Matilda T. Durham, later Hoy (January 17, 1815 – July 30, 1901) was an American composer and hymn tune writer.
Her grandfather, John Durham, had settled near Switzer in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, before 1800, and he and his wife Mary were among the first members of Green Pond Baptist Church.
[2] Matilda married Andrew Coan Hoy (1819–1890) in 1843; the ceremony was conducted by John Gill Landrum, who like her was a contributor to William Walker's Southern Harmony.
She worked as a singing teacher, and in addition produced Baptist articles and tracts; these, though serious, displayed traces of wit as well.
[5] It has been posited that Durham was personally acquainted with Walker, who moved to the Spartanburg area around 1830;[6] between 1835 and 1846 she contributed several tunes to his books.
20 in a list of "Eighty most popular tunes" selected on the basis of publication records from southern shape note collections.
[12] Although Durham's name is associated with "Promised Land" in some modern accounts, it is missing in hymnals that include a majorized version of the tune.