It is great to see others appreciate the Founder of one of America's greatest Churches.
There is much more to this man and his doings which we are getting out there to others every week.
Here is our Web Site: www.thechurchofgodatwilliamsburg.org which you will find much more about the Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux.
Thanks for posting this information
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Since my discovery of the grave sites of Elder Michaux and his wife Mary during the summer of 2009, I have begun researching their lives and ministry. In August and September of 2009, I also visited the two churches they founded in Newport News and Hampton, VA. This was around the time of the 90th anniversary of this church organization.
For more information on Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, visit the following websites:
I woke up this morning, my body aching with the stress of this week’s work (job, getting packed and travelling, and with the today’s “Power of Blogging” workshop at the International Black Genealogy Summit. “Happy, Am I,” I thought as I lay in bed procrastinating about rising up to tackle the morning’s numerous tasks.
“Happy, Am I” was a song made famous by the Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux (1884-1968) beginning in the 1920s. He is remembered by my maternal grandmother and others as the “Happy, Am I,” preacher. This peppy, hand- clapping and feet-tapping, theme song opened up his radio broadcast and television show and was especially inspirational to listeners during The Great Depression in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
After getting out of bed, I watched the video below and clapped and moved to the beat in order to wake up my tired body.
All morning, I have meditated on the “Happy, Am I” and the memory of Elder Michaux. I also began making a list of some things that I am Happy about today.
“Happy, Am I”
For overcoming obstacles that occurred earlier in the week which threatened to prevent my attendance at this conference and conducting the Blogging workshop.
For the opportunity to share my knowledge of blogging with attendees of the conference.
For being in the company, for a few days, of enthusiastic and “OVERLY HAPPY” genealogists.
And most of all, that by 2:00 p.m. today, I can exhale when my presentation is over and enjoy the remainder of the conference.
Poster advertising bus trip of annual baptismal service of the Gospel Spreading Church. This church organization was founded by Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux in 1919. This poster was part of artifacts commemorating the 90th anniversary of The Gospel Spreading Church.
Photo taken by Professor Dru, September 13, 2009 Gospel Spreading Church, Newport News, VA
The Gospel Spreading Church, a church organization founded in 1919 by Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, (1884-1968) has a tradition of the Cross Choir, where white-robed choir sit in a cross formation. This is a beautiful site to view.
Yesterday I decided to visit the Pleasant Shade Cemetery in Hampton, VA for two purposes: one was to get a little exercise and the second was in hopes of locating the gravesites of distant cousins of the Pair family. I got some needed exercise, but did not locate the gravesites of my Pair family yet.
After walking around a certain section of the cemetery and taking photos of interesting looking grave makers, I decided to drive around the rest of this huge 100-year-old historically black cemetery. As I reached a dead end, the grave maker below caught my attention.
“Michaux” (pronounced like “Miss-Shaw”)---I always loved the sound of that name when I heard my grandmother say it as she talked about a minister in her community. As I looked closer at the grave marker, I discovered that this was the final resting place of the Elder Michaux and his wife that my grandmother remembered. This is quite an elaborate grave maker especially when compared with the others in this huge cemetery. The large size of this marker is what caught my attention.
Later, I showed my grandmother the digital photos of the grave maker. She was surprised that the Michaux’s were buried in the Hampton Roads area because she thought that they had been buried in Washington, D.C. She commented that Michaux was the “Happy Am I” radio preacher and that he and his wife Mary looked like white people. “Happy Am I” was the song that became Elder Michaux’s theme song. Even though I didn’t think that a black preacher would have been on television during Elder Michaux’s lifetime, I still asked my grandmother if he had been on television. “Yes,” she said. I was amazed and impressed and excited about finding more information on the life of this great preacher.
Later that afternoon, I searched the Internet for more information and found Elder Michaux’s obituary listed in a newspaper index. I can’t wait to go to the library to read and copy the obituary. I also found other biographical websites and learned that Elder Michaux was not just a local preacher, but his ministry had spread worldwide, to large cities such as Washington, D.C. and that he was on both radio and television.
My best and most treasured finding on the Internet was a YouTube video of Elder Michaux and his congregation singing. Since I found it, I have played it continuously, downloaded it to my computer, and shared it with some online genealogy friends and my grandmother. As my grandmother watched the video, she commented that Elder Michaux was much younger in the video than she remembered. By the time she knew him, he was elderly and gray-haired. This would have occurred after the mid 1940s when she moved to the neighborhood of Elder Michaux’s church. Grandma also commented that the way the ladies in the audience jumped to the music was a common practice she observed in this church when she visited them at the Newport News church and at tent meetings on 16th and Jefferson Avenue.
“Do you think this video was recorded at the Newport News church? I asked her.”
“No,” it must have been at the D.C. church,” she replied.
For more information on Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, visit the following websites.
A member of the Church of God at Williamsburg, VA , Howard W., commented on my blog posting, Sacred Sunday: Elder Lighfoot Solomon Michaux on February 7, 2011. This article was posted on August 9, 2009. 
