W. C. Hafley › Hymnals

W. C. Hafley, author, composer and teacher; born in McMinn County, Tenn., Sept. 28th, 1839; educated in the common schools of his native county, but being a great lover of books, earnestly sought to improve himself by the reading of books, spending his evenings studying "Kirkam's Grammar" and the Bible, while listening to his father playing "Arkansaw Traveler," "Fisher's Hornpipe," etc., on a well-worn violin; served in the Confederate Army, but so well had he spent his time with his books in his tent that on his return he was called to take charge of a school, which profession he followed for fifteen years, and in 1883 was elected superintendent of schools in his native county; attended a session of the S.N.M.I., held at Dalton, Ga., the year after the principal of the school located there; has contributed to many song books, and is one of the associate authors of "Hymns of Glory" and "Gospel Melodies;" his "Sketches by the Wayside," a prose and poetical work, is very popular; resides in Atlanta, Ga.

He married Elizabeth Frances Blevins in 1868 in McMinn County, Tennessee; died May 4, 1904, in Atlanta, Georgia and is buried at the Westview Cemetery, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.

The Best Gospel Songs and Their Composers, by A. J. Showalter, 1904; and funeral notice from The Atlanta Constitution, May 10, 1904, p. 12