Benjamin Hanby
Illustration — The Hanby House, c. 1905 • Illustration — The Hanby House in 2020 Benjamin Russell (or Russel) Hanby (July 22, 1833 – March 16, 1867) was an American composer, educator, pastor, and abolitionist. He is known for composing approximately 80 songs and hymns, most notably "Darling Nelly Gray" and the Christmas songs "Up on the Housetop", and "Who is He in Yonder Stall?".
Also recorded as B. R. H. · Benjamin Russell Hanby · Benjamin Russell · Ben Hanby
Benjamin Hanby
Ohio History Connection, attribution · https: via · Public domain
- Born
- 1833 · Rushville.
- Died
- 1867 · Chicago.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- composer · lyricist · abolitionist · parson
- Education
- Otterbein University
- Languages
- English
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Illustration — The Hanby House, c. 1905 • Illustration — The Hanby House in 2020 Benjamin Russell (or Russel) Hanby (July 22, 1833 – March 16, 1867) was an American composer, educator, pastor, and abolitionist. He is known for composing approximately 80 songs and hymns, most notably "Darling Nelly Gray" and the Christmas songs "Up on the Housetop", and "Who is He in Yonder Stall?".
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wikidata · Q4888764 · wikipedia · Benjamin Hanby
In this article
Life and legacy
Life and legacy
Hanby was born in Rushville, Ohio, on July 22, 1833. In 1849, he moved to Westerville to enroll at Otterbein University, and was later involved in the Underground Railroad. His father was Bishop William Hanby. In 1856, at the Benjamin Hanby House, Hanby composed the popular anti-slavery ballad "Darling Nelly Gray", based on his encounter with Joseph Selby, a runaway slave from Kentucky who had died in the Hanbys' Rushville home. Hanby went on to write several other notable anti-slavery songs, including "Ole Shady", "The Song of the Contraband", and "Little Tillie's Grave". After graduating in 1858, Hanby briefly taught school before becoming a minister in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1860, he became the principal of Seven Mile Academy in Seven Mile, Ohio. By Christmas of 1864, after some time as a minister in a church in New Paris, Ohio, Hanby was operating a singing school in the town. Here, he composed "Up On The Housetop" as a Christmas sing-along, originally titled "Santa Claus". In 1865, Chicago-based publisher George Frederick Root published the song and brought Hanby to Chicago to pursue other ventures. On March 16, 1867, Hanby died in Chicago from tuberculosis at the age of 33. He is buried in Otterbein Cemetery in Westerville. Today, the Hanby House is a museum managed by the Westerville Historical Society and owned by the Ohio History Connection.
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Benjamin Hanby House
Residences
Rushville.
Birth place
Chicago.
Death place
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."Benjamin Russel Hanby, Ohio Composer-Educator, 1833–1867 (1987)" in C. B. Galbreath, Song Writers of Ohio, in 14 Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications 180 (1905).
- 2.Family History.
- 3.Who is He in Yonder Stall?. 3 December 2022.
- 4.Benjamin Hanby at Ohio History Central
- 5.William Osborne, Music in Ohio 421 (2004); Galbreath, supra, at 183.
- 6.Family History.
- 7.Hanby, Benjamin, House (added 1970 - - #70000493). National Register of Historic Places.
- 8."Benjamin Russel Hanby", Hanby House.
- 9.Westerville Public Library. Benjamin Hanby and His Anti-Slavery Song.
- 10.Ohio History Connection. The Civil War in Sheet Music. October 2023.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 31 August 2026.
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