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M. A. Kidder

1820 - 1905 Person Name: Mary Ann Kidder Hymnal Number: d83 Author of "Open the door for the children" in The Wave of Sunday School Song Used pseudonym: Minnie Waters ========== Mary Ann Pepper Kidder USA 1820-1905. Born at Boston, MA, she was a poet, writing from an early age. She went blind at age 16, but miraculously recovered her sight the following year. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1844 she married Ellis Usher Kidder, a music publisher, working for the firm founded by his brother, Andrew, and they had three children: Mary Frances, Edward, and Walter. That year they moved to Charlestown, MA, and in 1857 to New York City. When the American Civil War broke out, Ellis enlisted in the 4th Regiment as a private. Mustered in for two years of service, he died of disease in 1862, six days after participating in the Battle of Antietam. Left alone, with three children to care for, her writing hobby became a much needed source of income. She began writing short stories, poems, and articles and submitting them to various magazines and newspapers. For over 25 years she wrote a poem each week to the New York Ledger and others to the Waverly Magazine and New York Fireside Companion. She also frequently contributed to the New York Weekly, Demorest’s Monthly, and Packard’s Monthly. It was estimated that she earned over $80,000 from her verse. She lost two of her children when Walter drowned while swimming, and 18 years later, her daughter, Mary Frances, a talented sketch artist, died of heart disease. Mary Ann was active in the temperance movement and one of the first members of the Sorosis club, a women’s club. She loved children and animals. Her daughter-in-law described her as gentle, patient, always serene, and a good listener. She was fiercely independent and refused to lean on others for support, mentally or materially. Mary Ann lived for 46 years in New York City. She is said to have written 1000+ hymn lyrics. She died at Chelsea, MA, at the home of her brother, Daniel, having lived there two years. It is said that her jet-black hair never turned gray, which was a real grief to her, as she longed for that in advancing age. John Perry =========== Kidder, Mary Ann, née Pepper, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, March 16, 1820, is the author of "Lord, I care not for riches" (Name in the Book of Life desired), and "We shall sleep, but not for ever" (Hope of the Resurrection), both of which are in I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs & Solos, 1878. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ===================== Kidder, Mary Ann, née Pepper, p. 1576, i. Mrs. Kidder died at Chelsea, Mass., Nov. 25, 1905. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and resided for 46 years in New York City. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

T. C. O'Kane

1830 - 1912 Hymnal Number: d89 Author of "On to victory" in The Wave of Sunday School Song O'Kane, Tullius Clinton, an American writer, born March 10, 1830, is the author of "O sing of Jesus, Lamb of God" (Redemption); and "Who, who are these beside the chilly wave?" (Triumph in Death), in I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos, 1878 and 1881. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) =========================== Tullius Clinton O'Kane was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, March 10, 1830. He resided with his parents in this vicinity until the spring of 1849, when he went to Delaware, Ohio, and entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he graduated in 1852, with the degree A. B., and received his A. M. degree three years later from his Alma Mater. Immediately upon his graduation, he was tendered a position in the Faculty as Tutor of Mathematics, which he accepted and successfully filled for five years. The students always called him "Professor," by which title he is known to the present day. His musical abilities were early recognized in the University, and for years he was the musical precentor in the daily chapel devotions. He organized and maintained a Choral Society in the College, and was the first musical instructor in the Ohio Wesleyan Female College, which a few years ago was incorporated into the University. In 1857 he was elected to a principalship in the Cincinnati public schools, and served in that capacity until 1861, when he resigned his position to accept a place in the piano establishment of Philip Phillips & Co. He remained with this house until its removal to New York City in 1867, when, although urged to be transferred with the house to that city, he preferred to remove with his family back to Delaware, Ohio. For the ensuing six years he traveled over the state of Ohio as the general agent for the Smith American Organ Co., of Boston, Mass. During this time he visited conferences, Sunday-school conventions, both State and County, introducing his Sunday-school singing books, and in this way became well known throughout his native state, and quite extensively in some of the adjoining states. His musical compositions were first published in Philip Phillips' Musical Leaves, in 1865, and since then but few Sunday-school singing books have appeared without one or more of his compositions. His first music book, Fresh Leaves, was issued in 1868. This was followed at intervals by Dew Drops, Songs of Worship, Every Sabbath, Jasper and Gold, Redeemer's Praise, Glorious Things and Morning Stars. In connection with his son, Edward T. O'Kane, who is himself a most excellent composer and a very skillful organist, in 1882 he issued Selected Anthems, a book designed for use by the more advanced choirs. In association with J. R. Sweney and "Chaplain" McCabe, he issued Joy to the World, a song book for prayer-meetings, and the same editors, with the addition of W. J. Kirkpatrick, compiled Songs of Redeeming Love, No. 1, in 1882, and No. 2 in 1884. He also issued Songs of Praises, Unfading Treasures and Forward Songs. Some of Professor O'Kane's best known songs are Glorious Fountain, The Home Over There, On Jordan's Stormy Banks, Say, are You Ready? and many others. With Mr. O'Kane, music and musical composition have ever been a recreation, rather than a profession. He is an excellent leader of choirs, but his forte seems to be in leading large congregations, Sunday-schools and social religious meetings in sacred song. He sings "with the spirit and the understanding also " — with a due appreciation of both words and music — and very naturally infuses his enthusiasm into his audiences so that they cannot "keep from singing." In his music he endeavors to catch the spirit of the hymn, and then give it expression in the music he composes for it. This sometimes seems to have been almost an inspiration, and could be illustrated by a reference to the circumstances under which many of his compositions have been made. One of his earlier and more widely known pieces is that entitled, Over There. He says he cut this hymn out of some newspaper and put it with others in his portfolio, intending some time when he felt like it to give it a musical setting. One Sunday afternoon, after studying his lesson for the next session of his Sunday-school, he opened his portfolio, and turning over the selections, found these words, and something seemed to say, "Now's your time." He sat down at the organ, studied the hymn intently for a few moments, and then, as his fingers touched the keys of the instrument, melody and harmony were in every movement, and when the stanza was ended, melody and harmony found their expression in the chorus, and Over There was finished. Another of his well known songs is Sweeping Through the Gates. One cold, blustery day he had occasion to go from his residence to the railroad depot, about a mile distant, and in his route had to cross the river on a suspension foot-bridge. As he came down to the bridge, he thought of the "river of death," so cold, with no bridge, and then the words of the dying Cookman came to his mind, and he exclaimed to himself: 'Who, who are these beside the chilly wave? " Words, melody and refrain seemed to come all at once and all together, so that by the time he arrived back at his home, the composition was complete. Professor O'Kane is a genial, modest Christian gentleman, who carries sunshine wherever he goes. His greatest joy comes from the consciousness that his music has cheered and comforted the hearts of Christian people all over the world, and has been the means of winning thousands from the pleasures of the world to the higher enjoyments of the Christian religion. His song, Sweeping Through the Gates, will be sung till all the ransomed are gathered Over There. -Hall, J. H. (c1914). Biographies of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company. ======================== O'Kane, Tullius Clinton. Died 10 February 1912, Delaware, Ohio. Buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Delaware, Ohio. --DNAH Archives

