Early Life and Family
Bispham was born in 1857 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the only child of William Danforth Bispham and Jane Lippincott Scull. Both of Bispham's parents were members of the Society of Friends. In 1867, the family relocated to Moorestown Township, New Jersey. In 1872, Bispham entered Haverford College, from which he was graduated in 1876. After graduation, Bispham entered the wool business with his mother's brothers, all the while continuing to develop his musical talents as an amateur. Bispham appeared in numerous musical performances in his childhood despite having no formal musical training.
In 1885, Bispham married Caroline Russell, the daughter of General Charles Sawyer Russell. They would go on to have four children: Jeanette, Vida, Leonie, and David. The Bisphams honeymooned in Europe, and when they returned to Philadelphia, Bispham found work with the Lehigh Valley Railroad. While employed with the railroad, Bispham spent his spare time singing with local clubs and an Episcopal church choir in Philadelphia.
Read more about this topic: David Bispham
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or family:
“Everyone in our culture wants to win a prize. Perhaps that is the grand lesson we have taken with us from kindergarten in the age of perversions of Dewey-style education: everyone gets a ribbon, and praise becomes a meaningless narcotic to soothe egoistic distemper.”
—Gerald Early (b. 1952)
“Why should not our whole life and its scenery be actually thus fair and distinct? All our lives want a suitable background. They should at least, like the life of the anchorite, be as impressive to behold as objects in a desert, a broken shaft or crumbling mound against a limitless horizon.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Some [adolescent] girls are depressed because they have lost their warm, open relationship with their parents. They have loved and been loved by people whom they now must betray to fit into peer culture. Furthermore, they are discouraged by peers from expressing sadness at the loss of family relationships—even to say they are sad is to admit weakness and dependency.”
—Mary Pipher (20th century)