Benjamin Franklin White

• Illustration — Four shape system of notation White and Elisha J. King published The Sacred Harp in 1844, using the four-shape shape note notation. King died in 1844. In 1845, White led in the establishment of the Southern Musical Convention. In 1850, he issued a second edition of The Sacred Harp, adding 97 songs and 103 pages. With the 1850 and future editions, White was assisted by a musical committee appointed by the Southern Musical Convention. In 1859, a third edition of The Sacred Harp was released, adding 74 more songs on 63 pages. A fourth edition came out in 1869. For the first time, in this revision White replaced old songs with new ones, rather than simply adding the new songs to the back of the book. A year later, he released a copyright of the same book signed only by himself and his son, D. P. White, perhaps clarifying ownership. In 1911, White's youngest son, James Landrum White, reissued this fourth edition with a supplement of newer gospel songs. White also taught music; among his pupils was Sarah Lancaster. White served as Clerk of the Inferior Court of Harris County, and mayor of Whitesville, Georgia.

In 1852, B. F. White was named as Superintendent of the first newspaper published in Harris County, The Organ, which was "published by authority of the Southern Musical Convention". This newspaper, published in Hamilton, Georgia, served a double purpose: it printed various local and national news stories, taken from major newspapers or off the telegraph, but was also meant as a musical publication. Among the musical materials it included were "songs, minutes of singing conventions, musical debates, letters from singers, and advertisements for books." White participated with gusto in a number of debates about music in the pages of this paper. A few songs appear in the W. M. Cooper edition of The Sacred Harp with the mysterious notation "For the Organ". This notation, otherwise baffling in a tradition that is firmly a cappella, apparently indicates their original publication in the newspaper.

Benjamin F. White married Thurza Melvina Golightly on December 30, 1825 in Spartanburg District, SC. William Walker, publisher of the Southern Harmony, married Thurza's sister, Amy. The Whites moved from Spartanburg District, SC to Harris County, Georgia in 1842. To B. F. and Thurza were born nine children: William Decatur, David Patillo, Robert H., Mary Caroline, Nancy Ogburn, Thurza Melvina, Benjamin Franklin, Jr., James Landrum, and Martha America. Of these, David Patillo, James Landrum, and Benjamin Franklin, Jr. grew up to be prominent figures in Sacred Harp singing.

• Illustration — A historic marker in the town square in Hamilton, Georgia commemorates the life and legacy of B. F. White. B. F. White died in 1879 and was buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. The following year, members of the Chattahoochee Musical Convention eulogized him thus: White is the namesake of the shape note tune "White" by Edmund Dumas.