Thomas Hastings

1784 - 1872 Person Name: Hastings Hymnal Number: d95 Author of "Savior, Thy gentle voice, gladly we hear" in The Wave of Sunday School Song Hastings, Thomas, MUS. DOC., son of Dr. Seth Hastings, was born at Washington, Lichfield County, Connecticut, October 15, 1784. In 1786, his father moved to Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y. There, amid rough frontier life, his opportunities for education were small; but at an early age he developed a taste for music, and began teaching it in 1806. Seeking a wider field, he went, in 1817, to Troy, then to Albany, and in 1823 to Utica, where he conducted a religious journal, in which he advocated his special views on church music. In 1832 he was called to New York to assume the charge of several Church Choirs, and there his last forty years were spent in great and increasing usefulness and repute. He died at New York, May 15, 1872. His aim was the greater glory of God through better musical worship; and to this end he was always training choirs, compiling works, and composing music. His hymn-work was a corollary to the proposition of his music-work; he wrote hymns for certain tunes; the one activity seemed to imply and necessitate the other. Although not a great poet, he yet attained considerable success. If we take the aggregate of American hymnals published duriug the last fifty years or for any portion of that time, more hymns by him are found in common use than by any other native writer. Not one of his hymns is of the highest merit, but many of them have become popular and useful. In addition to editing many books of tunes, Hastings also published the following hymnbooks:— (1) Spiritual Songs for Social Worship: Adapted to the Use of Families and Private Circles in Seasons of Revival, to Missionary Meetings, &c, Utica, 1831-2, in which he was assisted by Lowell Mason; (2) The Mother's Hymn-book, 1834; (3) The Christian Psalmist; or, Watts's Psalms and Hymns, with copious Selections from other Sources, &c, N. Y., 1836, in connection with "William Patton; (4) Church Melodies, N. Y., 1858, assisted by his son, the Rev. T. S. Hastings; (5) Devotional Hymns and Poems, N. Y., 1850. The last contained many, but not all, of his original hymns. (6) Mother's Hymn-book, enlarged 1850. The authorship of several of Hastings's hymns has been somewhat difficult to determine. All the hymns given in the Spiritual Songs were without signatures. In the Christian Psalmist some of his contributions were signed "Anon." others "M. S.," whilst others bore the names of the tune books in which they had previously appeared; and in the Church Melodies some were signed with his name, and others were left blank. His MSS [manuscript] and Devotional Hymns, &c, enable us to fix the authorship of over 50 which are still in common use. These, following the chronological order of his leading work, are:— i. From the Spiritual Songs, 1831:— 1. Before Thy footstool kneeling. In Sickness. No. 358, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines. 2. Bleeding hearts defiled by sin. Fulness of Christ. No. 261, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. 3. Child of sin and sorrow, Filled with dismay. Lent. No. 315, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. It is sometimes given as "Child of sin and sorrow, Where wilt thou flee?" It is in extensive use. 4. Delay not, delay not, 0 sinner draw near. Exhortation to Repentance. No. 145, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. Given in several important collections. 5. Forgive us, Lord, to Thee we cry. Forgiveness desired. No. 165, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. 6. Gently, Lord, 0 gently lead us. Pilgrimage of Life. No. 29, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. It is given in several collections. The first two lines are taken from a hymn which appeared in the Christian Lyre, 1830. 7. Go forth on wings of fervent prayer. For a blessing on the distribution of Books and Tracts. No. 250, in 4 stanzas of 5 lines. It is sometimes given as “Go forth on wings of faith and prayer," as in the Baptist Praise Book, N. Y., 1871, No. 1252; but the alterations are so great as almost to constitute it a new hymn. 8. Hail to the brightness of Zion's glad morning. Missionary Success. No. 239, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. In several hymnbooks in Great Britain and America. 9. How calm and beautiful the morn. Easter. No. 291, in 5 stanzas of 6 lines. Very popular. 10. In this calm, impressive hour. Early Morning. No. 235, pt. i. in 3 stanzas of 6 lines. In several collections. 11. Jesus, save my dying soul. Lent. No. 398, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. A deeply penitential hymn. 12. Now be the gospel banner. Missions. No. 178, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. In several collections (see below). 13. Now from labour, and from care. Evening. No. 235. Pt. ii. in 3 stanzas of 6 lines. This hymn, with No. 10 above, "In this calm," &c, constitute one hymn of 6 st. in the Spiritual Songs, but divided into two parts, one for Morning and the other for Evening. Both parts are popular as separate hymns. 14. 0 God of Abraham, hear. Prayer on behalf of Children. No. 288, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. In use in Great Britain. 15. 0 tell me, Thou Life and delight of my soul. Following the Good Shepherd. No. 151, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, on Cant. i. 7, 8. 16. Return, O wanderer, to thy home. The Prodigal recalled. No. 183, in 3 stanzas of 4 lines, with the refrain, " Return, return " (see below). 17. Soft and holy is the place. Public Worship. No. 351, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. In Dr. Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, N. Y., 1872, and some other collections, the opening line is altered to "Sweet and holy is the place." 18. That warning voice, 0 sinner, hear. Exhortation to Repentance. No. 231, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines. 19. To-day the Saviour calls. Lent. No. 176, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. Dr. Hastings says, in a communication to Dr. Stevenson (Hymns for Church and Home, 1873), this hymn “was offered me in a hasty sketch which I retouched." The sketch was by the Rev. S. F. Smith. 20. Why that look of sadness. Consolation. No. 268, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines. 21. Zion, dreary and in anguish. The Church Comforted. No. 160, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. Concerning the two hymns, No. 12, "Now be the gospel banner"; and No. 16, "Beturn, O wanderer, to thy home," Dr. Stevenson has the following note in his Hymns for Church and Home, London, 1873:— "In a letter to the Editor, Dr. Hastings wrote, not more than a fortnight before his death, 'These two hymns of mine were earlier compositions, the former ["Now be," &c.] for a Utica Sunday School celebration, the latter ["Return, 0 wanderer," &c.] after hearing a stirring revival sermon on the Prodigal Son, by the Rev. Mr. Kint, at a large union meeting in the Presbyterian Church, where two hundred converts were present. The preacher at the close eloquently exclaimed with tender emphasis, "Sinner, come home! come home! come home!" It was easy afterwards to write, "Return, 0 wanderer."'" Several additional hymns in the Spiritual Songs, 1831, have been ascribed to Dr. Hastings, but without confirmation. The sum of what can be said on his behalf is that the hymns are in his style, and that they have not been claimed by others. They are:— 22. Drooping souls, no longer mourn. Pardon promised. No. 40, in 3 stanzas of 8 1., of which st. i., ii. are altered from J. J. Harrod's Public, Parlour, and Cottage Hymns, Baltimore, 1823, that is, 8 years before the Spiritual Songs were published. 