Occupation hymnwriter, publisher | Name Hubert Main | |
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Born August 17, 1839 Ridgefield, Connecticut Died October 7, 1925
Newark, New Jersey Resting place Bloomfield Cemetery, Essex County, New Jersey | ||
Hubert Platt Main MA D.D. was a hymn writer and publisher.
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Early and family life
The son of Sylvester Main, a singing school teacher, Hubert Platt Main was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut in 1839 and attended local singing school until 1854, when he went to New York City to work as an errand boy in a wallpaper business. Main later earned a D.D. degree.
Career
The following April, Hubert Main took a similar entry level job at the Bristow and Morse publishing company. He also helped his father publish the Sunday School Lute songbook by I.B. Woodbury. In 1864 Sylvester Main invested in a William Bradbury's publishing business, and Hubert was working there by 1867. Upon Bradbury's death the following year, the Mains founded the Biglow and Main music publishing house as its successor. One of the firm's major hymnwriters was Fanny VanAlstyne Crosby. Hubert Main worked with his father until his father's death in 1873, and ultimately published over 500 works. He also partnered with other music editors, including George A. Bell, Mrs. Wilbur F. Crafts and Ira D. Sankey (part of Dwight Moody's evangelism team). Main arranged music, as well as wrote over 1000 pieces, from singing school songs to Sunday school music and hymns.
Main also collected music books, and in 1906 sold his collection (over 3,500 volumes) to the Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois, where they form the core of its Americana collection.
Death and legacy
Main died in Newark, New Jersey on October 7, 1925, and was buried in Bloomfield Cemetery in Essex County. Several of his hymns continue to be republished today.