. (1945). "Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871: Chapter IV. The Civil War Period". Notes. 2 (2): 124–148. doi:10.2307/890390. JSTOR   891291 – via JSTOR.
• Epstein, Dena J. (1945). "Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871: Chapter V. The Post-War Years, 1866-1868". Notes. 2 (3): 201–226. doi:10.2307/890105. JSTOR   891291 – via JSTOR.
• Epstein, Dena J. (1945). "Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871: Chapter VI, the End of the Firm, 1868-1871". Notes. 3 (1): 80–98, 101–109. doi:10.2307/891291. JSTOR   891291 – via JSTOR.
• Epstein, Dena J. (1946). "Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871 Chapter VII Conclusion". Notes. 3 (2): 193–215. doi:10.2307/891428. JSTOR   891291 – via JSTOR.
• Hill, Richard S. (1953). "The Mysterious Chord of Henry Clay Work". Notes. 10 (2): 211–225. doi:10.2307/892874. JSTOR   892874 – via JSTOR.
• Hill, Richard S. (1953). "The Mysterious Chord of Henry Clay Work (Conclusion)". Notes. 10 (3): 367–390. doi:10.2307/892162. JSTOR   892162 – via JSTOR.
• "The Republic Life Insurance Company". The Lakeside Monthly. 6 (34): 288. 1871 – via Google Books.
• Tribble, Edwin (1967). ""Marching Through Georgia"". The Georgia Review . 21 (4): 423–429. JSTOR   41396391 – via JSTOR.

Newspaper articles

• McCray, Florine Thayer (January 19, 1898). "About Henry Clay Work". New Haven Morning Journal and Courier . p. 10. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
• "Dies Iræ!: Another Fearful Fire at Chicago". Nashville Union and American . October 10, 1871. p. 1. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
• "Famous Songs and their History: No. 5—Marching Through Georgia—By Henry C. Work". Salt Lake Herald Republican . August 15, 1909. p. 21. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
• "Henry Clay Work: The Famous Song Writer Ends His Life in Hartford". New Haven Morning Journal and Courier. June 10, 1884. p. 2. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
• "Herald Notes". The Morning Herald. November 4, 1878. p. 3. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
• "Items of Interest". Narragansett Herald. April 12, 1879. p. 1. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
• "Music in the West: History of Chicago's Progress in the Divine Art". Chicago Tribune . December 18, 1892. Retrieved July 19, 2024– via Chicagology.
• "Musical Affair". The Manitowoc Tribune. May 9, 1867. p. 2. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
• "My Grandfather's Clock: A Song that was Suddenly Made Popular—Henry C. Work's Melodies". San Marcos Free Press. January 25, 1879. p. 3. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
• "Old Favorites: Grandfather's Clock". Grant County Herald . December 27, 1905. p. 7. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
• "Page 2". The Toledo Chronicle. July 15, 1875. p. 2. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
• "Page 2". Evening Capital . July 18, 1884. p. 2. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
• "Stories Of Old Songs: Marching Through Georgia". Washington Standard . August 13, 1920. p. 6. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
• "Songs for the Million". The Saturday Evening Post . April 12, 1862. p. 4. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
• "The Author of "Grandfather's Clock"". The Farmer and Mechanic. Vol. 3, no. 7. November 28, 1878. p. 3. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
• "The Chicago Fire". Mineral Point Tribune. October 19, 1871. p. 4. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
• "The City: Geo. F. Root". Chicago Tribune. May 10, 1864. p. 4. Retrieved July 15, 2024.

Websites

• "African-American Soldiers During the Civil War". Library of Congress . Retrieved July 16, 2024.
• Webster, Ian. "CPI Inflation Calculator". officialdata.org. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
• "Henry Clay Work". Song of America. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
• "George Frederick Root". Song of America. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
• "Grandfather clock". Oxford English Dictionary . September 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
• "The Emancipation Proclamation". National Archives . January 28, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2024.

Song manuscripts

• Work, Henry C. (1877). Mac O'Macorkity. New York City, New York: C. M. Cady. Retrieved July 17, 2024– via Library of Congress.
• Work, Henry C. (1878). Sequel to Grandfather's Clock. New York City, New York: C. M. Cady. Retrieved July 15, 2024– via Library of Congress.

External links

• Cady's parlor song compilation Parlor Gems, on Internet Archive
• Cady's cantata, Esther, the Beautiful Queen, on Internet Archive