William Bryant

Bryant, William, born at Brighton, England, in 1850, ordained by the Presbytery of Troy, N.Y., in 1879, and since 1893 pastor of Mount Clemens Presbyterian Church. His hymn, "Standing forth in life's rough way" (Intercession for Absent Ones), was written at Elizabeth, N.J., June 23, 1874, and first printed in the N.Y. Daily Witness. In Lowry's Brightest and Best, 1875, p. 129, it is given as "Standing forth on life's rough way," and in The Home Hymn Book, 1885,as "Starting forth on life's rough way." It is in common use in Great Britain and America, and is usually assigned to W. C. Bryant, p. 190, i. 22, but in error. Mr. Bryant is the editor of the Michigan Presbyterian.
[Rev. L. F. Benson, M.A.]

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)