About
Perhaps most famous for his Christmas songs "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" and "Up On the House Top," this nineteenth-century composer also wrote a hymn titled "Who Is He In Yonder Stall?" In addition, he composed a popular song, "Darling Nelly Gray," that tells the story of a slave who has been separated from his love.
Before Fame
After graduating from Otterbein University, he became a pastor at an Ohio branch of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.
Trivia
He died in his thirties of tuberculosis.
Family Life
He and his father, Bishop William Hanby, both helped slaves escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad.
Associated With
Chicago-based music publisher George Frederick Root bought the publishing rights to "Up On the Housetop" in 1865.
