From "War Anecdotes and Incidents of Army Life: Reminiscences from Both Sides of the Conflict between the North and the South," ed. by Albert Lawson (Cincinnati: Albert Lawson, 1888), pp. 109-110:
"JOHN BROWN'S BODY!"
A member of the Twelfth Massachusetts Regiment claims the honor of originating one of the most famous refrains of the war, as follows:
"The tune of 'John Brown' was adapted from a camp-meeting tune, 'Say, brothers, will you meet us?' This, in turn, was modeled from a song written for a fire company — 'Say, bummers, will you meet us?' The words originated with members of the 'Tiger Battalion,' Massachusetts Volunteer Militia; and as these members subsequently enlisted in the Twelfth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (Webster Regiment), we naturally claim words and music of the 'John Brown song.' It first appeared in April, 1861, in a quartet of the 'Tigers' — Jenkins, Edgerly, Purnette and John Brown — and was simply a sort of joke on the name of the last mentioned. He was a Scotchman, and failed to see any point in the witticism, which, of course, only made it more lasting. The Twelfth Massachusetts sang it in Boston harbor, at Fort Warren, were the first to sing it in New York City, July, 1861, where it made a sensation, and continued chanting it until it had become so common property as to have lost all novelty. We claim the adaptation of the tune and these words:
John Brown's body lies moldering in the grave, His soul goes marching on. Glory, Hallelujah.
"Our regimental band (Matland's, of Brocton, Mass.) was the first to arrange and play the tune. Two of the quartet are now living in Boston, Mass. John Brown was drowned in Virginia, June, 1862, and Jenkins' whereabouts are unknown. All were sergeants in the Twelfth Massachusetts Volunteers."
The assertion that the *tune* was composed in the mid 1850s to accompany a song about "bummers" (loafers, beggars, bums) was made in 1887 by the essayist Brander Matthews, but he provided no evidence for the claim and noted only that it was "his understanding."
The hymn titled "Brothers, Will You Meet Us" was copyrighted on Nov. 27, 1858, by G. S. Scofield of New York, with the familiar "Glory Hallelujah" tune. The chorus is: