Henry Clay Work was born in Middletown, CT on 1 October 1832 to the parents of Alanson Work and Amelia A. (Forbes) Work. He married Sarah Parker (b. 15 Oct 1835; d. ????) on either 1 or 14 Jan 1857. She was the fourth child of Daniel and Polly (White) Parker. Henry and Sarah (Parker) Work had four children: Waldo Franklin Work (b. 2 Oct 1857; d. 2 Jul 1871); Willie Lovejoy Work (b. 10 Dec 1861; d. 22 Jul 1862); Ellen (or Nellie) Work (b. 9 Oct 1863; d. 15 Mar 1895); and Clara Etta Work (b. 13 Apr 1868; d. Aug 1868). He had three sisters named Loiusa, Etta and Lizzie. He had at least one brother named Alanson. He apprenticed as a printer in Hartford. He published his first song, We Are Coming, Sister Mary, in 1853. He worked for the periodical Song Messenger of the Northwest (published by Root and Cady). He died, at the age of 51, in Hartford, CT on 8 June 1884. In 1868 he published a book of a serio-comic poem called The Upshot Family.

Among his most popular songs were Brave Boys Are They! (1861), Kingdom Coming! (1862), Grafted into the Army (1862), Little Major (1862), Babylon Is Fallen! (1863), Come Home, Father! (1864), Marching Through Georgia (1865) and Grandfather's Clock (1876).

His nephew, Bertram G. Work, published 37 of his songs in The Songs of Henry Clay Work in 1884, which was reprinted in 1920 and 1974. Also in 1884, 18 of his songs were included in S. Brainard's Sons' Our National War Songs among 14 by George F. Root, two by P. P. Bliss, and several others. An outstanding article about Work, by Richard S. Hill, appeared in Notes 10 (1953) in two parts: in March, pp. 211-225; and June, pp. 367-390. Read contemporary comments about Work.

NOTE: the (online) source column has data refering to Box/Item numbers at the Levy site or the filenames stored at the LoC (Library of Congress' American Memories website) which also happen to be the songs' copyright registration numbers.

SPECIAL NOTE: I have Compiled and Edited the Kallisti Music Press publication (as of 28 January 2002), Henry Clay Work: Complete Songs and Choruses, ISBN 0-9645431-2-5, 292 pp., $69.00 ppbk. Two numbers from Work's numbered opuses which were not used, may possibly exist. They are Nos. 69 and 71, both should have been published in 1882. Any help in locating copies of them would be greatfully appreciated.

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