Have you read Thoreau's Maine Woods? He describes travelling from his home, in civilized Concord, Mass. to several Maine destinations in 1846, 1853, and 1857, passing many farmsteads, logging camps, and Indian settlements while heading for "pure nature." He's fairly meticulous in describing the reading material available in the woods, but the only mention of singing is an Indian who knew some hymns.

My family also arrived in New England (first Boston, then Conn.) in the early 1700s. My branch of that family was Loyalist - they migrated from New England to St. John, NB about 1800, and settled along the St. John River. My grandfather, two brothers, and a sister came to southern NH for work in 1900. I remember one of my grandfather's brothers bursting into verse with little prompting, and he spoke of the Queen (the REAL queen, not Elizabeth) with tears in his eyes. He was born in 1888. Sadly, I never heard singing from any of them.