23. Dying souls, fast bound in sin. Pardon offered. No. 41, in 5 stanzas of 8 lines. It is usually given in an abridged form. ii. From his Mother's Hymn Book, 1834:—- 24. Forbid them not, the Saviour cried. Holy Baptism. No. 44. 25. God of mercy, hear our prayer. On behalf of Cliildrcn, No. 48, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. It was included in J. Campbell's Comprehensive Hymn Book, Lond., 1837, and subsequently in several collections. 26. God of the nations, bow Thine ear. Missions. No. 115, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines. In several collections. 27. How tender is Thy hand. Affliction. No. 99, in 5 stanzas of 41. 28. Jesus, while our hearts are bleeding. Death. Resignation. No. 95, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. This is in extensive use and is one of his best and most popular hymns. 29. Lord, I would come to Thee. Self-dedication of a Child. No. 72, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. 30. 0 Lord, behold us at Thy feet. Lent. No. 59, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. It is doubtful if this is by Hastings. It is sometimes signed "Mrs. T." 31. The rosy light is dawning. Morning. No. 11, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines. 32. The Saviour bids us [thee] watch and pray. Watch and Pray. No. 119, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. 33. Thou God of sovereign grace. On behalf of Children. No. 66, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. 34. Wherever two or three may meet. Divine Service. No. 56. 35. Within these quiet walls, 0 Lord. Mothers' Meetings. No. 58, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines. In Spurgeon's Our Own Hymn Book, 1866, No. 1010, it begins, "Within these peaceful walls." This reading is from J. Campbell's Comprehensive Hymn Book, London, 1837. It is very doubtful if this is by Hastings. iii. From the Christian Psalmist, 1836:— 36. Children, hear the melting story. On the life of Christ. No. 430, in 3 stanzas of 6 lines. It is given as from the Union Minstrel, and the statement that it is by Hastings is very doubtful, no evidence to that effect being in the possession of his family. Dr. Hatfield, in his Church Hymn Book, dates it 1830, and gives it as "Anon." 37. Go, tune thy voice to sacred song. Praise No. 190, in 5 stanzas of 5 lines, and given as from "ms." 38. He that goeth forth with weeping. Missions No. 212, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines, and given as from "ms." It is in several collections. 39. I love the Lord, Whose gracious ear. Ps. cxvi. Page 186, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines, as from "ms." 40. Lord of the harvest, bend Thine ear. For the Increase of the Ministry. No. 407, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, as from "ms." This hymn Dr. Hastings altered for his Devotional Hymns & Poems, 1850, but it has failed to replace the original in the hymnbooks. iv. From the Reformed Dutch Additional Hymns, 1846:— 41. Child of sorrow, child of care [woe]. Trust. No. 168, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines, appeared in W. Hunter's Minstrel of Zion, 1845. 42. Heirs of an immortal crown. Christian Warfare. No. 136, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. 43. O Saviour, lend a listening ear. Lent. No. 175. Stanzas vi., i., iv., v., altered. 44. The Lord Jehovah lives. Ps. xviii. No. 26, in 4 stanzas of 6 lines. These three hymns, together with many others, are given in the Dutch Reformed Hymns of the Church, N. Y., 1869. In the 1847 Psalms & Hymns there were, including these, 38 hymns by Hastings, and 2 which are doubtful. v. From Dr. Hastings's Devotional Hymns and Religious Poems, 1850:— 45. In time of fear, when trouble's near. Encouragement in Trial. Page 95, in 3 stanzas of 4 lines. In use in Great Britain. vi. From Church Melodies, 1858:—- 46. For those in bonds as bound with them. Missions. No. 416, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, on Heb. xiii. 3. 47. Forget thyself, Christ bids thee come. Holy Communion. No. 683, in 3 stanzas of 6 lines. 48. Jesus, Merciful and Mild. Leaning on Christ. No. 585, in 4 stanzas of 8 1. In several collections. 49. Pilgrims in this vale of sorrow. Self-denial. No. 397, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. 50. Saviour, I look to Thee. Lent. In time of Trouble. No. 129, in 4 stanzas of 7 lines. 51. Saviour of our ruined race. Holy Communion. No. 379, in 3 stanzas of 6 lines. 52. Why that soul's commotion? Lent. No. 211, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines. It is doubtful if this is by Hastings. vii. In Robinson's Songs of the Church, 1862: 53. Be tranquil, 0 my soul. Patience in Affliction. No. 519, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. Altered in Robinson's Songs for the Sanctuary, 1865. 54. Peace, peace, I leave with you. Peace, the benediction of Christ. No. 386, in 3 stanzas of 7 lines. 55. Saviour, Thy gentle voice. Christ All in All. No. 492, in 3 stanzas of 7 lines. viii. In Bobinson's Songs for the Sanctuary, 1865:— 56. God of the morning ray. Morning. No. 53, in 2 stanzas of 7 lines. Of Hastings's hymns about 40 are in the Reformed Dutch Psalms & Hymns, 1847; 39 in Robinson's Songs for the Sanctuary, 1865; 15 in Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, 1872; and 13 in the Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868. They are also largely represented in other collections. Many other of his compositions are found in collections now or recently in common use, but these are not of the highest merit. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ======================== Hastings, T., p. 494, i. Additional hymns are:— 1. Children hear the wondrous story; and "Sinners, hear the melting story," are altered forms of No. 36, on p. 495, i. 2. Father, we for our children plead. On behalf of Children. 3. Forgive my folly, O Lord most holy. Lent. 4. Hosanna to the King, That for, &c. Praise to Jesus. 5. I look to Thee, O Lord, alone. Pardon desired. 6. Jesus, full of every grace. Pardon desired. 7. O why should gloomy thoughts arise? The Mourner Encouraged. 8. Peace to thee, O favoured one. Peace in Jesus. 9. Saviour, hear us through Thy merit. Forgiveness. Of these hymns, No. 3 is in Hasting’s Spiritual Songs, 1831; No. 9 in his Mother's Hymn Book, 1834, and his Devotional Hymns, 1850; and Nos. 4, 5 & 8 in his Devotional Hymns, 1850. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Robert Lowry

