[Ads-l] "Hooshier March" 1831

[Stephen Goranson]

The Frankfort Kentucky report of the big 1831 celebration fills the entire front page and a bit of the second. The party was evidently quite well planned (and reported), with an excellent band playing appropriate music well matched (in the cases that I can check, apparently planned in advance) with each specific toast. If so the "Hooshier March" following the toast to Gen. John Adair was surely meant to be complimentary (unlike some of the other selections). Though Gen. Adair fought in the Northwest Territories, that was mostly in Ohio, so there is no necessary Indiana connection in this case. Some of the music (e.g. Star Spangled Banner) was presumably sung. Others, perhaps like this March, were instrumental (though lyrics, if extant, would be interesting). I haven't located any sheet music.  (A march, "The Hoosier," copyright 1897, by C. W. Dalbey, is a different piece.) Of all the musical selections only this one identifies the (presumed) composer: "Hooshier March by A.M." Who is A. M.? Odd to identify him by initials. Presumably not [W.] Amadeus Mozart. How could he have been so well-known to readers (maybe the bandmaster?) and not to, well, me, aided by a little research? The paper has misspellings. Perhaps the original Louisville Advertiser report gave initials and a last name that got lost? From WorldCat, I'm not clear whether the original Louisville issue is available.

Stephen

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From: American Dialect Society ... on behalf of Stephen Goranson ...
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2015 10:51 AM
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Subject: [ADS-L] "Hooshier March" 1831

 "[Hooshier March by A. M." appears slightly earlier and closer to the event and in a longer report in:
Frankfort Argus, page [1], col. 5, vol. 25, iss. 33
Publication Date:
September 28, 1831
Location:
Frankfort, Kentucky
Headline:
Republican Barbecue

Stephen Goranson
http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/

________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society ...on behalf of Stephen Goranson ...
Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2015 2:35 PM
...
Subject: [ADS-L] "Hooshier March" 1831

Without attempting a large survey, I suppose it is fair to say (correct me if not) about the etymology of Hoosier (and Hoosher and Hooshier and other spellings) that there is no consensus, and that the earliest known written use (taking the OED's 1826 claim as mistaken) is from a Feb. 11, 1831 letter from G. S. Murdock proposing to Gen. John Tipton at Logansport  to build a steamboat, "the Indiana Hoosier," and that the earliest known printed use is from Feb. 19, 1831 ("The 'Hoosher' country." See: New Findings on the Earliest Written Uses of "Hoosier," Jonathan Clark Smith, Indiana Magazine of History, Volume 104, Issue 3, 2008, pp 293-295, thus antedating two later 1831 newspaper uses noted by Dunn, Indiana [1919] 2.1154).

Here is another 1831 use that may be relevant (or not?) and, as far as I know, hasn't been mentioned lately. Baltimore Republican, page 2, col. 2, September 29, 1831 [America's Historical Newspapers]. It reports (after the Louisville Advertiser) on a Jackson party election victory celebration in Louisville, Kentucky held on the 17th. After speeches
"The following regular toasts were drunk, with appropriate music:
1. Our Country.--Her soil is consecrated to liberty by the blood of our forefathers [Hail Columbia....
10. Gen. John Adair.--In his return to the ensuing Congress, Kentucky exhibits her lively recollection of and gratitude for his eminent public services [Hooshier March by A. M....."
Gen John Adair's service included northwest territory fighting.

Stephen Goranson
http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/

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