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Thomas Moore

1779 - 1852 Hymnal Number: 7 Author of "Come, Ye Disconsolate" in Songs and Music Thomas Moore United Kingdom 1779-1852. Born at Dublin, Ireland, the son of a grocer, he showed an early interest in music and acting. He was educated at a private school and Trinity College, Dublin. He read at the Middle Temple for the Bar. Moore did not profess religious piety. His translations of ‘Anacreon’ (celebrating wine, women, and song) were published in 1800, with a dedication to the Prince of Wales. He also wrote a comic opera, “the gypsy prince”, staged that year. In 1801 he published a collection of his own verse, “Poetical works of the late Thomas Little Esq”. A Catholic patriot, he defended the Church of Ireland, especially in later politics. In 1803 he held a post under the Government in Bermuda as registrar of the Admiralty Prize Court. He was bored of it within six months and appointed a deputy to take his place while he left for a tour of North America. He secured high society introductions and even met with President, Thomas Jefferson. Returning to England in 1804, he published “Epistles, Odes, & other poems” in 1806. Moore criticized American slavery and was accused of licentious writings, veiled as refinement. Francis Jeffrey denounced Moore’s writings in the ‘Edinburgh Review’, and Moore challenged him to a duel, but it never happened, and they became friends. Between 1808-1810 he was found acting in various plays, favoring comic roles. He met the sister of one of the actresses and, in 1811, they married. Elizabeth ‘Bessy’ Dyke, was an actress. She had no dowry, and Moore kept their marriage secret from his parents for some time, as his wife was Protestant. Bessie shrank from fashionable society, but those who met her held her in high regard. They had five children, but none survived to adulthood. Three girls died young, and both sons lost their lives as young men. One son, Tom, died in some disgrace in the French Foreign Legion in Algeria. Despite these losses, their marriage was said to be a happy one. He also had political trouble. The man he appointed as his replacement in Bermuda was found to have embezzled 6000 pounds sterling, a large sum, for which Moore was liable. He left for France in 1819 to escape debtor’s prison. He also met Lord Byron in Venice and was entrusted with a manuscript of his memoirs, which he promised to have published after Byron’s death. Moore’s wife and children joined him in Paris, where he learned that some of the debt was repaid with help from Lord Lansdowne, whom Moore had given a draft of money from payment by his publisher. The family returned to England a year later. To support his family Moore entered the field of ‘squib writing’ on behalf of his Whig friends. This resulted in years of political debate about Catholics and Protestants in government. Nearly persuaded to forego his Catholic allegiance in favor of Protestantism, he finally concluded that Protestants did not make a sound case for their faith, as they denounced Catholics so vociferously for erroneous teaching. From 1835 -1846 Moore published a four volume “History of Ireland”, which was basically an indictment of English rule over Ireland. He was primarily a writer, poet, entertainer, and composer, considered politically as a writer for the aristocratic Whigs. His “Sacred songs” (32) were published in 1816, and again, in his “collected works” in 1866. His “Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence” were published by Lord John Russell in 1855. Moore is essentially remembered for his highly-praised lyrics written for Irish melodies, as requested by his publishers, and his memoirs of Lord Byron, his friend. He died at Bromham, Wilshire, England. John Perry ================== Moore, Thomas, son of John Moore, a small tradesman at Dublin, was born in that city, May 28, 1779, educated at a private school and Trinity College, Dublin; read at the Middle Temple for the Bar; held a post under the Government in Bermuda for a short time, and died Feb. 26, 1852. His Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence were published by Lord John Russell in 1855. In that work every detail concerning himself and his numerous publications, most of them of high poetical merit, will be found. His connection with hymnody is confined to his Sacred Songs, which were published in 1816, and again in his Collected Works, 1866. These Songs were 32 in all, and were written to popular airs of various nations. Of these Songs the following have passed into a few hymnbooks, mainly in America:— 1. As down in the sunless retreats of the ocean. Private Prayer. 2. But who shall see the glorious day. The Final Bliss of Man. 3. Come, ye disconsolate, where'er you languish. Belief in Prayer. In American hymnbooks the text is sometimes as in T. Hastings and Lowell Mason's Spiritual Songs, 1831. This may be distinguished from the original by the third stanza, which reads, "Here see the Bread of life; see waters flowing," &c. 4. Fallen is thy throne, O Israel. Israel in Exile. 5. Like morning when her early breeze. Power of Divine Grace. 6. O Thou Who driest the mourner's tear. Lent. 7. Since first Thy word [grace] awaked my heart. God All and in All. 8. Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea. Deliverance of Israel. 9. The bird [dove] let loose in eastern skies. Prayer for Constancy. 10. The turf shall be my fragrant shrine. The Temple of Nature. From this "There's nothing bright above, below" is taken. 11. Thou art, O God, the Life and Light. God, the Light and Life of Men. 12. Were not the sinful Mary's tears? Lent. Of these hymns No. 11 has attained the greatest popularity. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Philip Doddridge

