[Over the sea, from shore to shore]

Composer: Essie Haynes

Mary Essie Haynes (1893-1962) was born in Georgia to the parents of Francis Marion and Sarah Rebecca (Gurley) Payne. The family moved from Georgia to Texas via covered wagon around 1897 and settled near the town of Bardwell in Ellis County, Texas. The family spent some time on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma before arriving in Texas visiting with her grandmother who was living on the reservation. As a young girl Essie recalled the Indian tribe helping the family get the wagon across the Red River into Texas. Essie married Thomas Grady Haynes. They lived in Van Zandt and Dallas Counties. They had 8 children 3 girls and 5 boys. The two youngest girls (Hope and Dorothy) are still living as of this writing in 2012. Essie… Go to person page >

Harmonizer: R. E. Winsett

Robert Emmett Winsett (January 15, 1876 — June 26, 1952 (aged 76) was an American composer and publisher of Gospel music. Winsett was born in Bledsoe County, Tennessee, and graduated from the Bowman Normal School of Music in 1899. He founded his own publishing company in 1903, and his first publication, Winsett's Favorite Songs, quickly became popular among the Baptist and Pentecostal churches of the American South. Pentecostal Power followed in 1907; that year Winsett completed postgraduate work at a conservatory. He married Birdie Harris in 1908, and had three sons and two daughters with her. He settled in Fort Smith, Arkansas, continuing to compose gospel songs, of which he would write over 1,000 in total. He became a minister… Go to person page >