Benjamin Franklin White

Benjamin Franklin White (September 20, 1800 – December 5, 1879) was a shape note "singing master", and compiler of the shape note tunebook known as The Sacred Harp. He was born near Cross Keys in Union County, South Carolina, the twelfth child of Robert and Mildred White.

White and Elisha J. King published The Sacred Harp in 1844, using the four-shape shape note notation. King died in 1844. In 1845, White led in the establishment of the Southern Musical Convention. In 1850, he issued a second edition of The Sacred Harp, adding 97 songs and 103 pages. With the 1850 and future editions, White was assisted by a musical committee appointed by the Southern Musical Convention. In 1859, a third edition of The Sacred Harp was released, adding 74 more songs on 63 pages. A fourth edition came out in 1869. For the first time, in this revision White replaced old songs with new ones, rather than simply adding the new songs to the back of the book. A year later, he released a copyright of the same book signed only by himself and his son, D. P. White, perhaps clarifying ownership. In 1911, White's youngest son, James Landrum White, reissued this fourth edition with a supplement of newer gospel songs. White also taught music; among his pupils was Sarah Lancaster.

White served as Clerk of the Inferior Court of Harris County, and mayor of Whitesville, Georgia.

In 1852, B. F. White was named as Superintendent of the first newspaper published in Harris County, The Organ, which was "published by authority of the Southern Musical Convention". This newspaper, published in Hamilton, Georgia, served a double purpose: it printed various local and national news stories, taken from major newspapers or off the telegraph, but was also meant as a musical publication. Among the musical materials it included were "songs, minutes of singing conventions, musical debates, letters from singers, and advertisements for books." White participated with gusto in a number of debates about music in the pages of this paper.

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