1826 - 1899 Hymnal Number: d100 Author of "Sing it out with a shout" in The Wave of Sunday School Song Robert Lowry was born in Philadelphia, March 12, 1826. His fondness for music was exhibited in his earliest years. As a child he amused himself with the various musical instruments that came into his hands. At the age of seventeen he joined the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, and soon became an active worker in the Sunday-school as teacher and chorister. At the age of twenty-two he gave himself to the work of the ministry, and entered upon a course of study at the University of Lewisburg, Pa. At the age of twenty-eight he was graduated with the highest honors of his class. In the same year of his graduation, he entered upon the work of the ministry. He served as pastor at West Chester, Pa., 1851-1858; in New York City, 1859-1861; in Brooklyn, 1861-1869; in Lewisburg, Pa., 1869-1875. While pastor at Lewisburg, he was also professor of belles lettres in the University, and received the honorary degree of D. D. in 1875. He then went to Plainfield, N. J., where he became pastor of Park Avenue Church. In each of these fields his work was crowned with marked success. Dr. Lowry was a man of rare administrative ability, a most excellent preacher, a thorough Bible student, and whether in the pulpit or upon the platform, always a brilliant and interesting speaker. He was of a genial and pleasing disposition, and a high sense of humor was one of his most striking characteristics. Very few men had greater ability in painting pictures from the imagination. He could thrill an audience with his vivid descriptions, inspiring others with the same thoughts that inspired him. His melodies are sung in every civilized land, and many of his hymns have been translated into foreign tongues. While preaching the Gospel, in which he found great joy, was his life-work, music and hymnology were favorite studies, but were always a side issue, a recreation. In the year 1880, he took a rest of four years, visiting Europe. In 1885 he felt that he needed more rest, and resigned his pastorate at Plainfield, and visited in the South and West, also spending some time in Mexico. He returned, much improved in health, and again took up his work in Plainfield. On the death of Wm. B. Bradbury, Messrs. Biglow & Main, successors to Mr. Bradbury in the publishing business, selected Dr. Lowry for editor of their Sunday-school book, Bright Jewels, which was a great success. Subsequently Dr. W. Doane was associated with him in the issue of the Sunday-school song book, Pure Gold, the sales of which exceeded a million copies. Then came Royal Diadem, Welcome Tidings, Brightest and Best, Glad Refrain, Good as Gold, Joyful Lays, Fountain of Song, Bright Array, Temple Anthems, and numerous other volumes. The good quality of their books did much to stimulate the cause of sacred song in this country. When he saw that the obligations of musical editorship were laid upon him, he began the study of music in earnest, and sought the best musical text-books and works on the highest forms of musical composition. He possessed one of the finest musical libraries in the country. It abounded in works on the philosophy and science of musical sounds. He also had some musical works in his possession that were over one hundred and fifty years old. One of his labors of love some years ago was an attempt to reduce music to a mathematical basis. On the established fact that Middle C has two hundred and fifty-six vibrations per second, he prepared a scale and went to work on the rule of three. After infinite calculation and repeated experiments, he carried it far enough to discover that it would not work. A reporter once asked him what was his method of composition — "Do you write the words to fit the music, or the music to fit the words?" His reply was, "I have no method. Sometimes the music comes and the words follow, fitted insensibly to the melody. I watch my moods, and when anything good strikes me, whether words or music, and no matter where I am, at home or on the street, I jot it down. Often the margin of a newspaper or the back of an envelope serves as a notebook. My brain is a sort of spinning machine, I think, for there is music running through it all the time. I do not pick out my music on the keys of an instrument. The tunes of nearly all the hymns I have written have been completed on paper before I tried them on the organ. Frequently the words of the hymn and the music have been written at the same time." The Doctor frequently said that he regarded "Weeping Will Not Save Me" as the best and most evangelistic hymn he ever wrote. The following are some of his most popular and sweetest gospel melodies: "Shall We Gather at the River?," "One More Day's Work for Jesus," "Where is My Wandering Boy To-night?," "I Need Thee Every Hour," "The Mistakes of My Life," "How Can I Keep from Singing?," "All the Way My Saviour Leads Me," "Saviour, Thy Dying Love," "We're Marching to Zion," etc. "Shall We Gather at the River?" is perhaps, without question, the most widely popular of all his songs. Of this Mr. Lowry said: "It is brass band music, has a march movement, and for that reason has become popular, though for myself I do not think much of it." Yet he tells us how, on several occasions, he had been deeply moved by the singing of that hymn, "Going from Harrisburg to Lewisburg once I got into a car filled with half-drunken lumbermen. Suddenly one of them struck up, "Shall We Gather at the River?" and they sang it over and over again, repeating