
Benjamin Russel Hanby
Benjamin Russell Hanby (July 22, 1833 – March 16, 1867), also given as Benjamin Russel Hanby, was an American composer, educator, and pastor who wrote approximately 80 songs. The most famous are "Darling Nelly Gray", the Christmas songs "Up on the House Top", "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas", and the hymn "Who Is He In Yonder Stall?". Hanby was born in Rushville, Ohio. He moved to Westerville, Ohio in 1849, at the age of sixteen, to enroll at Otterbein University. He was involved in the Underground Railroad with his father, Bishop William Hanby. Hanby composed "Darling Nelly Gray" in 1856 in what is now a national historical site, the Hanby House, located at the corner of Grove and Main Streets (moved in the 1930s to 160 West Main Street) in Westerville, adjacent to the campus of Otterbein University. After graduation in 1858, Hanby briefly taught school and then became a minister in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1860, he became principal of Seven Mile Academy in Seven Mile, Ohio. In 1864, Hanby was minister of a church in New Paris, Ohio, but by Christmas 1864, he was no longer working as a pastor, but operating a singing school in New Paris. He composed "Up On The Housetop" as a Christmas sing-along. It was originally titled Santa Claus. The following year, Chicago publisher George Frederick Root published "Up On The Housetop" and brought Hanby to Chicago to pursue other publishing ventures. At age 33, Hanby died from tuberculosis in Chicago on March 16, 1867. He is buried in Otterbein Cemetery in Westerville. |
Birth and Death Data: Born July 22, 1833 (Rushville), Died March 16, 1867 (Chicago)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1901 - 1940
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer
Notes: Listed as B. R. Hanby on sheet music.
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 42 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | [Pre-matrix A-]912 | 7-in. | 7/17/1901 | Darling Nellie Gray | American Quartet | Male vocal quartet | composer | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix A-]1387 | 7-in. | 5/12/1902 | Darling Nellie Gray | Haydn Quartet | Male vocal quartet | composer | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix B-]1387 | 10-in. | 5/12/1902 | Darling Nellie Gray | Haydn Quartet | Male vocal quartet | composer | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix B-]3515 | 10-in. | 7/17/1901 | Darling Nellie Gray | American Quartet | Male vocal quartet | composer | |
Victor | [Pre-matrix C-]31044 | 12-in. | 1901-1902 | Darling Nellie Gray | Haydn Quartet | Male vocal quartet | composer | |
Victor | C-600 | 12-in. | 10/27/1903 | Darling Nellie Gray | Haydn Quartet | Male vocal quartet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | A-1043 | 7-in. | 2/18/1904 | Darling Nellie Gray | Haydn Quartet | Male vocal quartet | composer | |
Victor | B-1043 | 10-in. | 2/18/1904 | Darling Nellie Gray | Haydn Quartet | Male vocal quartet | composer | |
Victor | A-1242 | 7-in. | 4/21/1904 | Darling Nellie Gray | Haydn Quartet | Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied | composer | |
Victor | B-1242 | 10-in. | 4/21/1904 | Darling Nellie Gray | Haydn Quartet | Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied | composer | |
Victor | C-1242 | 12-in. | 3/16/1905 | Darling Nellie Gray | Haydn Quartet | Male vocal quartet, unaccompanied | composer | |
Victor | B-3138 | 10-in. | 2/23/1906 | Darling Nellie Gray | Richard Jose | Counter-tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-14733 | 10-in. | 4/21/1914 | Darling Nelly Gray | Lambert Murphy | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-15705 | 10-in. | 2/15/1915 | Darling Nellie Gray | Samuel Gardner | Violin solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-16779 | 10-in. | 11/17/1915 | Darling Nellie Gray | Peerless Quartet | Male vocal quartet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | BVE-16779 | 10-in. | 7/2/1925 | Darling Nellie Gray | Peerless Quartet | Male vocal quartet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-17855 | 12-in. | 6/13/1916 | Songs of the past, no. 15 | Victor Mixed Chorus | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-20092 | 10-in. | 6/26/1917 | Darling Nelly Gray | Alma Gluck | Soprano vocal solo, with male vocal quartet and orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-22402 | 10-in. | 10/31/1918 | Darling Nellie Gray | Orpheus Quartet | Male vocal quartet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | BS-031256 | 10-in. | 1/9/1939 | Darling Nellie Gray | Les Brown Orchestra ; Miriam Shaw | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | composer | |
Victor | CS-057603 | 12-in. | 11/7/1940 | Darling Nellie Gray | Bill Dickinson ; Tuxedo Colonels | Instrumental ensemble, with calls | composer | |
Columbia | 4215 | 10-in. | approximately July 1909 | Darling Nellie Gray | Carroll Clark | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 19735 | 10-in. | 1/23/1912 | Darling Nellie Gray | Alice Nielsen | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 46312 | 10-in. | 1/3/1916 | Darling Nellie Gray | Taylor Trio | Instrumental trio | composer | |
Columbia | 78789 | 10-in. | 11/3/1919 | Darling Nellie Gray | Tollefsen Trio | Instrumental trio | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Hanby, Benjamin Russel," accessed August 18, 2022, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/104386.
Hanby, Benjamin Russel. (2022). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved August 18, 2022, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/104386.
"Hanby, Benjamin Russel." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2022. Web. 18 August 2022.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Hanby, Benjamin Russel, 1833-1867 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n83181651
Wikidata: Benjamin Hanby - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4888764
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/21062719
MusicBrainz: Benjamin R. Hanby - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/6b1b6ab3-23b8-45d1-ba70-cef87ac495e3
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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