Elisha J. King

Who was Elisha J. King?

Elisha James King was, with B. F. White, the compiler of The Sacred Harp, a shape note hymnbook that came to be used widely in the rural South. In revised form, the book continues to be popular among singers to this day.

Little is known about King's short life. Steel suggests that he mostly likely was born in Wilkinson County, Georgia; his parents were named John King and Elizabeth Dubose. The family moved in 1828 to Talbot County.

E. J. King worked as a farmer and also taught singing to others.

It is clear that King was the junior member of the partnership with White, who had already had an extensive career as a shape note composer and teacher. The early 20th century Sacred Harp editor Joseph Summerlin James suggested that King was in fact White's pupil. Yet King's musical contribution to the volume was substantial; in the present-day 1991 edition of the Sacred Harp, his name appears on 22 of the tunes as composer, arranger, or co-arranger. Steel describes King as having a distinctive musical style, and describes three of his songs, "Bound for Canaan," "Sweet Canaan," and "Fulfilment" as "classics".