As July 4, 2026, approaches, Americans will be paying more attention than usual to events of 1776: the year the American Colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. Public historians, including filmmaker Ken Burns, have tried to offer a more inclusive view of the American Revolution, highlighting lesser-known patriots. But figures such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin will undoubtedly get the lion’s share of attention on the 250th anniversary.

One important character who rarely makes it into the limelight is the pioneering composer William Billings, who lived in Boston at the time of the Revolution. Billings is widely considered America’s first noteworthy composer, publishing six tune books and writing some 340 choral works – some of which are still sung today.

Apprenticed at 14 as a leather tanner, he learned music in his spare time and became a renowned teacher of singing schools, which taught basic elements of music so people could sing hymns more confidently. He also became a staunch supporter of independence, one of the Boston “Whigs” who spearheaded the American Revolution.

I have been studying Billings for 25 years now and always find more of interest about him – so interesting, in fact, that I wrote a historical novel about him. He was a colorful character with a voracious appetite for snuff and an unforgettable appearance. As music historian Nathaniel Gould wrote in 1853, Billings was “blind with one eye, one leg shorter than the other, one arm somewhat withered, with a mind as........

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