1702 - 1751 Hymnal Number: 220 Author of "O Happy Day" in Songs and Music Philip Doddridge (b. London, England, 1702; d. Lisbon, Portugal, 1751) belonged to the Non-conformist Church (not associated with the Church of England). Its members were frequently the focus of discrimination. Offered an education by a rich patron to prepare him for ordination in the Church of England, Doddridge chose instead to remain in the Non-conformist Church. For twenty years he pastored a poor parish in Northampton, where he opened an academy for training Non-conformist ministers and taught most of the subjects himself. Doddridge suffered from tuberculosis, and when Lady Huntington, one of his patrons, offered to finance a trip to Lisbon for his health, he is reputed to have said, "I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon as from Northampton." He died in Lisbon soon after his arrival. Doddridge wrote some four hundred hymn texts, generally to accompany his sermons. These hymns were published posthumously in Hymns, Founded on Various Texts in the Holy Scriptures (1755); relatively few are still sung today. Bert Polman ======================== Doddridge, Philip, D.D., was born in London, June 26, 1702. His grandfather was one of the ministers under the Commonwealth, who were ejected in 1662. His father was a London oilman. He was offered by the Duchess of Bedford an University training for ordination in the Church of England, but declined it. He entered Mr. Jennings's non-conformist seminary at Kibworth instead; preached his first sermon at Hinckley, to which Mr. Jennings had removed his academy. In 1723 he was chosen pastor at Kibworth. In 1725 he changed his residence to Market Harborough, still ministering at Kibworth. The settled work of his life as a preceptor and divine began in 1729, with his appointment to the Castle Hill Meeting at Northampton, and continued till in the last stage of consumption. He sailed to Lisbon, in 1751, where he died October 26, the same year. Two hundred pupils in all, gathered from England, Scotland and Holland, were prepared in his seminary, chiefly for the dissenting ministry, but partly for professions. The wide range of subjects, including daily readings in Hebrew and Greek, Algebra, Trigonometry, Watts' Logic, outline of Philosophy, and copious Divinity, is itself a proof of Doddridge's learning. He was presented with his D.D. degree by the University of Aberdeen. His fame as a divine, combined with his wide sympathies and gentle, unaffected goodness, won for him the friendship of Watts, Col. Gardiner and Hervey, and the esteem of Seeker and Warburton. He welcomed the work of Wesley and Whitefield, and entertained the latter on his visit to Northampton. His Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul and The Family Expositor both did good work in their day. For criticism of his hymns see English Hymnody, Early, § XIV. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] After Dr. Doddridge's death his hymns were published by his friend Job Orton, in 1755, as:— "Hymns founded on Various Texts in the Holy Scriptures. By the late Reverend Philip Doddridge, D.D. Published from the Author's Manuscript by Job Orton . . . Salop. Printed by J. Eddowes and J. Cotton, &c. MDCCLV." Concerning the text of the hymns, Orton says in his Preface:— "There may perhaps be some improprieties, owing to my not being able to read the author's manuscript in particular places, and being obliged, without a poetical genius, to supply those deficiencies, whereby the beauty of the stanza may be greatly defaced, though the sense is preserved." The 1st edition contained 370 hymns; the 2nd, 1759, 374; and the 3rd, 1766, and later editions, 375. In 1839 Doddridge's great-grandson re-edited the hymns from the original manuscript and published the same as:— Scriptural Hymns by the Rev. Philip Doddridge, D.D. New and corrected edition containing many hymns never before printed. Edited from the Original Documents by the Author's great-grandson, John Doddridge Humphreys, Esq. Lond. Darton & Clark, 1839. This work contains 22 additional hymns. The text differs in many instances from Orton's, but these changes have not come into common use. In addition to the manuscript used by Orton and J. D. Humphreys, another containing 100 hymns (five of which are not in any edition of the Hymns), all in the author's handwriting, and most of them dated, is referred to in this Dictionary as the "D. Manuscripts." It is the property of Mr. W. S. Booker and family. A manuscript, not in Doddridge's handwriting, of 77 "Hymns by P. Doddridge, Mar. 16, 1739/1740," is in the possession of Mr. W. T. Brooke. The existence of these manuscripts is accounted for from the fact that Doddridge's hymns were freely circulated in manuscript during his lifetime. It is from his correspondence with R. Blair (q.v.) that the few compositions traceable to him in the Scottish Trans. & Paraphrases were derived. The hymns by Doddridge which have attained to the greatest popularity are:— “Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve"; " Do not I love Thee, O my Lord? " "Grace 'tis a charming sound”; " Hark, the glad sound, the Saviour comes"; "My God, and is Thy table spread?" "O happy day, that fixed my choice"; "O God of Jacob [Bethel], by Whose hand”; " See Israel's gentle Shepherd stand"; "Ye servants of the Lord." These hymns, with many besides, are annotated under their respective first lines. Of the rest, taken from the Hymns, &c, 1755, the following are also in common use:— 1. Behold the gloomy vale. Death anticipated. 2. Behold the Great Physician stands. Christ the Physician. 3. Captives of Israel, hear. Spiritual Deliverance. 4. Eternal God, our wondering souls. Enoch's Piety and Translation. 5. Eternal Source of life and thought. Subjection to the Father. G. Exalted Prince of Life, we own. Christ the Prince and Saviour. 7. Father Divine, the Saviour cried. Christ's Submission to the Father. 8. Father Divine, Thy piercing eye. Secret Prayer. 9. Father of mercies, send Thy grace. Sympathy. The Good Samaritan. 10. Go, saith the Lord, proclaim my grace. Forgiveness. 11. God of Eternity, from Thee. Redeeming the Time. 12. God of my life, through all its [my] days. Praising God continually. 13. God. of salvation, we adore. Praise to God for Redemption. 14. Great Father of mankind. Gentiles brought into the Church. 15. Great God, we sing that mighty hand. The New Tear. 16. Great Leader of Thine Israel's host. During Persecution. 17. Great Lord of angels, we adore. Ordination. 18. Great Spirit of immortal love. Purity of Heart desired. 19. Great Teacher of Thy Church, we own. The Divine Precepts. 20. Hail, everlasting Prince of Peace. Sympathy. 21. Hail to the Prince of life and peace. Praise to Christ. 22. Hear, gracious [Saviour] Sovereign, from Thy throne. The Blessings of the Holy Spirit desired. 23. How gentle God's commands. God's Care of His Own. 24. How rich Thy favours, God of grace. God and His Living Temple. 25. How swift the torrent flows [rolls]. Our Fathers, where are they? 26. Jesus the Lord, our souls adore. Christ the Forerunner. 27. Jesus, we own Thy Sovereign hand. Christ to be fully known hereafter. 28. Loud let the tuneful trumpet sound. Gospel Jubilee. 29. My gracious Lord, I own Thy right. Life in Jesus. 30. My [Dear] Saviour, I am [we are] Thine. Joined to Christ through the Spirit. 31. My soul, with all thy waking powers. The Choice of Moses. 32. Now let our voices join. Singing in the ways of God. 33. 0 injured Majesty of heaven. Lent. 34. 0 Zion, tune thy voice. Glory of the Church of Christ. 35. Peace, 'tis the Lord Jehovah's hand. Resignation. 36. Praise the Lord of boundless might. The Father of Lights. 37. Praise to Thy Name, Eternal God. Growth in Grace desired. 38. Remark, my soul, the narrow bounds. The New Year. 39. Repent, the Voice celestial cries. Lent. 40. Return, my roving heart, return. Heart communing. 41. Salvation, O melodious sound. God our Salvation. 42. Saviour of men, and Lord of love. Ministry and Death of Christ. 43. Searcher of hearts, before Thy face. Peter to Simon Magus. 44. Shepherd of Israel, Thou dost keep. Induction or Settlement of a Minister. 45. Shine forth, eternal Source of light. Knowledge of God desired. 46. Shine on our souls, eternal God. Sunday. 47. Sing, ye redeemed of the Lord. Joy on the Homeward Way. 48. Sovereign of life, before Thine eye. Life and Death in God's hands. 49. The darkened sky, how thick it lours. Sorrow followed by Joy. 50. The day approacheth, O my soul. Judgment anticipated. 51. The King of heaven His table spreads. The Gospel Feast. 52. The promises I sing. The unchanging promises of God. 53. The swift-declining day. Walk in the Light. 54. These mortal joys, how soon they fade. Treasures, Perishable and Eternal. 55. Thy judgments cry aloud. Retributive Providence. 56. Thy presence, Everlasting God. Omnipresence of the Father. 57. 'Tis mine, the covenant of His grace. Death anticipated. 58. To Thee, my God; my days are known. Life under the eye of God. 59. Tomorrow, Lord, is Thine. Uncertainty of Life. 60. Triumphant Lord, Thy goodness reigns. The Divine Goodness. 61. Triumphant Zion, lift thy head. The Church Purified and Guarded. 62. Unite my roving thoughts, unite. Peace. 63. What mysteries, Lord, in Thee combine. Christ, the First and Last. 64. While on the verge of life I stand. Death anticipated with Joy. 65. With ecstacy of Joy. Christ the Living Stone. 66. Ye golden lamps of heaven, farewell. Heaven opening. 67. Ye hearts with youthful vigour warm. The Young encouraged. 68. Ye humble souls, that seek the Lord. Easter. 69. Ye sons of men, with joy record. Praise of the Works of God. 70. Yes, the Redeemer rose. Easter In Dr. Hatfield's Church HymnBook, N. Y., 1872, Nos. 9, 12, 14, 15, 21, 23, 25, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 39, 40, 44, 47, 51, 61, 64, 65, 67, 69, 70, as above, are dated 1740. What authority there may be for this date we cannot say, these hymns not being in any “D. MSS." with which we are acquainted, and no dates are given in the Hymns, &c, 1755. Some later American editors have copied this date from Dr. Hatfield. Doddridge's hymns are largely used by Unitarians both in Great Britain and America. As might be expected, the Congregationalists also draw freely from his stores. The Baptists come next. In the hymnals of the Church of England the choicest, only are in use. Taken together, over one-third of his hymns are in common usage at the present time. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================ Doddridge, Philip, D.D. At p. 305 an account is given of a manuscript volume of Doddridge's Hymns, which is the property of the Rooker family. Since that article was written another manuscript vol. has been found. It was the property of Lady Frances Gardiner, née Erskine, an intimate friend of Doddridge, and wife of Col. Gardiner. It is a copy of the Rooker manuscipt, with the revised text, as in the margin of that ms., and is in Doddridge's hand¬writing. It was from this manuscript that the Doddridge hymns were taken for the Scottish Translationsand Paraphrases, 1745. Additional hymns by Dr. Doddridge still in common use include:— 1. My God, how cheerful is the sound. All in Christ. 2. My Saviour, let me hear Thy voice. Pardon desired. 3. My soul, triumphant in the Lord. Divine Guidance assured. 4. No «iore, ye wise, your wisdom boast. Glorying in God alone. From Hymns, No. 128. 5. Now be that Sacrifice survey'd. Christ our Sacrifice. 6. 0 Israel, blest beyond compare. Happiness of God's Israel. 7. Our fathers, where are they? Considering the Past. From Hymns, No. 164. 8. Praise to the Lord on high. Missions. 9. Praise to the radiant Source of bliss. Praise for Divine Guidance. 10. Return, my soul, and seek thy rest. Rest in Jesus. 11. Salvation doth to God belong. National Thanksgiving. 12. Sovereign of Life, I own Thy hand. On Recovery from Sickness. 13. The sepulchres, how thick they stand. Burial. 14. There is a Shepherd kind and strong. The Good Shepherd. From Hymns, No. 216. 15. Wait on the Lord, ye heirs of hope. Waiting on God. 16. We bless the eternal Source of light. Christ's care of the Church. 17. With transport, Lord, our souls proclaim. Immutability of Christ. 18. Ye mourning saints, whose streaming tears. Death and Burial. These all appeared in Dr. Doddridge's Hymns, 1755. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Frank E. Graeff

