James Lyon

LYON, James. b. Newark, New Jersey, 1 July 1735; d. Machias, Maine, 12 October 1794.  Lyon was a Presbyterian minister, patriot, tunebook compiler, and composer.  He is known primarily for compiling the tunebook Urania. Lyon was the son of Zopher Lyon (1717-1744) and Mary Wood Lyon (1716-1746).   Little is known of his childhood and musical training.  He attended the College of New Jersey, then known as Nassau Hall, a large building completed in 1756 (now Princeton University).  The 1759 Commencement held in Nassau Hall ‘  .  .  .concluded with [an] Ode, set to Music by [graduating student] James Lyon’ (Sonneck, Hopkinson and Lyon, pp. 124-125).  It is noted that this ode-music and a...