Songwriter. He produced the melody and lyrics for the song “John Brown’s Body” in 1859. Published in 1861, it gained popularity during the Union troops in the Civil War, and the melody was used as the basis for Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. During the Civil War he played as a clarinetist for a time in bandleader Patrick Gilmore’s band (this led to the erroneous belief that Thomas Bishop wrote the lyrics to “When Johnny Came Marching Home”, which was written by Gilmore). The folk song “Shew!Fly, Don’t Bother Me” is also attributed to him. Later in life he became a prominent and successful Philadelphia, Pennsylvania banker. (bio by: Russ Dodge)