Hello and welcome to the Giants of the Faith podcast. My name is Robert Daniels and I'm the host of this show where we remember those that have gone before us that have made an impact for the Kingdom of God. This is episode 56 and we're continuing our look at some of the great hymn writers of all time.
Today we're looking at the man who wrote one of the most popular hymns of the early 20th century and what is also my mother in-law's third favorite hymn - James Milton Black. Black is best remembered as the man behind When the Roll is Called Up Yonder. There's not a ton of biographical information on him so this will be a little on the shorter side but the song is very famous and the story behind it is a good one that I think it merits inclusion.
James Milton Black was born on August 19, 1856, in South Hill, New York to parents Nathan and Anna. As a child he was instructed in music and then, in 1881 or so, he moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania with his brother. He would travel around northern Pennsylvania and southern New York providing musical instruction for children. He really had a heart for youth.
On one of these trips he met and married Lizzie Fulmer. The two setup a home in Williamsport and began giving music lessons out of their house. In 1888 the couple moved to Princeton where James became a professor. Not that Princeton, though. Princeton, Indiana, at Normal College. While in Indiana tragedy struck. In December Lizzie suffered a heart attack and was so sick that she never left their rooms again. She died the next June and James moved back to Williamsport.
Black found comfort with his church and he became an active member at Mulberry Street Methodist Episcopal Church. He also got remarried to a woman named Elizabeth Updegraff. Black served as a Sunday School teacher, music director, and youth leader. He was always looking for ways to impact children and win them to Christ. One day while walking through an alley in Williamsport he came across a young girl named Bessie. She was 14, dirty, and the child of an alcoholic. He invited her to his youth meetings but she didn't want to go because of her shabby clothes. So James bought her some new clothes and she began attending regularly.
At these youth meetings Black would take roll by calling names and then the children would respond by reciting a Bible verse. One Sunday he called Bessie's name and she did not respond. He used her absence as a teaching moment and told his students what a shame it would be if, when names were read from the Lamb's Book of Life, they were absent.
After Sunday School Black decided to pay Bessie a visit at her home and find out what had kept her out of church. She was very sick and being the daughter of a penniless drunk could not afford to go to the doctor. Black summoned his own physician who diagnosed her with pneumonia or typhoid fever. That was basically a death sentence and the girl soon died.
Black could not get it out of his mind that she would no longer answer roll call at Sunday School. He tried to find a hymn that expressed his feelings but could not so he decided to write his own. And that is how When the Roll is Called Up Yonder was born. He performed the song at Bessie's funeral and then, with a friend, published it under a pseudonym a few years later.
Black continued writing songs, and even published several collections - both for adults and children - of hymns as editor but he never again achieved the success with his own music that he had with When the Roll. He did compose the music for the song When the Saints Are Marching In which was later modified into the similar When the Saints Go Marching In that you've probably heard.
He was one of 11 members of the Methodist Episcopal Church chosen to compile the denomination's hymn book - which is considered the first modern hymn book as it contained songs, responsive reading, and directions for services of all types. Interestingly When the Roll is Called Up Yonder was not included in this hymnbook.
Black died on December 21, 1938. He was 82 years old. And that's it for this episode. Thank you very much for listening. Until next time, God bless.
RESOURCES
Lycoming College: https://www.lycoming.edu/umarch/image/black/black.pdf
Wordwise Hymns: https://wordwisehymns.com/2010/08/19/today-in-1856-james-milton-black-born/
Christianity.com: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/james-milton-black-wanted-his-name-on-gods-roll-11630502.html