1860 - 1919 Person Name: Rev. Frank E. Graeff Hymnal Number: 302 Author of "Does Jesus Care?" in Songs and Music Frank E. Graeff was a minister in the Philadelphia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a prolific writer of hymns, stories, poems and articles. Dianne Shapiro, from "The Singers and Their Songs: sketches of living gospel hymn writers" by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (Chicago: The Rodeheaver Company, 1916)

John R. Sweney

1837 - 1899 Person Name: Jno. R. Sweney Hymnal Number: 89 Composer of "[Tell me the story of Jesus]" in Songs and Music John R. Sweney (1837-1899) was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and exhibited musical abilities at an early age. At nineteen he was studying with a German music teacher, leading a choir and glee club, and performing at children’s entertainments. By twenty-two he was teaching at a school in Dover, Delaware. Soon thereafter, he was put in charge of the band of the Third Delaware Regiment of the Union Army for the duration of the Civil War. After the war, he became Professor of Music at the Pennsylvania Military Academy, and director of Sweney’s Cornet Band. He eventually earned Bachelor and Doctor of Music degrees at the Academy. Sweney began composing church music in 1871 and became well-known as a leader of large congregations. His appreciators stated “Sweney knows how to make a congregation sing” and “He had great power in arousing multitudes.” He also became director of music for a large Sunday school at the Bethany Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia of which John Wanamaker was superintendent (Wanamaker was the founder of the first major department store in Philadelphia). In addition to his prolific output of hymn melodies and other compositions, Sweney edited or co-edited about sixty song collections, many in collaboration with William J. Kirkpatrick. Sweney died on April 10, 1899, and his memorial was widely attended and included a eulogy by Wanamaker. Joe Hickerson from "Joe's Jottings #9" used by permission

