Editor Jacob Henry Hall (1855–1941) used Songs of Home to advertise his skills as teacher and composer of sacred music. Published at the outset of his career, this small and inexpensive pamphlet features primarily Hall’s own compositions, ranging from musically conservative Sunday school choruses to a short anthem. Hall also included standard selections from more established composers, including his teacher and gospel music luminary B. C. Unseld (1843–1923). Based in Rockingham County, Virginia, Hall would soon find work as a regular contributor to Ruebush-Kieffer publications. The extended Funk-Ruebush-Kieffer family built a sacred music publishing empire in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley that employed several generations of professionals like Hall. Hall later served as assistant editor of the company’s influential periodical The Musical Million (1870–1914).

—Erin Fulton