the chorus in a wild, boisterous way. I did not think so much of the music then as I listened to those singers, but I did think that perhaps the spirit of the hymn, the words so flippantly uttered, might somehow survive and be carried forward into the lives of those careless men, and ultimately lift them upward to the realization of the hope expressed in my hymn." "A different appreciation of it was evinced during the Robert Raikes' Centennial. I was in London, and had gone to meeting in the Old Bailey to see some of the most famous Sunday-school workers in the world. They were present from Europe, Asia, and America. I sat in a rear seat alone. After there had been a number of addresses delivered in various languages, I was preparing to leave, when the chairman of the meeting announced that the author of "Shall We Gather at the River?" was present, and I was requested by name to come forward. Men applauded and women waved their handkerchiefs as I went to the platform. It was a tribute to the hymn; but I felt, when it was over, that, after all, I had perhaps done some little good in the world, and I felt more than ever content to die when God called." On Children's Day in Brooklyn, in 1865, this song was sung by over forty thousand voices. While Dr. Lowry said, "I would rather preach a gospel sermon to an appreciative, receptive congregation than write a hymn," yet in spite of his preferences, his hymns have gone on and on, translated into many languages, preaching and comforting thousands upon thousands of souls, furnishing them expression for their deepest feelings of praise and gratitude to God for His goodness to the children of men. What he had thought in his inmost soul has become a part of the emotions of the whole Christian world. We are all his debtors. Rev. Robert Lowry, D. D., died at his residence in Plainfield, K J., November 25, 1899. Dead, yet he lives and his sermons in gospel song are still heard and are doing good. Dr. Lowry was a great and good man, and his life, well spent, is highly worthy of a place among the world's greatest gospel song and hymn writers. -- Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers ------- Lowry, Robert, D.D., son of Crozier Lowry, was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1826, and educated at Lewisburg University. Having received ordination as a Baptist Minister, his first charge was at West Chester, Pennsylvania. From thence he passed to New York City, and then to Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1876 he was appointed Professor of Rhetoric in his University. On resigning his Professorship he undertook the charge of the 2nd Baptist Church, New Jersey. Dr. Lowry has been associated with some of the most popular Sunday School hymn-books published in the States, including Happy Voices, 1865; Chapel Melodies, 1868; Bright Jewels, 1869; Pure Gold, 1871; Royal Diadem, 1873; Tidal Wave, 1874; Fountain of Song1877; Welcome Tidings, 1877, &c. Of Dr. Lowry's hymns those which have attained the widest circulation are:— 1. Jerusalem, for ever bright. Heaven. Appeared in the American Tract Society's Happy Voices, 1865, with music by the author. 2. Low in the grave He lay. Resurrection of Christ. Written in 1874 and published in Brightest and Best, 1875. 3. Marching on, marching on. Sunday School Battle Song. Appeared, with music by the author, in Happy Voices, 1865. 4. My home is in heaven, my rest is not here. In Happy Voices, 1865, with music by the author. 5. My life flows on in endless song. Joy in God. In Bright Jewels, 1869; the Royal Diadem, 1873, and others in America and Great Britain, with music by the author. 6. One more day's work for Jesus. Work for Christ. Published, with music by the author, in Bright Jewels, 1869. 7. Shall we gather at the river? Mutual recognition in the Hereafter. The origin of this hymn is thus set forth in E. W. Long's Illustrated History of Hymns and their Authors, Philadelphia, 1876, p. 64:— ”On a very hot summer day, in 1864, a pastor was seated in his parlour in Brooklyn, N. Y. It was a time when an epidemic was sweeping through the city, and draping many persons and dwellings in mourning. All around friends and acquaintances were passing away to the spirit land in large numbers. The question began to arise in the heart, with unusual emphasis, ‘Shall we meet again? We are parting at the river of death, shall we meet at the river of life?' ‘Seating myself at the organ,’ says he, ‘simply to give vent to the pent up emotions of the heart, the words and music of the hymn began to flow out, as if by inspiration:— ‘Shall we gather at the river, Where bright angel feet have trod?’" In 1865 the hymn and music were given in Happy Voices, No. 220, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines and a chorus. The hymn has since passed into a great number of hymnals in Great Britain and America. 8. Take the wings of the morning; speed quickly thy flight. Exhortation to Repentance. Written for, and published with music by the author in, the Royal Diadem, 1873. 9. Weeping will not save me. Salvation through Faith. Published in the Chapel Melodies, 1868. 10. What can wash away my stain? Precious Blood of Jesus. Given in the Welcome Tidings, 1877, with music by the author. 11. Where is my wandering boy tonight! The absent Child. In the Fountain of Song, 1877, together with music by the author. Most of these hymns are given in Mr. I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs & Solos, Pts. i., ii. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Knowles Shaw

