1861–1943
Char­lie Till­man

Introduction

portrait
portrait

Born: March 20, 1861, Tall­as­see, Ala­ba­ma.

Died: Sep­tem­ber 2, 1943, At­lan­ta, Geor­gia.

Buried: West­view Ce­me­te­ry, At­lan­ta, Geor­gia.

illustration

Biography

Charles was the son of min­is­ter James La­fay­ette Till­man and Ma­ry Fletch­er Davis, hus­band of An­na Kill­ings­worth, and fa­ther of Hope Tillman Burns.

He worked with his fa­ther, a preach­er, in evan­gel­ism, as well as paint­ing hous­es, work­ing as a tra­vel­ing sales­man for a mu­sic com­pa­ny out of Ral­eigh, North Ca­ro­li­na, and sang on a tra­vel­ing wa­gon ad­ver­tis­ing Wiz­ard Oil.

He be­gan his ca­reer in 1887 as a sing­ing evan­gel­ist. He formed his own mu­sic pub­lish­ing house in At­lan­ta, Geor­gia, and put out 20 Gos­pel song Col­lect­ions.

At one time, he was song lead­er at the In­di­an Spring Ho­li­ness Camp Meet­ing in Flo­vil­la, Geor­gia. He was the first to pub­lish the spir­it­ual Old-Time Re­li­gion, which he heard blacks sing­ing at a camp meet­ing in Lex­ing­ton, South Ca­ro­li­na.

His works in­clude:

Sources

Lyrics

Music