Introduction

Biography

John was the son of John T. Her­bert and Eli­za­beth B. Moore. He mar­ried twice, to Fan­nie G. Gra­ham and Re­na Gid­dings (1890).

His fa­mi­ly moved to Mon­mouth, Il­li­nois, when he was an in­fant. He was edu­cat­ed at Mon­mouth Col­lege, and was its first gra­du­ate. He then at­tend­ed the Hahn­e­mann Me­di­cal Col­lege in Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois, but con­tin­ued to st­udy mu­sic and sang re­gu­lar­ly in a church choir.

He prac­ticed med­i­cine for sev­er­al years, but mu­sic was his first love. When George Root vis­it­ed Mon­mouth in 1875, Her­bert met him, and they be­came good friends.

Herbert stu­died with both Root and Phil­ip Bliss, and in 1878, closed his med­i­cal prac­tice to work with mu­sic full time. At one time, Her­bert taught at the Sou­thern De­vel­op­ment Nor­mal mu­sic school in Wa­co, Texas.

Works

• Chapel An­thems, 1878
• Herbert’s Male Quar­tet Book, 1878
• Herbert’s Male Quar­tet Book
• Rodeheaver Col­lect­ion for Male Voic­es (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Ro­de­hea­ver Hall-Mack, cir­ca 1916)
• The Elite
• Bible An­thems
• Class and Con­cert
• Herbert’s An­thems
• The Bat­tle Cry
• Y.M.C.A. Gos­pel Songs
• Quaint Quar­tets
• Harp of Da­vid
• Christmas An­them Col­lect­ion
• Easter An­them Col­lect­ion
• Tabernacle An­thems
• Quartet Queen
• Herbert’s Or­gan Vol­un­tar­ies
• Glory Songs
• New Gos­pel Hymn Book
• Voice Cul­ture in Class­es
• Class, Con­vert and Con­ven­tion