W. Howard Doane

1832 - 1915 Person Name: W. H. Doane Hymnal Number: 126 Composer of "[Tell me the Old, Old Story]" in Songs and Music An industrialist and philanthropist, William H. Doane (b. Preston, CT, 1832; d. South Orange, NJ, 1915), was also a staunch supporter of evangelistic campaigns and a prolific writer of hymn tunes. He was head of a large woodworking machinery plant in Cincinnati and a civic leader in that city. He showed his devotion to the church by supporting the work of the evangelistic team of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey and by endowing Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Denison University in Granville, Ohio. An amateur composer, Doane wrote over twenty-two hundred hymn and gospel song tunes, and he edited over forty songbooks. Bert Polman ============ Doane, William Howard, p. 304, he was born Feb. 3, 1832. His first Sunday School hymn-book was Sabbath Gems published in 1861. He has composed about 1000 tunes, songs, anthems, &c. He has written but few hymns. Of these "No one knows but Jesus," "Precious Saviour, dearest Friend," and "Saviour, like a bird to Thee," are noted in Burrage's Baptist Hymn Writers. 1888, p. 557. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) =================== Doane, W. H. (William Howard), born in Preston, Connecticut, 1831, and educated for the musical profession by eminent American and German masters. He has had for years the superintendence of a large Baptist Sunday School in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he resides. Although not a hymnwriter, the wonderful success which has attended his musical setting of numerous American hymns, and the number of his musical editions of hymnbooks for Sunday Schools and evangelistic purposes, bring him within the sphere of hymnological literature. Amongst his collections we have:— (1) Silver Spray, 1868; (2) Pure Gold, 1877; (3) Royal Diadem, 1873; (4) Welcome Tidings, 1877; (5) Brightest and Best, 1875; (6) Fountain of Song; (7) Songs of Devotion, 1870; (8) Temple Anthems, &c. His most popular melodies include "Near the Cross," "Safe in the Arms of Jesus," "Pass me Not," "More Love to Thee," "Rescue the Perishing," "Tell me the Old, Old Story," &c. - John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

William B. Bradbury

1816 - 1868 Person Name: Wm. B. Bradbury Hymnal Number: 286 Composer of "[Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer]" in Songs and Music William Bachelder Bradbury USA 1816-1868. Born at York, ME, he was raised on his father's farm, with rainy days spent in a shoe-shop, the custom in those days. He loved music and spent spare hours practicing any music he could find. In 1830 the family moved to Boston, where he first saw and heard an organ and piano, and other instruments. He became an organist at 15. He attended Dr. Lowell Mason's singing classes, and later sang in the Bowdoin Street church choir. Dr. Mason became a good friend. He made $100/yr playing the organ, and was still in Dr. Mason's choir. Dr. Mason gave him a chance to teach singing in Machias, ME, which he accepted. He returned to Boston the following year to marry Adra Esther Fessenden in 1838, then relocated to Saint John, New Brunswick. Where his efforts were not much appreciated, so he returned to Boston. He was offered charge of music and organ at the First Baptist Church of Brooklyn. That led to similar work at the Baptist Tabernacle, New York City, where he also started a singing class. That started singing schools in various parts of the city, and eventually resulted in music festivals, held at the Broadway Tabernacle, a prominent city event. He conducted a 1000 children choir there, which resulted in music being taught as regular study in public schools of the city. He began writing music and publishing it. In 1847 he went with his wife to Europe to study with some of the music masters in London and also Germany. He attended Mendelssohn funeral while there. He went to Switzerland before returning to the states, and upon returning, commenced teaching, conducting conventions, composing, and editing music books. In 1851, with his brother, Edward, he began manufacturring Bradbury pianos, which became popular. Also, he had a small office in one of his warehouses in New York and often went there to spend time in private devotions. As a professor, he edited 59 books of sacred and secular music, much of which he wrote. He attended the Presbyterian church in Bloomfield, NJ, for many years later in life. He contracted tuberculosis the last two years of his life. John Perry

J. Lincoln Hall

1866 - 1930 Hymnal Number: 302 Composer of "[Does Jesus care when my heart is pained]" in Songs and Music Used pseudonyms Maurice A. Clifton and Arthur Wilton. =============== Joseph Lincoln Hall DMus USA 1866-1930. Born in Philadelphia, PA, to musical parents, he also was musical, having a good tenor voice. He was an organist and music teacher. At age 19 he led a 100 member choir for 10 years. He studied music and graduated with honors from the University of PA, later receiving a Doctor of Music degree from Harriman University, from which he was an alumnus. In 1896 he married Eva Victoria Withington, and they had four children. Three lived to adulthood, Lincoln, Ralph, and Philip. A musician, he was a great song leader and choral conductor, conducting campmeeting choirs in PA, OH, and FL, at the Gainesville Bible Conference as well. He became a gospel song composer, arranger, editor, and publisher. He wrote cantatas, oratorios, choir anthems, and hundreds of gospel songs. He also edited several hymnals. Along with Irvin Mack, he founded the Hall-Mack Publishing Company (later Rodeheaver). They published nine songbooks. He was a member of the 7th Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. He died in Philadelphia. John Perry

John H. Stockton

1813 - 1877 Person Name: J. H. S. Hymnal Number: 219 Author of "Only Trust Him" in Songs and Music Stockton, John Hart, a Methodist minister, was born in 1813, and died in 1877. He was a member of the New Jersey Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the successive pastoral charges that he filled as a member of that Conference are found in the Conference Journal. He was not only a preacher, but a musician and composer of tunes, as well as hymn writer. He published two gospel song books: Salvation Melodies, 1874, and Precious Songs, 1875. Hymn Writers of the Church by Charles Nutter, 1911 =============== Stockton, John Hart, b. April 19, 1813, and d. March 25, 1877, was the author of "Come, every soul by sin oppressed" (Invitation), in I.D. Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos, 1878, and of "The Cross, the Cross, the blood¬stained Cross" (Good Friday) in the same collection. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) =============== Stockton, John Hart. (New Hope, Pennsylvania, April 19, 1813--March 25, 1877). Born of Presbyterian parents, he was converted at a Methodist camp meeting in 1838, being received into full membership in the New Jersey Conference in 1857. Because of ill health he twice took the "supernumerary relations." He withdrew from actual pastoral work in 1874 and engaged in compiling and publishing gospel hymn books, issuing Salvation Melodies that year and Precious Songs in 1875, writing both words and music for a number of the songs. He died suddenly after attending a Sunday morning service at Arch Street Church, Philadelphia. Our Hymnody, McCutchan, has, perhaps, the fullest account of him readily available. --Robert G. McCutchan, DNAH Archives

