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Come
Public Domain Gospel; Word by Mrs. James Gibson Johnson and music by James McGranahan. 1887
ARTIST: from Mrs. James Gibson Johnson and music by James McGranahan.
SHEET MUSIC:
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel
DATE: 1887
RECORDING INFO: Come
OTHER NAMES:
RELATED TO:
SOURCES:
NOTES: "Come" is a gospel hymn wiht lyrics from Mrs. James Gibson Johnson and music by James McGranahan.
Biography Mary R. (Mrs. James Gibson) Johnson: Nothing biographical regarding the life of hymnist Mrs. James Gibson Johnson was recorded by hymnologists. The name, James Gibson Johnson has been passed on for many generations, although one generation is missing. Some anecdotal data has been gathered regarding the man presumed to have been Mary's husband.
James' great-grandfather was Jeremiah Johnson. His grandfather appeared as Jeremiah's third child. Jeremiah Johnson was born September 16, 1763 in Montague, Franklin County, Massachusetts. He died November 2, 1847 in Weathersfield, Windsor County, Vermont. Spouse: Thomazin Blanchard. Jeremiah Johnson and Thomazin (nee
Blanchard) Johnson were married on April 15, 1788 in Charlestown, New Hampshire. Children: Thomazin Johnson, Anna Johnson, James Gibson Johnson, Susannah Johnson, Lorenzo Dow Johnson, Thomas S. Johnson, and Mary Duesbury Johnson. The James Gibson of Jeremiah is presumed to have had a son (the missing generation, possibly
also named James Gibson) and he would have been father to the James Gibson of interest here, and father-in-law to
Mrs. James Gibson Johnson. (1) Mrs. Johnson's husband is thought to be James Gibson Johnson, 1839-1905. He had an affiliation with the Chicago Theological Seminary. He died in 1905 at Farmington, Connecticut. (1) James Gibson Johnson was born 1839 in Rhode Island, son of a Vermont-born father, and a Massachusetts-born mother. In 1870, James Gibson married Mary Rankin Johnson, born March 1843 in Ohio, daughter of a New Jersey-born father, and a Connecticut-born mother. Between 1871 and 1878, James Gibson and Mary R. Johnson gave birth to three children: Ellen or Elanor H. Johnson, born 1871; Rankin Johnson, born 1874; and Burges Johnson, born 1878. In 1880, the five-member James Gibson Johnson household lived in Rutland, Rutland County, Vermont. James recorded his 1880 occupation as 'Clergyman'. The 1880 Johnson home was shared by two adult females of other surnames. (2) James Gibson Johnson was pastor of the Congregational Church in Rutland, Vermont. In 1890, he pastored the New England Congregational Church of Chicago, Illinois, leaving in 1897. Rev. Johnson expected to return to Chicago after he made a trip overseas.
In total, Mary R. Johnson was the mother of four children, for daughter Hilda M. Johnson was born in 1882. Eighteen years later in 1900, with their two sons: Rankin and Burges matured and no longer living at home, James Gibson Johnson and Mary R. Johnson lived with their daughters: Ellen or Elanor H. Johnson and Hilda M. Johnson, in Farmington Township, Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut. (3)
Mrs. Mary R. Johnson's husband, Rev. James Gibson Johnson, published three known works: The Scholar's Debt, November 14, 1892. Liturgical training as an element in the preparation for the ministry, an address by Wm. B. Chamberlain at his inauguration as Professor of elocution and sacred music on the J. W. Scoville professorship in the Chicago Theological Seminary; with the charge by James Gibson Johnson, (Chicago, Illinois: P.F. Pettibone. 1895.) A Neglected Chapter of Our Colonial History (The Siege of Louisburg), February 15, 1897. Though the last one listed could also be credited to James Gibson Johnson, 1871-1957. And finally, there was one other James Gibson Johnson, born in 1909. Both of these men were authors.
It is of interest that James Gibson Johnson (1839-1905) had a Chicago connection around 1895. The musician who composed the music for Mrs. Johnson's one known hymn, James McGranahan, while born in Pennsylvania was living in Chicago at the time of Philip Paul Bliss' death (1876). Her hymn appeared in a Chicago publication.
Hymns: Come. (1887) Music: James McGranahan, 1840-1907. Tune: Come. In Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete, # 664, (Chicago, Illinois: The Biglow & Main Company, 1894).
Story of the Gospel Hymns: Composed by James McGranahan, delivers the whole stanza in soprano or tenor solo, when the alto, joining the treble, leads off the refrain in duet, the male voices striking alternate notes until the full harmony in the last three bars. The style and movement of the chorus are somewhat suggestive of a popular glee, but the music of the duet is flexible and sweet, and the bass and tenor progress with it not in the ride-and-tie-fashion but marking time with the title-syllable.
The contrast between the spiritual and the intellectual effect of the hymn and its wakeful tune is illustrated by a case in Baltimore. While Moody and Sankey were doing their gospel work in that city, a man, who, it seems, had brought a copy of the Gospel Hymns, walked out of one of the meetings after hearing this hymn-tune, and on reaching home, tore out the leaves that contained the song and threw them into the fire, saying he had “never heard such twaddle” in all his life.
The sequel showed that he had been too hasty. The hymn would not leave him. After hearing it night and day in his mind till he began to realize 514 / 454 what it meant, he went to Mr. Moody and told him he was “a vile sinner” and wanted to know how he could “come” to Christ. The divine invitation was explained, and the convicted man underwent a vital change. His converted opinion of the hymn was quite as remarkably different. He declared it was “the sweetest one in the book.”
COME- Mrs. James Gibson Johnson; In Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6
1. O, word of words the sweetest,
O, words in which there lie
All promise, all fulfillment,
And end of mystery;
Lamenting or rejoicing,
With doubt or terror nigh,
I hear the “Come” of Jesus,
And to His cross I fly.
Chorus: Come, oh, come, come,
Come, oh, come to me,
Weary, heavy laden,
Come, oh, come to me.
2. Oh soul! why shouldst thou wander
From such a loving Friend ?
Cling closer, closer to Him.
Stay with Him to the end ;
Alas! I am so helpless,
So very full of sin,
For I am ever wandering,
And coming back again.
3. Oh, each time draw me nearer,
That soon the "Come " may be
Naught but a gentle whisper,
To one close, close to Thee;
Then, over sea and mountain.
Far from or near my home,
I'll take Thy hand and follow.
*At th it sweet whisper "Come!"
*not sure here
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