Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of four pages of handwritten lyrics to the “Song of Jubilee” by Benjamin Henry Grierson. The catalog card for the item from the 1960s claims this is a holograph copy, but the origin is unclear. The song has twelve stanzas and was written to celebrate the victory of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 U.S. Presidential election. Each stanza ends with a chorus starting with “Ha, ha – Ha, ha…” Several lines mock the Democrats and their presidential candidate Stephen Douglas, calling him “little Doug.” Also included in this collection is a glossary of terms and people referenced by Grierson in his "Song of Jubilee."
Biographical/Historical Context:
Benjamin Henry Grierson (1826-1911) was a calvary general in the United States Army. He served in the Union Army and is best known for Grierson’s Calvary Raid of 1863, which was part of the Vicksburg Campaign. After the war, Grierson was assigned to be a commander of the 10
th U.S. Cavalry. Known as Buffalo Soldiers, the regiment consisted of Black soldiers and white officers. Before the Civil War, Grierson was a music teacher in Jacksonville, Illinois. He and his wife, Alice Grierson, had seven children.
Abstract 
Submit request (Aeon)
