Vermont Music

Music playlist for Woodstock, Vermont.
in the 1870s and 1880s

1. PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW (Church Hymn)
Performers: Members of the First Congregational Church, Woodstock, Vermont.
Reference: The Billings family sang "Old One Hundred" at social gatherings and Frederick
Billings referenced the hymn in his speech at the Gold Spike Celebration in 1883.

2. PORTLAND FANCY (Dance Music)
Performers: Mary Lea, fiddle; Anna Patton, clarinet; and Seth Houston, piano.
Reference: Family diary entries and letters referenced home singing and dancing.

3. MY GRANDMOTHER'S OLD ROCKING CHAIR (Parlor Song)
Performers: Kit Creeger, lead vocal; Maureen Gatto, Laura Coppock, Daulton Winslow, and Kit Creeger, chorus vocals; and Dan Weiser, piano.
Reference: Numerous diary entries and letters referred to home singing and dancing.

4. OLD FOLKS AT HOME (Popular Song)
Performers: Peter Mix, mandolin and guitar; and Will Patton, mandolin and guitar.
Reference: Numerous diary entries and letters referred to home singing and dancing.
This is a very popular 19th Century musical number composed by Stephen Foster.

5. MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA (Civil War Music)
Performers: Sounding Joy. Marjorie Drysdale, director and conductor.
Reference: Sheet music for this Civil War song came from the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller
National Historical Park Archives. Frederick supported the Union war effort by buying rifles and field guns in Europe. Henry Halleck, Frederick's California law partner, became general-in-chief of the federal army during the Civil War.

6. WHEN THE MISTS HAVE ROLLED AWAY (Gospel Hymn)
Performers: Maureen Gatto, Laura Coppock, Daulton Winslow, and Kit Creeger, vocals; Dan Weiser, piano.
Reference: Both Frederick and Julia Billings were good friends with one of America's best known evangelists of that day, Dwight L. Moody. In the collection entitled The Gospel Choir is a handwritten list identifying "Moody's Favorite Hymns." "The Mists Have Rolled Away" is one of those hymns. It was composed by Ira D. Sankey, organist for Dwight L. Moody.

7. LA GAIETY (Home Concert Music)
Performer: Dan Weiser, piano.
Reference: Numerous diary entries and letters referred to Billings' family home concerts.