ELMORE, JAMES BUCHANAN: 1857-1942.
At the time of his death in 1942, the Crawfordsville JOURNAL AND REVIEW, newspaper in which
many of his poems had been first published, had the following to say about James Buchanan Elmore, "The Bard of Alamo":
"James B. Elmore, Ripley township octogenarian who in
the Gay Nineties and for some years thereafter delighted Hoosier
folk with his rustic poems, died at his 900-acre farm home near Alamo at four A.M. He had been suffering for the past six months with the
infirmities of age.
"Once the Bard bountiful whose pen was never still, he had foresworn verse
in recent years, devoting his entire interest to his farming properties. But to his
many friends, particularly of the older generations, he was still affectionately
remembered as the man who fashioned couplets about earthy things such as sassafras
and turnip greens and railroad wrecks.
"The 85-year-old former sonneteer was born on the same
farm where death occurred, on Jan. 25, 1857, the son
of Mathias and Mary Ann Willis Elmore and
on Feb. 14, 1880, he was married to Mary
Ann Murray, who, according to an autobiography of the bard, came from Nevada City, Mo. He later dedicated one of his poems, 'My Mary of Missouri', to her.
"He graduated from the Alamo Academy, where he studied with a large class
which also included Noah J. Clodfelter, William
Humphrey, once president of Cornell, and
Eva Ballard, novelist.
"He taught school for twenty years, spending the summer months at farming.
He wrote occasional poems for the newspapers of Indianapolis and Crawfordsville and in 1898 he published a volume of his
poems. Three other volumes of his prose and poetry were published in later years by
Mr. Elmore.
"The pastoral scenes with which he was familiar inspired most of the
writings of the benign bard from Ripley township. Few older people in western Indiana have not repeated to their children and grandchildren passages from
'The Monon Wreck' with its climactic 'Cut, Oh cut my leg
away!' petition; have not chuckled over his 'Shoe
Cobbler', or have not recalled that song of spring from the bard's
'Sassafras, Oh Sassafras !'
"The mellifluous singer of rural roundelays was given his
name–the 'Bard of Alamo'–by Jesse Green, a
Crawfordsville newspaperman.
"The Alamo poet wrote hundreds of verses before he put his pen aside, and
most of his songs were of a rural theme as attested by his poems 'Sugar
Making', 'When the Pawpaws are Ripe', 'The
Frog', 'The Old Sawmill', 'Katie Gathers
Greens' and 'The Good Old Sheep-Sorrel Pie.'
"On other occasions he wrote on politics, on Wabash College and on crime. He
toured the nation early in the century to read his compositions.
"Mr. Elmore was a life-long member of the
Alamo Christian church and belonged to the Knights of Pythias
lodge of Waynetown, and for some years to the Odd Fellows lodge at Alamo. He was prominent in Democratic politics …"
A few days later appeared, in the same paper:
"The widow and three children of the late James B.
Elmore are to receive his $50,000 estate, under the terms of a
will admitted to probate in the Montgomery circuit court.
"A son, Roscoe, was named administrator of the estate,
with will annexed. Court papers revealed that the personal property owned by the
'Bard of Alamo' was estimated to be worth $15,000 and
real estate was valued at $35,000.
"The will was dated May 8, 1935."
And shortly after, Frank E. Burk, of Valparaiso, Ind., who had been a Wabash College student in the
Bard's palmiest days, contributed the following to the WABASH COLLEGE BULLETIN:
"I can remember the Bard, just as well as if it were yesterday, standing on
Crawfordsville's Main Street opposite the Court House steps.
"It is Saturday or circus day or a fiesta or gala day of some kind. He has
one of those little satchels with patent leather finish, made especially for
carrying diapers … it was fastened around his neck with a strap. It lay
open like he was selling peanuts and in it nestled at least 50 anemic looking red
books about the size of a McGuffey Primer.
"This book contained the current sampling of his poetic works, unexpurgated
and including, maybe, the pathetic little story about the poor little gel who had so
much trouble working in the overalls factory and the far greater troubles she had
with the unprincipled roues who worked in the overalls.
"The book sold for 75¢ and I don't think that
James B. had to work those stony acres of his very hard,
for many's the time I've seen him start on the long trip back to Alamo with his moth eaten horse and buggy and his diaper compact innocent of
a single immortal tome. And I often wondered who was the smarter, the wise guy who
laughed at his poesy, or the Bard, with his pocket full of bucks, jogging homeward
his dusty way laughing at the suckers who bought his books?"
Of the many thousands of copies of the many editions of his four titles which
James B. Elmore had printed during his productive years,
few may be found on the markets today; it is much less difficult to assemble a set
of the first issues of Gen. Lew Wallace's books than
to gather the four Elmore works in any edition: every Crawfordsville book store,
library or other conceivable source of a possible purchase is constantly besieged by
hopeful would-be acquisitors of the Bard's works from all over the English
speaking world–with a decreasing modicum of success. No fabulous prices
are paid but the works of James Buchanan Elmore, once
collected, are read and re-read–which is a tribute not always paid to
many volumes of more intrinsic worth.
Although most of his books were reprinted many times, some years of careful study
have led to the conclusion that the first editions of Elmoriana are as described below.
Information from the CRAWFORDSVILLE JOURNAL AND REVIEW and the WABASH COLLEGE
BULLETIN.
- Love Among the Mistletoe, and Poems. Alamo,
Ind., 1899.
Search "Love Among the Mistletoe, and Poems" by ELMORE, JAMES BUCHANAN: 1857-1942. in:
Close X - Poems. Alamo, Ind., 1901.
Search "Poems" by ELMORE, JAMES BUCHANAN: 1857-1942. in:
Close X - A Lover in Cuba, and Poems. Alamo,
Ind., 1901.
Search "A Lover in Cuba, and Poems" by ELMORE, JAMES BUCHANAN: 1857-1942. in:
Close X - Supplement to a Lover in Cuba, and Poems.
Nashville, Tenn., 1902.
Search "Supplement to a Lover in Cuba, and Poems" by ELMORE, JAMES BUCHANAN: 1857-1942. in:
Close X - Twenty-Five Years in Jackville, a Romance in the
Days of "The Golden Circle," and Selected Poems. Alamo, Ind., 1904.
Search "Twenty-Five Years in Jackville, a Romance in the
Days of "The Golden Circle," and Selected Poems" by ELMORE, JAMES BUCHANAN: 1857-1942. in:
Close X - Autumn Roses. Alamo, Ind., 1907.
Search "Autumn Roses" by ELMORE, JAMES BUCHANAN: 1857-1942. in:
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