Singing schools were institutions of local culture that have almost completely disappeared from historical record. In the 19th century singing schools were everywhere: in church and public school buildings, meetinghouses or wherever a group could assemble.
John Wenger’s History of the Mennonites of the Franconia Conference, 1937, explains: “The usual singing school meets weekly in the meetinghouse for three months. Instruction is given in the rudiments of vocal music and sight reading, with sometimes a little instruction in voice and hymn interpretation. But the usual singing school is chiefly a weekly drill in lusty note singing. One is impressed with the musical ability of ordinary Mennonite farmers and tradesmen. The final session is often a public program. Singing schools of this type have served to preserve congregational singing, and have made musical accompaniment unnecessary and unwelcome.”
Closer to home, we find multiple references to local singing schools in old records. For example, the April 4, 1898, New Hanover Township School Directors Minutes notes, “It was decited (sic) that the singing school at Freed’s Schoolhouse [Hill Road near Rt. 663] can be held as long as there is no winter school providing they keep the house clean and in good order and that the managers of said singing school shall also sign an agreement to that effect.”
Before the gramophone and radio era, the ability to read and play music and sing were kinds of basic life skills for all classes of folks. It was said, “If you get two Dutchmen together they look for something to eat; get three together and they start a band.” In the days when all music was homemade, it seems most every country village and town had a band, and every middle class parlor had a pump organ. In that world, the ability to sing had benefits.
Singing schools would have varied widely depending on the teacher’s interests and abilities and the custom of their churches. In most plain sects of the Amish country, part singing (that is soprano, alto, tenor and bass) was not done. Everyone sang the same notes with the men singing an octave lower. Interestingly, they tended to sing very slowly. They contend that if you sing fast you start to do everything fast. “Fast,” in their world view, is a pejorative. I can recall a local Dutchman referring disdainfully to someone as a “hurry-up boy.”
Mennonites, on the other hand, had a tradition of well-documented music education. Unlike the secular schools, music education was a part of Mennonite education. Mennonite meetings usually had sophisticated and accomplished singing with the whole congregation being the choir.
For the local church Germans the singing schools provided the opportunity to regularly practice singing and learn the hymns. But most importantly for the young people, the school provided a courting opportunity both during the session and, more importantly, after as the girls would need “seeing home.”
Unlike meetinghouses, churches had pipe organs almost from the start, as well as separate choirs that would lead the congregational hymns and also sing separately. A carpenter in Lancaster named Lewis Miller, during the early part of the 19th century, created sketch books, copiously annotated, wherein he recorded events of his town that caught his interest while illustrating them with marvelously detailed watercolor sketches. One of his sketches depicts the singing school and includes the members’ names; another sketch shows choir practice at the Lutheran church and interestingly the names are the same. This indicates a close relationship between that singing school and church.
We know that a singing school was held in the Falkner Swamp Church schoolhouse because of this curious notation in the consistory minutes from January 4, 1862: “Whereas on several occasions evil minded persons have caused disturbances at the singing school held in the schoolhouse of the congregation and trespassed on the premises by throwing stones against the building and otherwise interrupting the said school. Therefore resolved that a committee be appointed by the president of three persons, members of the congregation but not of the church council whose duty it shall be to attend the said singing school and make use of all proper efforts to prevent any such occurrences and upon discovery of any and all such persons to give immediate information to the trustees whose duty it shall be forthwith to prosecute such offenders to the extent of the law unless suitable amends shall be made to the satisfaction of church council.”
We find no other notation about the incidents, so it’s of no further interest except that it shows a singing school was there in 1862.
In addition to singing schools in the 19th century there were spelling schools, and by century’s end, “literary societies,” which appear to have developed from high schools. These seem to have been, among other things, debating teams. We find reference to one meeting for a time in the Fagleysville Independent School.
It was quite a different world when all entertainment was homemade and personal “betterment” was a laudable goal.
The Historian is produced by the New Hanover Historical Society. Call Robert Wood at 610-326-4165 with comments.
