Bohannan’s
extant correspondence in the Schmidt archive all dates from 1922. She published
“Intermezzo,” an organ piece in E-flat in 1913, but the only correspondence
regarding this piece is a reminder that it had been published “several years
ago.” In 1922, she submitted two more pieces: “How the Little One Came,” a solo
song, and “In Heavenly Love Abiding,” an anthem.[1]
The company did not accept these pieces. In her letter, Bohannan provides a
mailing address in Recoaro, Province of Vicenza, Italy, but notes that after
October 1, she will be in Milan.
I
have not found Bohannan in any reference books. However, I have found Jean
Bohannon, a.k.a. Mrs. Ord Bohannon, who I believe is the same person, despite
the different spelling. The Bohannons (as a couple and individually) were
active during the first two decades of the twentieth century as traveling
performers/lecturers in the Lyceum movement, as composers, and in musical
circles in Pittsburgh, PA.
Pieces
of which Jean (or Mrs. Ord) Bohannon (or Bohannan) is listed as a composer
include “Peace,
Sweet Peace” (1913), “We
Will Never Falter” (1908), “Grant
thy Peace” (1909), “Hark!
The Merry Bells” (1908), and “Saviour,
Breathe an Evening Blessing” (1909). These religious-themed compositions
are consistent with the type of work Bohannan mentioned in her 1922 letter.
Mrs. Ord Bohannan also composed and performed secular music, such as a song
cycle for quartet based on Tennyson poems called “The Sleeping Beauty,” which
was performed
for a charity event in Pittsburgh by a group that included her husband. The
Bohannans also apparently were involved in music instruction, as they are
listed as “Jean Bohannan, composer and pianist [and] Ord Bohannan, tenor and
impersonator” in an article announcing a graduation concert of the Wickersham
School of Music.[2]
Additionally, Bohannan was active in Pittsburgh Sorosis, a women’s club, at one
point being its president and at another time, chair of the music committee.
A
1906 article gives the most complete information I have found about Jean
Bohannan. Before her July 31 marriage to Ord Bohannan, she was Mrs. Franklin W.
Bearl. (Bearl died in 1904.)
In addition to Pittsburgh Sorosis, she was involved with the Tourist Club and
the East End YWCA, and had “been identified with women’s clubs for a number of
years.”
Bohannon/Bohannan
died in 1923. Her obituary provides strong evidence that the Lyceum performer
was the Schmidt composer. The obituary states that Bohannon was buried in Pittsburgh,
and had moved with her husband to Italy “about a year ago,” but needed to
return to the U.S. due to poor health. It concludes, “Mrs. Bohannon was a splendid
success as a composer, having at least 100 compositions ranging from Sunday school
solos and quartets up to male choruses.”[3]
Thus
far, I have been unable to determine Bohannan/Bohannon’s original last name or her birth year.
Correspondence
Box 11, folder 14
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