Guest Columnist/ Tribune-Courier Judge Henry H. Lovett once
wrote, “Big Singing now is pretty well known throughout the
country. There is still a lot of singing by the old southern
note system, but this is the only place where the four-note
system is used. We are proud of this fact. This is Benton’s Big
Singing and it doesn’t belong to anyone in the world except
Benton.” Celebrated on the fourth Sunday of May, Big Singing Day
in Marshall County is one of the oldest, indigenous musical
traditions in the United States. The first Big Singing was held
in 1884 when the editor of the Benton Tribune, James R. Lemon,
along with his brother, George, and a few others joined together
at the Benton Seminary School to sing from the Southern Harmony
and Musical Companion song book. Their goal was to revive the
popularity of the music they all had loved so dearly in their
youth. The Southern Harmony note tradition was formed by William
Walker of North Carolina in 1835 and quickly caught on in the
southeastern United States.