Josiah Henry Combs (1886-1960)
Joe Combs was an author, collector, linguist and performer from Hindman KY. When he was in high school at Hindman his songs came to the attention of Katherine Pettit who supplied texts to Kittredge which were published in the 1907 JOAFL. In 1911 Shearin and Combs published A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk Songs, which included over 333 titles from eastern and central Kentucky. He even wrote a book completed after his death about his family history titled, "The Combes Genealogy". Here's the excerpt about him from that book:
Josiah Henry
Born Jan. 2, 1886, at Hazard, Ky. A.B., Transylvania Univ. 1911; Ph D., University of Paris, 1925; College professor and author. Married Charlotte, b. Mar. 27, 1900; dau. of Paul Amedee Bernard Benard and Louise-Marie Mimard Benard, Jul. 12, 1920. Mr. and Mrs. Benard lived at Laroche-Migennes (YONNE), Burgundy, France. Mrs. Benard's father was a merchant and manufacturer, of Paris. He received a silver medal from Napoleon III for bravery in the campaign of Italy, June, 1859. Charlotte was born at Laroche-Migennes. Josiah H. died in Ft. Worth [Tarrant Co], Texas, June 28, 1960. Buried in Fort Sam Houston Cemetery, (San Antonio, Texas).
I have a later edition (edited by D.K. Wilgus) of Combs' Folk-Songs du Midi des Etats-Unis (Folk Songs of the Southern United States) which was written for his docorate while Combs was a professor of French and Spanish at West Virginia University. The songs are from the Hindman KY area as well as from West Virginia and include texts from controversial student collectors Carey Woofter and Patrick Gainer. John Harrington Cox, author of one of the first significant American folk-song studies - Folk Songs of the South (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925) and Louis Watson Chappell, collector and author whose landmark book John Henry: A Folklore Study (1933) were teachers at West Virginia University during this time.
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Obituary: Josiah H. Combs, 1886-1960
by D. K. Wilgus
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 75, No. 298 (Oct. - Dec., 1962), pp. 354-355
JOSIAH H. COMBS, 1886-1960
In I907 George Lyman Kittredge edited for the JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLKLORE" Ballads and Rhymes from Kentucky," collected by Katherine Pettit, "fotched on" founder of Hindman Settlement School, Knott County, Kentucky. One of her informants was Josiah H. Combs, a young mountain student from one of Kentucky's greatest "singing families."
The boy from "back of beyond" had departed two years since on a road that was to lead through Transylvania University, the University of Paris, and the faculties of a number of American universities, but his heart remained in the highlands. He was a collector, student, and performer of folksong and folklore; he became, as H. L. Mencken wrote, one of "that small minority of American scholars who took the national language seriously, and gave it scientific study."
His work in folksong is early and important. Together with Hubert G. Shearin, he published in 1911 A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk-Songs. While teaching in the high schools of Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, 1911-18, he toured as performer and lecturer on Appalachian folksong, folklore, and dialect. After serving overseas with the U. S. Army in World War I and with the Czechoslovakian Army, 1920-21, he became professor of French and Spanish at West Virginia University, 1921-24, collected folksongs in West Virginia, and studied at the Sorbonne. His doctoral dissertation, Folk-Songs du Midi des Etats-Unis (University of Paris, I925), is a collection and study of Appalachian folksong, its characteristics, milieu, and origins-a combination of folk and scholarly support for "La the'oried e l'auteuri ndividuel-plus la readaptationin dividuelle."
Dr. Combs's other love was dialect, and in this field as well he was a pioneer scholar. His greatest contribution was the application of his linguistic training to his inheritance, the language of the Southern Highlands. But he ranged widely, commenting on the speech of "Uncle Remus," Indians, and radio announcers. H. L. Mencken and George P. Wilson have recognized the value of his contributions to Dialect Notes, American Speech, Publications of the American Dialect Society, and Publications of the Modern Language Association. Dr. Combs's publications include The Kentucky Highlanders (Lexington, Kentucky, I912), All That's Kentucky (Louisville, Kentucky, I9I5), and Folk Songs from the Kentucky Highlands (New York, 1935), as well as textbooks and contributions to the JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLKLORE, Books Abroad, Folk-Say, and the Kentucky Folklore Record. Much of his important work remains in manuscript, including "The Language of Our Southern
Highlanders." Relatively little of his folksong collection has been printed; the unpublished
texts are deposited in the Western Kentucky Folklore Archive, now at U.C.L.A.
His death on 2 June I960 occurred a few days before he was scheduled to record his tunes
from Kentucky tradition.