Julia Ward Howe

1819 - 1910 Hymnal Number: 238 Author of "Battle Hymn of the republic" in Songs and Music Born: May 27, 1819, New York City. Died: October 17, 1910, Middletown, Rhode Island. Buried: Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Howe, Julia, née Ward, born in New York City in 1819, and married in 1843 the American philanthropist S. G. Howe. She has taken great interest in political matters, and is well known through her prose and poetical works. Of the latter there are Passion Flower, 1854; Words of the Hour, 1856; Later Lyrics, 1866; and From Sunset Ridge, 1896. Her Battle Hymn of the Republic, "eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord," was written in 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War, and was called forth by the sight of troops for the seat of war, and published in her Later Lyrics, 1806, p. 41. It is found in several American collections, including The Pilgrim Hymnal, 1904, and others. [M. C. Hazard, Ph.D.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907) ============================ Howe, Julia Ward. (New York, New York, May 27, 1819--October 17, 1910). Married Samuel Gridley Howe on April 26, 1843. She was a woman with a distinguished personality and intellect; an abolitionist and active in social reforms; author of several book in prose and verse. The latter include Passion Flower, 1854; Words of the Hours, 1856; Later Lyrics, 1866; and From a Sunset Ridge, 1896. She became famous as the author of the poem entitled "Battle Hymn of the Republic," which, in spite of its title, was written as a patriotic song and not as a hymn for use in public worship, but which has been included in many American hymn books. It was written on November 19, 1861, while she and her husband, accompanied by their pastor, Rev. James Freeman Clarke, minister of the (Unitarian) Church of the Disciples, Boston, were visiting Washington soon after the outbreak of the Civil War. She had seen the troops gathered there and had heard them singing "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave" to a popular tune called "Glory, Hallelujah" composed a few years earlier by William Steffe of Charleston, South Carolina, for Sunday School use. Dr. Clarke asked Julie Howe if she could not write more uplifting words for the tune and as she woke early the next morning she found the verses forming in her mind as fast as she could write them down, so completely that later she re-wrote only a line or two in the last stanza and changed only four words in other stanzas. She sent the poem to The Atlantic Monthly, which paid her $4 and published it in its issue for February, 1862. It attracted little attention until it caught the eye of Chaplain C. C. McCable (later a Methodist bishop) who had a fine singing voice and who taught it first to the 122nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry regiment to which he was attached, then to other troops, and to prisoners in Libby Prison after he was made a prisoner of war. Thereafter it quickly came into use throughout the North as an expression of the patriotic emotion of the period. --Henry Wilder Foote, DNAH Archives

Jeremiah Eames Rankin

1828 - 1904 Person Name: J. E. Rankin, D. D. Hymnal Number: 240 Author of "God Be with You" in Songs and Music Pseudonym: R. E. Jeremy. Rankin, Jeremiah Eames, D.D., was born at Thornton, New Haven, Jan. 2, 1828, and educated at Middleburg College, Vermont, and at Andover. For two years he resided at Potsdam, U.S. Subsequently he held pastoral charges as a Congregational Minister at New York, St. Albans, Charlestown, Washington ( District of Columbia), &c. In 1878 he edited the Gospel Temperance Hymnal, and later the Gospel Bells. His hymns appeared in these collections, and in D. E. Jones's Songs of the New Life, 1869. His best known hymn is "Labouring and heavy laden" (Seeking Christ). This was "written [in 1855] for a sister who was an inquirer," was first printed in the Boston Recorder, and then included in Nason's Congregational Hymn Book, 1857. Another of his hymns is "Rest, rest, rest, brother rest." He died in 1904. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ======================== Rankin, J. 33., p. 951, ii. Dr. Rankin, b. in N. H. (not New Haven), and received his D.D. 1869, LL.D. 1889 from his Alma Mater. He was President for several years of Howard University, Washington, D.C. His publications included several volumes of Sermons, German-English Lyrics, Sacred and Secular, 1897; 2nd ed. 1898, &c. In addition to his hymns noted on p. 951, ii., he has written and published mainly in sheet form many others, the most important and best-known being:— 1. God be with you till we meet again. [Benediction.] Dr. Rankin's account of this hymn, supplied to us, in common with Mr. Brownlie, for his Hymns and H. Writers of The Church Hymnary, 1899, is: "It was written as a Christian good-bye, and first sung in the First Congregational Church, of which I was minister for fifteen years. We had Gospel meetings on Sunday nights, and our music was intentionally of the popular kind. I wrote the first stanza, and sent it to two gentlemen for music. The music which seemed to me to best suit the words was written by T. G. Tomer, teacher of public schools in New Jersey, at one time on the staff of General 0. 0. Howard. After receiving the music (which was revised by Dr. J. W. Bischoff, the organist of my church), I wrote the other stanzas." The hymn became at once popular, and has been translated into several languages. In America it is in numerous collections; and in Great Britain, in The Church Hymnary, 1898, Horder's Worship Song, 1905, The Methodist Hymn Book, 1904, and others. It was left undated by Dr. Rankin, but I.D. Sankey gives it as 1882. 2. Beautiful the little hands. [Little ones for Jesus.] Given without date in Gloria Deo, New York, 1900. Dr. Rankin's translations include versions of German, French, Latin, and Welsh hymns. His contributions to the periodical press have been numerous. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

William W. Walford

1772 - 1850 Person Name: W. W. Walford Hymnal Number: 286 Author of "Sweet Hour of Prayer" in Songs and Music William W. Walford, a blind preacher of England, is the author of the hymn beginning "Sweet hour of prayer." This hymn first appeared in print in the New York Observer September 13, 1845. The contributor who furnished the hymn says: "During my residence at Coleshill, Warwickshire, England, I became acquainted with W. W. Walford, the blind preacher, a man of obscure birth and connections and no education, but of strong mind and most retentive memory. In the pulpit he never failed to select a lesson well adapted to his subject, giving chapter and verse with unerring precision, and scarcely ever misplacing a word in his repetition of the Psalms, every part of the New Testament, the prophecies, and some of the histories, so as to have the reputation of knowing the whole Bible by heart." Rev. Thomas Salmon, who was settled as the pastor of the Congregational Church at Coleshill in 1838, remained until 1842, and then removed to the United States, is believed to have been the contributor who says of the hymn: "I rapidly copied the lines with my pencil as he uttered them, and send them for insertion in the Observer if you think them worthy of preservation." From: Nutter, C. S., & Tillett, W. F. (1911). The hymns and hymn writers of the church, an annotated edition of The Methodist hymnal. New York: Methodist Book Concern.

