Both Samuel and Julia were also active leaders in anti-slavery politics and strong supporters of the Union. Samuel was a member of the Secret Six , the group who funded John Brown's work. In the first known version, "Canaan's Happy Shore", the text includes the verse "Oh! The tune and variants of these words spread across both the southern and northern United States.
Brothers" tune and the "Glory, Hallelujah" chorus, was publicly played "perhaps for the first time". In , George Kimball wrote his account of how the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the Massachusetts militia , known as the "Tiger" Battalion, collectively worked out the lyrics to "John Brown's Body". Kimball wrote:.
We had a jovial Scotchman in the battalion, named John Brown. If he made his appearance a few minutes late among the working squad, or was a little tardy in falling into the company line, he was sure to be greeted with such expressions as "Come, old fellow, you ought to be at it if you are going to help us free the slaves," or, "This can't be John Brown—why, John Brown is dead.
According to Kimball, these sayings became by-words among the soldiers and, in a communal effort—similar in many ways to the spontaneous composition of camp meeting songs described above—were gradually put to the tune of "Say, Brothers":. Finally ditties composed of the most nonsensical, doggerel rhymes, setting for the fact that John Brown was dead and that his body was undergoing the process of decomposition, began to be sung to the music of the hymn above given.
These ditties underwent various ramifications, until eventually the lines were reached,—. These lines seemed to give general satisfaction, the idea that Brown's soul was "marching on" receiving recognition at once as having a germ of inspiration in it. They were sung over and over again with a great deal of gusto, the "Glory, hallelujah" chorus being always added.
