Introduction
Born: May 1, 1858, Cherry Grove, Virginia (now West Virginia).
Died: November 16, 1924, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Buried: West Hill Cemetery, Dalton, Georgia.
Born: May 1, 1858, Cherry Grove, Virginia (now West Virginia).
Died: November 16, 1924, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Buried: West Hill Cemetery, Dalton, Georgia.
Anthony was the son of John A. Showalter and Susanna Miller, husband of Lucy Caroline Callie
Walser of Texas (married 1881), brother of John and Jacob Showalter, and father of Karl Showalter.
He was educated in the public schools, and began studying music in singing schools and private classes taught by his father. He attended his first normal music school at New Market, Virginia, taught by Benjamin Unseld and P. J. Merges, in 1876.
He later attended two more sessions of the same school, in the latter starting study of the organ under Mr. Merges. He attended George Root’s National Normal in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Horatio Palmer’s International Normal at Meadeville, Pennsylvania.
He began teaching singing schools at age 14, literary school at age 19, and normal schools at age 22. For a year in 1895, he studied music in England, France, and Germany.
Showalter published over 130 music books that sold more than a million copies. He was principal of the Southern Normal Musical Institute in Dalton, Georgia, from its inception in 1880.
He edited The Musical Teacher (later renamed the Music Teacher and Home) magazine for over 20 years, and served as an elder of the First Presbyterian Church in Dalton, Georgia.
He joined the Music Teachers National Association in 1888, and was vice president for Georgia for several years.
He was president of the A. J. Showalter Company in Dalton, Georgia, and the Showalter-Patton Company in Dallas, Texas, two of the largest music publishing houses in the American south.
Showalter was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 2000.