Augustus Toplady

1740 - 1778 Person Name: A. M. Toplady Hymnal Number: 292 Author of "Rock of Ages" in Songs and Music Toplady, Augustus Montague, the author of "Rock of Ages," was born at Farnham, Surrey, November 4, 1740. His father was an officer in the British army. His mother was a woman of remarkable piety. He prepared for the university at Westminster School, and subsequently was graduated at Trinity College, Dublin. While on a visit in Ireland in his sixteenth year he was awakened and converted at a service held in a barn in Codymain. The text was Ephesians ii. 13: "But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." The preacher was an illiterate but warm-hearted layman named Morris. Concerning this experience Toplady wrote: "Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means of grace in England, should be brought nigh unto God in an obscure part of Ireland, amidst a handful of God's people met together in a barn, and under the ministry of one who could hardly spell his name. Surely this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous." In 1758, through the influence of sermons preached by Dr. Manton on the seventeenth chapter of John, he became an extreme Calvinist in his theology, which brought him later into conflict with Mr. Wesley and the Methodists. He was ordained to the ministry in the Church of England in 1762, and in 1768 he became vicar of Broadhembury, a small living in Devonshire, which he held until his death. The last two or three years of his life he passed in London, where he preached in a chapel on Orange Street. His last sickness was of such a character that he was able to make a repeated and emphatic dying testimony. A short time before his death he asked his physician what he thought. The reply was that his pulse showed that his heart was beating weaker every day. Toplady replied with a smile: "Why, that is a good sign that my death is fast approaching; and, blessed be God, I can add that my heart beats stronger and stronger every day for glory." To another friend he said: "O, my dear sir, I cannot tell you the comforts I feel in my soul; they are past expression. . . . My prayers are all converted into praise." He died of consumption August 11, 1778. His volume of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Worship was published in 1776. Of the four hundred and nineteen hymns which it contained, several were his own productions. If on a quiet sea 446 Rock of ages, cleft for me 279 Hymn Writers of the Church, 1915 by Charles S. Nutter =============================================== Toplady, Augustus Montague, M.A. The life of Toplady has been repeatedly and fully written, the last, a somewhat discursive and slackly put together book, yet matterful, by W. Winters (1872). Summarily, these data may be here given: he was born at Farnham, in Surrey, on November 4, 1740. His father, Richard Toplady, was a Major in the British array, and was killed at the siege of Carthagena (1741) soon after the birth of his son. His widowed mother placed him at the renowned Westminster school, London. By-and-by circumstances led her to Ireland, and young Augustus was entered at Trinity College, Dublin, where he completed his academical training, ultimately graduating M.A. He also received his "new birth" in Ireland under remarkable conditions, as he himself tells us with oddly mixed humility and lofty self-estimate, as "a favourite of heaven," common to his school:— "Strange that I who had so long sat under the means of grace in England should be brought right unto God in an obscure part of Ireland, midst a handful of people met together in a barn, and by the ministry of one who could hardly spell his own name. Surely it was the Lord's doing and is marvellous. The excellency of such power must be of God and cannot be of man. The regenerating spirit breathes not only on whom but likewise, when and where and as He listeth." Toplady received orders in the Church of England on June 6, 1762, and after some time was appointed to Broadhembury. His Psalms and Hymns of 1776 bears that he was then “B.A." and Vicar of Broadhembury. Shortly thereafter be is found in London as minister of the Chapel of the French Calvinists in Leicester Fields. He was a strong and partizan Calvinist, and not well-informed theologically outside of Calvinism. We willingly and with sense of relief leave unstirred the small thick dust of oblivion that has gathered on his controversial writings, especially his scurrilous language to John Wesley because of his Arminianism, as we do John Wesley's deplorable misunderstanding and misrepresentation of Calvinism. Throughout Toplady lacked the breadth of the divine Master's watchword "Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us" (St. Luke ix. 50). He was impulsive, rash-spoken, reckless in misjudgment; but a flame of genuine devoutness burned in the fragile lamp of his overtasked and wasted body. He died on August 11, 1778. The last edition of his works is in 6 vols., 8 vo., 1825. An accurate reproduction of most of his genuine hymns was one of the reprints of Daniel Sedgwick, 1860. His name occurs and recurs in contemporary memoirs and ecclesiastical histories, e.g., in Tyerman's Life of John Wesley. The reader will find in their places annotations on the several hymns of Toplady, and specially on his "Rock of Ages,” a song of grace that has given him a deeper and more inward place in millions of human hearts from generation to generation than almost any other hymnologist of our country, not excepting Charles Wesley. Besides the "Rock of Ages" must be named, for power, intensity, and higher afflatus and nicer workmanship, "Object of my first desire,” and "Deathless principle arise." It is to be regretted that the latter has not been more widely accepted. It is strong, firm, stirring, and masterful. Regarded critically, it must be stated that the affectionateness with which Toplady is named, and the glow and passion of his faith and life, and yearning after holiness, have led to an over-exaltation of him as a hymnwriter. Many of his hymns have been widely used, and especially in America, and in the Evangelical hymnbooks of the Church of England. Year by year, however, the number in use is becoming less. The reason is soon found. He is no poet or inspired singer. He climbs no heights. He sounds no depths. He has mere vanishing gleams of imaginative light. His greatness is the greatness of goodness. He is a fervent preacher, not a bard. [Rev. A. B. Grosart, D.D., LL.D.] Toplady's hymns and poetical pieces were published in his:— (1) Poems on Sacred Subjects wherein The Fundamental Doctrines of Christianity, with many other interesting Points, are occasionally introduced. . . Dublin: Printed by S. Powell, in Crane-lane, MDCCLIX.; (2) his Psalms & Hymns for Public and Private Worship, 1776; (3) in The Gospel Magazine, 1771-1776; and (4) in Hymns and Sacred Poems on a variety of Divine Subjects, &c. D. Sedgwick's reprint, 1860. His Works, with a Memoir by W. Row, were published in 6 volumes, in 1794. Walter How was also the editor of the 2nd and some later editions of the Psalms & Hymns. He was a most careless editor, and attributed several hymns by C. Wesley and others to Toplady. The following additional hymns in common use together with centos indicated in the sub-lines, are from:— i. His Poems on Sacred Subjects, 1759. 1. Can my heaven-born soul submit? All for Christ. 2. Come from on high, my King and God. Holiness desired. (1.) 0 might this worthless heart of mine. 3. Earnest of future bliss. The Witness of the Spirit. 4. From Thy supreme tribunal, Lord. Christ's Righteousness a Refuge. (1.) The spotless Saviour lived for me. 5. Great God, Whom heaven, and earth, and sea. For Peace. 6. I saw, and lo! a countless throng. Saints' Days. Revised form in the Gospel Magazine, 1774, p. 449. 7. Immovable our hope remains. Divine Faithfulness. 8. Jesus, God of love, attend. Divine Worship. Pt. ii. is "Prayer can mercy's door unlock." 9. Jesus, Thy power I fain would feel. Lent. 10. Lord, I feel a carnal mind. Mind of Christ desired. 11. My yielding heart dissolves as wax. On behalf of Arians, &c. (1.) 0 Jesus, manifest Thy grace. 12. Not to myself I owe. Praise for Conversion, (1.) Not to ourselves we owe. (2.) The Father's grace and love. 13. 0 that my heart was right with Thee. Dedication to God desired. 14. 0 Thou that hearest the prayer of faith. Christ the Propitiation. 15. 0 Thou Who didst Thy glory leave. Thanksgiving for Redemption. 16. 0 when wilt Thou my Saviour be. Trust in Jesus. (1.) Jesus, the sinner's Rest Thou art. 17. Redeemer, whither should I flee? Safety in the Cross. 18. Remember, Lord, that Jesus bled. Pardon. 19. Surely Christ thy griefs hath borne. Redemption. Revised text in Gospel Magazine, 1774, p. 548. (1.) Weary sinner, keep thine eyes. (2.) Weeping soul, no longer mourn. ii. From the Gospel Magazine. 20. Compared with Christ, in all besides. Christ All in All. Feb. 1772. 21. Eternal Hallelujahs Be to the Father given. Holy Trinity, Dec. 1774. 22. From whence this fear and unbelief. Reviving Faith, Feb. 1772. 23. How vast the benefits divine. Redemption. Dec. 1774. From this "Not for the works which we have done" is taken. 24. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? Christ All and in All, Feb. 1772. From this "If my Lord Himself reveal" is taken. 25. Jesus, immutably the same. Jesus, the True Vine. June, 1771. All these hymns, together with "O precious blood, 0 glorious death" (Death of Christ), are in D. Sedgwick's reprint of Toplady's Hymns, &c, 1860. We have met with several other hymns to which Toplady's name is appended, but for this we can find no authority whatever. -- Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Johnson Oatman, Jr.