1834 - 1878 Hymnal Number: d103 Author of "Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves" in The Wave of Sunday School Song Knowles Shaw (1834-1878), a name familiar in many western households--was born near New London, in Morgan Township, Ohio, on the 13th of October, 1834. His mother's maiden name was Huldah Griffin, and by both of his parents he was of Scottish extraction. His early life was spent in Rush County, Indiana, where he first began to play the violin, furnishing the music for many a dance. While the ball was going on he was converted, ceasing to play in the middle of the piece he was performing. Very soon thereafter he entered the ministry of the Christian Church. On the 11th of January, 1855, he married Miss Martha Finley. Most of his time after entering the ministry was spent in the West and South, and on account of his wonderful vocal powers he was called the "singing evangelist." As a singer he was considered, in some respects, equal to Sankey and Bliss. reporters of the press al spoke of his singing as something wonderful. Soon after beginning to preach, he began to compose and to write music. His first song was "The Shining Ones," still popular. He published at different times five singing-books: "Shining Pearls," "Golden Gate," "Sparkling Jewels," "The Gospel Trumpet," and the "Morning Star." "Bringing in the Sheaves" was one of the last songs from his hand. His last meeting was held in Dallas, Texas, in May 1878. He was killed by a railroad accident, going from Dallas to McKinney, on the 7th of June, 1878. During his ministry he baptized over eleven thousand persons. --A History and Biographical Cyclopedia of Butler County, Ohio. Cincinnati, 1882. DNAH Archives

