Feb­ru­a­ry 2, 1780, Vir­gin­ia.

Oc­to­ber 21, 1857.

Mass­a­nut­ten Cross Keys Cem­e­tery, Rock­ing­ham Coun­ty, Vir­gin­ia.

Davisson was a print­er in Rock­ing­ham Coun­ty, Vir­gin­ia. He is best known for his Ken­tucky Har­mo­ny (Har­ris­on­burg, Vir­gin­ia: 1816), gen­er­al­ly con­sid­ered the first South­ern shape-note tune book. Com­poser and pub­lish­er Will­iam B. Blake said it was a book char­ac­ter­is­tic of that per­i­od, abound­ing in minor tunes. Music­ol­o­gist George Pull­en Jack­son said Da­vis­son’s com­pil­a­tions were pi­o­neer re­pos­i­tor­ies of a sort of song that the rur­al South real­ly liked. Per­haps his best-known tune is Idu­mea, a minor tune very pop­ular in South­ern shape note circles, and featured in the movie Cold Mount­ain.

Davisson’s other works in­clude:

• A Supplement to the Ken­tucky Har­mo­ny (Har­ris­on­burg, Vir­gin­ia: 1820)
• Introduction to Sac­red Mu­sic, Ext­racted from the Ken­tucky Har­mo­ny and Chie­fly In­tend­ed for the Ben­e­fit of Young Schol­ars (Har­ris­on­burg, Vir­gin­ia: 1821)
• Songs of Zion by James P. Car­rell (print­er) (1821)
• A Small Co­llect­ion of Sac­red Mu­sic (Har­ris­on­burg, Vir­gin­ia: 1825)

1. Bethel
2. Golden Hill
3. Morn­ing Song
4. Solemnity