1856 - 1922 Person Name: Rev. J. Oatman, Jr. Hymnal Number: 320 Author of "Count Your Blessings" in Songs and Music Johnson Oatman, Jr., son of Johnson and Rachel Ann Oatman, was born near Medford, N. J., April 21, 1856. His father was an excellent singer, and it always delighted the son to sit by his side and hear him sing the songs of the church. Outside of the usual time spent in the public schools, Mr. Oatman received his education at Herbert's Academy, Princetown, N. J., and the New Jersey Collegiate Institute, Bordentown, N. J. At the age of nineteen he joined the M.E. Church, and a few years later he was granted a license to preach the Gospel, and still later he was regularly ordained by Bishop Merrill. However, Mr. Oatman only serves as a local preacher. For many years he was engaged with his father in the mercantile business at Lumberton, N. J., under the firm name of Johnson Oatman & Son. Since the death of his father, he has for the past fifteen years been in the life insurance business, having charge of the business of one of the great companies in Mt. Holly, N. J., where he resides. He has written over three thousand hymns, and no gospel song book is considered as being complete unless it contains some of his hymns. In 1878 he married Wilhelmina Reid, of Lumberton, N.J. and had three children, Rachel, Miriam, and Percy. Excerpted from Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers by Jacob Henry Hall; Fleming H. Revell, Co. 1914

W. O. Cushing

1823 - 1902 Hymnal Number: 347 Author of "Follow On" in Songs and Music Rv William Orcutt Cushing USA 1823-1902. Born at Hingham, MA, he read the Bible as a teenager and became a follower of the Orthodox Christian school of thought. At age 18 he decided to become a minister, following in his parents theology. His first pastorate was at the Christian Church, Searsburg, NY. He married Hena Proper in 1854. She was a great help to him throughout his ministry. He ministered at several NY locations over the years, including Searsburg, Auburn, Brookley, Buffalo, and Sparta. Hena died in 1870, and he returned to Searsburg, again serving as pastor there. Working diligently with the Sunday school, he was dearly beloved by young and old. Soon after, he developed a creeping paralysis that caused him to lose his voice. He retired from ministry after 27 years. He once gave all his savings ($1000) to help a blind girl receive an education. He was instrumental in the erection of the Seminary at Starkey, NY. He gave material aid to the school for the blind at Batavia. He was mindful of the suffering of others, but oblivious to his own. After retiring, he asked God to give him something to do. He discovered he had a talent for writing and kept busy doing that. He authored about 300 hymn lyrics. The last 13 years of his life he lived with Rev. and Mrs. E. E Curtis at Lisbon Center, NY, and joined with the Wesleyan Methodist Church there. He died at Searsburg, NY. John Perry ================== Cushing, William Orcutt , born at Hingham, Massachusetts, Dec. 31, 1823, is the author of the following hymns which appear in I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos:— 1. Beautiful valley of Eden. Heaven. 2. Down in the valley with my Saviour I would go. Trusting to Jesus. 3. Fair is the morning land. Heaven. 4. I am resting so sweetly in Jesus now. Rest and Peace in Jesus. 5. I have heard of a land far away. Heaven. 6. O safe to the Rock that is higher than I. The Rock of Ages. 1. Ring the bells of heaven, there is joy today. Heavenly Joy over repenting Sinners. 8. We are watching, we are waiting. Second Advent anticipated. Mr. Cushing has also several additional hymns in some American Sunday School collections, and collections of Sacred Songs. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology ================= Cushing, W. 0., p. 274, i. Other hymns are:— 1. O I love to think of Jesus . Thinking of Jesus. 2. There is joy in heaven! there is joy to-day. Angels joy over returning Sinners. 3. When He cometh, when He cometh. Advent. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

John E. Gould

1821 - 1875 Person Name: J. E. Gould Hymnal Number: 329 Composer of "[Jesus, Saviour, pilot me]" in Songs and Music John Edgar Gould USA 1821-1875. Born in Bangor, ME, he became a musician. He managed music stores in New York City and Philadelphia, PA., the latter with composer partner, William Fischer. He married Josephine Louisa Barrows, and they had seven children: Blanche, Marie, Ida, John, Josephine, Josephine, and Augusta. He compiled eight religious songbooks from 1846 thru 1869. He died while traveling in Algiers, Africa, and was buried in Philadelphia, PA. John Perry

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Person Name: The Salvation Army Publisher of "" in Songs and Music

Thomas Hastings

1784 - 1872 Hymnal Number: 292 Composer of "[Rock of Ages, cleft for me]" in Songs and Music 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)