William Cowper

1731 - 1800 Hymnal Number: d111 Author of "I've been redeemed, I've been redeemed" in The Wave of Sunday School Song William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"; b. Berkampstead, Hertfordshire, England, 1731; d. East Dereham, Norfolk, England, 1800) is regarded as one of the best early Romantic poets. To biographers he is also known as "mad Cowper." His literary talents produced some of the finest English hymn texts, but his chronic depression accounts for the somber tone of many of those texts. Educated to become an attorney, Cowper was called to the bar in 1754 but never practiced law. In 1763 he had the opportunity to become a clerk for the House of Lords, but the dread of the required public examination triggered his tendency to depression, and he attempted suicide. His subsequent hospitalization and friendship with Morley and Mary Unwin provided emotional stability, but the periods of severe depression returned. His depression was deepened by a religious bent, which often stressed the wrath of God, and at times Cowper felt that God had predestined him to damnation. For the last two decades of his life Cowper lived in Olney, where John Newton became his pastor. There he assisted Newton in his pastoral duties, and the two collaborated on the important hymn collection Olney Hymns (1779), to which Cowper contributed sixty-eight hymn texts. Bert Polman ============ Cowper, William, the poet. The leading events in the life of Cowper are: born in his father's rectory, Berkhampstead, Nov. 26, 1731; educated at Westminster; called to the Bar, 1754; madness, 1763; residence at Huntingdon, 1765; removal to Olney, 1768; to Weston, 1786; to East Dereham, 1795; death there, April 25, 1800. The simple life of Cowper, marked chiefly by its innocent recreations and tender friendships, was in reality a tragedy. His mother, whom he commemorated in the exquisite "Lines on her picture," a vivid delineation of his childhood, written in his 60th year, died when he was six years old. At his first school he was profoundly wretched, but happier at Westminster; excelling at cricket and football, and numbering Warren Hastings, Colman, and the future model of his versification. Churchill, among his contemporaries or friends. Destined for the Bar, he was articled to a solicitor, along with Thurlow. During this period he fell in love with his cousin, Theodora Cowper, sister to Lady Hesketh, and wrote love poems to her. The marriage was forbidden by her father, but she never forgot him, and in after years secretly aided his necessities. Fits of melancholy, from which he had suffered in school days, began to increase, as he entered on life, much straitened in means after his father's death. But on the whole, it is the playful, humorous side of him that is most prominent in the nine years after his call to the Bar; spent in the society of Colman, Bonnell Thornton, and Lloyd, and in writing satires for The Connoisseur and St. James's Chronicle and halfpenny ballads. Then came the awful calamity, which destroyed all hopes of distinction, and made him a sedentary invalid, dependent on his friends. He had been nominated to the Clerkship of the Journals of the House of Lords, but the dread of appearing before them to show his fitness for the appointment overthrew his reason. He attempted his life with "laudanum, knife and cord,"—-in the third attempt nearly succeeding. The dark delusion of his life now first showed itself—a belief in his reprobation by God. But for the present, under the wise and Christian treatment of Dr. Cotton (q. v.) at St. Albans, it passed away; and the eight years that followed, of which the two first were spent at Huntingdon (where he formed his lifelong friendship with Mrs. Unwin), and the remainder at Olney in active piety among the poor, and enthusiastic devotions under the guidance of John Newton (q. v.), were full of the realisation of God's favour, and the happiest, most lucid period of his life. But the tension of long religious exercises, the nervous excitement of leading at prayer meetings, and the extreme despondence (far more than the Calvinism) of Newton, could scarcely have been a healthy atmosphere for a shy, sensitive spirit, that needed most of all the joyous sunlight of Christianity. A year after his brother's death, madness returned. Under the conviction that it was the command of God, he attempted suicide; and he then settled down into a belief in stark contradiction to his Calvinistic creed, "that the Lord, after having renewed him in holiness, had doomed him to everlasting perdition" (Southey). In its darkest form his affliction lasted sixteen months, during which he chiefly resided in J. Newton's house, patiently tended by him and by his devoted nurse, Mrs. Unwin. Gradually he became interested in carpentering, gardening, glazing, and the tendance of some tame hares and other playmates. At the close of 1780, Mrs. Unwin suggested to him some serious poetical work; and the occupation proved so congenial, that his first volume was published in 1782. To a gay episode in 1783 (his fascination by the wit of Lady Austen) his greatest poem, The Task, and also John Gilpin were owing. His other principal work was his Homer, published in 1791. The dark cloud had greatly lifted from his life when Lady Hesketh's care accomplished his removal to Weston (1786): but the loss of his dear friend William Unwin lowered it again for some months. The five years' illness of Mrs. Unwin, during which his nurse of old became his tenderly-watched patient, deepened the darkness more and more. And her death (1796) brought “fixed despair," of which his last poem, The Castaway, is the terrible memorial. Perhaps no more beautiful sentence has been written of him, than the testimony of one, who saw him after death, that with the "composure and calmness" of the face there “mingled, as it were, a holy surprise." Cowper's poetry marks the dawn of the return from the conventionality of Pope to natural expression, and the study of quiet nature. His ambition was higher than this, to be the Bard of Christianity. His great poems show no trace of his monomania, and are full of healthy piety. His fame as a poet is less than as a letter-writer: the charm of his letters is unsurpassed. Though the most considerable poet, who has written hymns, he has contributed little to the development of their structure, adopting the traditional modes of his time and Newton's severe canons. The spiritual ideas of the hymns are identical with Newton's: their highest note is peace and thankful contemplation, rather than joy: more than half of them are full of trustful or reassuring faith: ten of them are either submissive (44), self-reproachful (17, 42, 43), full of sad yearning (1, 34), questioning (9), or dark spiritual conflict (38-40). The specialty of Cowper's handling is a greater plaintiveness, tenderness, and refinement. A study of these hymns as they stood originally under the classified heads of the Olney Hymns, 1779, which in some cases probably indicate the aim of Cowper as well as the ultimate arrangement of the book by Newton, shows that one or two hymns were more the history of his conversion, than transcripts of present feelings; and the study of Newton's hymns in the same volume, full of heavy indictment against the sins of his own regenerate life, brings out the peculiar danger of his friendship to the poet: it tends also to modify considerably the conclusions of Southey as to the signs of incipient madness in Cowper's maddest hymns. Cowper's best hymns are given in The Book of Praise by Lord Selborne. Two may be selected from them; the exquisitely tender "Hark! my soul, it is the Lord" (q. v.), and "Oh, for a closer walk with God" (q. v.). Anyone who knows Mrs. Browning's noble lines on Cowper's grave will find even a deeper beauty in the latter, which is a purely English hymn of perfect structure and streamlike cadence, by connecting its sadness and its aspiration not only with the “discord on the music" and the "darkness on the glory," but the rapture of his heavenly waking beneath the "pathetic eyes” of Christ. Authorities. Lives, by Hayley; Grimshaw; Southey; Professor Goldwin Smith; Mr. Benham (attached to Globe Edition); Life of Newton, by Rev. Josiah Bull; and the Olney Hymns. The numbers of the hymns quoted refer to the Olney Hymns. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================ Cowper, W. , p. 265, i. Other hymns are:— 1. Holy Lord God, I love Thy truth. Hatred of Sin. 2. I was a grovelling creature once. Hope and Confidence. 3. No strength of nature can suffice. Obedience through love. 4. The Lord receives His highest praise. Faith. 5. The saints should never be dismayed. Providence. All these hymns appeared in the Olney Hymns, 1779. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ===================== Cowper, W., p. 265, i. Prof. John E. B. Mayor, of Cambridge, contributed some letters by Cowper, hitherto unpublished, together with notes thereon, to Notes and Queries, July 2 to Sept. 24, 1904. These letters are dated from Huntingdon, where he spent two years after leaving St. Alban's (see p. 265, i.), and Olney. The first is dated "Huntingdon, June 24, 1765," and the last "From Olney, July 14, 1772." They together with extracts from other letters by J. Newton (dated respectively Aug. 8, 1772, Nov. 4, 1772), two quotations without date, followed by the last in the N. & Q. series, Aug. 1773, are of intense interest to all students of Cowper, and especially to those who have given attention to the religious side of the poet's life, with its faint lights and deep and awful shadows. From the hymnological standpoint the additional information which we gather is not important, except concerning the hymns "0 for a closer walk with God," "God moves in a mysterious way," "Tis my happiness below," and "Hear what God, the Lord, hath spoken." Concerning the last three, their position in the manuscripts, and the date of the last from J. Newton in the above order, "Aug. 1773," is conclusive proof against the common belief that "God moves in a mysterious way" was written as the outpouring of Cowper's soul in gratitude for the frustration of his attempted suicide in October 1773. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