No less distinguished was Dr. Combs's academic career-professor of French and German
at the University of Oklahoma, 1923-27; head of the Department of Foreign Languages
at Texas Christian University, I927-47, and at Mary Washington College of the University
of Virginia, I947-56. As a teacher and companion he will be long remembered for his
warmth, humanity, wit, and wisdom. With his wife Charlotte, whom he married in
France, he retired to a home in Fort Worth, where visitors found urbane scholarship, folk
wisdom, and gracious hospitality. Sought out in his later years by members of a new generation
of folksong students,h e gave freely of his storeo f learning,e xperiencea, nd affection.
To the scholarly world Josiah H. Combs left a legacy of pioneer folklore and dialect
study. To his friends Joe Combs left the memory of a vivid and warm personality, a life
well spent among good songs, good books, good friends, and good drinks. In his last letter
to the writer, Joe said goodbye from the depths of his folk wisdom: "Don't let the chickens
roost on your meal barrel."
University of California D. K. WILGUS
Los Angeles, California
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The Josiah Combs Papers, 1910-1960
Housed in Berea College
Bulk dates: 1921-25 and 1941-1957
1.2 Linear feet
Online Catalog Record (BANC)
Overview
Biography
Series I - Biographical
Series II - Thesis Work, 1925
Series III - Balladry and Folk Songs, 1910-1959
Series IV - Appalachian Linguistics, 1915-1960
Series V - Scatology and Ribaldry
Series VI - General Writings, 1921-1957
Series VII - Miscellaneous
3 Manuscript Boxes
Access and Use
Acquisition Information: The collection was placed in the Berea College Southern Appalachian Archives on October 5, 1994 by Norris Combs, Josiah's nephew, and opened for research in 1996. The ballad texts are photocopies of originals retained by Norris Combs. All other items are Josiah Combs’ originals. Extensive correspondence and a large number of additional ballad texts originating with Josiah Combs are to be found in Berea’s D.K. Wilgus Folklore Collection, SAA 67.
Preferred Citation: Josiah Combs Papers, Berea College Special Collections & Archives, Berea, KY.
Overview
These are correspondence, manuscripts, collected ballad texts, tune transcriptions, and other spoken lore collected by folksong, folklore and language scholar, Josiah H. Combs. This material reflects both Comb’s strong interest in folksongs early in his career and his later focus (after 1925) on American language studies.
Related College Archives:
•Hindman Settlement School Collection, 1899-1977 , SAA 9
•Hindman Settlement School Records, 1899-1979 , SAA 41
•Leonard Roberts Papers, 1950-1983 , SAA 57
•John F. Smith Traditional Music Collection, 1915-1940 , SAA 5
•D. K. Wilgus Folklore Collection, 1918-1989 , SAA 67
Biography
Josiah H. Combs (1886-1960) was born in Hazard, (Perry County) Kentucky. He grew up in Hindman, (Knott County) Kentucky where he learned many folksongs from family members, especially his mother. In 1902 he entered the newly established Hindman Settlement School, where his songs came to the attention of school director, Katherine Pettit. She sent the words of several to folk music scholar George Lyman Kittredge who arranged for their publication in the Journal of American Folklore.
Combs was Hindman’s first graduate and in 1905 went on to attend Transylvania University, in Lexington, Kentucky. There he began a fruitful scholarly collaboration and friendship with Dr. Hubert G. Shearin. In 1911 the two published A Syllabus of Kentucky Folk Songs, which included over 333 titles from eastern and central Kentucky. Its positive reception by scholars and the general public led to the 1915 sequel, Twenty Mountain Songs. Combs’ other published works include The Kentucky Highlanders (1912), All That’s Kentucky (1915), and Folk Songs of the Kentucky Highlands (1939).
For a time after finishing at Transylvania (1911-1918), Combs taught in high schools and colleges in Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. He also presented many public lectures and song recitals, accompanying himself on the dulcimer. After World War I Army service, he taught English and Spanish at West Virginia University (1922-24). During this time he continued his lecture / recital activity and commenced working toward his doctorate at the Sorbonne (University of Paris). This came in 1925 when he successfully defended his thesis, Folk Songs du Midi des Etats-Unis (Folk-songs of the Southern United States) in which he explored the origins of Appalachian songs and ballads as revealed in the language, names, and customs of the people he collected them from.
Although after 1925 he continued to be active in folksong scholarship, his scholarly energies were devoted largely to the study of the American language. Much of his work in this area remains in manuscript, including the monograph, The Language of the Southern Highlanders.
Combs’ academic career included professorships at the University of Oklahoma (1926-27), Texas Christian University (1927-1947), and Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia, where he retired in 1956.