William J. Kirkpatrick

1838 - 1921 Hymnal Number: d119 Author of "The sheltering rock" in The Wave of Sunday School Song William J. Kirkpatrick (b. Duncannon, PA, 1838; d. Philadelphia, PA, 1921) received his musical training from his father and several other private teachers. A carpenter by trade, he engaged in the furniture business from 1862 to 1878. He left that profession to dedicate his life to music, serving as music director at Grace Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Kirkpatrick compiled some one hundred gospel song collections; his first, Devotional Melodies (1859), was published when he was only twenty-one years old. Many of these collections were first published by the John Hood Company and later by Kirkpatrick's own Praise Publishing Company, both in Philadelphia. Bert Polman

Charles Coffin

1676 - 1749 Hymnal Number: d143 Author of "Blest star of hope, with beams so bright" in The Wave of Sunday School Song Coffin, Charles, born at Buzaney (Ardennes) in 1676, died 1749, was principal of the college at Beauvais, 1712 (succeeding the historian Rollin), and rector of the University of Paris, 1718. He published in 1727 some, of his Latin poems, for which he was already noted, and in 1736 the bulk of his hymns appeared in the Paris Breviary of that year. In the same year he published them as Hymni Sacri Auctore Carolo Coffin, and in 1755 a complete ed. of his Works was issued in 2 vols. To his Hymni Sacri is prefixed an interesting preface. The whole plan of his hymns, and of the Paris Breviary which he so largely influenced, comes out in his words. "In his porro scribendis Hymnis non tam poetico indulgendunv spiritui, quam nitoro et pietate consulendum esse existimavi. Pleraque igitur, argumentis convenientia e purissiinis Scripturae Sacrae fontibus deprompsi quac idoneis Ecclesiae cantui numeris alligarem." His hymns are described by a French critic as having less brilliancy than those of Santüil (q.v.), but more simplicity and unction. They number 100 in the edition of 1736. Translated into English by J. Chandler, I. Williams and others, are noted under their respective Latin first lines. [William T. Brooke] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

E. R. Latta

1839 - 1915 Person Name: Eden Reade Latta Hymnal Number: d21 Author of "Gather up the fragments" in The Wave of Sunday School Song Rv Eden Reeder Latta USA 1839-1915. Born at Haw Patch, IN, the son of a Methodist minister, (also a boyhood friend of hymn writer Willam A Ogden) he became a school teacher. During the American Civil War he preached for the Manchester Methodist Church and other congregations (possibly as a circuit rider filling empty pulpits). In 1863 he married Mary Elizabeth Wright, and they had five children: Arthur, Robert, Jennie, two others. He taught for the public schools of Manchester, and later Colesburg, IA. He moved to Guttenberg, IA, in the 1890s, and continued writing song lyrics for several major gospel composers, including William Ogden, James McGranahan, James Fillmore, and Edmund Lorenz. He wrote 1600+ songs and hymns, many being widely popular in his day. His older brother, William, composed hymn tunes. He died at Guttenbert, IA. John Perry

H. R. Palmer

1834 - 1907 Hymnal Number: d1 Author of "Love one another" in The Wave of Sunday School Song Palmer, Horatio Richmond, MUS. DOC, was born April 26, 1834. He is the author of several works on the theory of music; and the editor of some musical editions of hymnbooks. To the latter he contributed numerous tunes, some of which have attained to great popularity, and 5 of which are in I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos, London, 1881. His publications include Songs of Love for the Bible School; and Book of Anthems, the combined sale of which has exceeded one million copies. As a hymnwriter he is known by his "Yield not to temptation," which was written in 1868, and published in the National Sunday School Teachers' Magazine, from which it passed, with music by the author, into his Songs of Love, &c, 1874, and other collections. In America its use is extensive. Dr. Palmer's degree was conferred by the University of Chicago in 1880. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) =============== Palmer, H. R., p. 877, i. The hymn "Would you gain the best in life" (Steadfastness), in the Congregational Sunday School Supplement, 1891, the Council School Hymn Book, 1905, and others, is by this author. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)