Edward Hopper

1816 - 1888 Hymnal Number: 329 Author of "Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me" in Songs and Music Rv Edward Hopper DD USA 1816-1888. Born at New York City, the son of a merchant, he graduated from Union Theological Seminary, New York. He married Margaretta Wheeler. He was an author and poet and wrote several books. He pastored the Greenville Presbyterian Church, Sag Harbor Presbyterian Church on Long Island, and the Church of Sea and Land, NYC, a church for sailors, where he remained the rest of his life (for years the church building was shared with the First Chinese Presbyterian Church). Once he was asked to compose a hymn verse for the anniversary of the Seamen’s Friend’s Society meeting. Instead, he brought the verse for a hymn he had written eight years before (noted below). John Edgar Gould saw Hopper’s poem (6 stanzas) and composed a tune for it. Hopper died of a heart attack while writing a poem about heaven at his desk. John Perry =============== Hopper, Edward, D.D., was born in 1818, and graduated at Union Theological Seminary, New York, 1842. He is pastor of the Church of Sea and Land, N. Y. He is the author of 1. Jesus, Saviour, pilot me [us]. Jesus the Pilot. 2. They pray the best who pray and watch. Watching & Prayer. 3. Wrecked and struggling in mid-ocean. Wreck & Rescue. Of these No. 1 appeared in the Baptist Praise Book, 1871, and 2 & 3 in Hymns & Songs of Praise, N. Y., 1874. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology ======================= See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

E. O. Excell

1851 - 1921 Hymnal Number: 124 Composer of "[Jesus bids us shine]" in Songs and Music Edwin Othello Excel USA 1851-1921. Born at Uniontown, OH, he started working as a bricklayer and plasterer. He loved music and went to Chicago to study it under George Root. He married Eliza Jane “Jennie” Bell in 1871. They had a son, William, in 1874. A member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he became a prominent publisher, composer, song leader, and singer of music for church, Sunday school, and evangelistic meetings. He founded singing schools at various locations in the country and worked with evangelist, Sam Jones, as his song leader for two decades. He established a music publishing house in Chicago and authored or composed over 2,000 gospel songs. While assisting Gypsy Smith in an evangelistic campaign in Louisville, KY, he became ill, and died in Chicago, IL. He published 15 gospel music books between 1882-1925. He left an estate valued at $300,000. John Perry

Lowell Mason

1792 - 1872 Hymnal Number: 214 Composer of "[My faith looks up to Thee]" in Songs and Music Dr. Lowell Mason (the degree was conferred by the University of New York) is justly called the father of American church music; and by his labors were founded the germinating principles of national musical intelligence and knowledge, which afforded a soil upon which all higher musical culture has been founded. To him we owe some of our best ideas in religious church music, elementary musical education, music in the schools, the popularization of classical chorus singing, and the art of teaching music upon the Inductive or Pestalozzian plan. More than that, we owe him no small share of the respect which the profession of music enjoys at the present time as contrasted with the contempt in which it was held a century or more ago. In fact, the entire art of music, as now understood and practiced in America, has derived advantage from the work of this great man. Lowell Mason was born in Medfield, Mass., January 8, 1792. From childhood he had manifested an intense love for music, and had devoted all his spare time and effort to improving himself according to such opportunities as were available to him. At the age of twenty he found himself filling a clerkship in a banking house in Savannah, Ga. Here he lost no opportunity of gratifying his passion for musical advancement, and was fortunate to meet for the first time a thoroughly qualified instructor, in the person of F. L. Abel. Applying his spare hours assiduously to the cultivation of the pursuit to which his passion inclined him, he soon acquired a proficiency that enabled him to enter the field of original composition, and his first work of this kind was embodied in the compilation of a collection of church music, which contained many of his own compositions. The manuscript was offered unavailingly to publishers in Philadelphia and in Boston. Fortunately for our musical advancement it finally secured the attention of the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, and by its committee was submitted to Dr. G. K. Jackson, the severest critic in Boston. Dr. Jackson approved most heartily of the work, and added a few of his own compositions to it. Thus enlarged, it was finally published in 1822 as The Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music. Mason's name was omitted from the publication at his own request, which he thus explains, "I was then a bank officer in Savannah, and did not wish to be known as a musical man, as I had not the least thought of ever making music a profession." President Winchester, of the Handel and Haydn Society, sold the copyright for the young man. Mr. Mason went back to Savannah with probably $500 in his pocket as the preliminary result of his Boston visit. The book soon sprang into universal popularity, being at once adopted by the singing schools of New England, and through this means entering into the church choirs, to whom it opened up a higher field of harmonic beauty. Its career of success ran through some seventeen editions. On realizing this success, Mason determined to accept an invitation to come to Boston and enter upon a musical career. This was in 1826. He was made an honorary member of the Handel and Haydn Society, but declined to accept this, and entered the ranks as an active member. He had been invited to come to Boston by President Winchester and other musical friends and was guaranteed an income of $2,000 a year. He was also appointed, by the influence of these friends, director of music at the Hanover, Green, and Park Street churches, to alternate six months with each congregation. Finally he made a permanent arrangement with the Bowdoin Street Church, and gave up the guarantee, but again friendly influence stepped in and procured for him the position of teller at the American Bank. In 1827 Lowell Mason became president and conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society. It was the beginning of a career that was to win for him as has been already stated the title of "The Father of American Church Music." Although this may seem rather a bold claim it is not too much under the circumstances. Mr. Mason might have been in the average ranks of musicianship had he lived in Europe; in America he was well in advance of his surroundings. It was not too high praise (in spite of Mason's very simple style) when Dr. Jackson wrote of his song collection: "It is much the best book I have seen published in this country, and I do not hesitate to give it my most decided approbation," or that the great contrapuntist, Hauptmann, should say the harmonies of the tunes were dignified and churchlike and that the counterpoint was good, plain, singable and melodious. Charles C. Perkins gives a few of the reasons why Lowell Mason was the very man to lead American music as it then existed. He says, "First and foremost, he was not so very much superior to the members as to be unreasonably impatient at their shortcomings. Second, he was a born teacher, who, by hard work, had fitted himself to give instruction in singing. Third, he was one of themselves, a plain, self-made man, who could understand them and be understood of them." The personality of Dr. Mason was of great use to the art and appreciation of music in this country. He was of strong mind, dignified manners, sensitive, yet sweet and engaging. Prof. Horace Mann, one of the great educators of that day, said he would walk fifty miles to see and hear Mr. Mason teach if he could not otherwise have that advantage. Dr. Mason visited a number of the music schools in Europe, studied their methods, and incorporated the best things in his own work. He founded the Boston Academy of Music. The aim of this institution was to reach the masses and introduce music into the public schools. Dr. Mason resided in Boston from 1826 to 1851, when he removed to New York. Not only Boston benefited directly by this enthusiastic teacher's instruction, but he was constantly traveling to other societies in distant cities and helping their work. He had a notable class at North Reading, Mass., and he went in his later years as far as Rochester, where he trained a chorus of five hundred voices, many of them teachers, and some of them coming long distances to study under him. Before 1810 he had developed his idea of "Teachers' Conventions," and, as in these he had representatives from different states, he made musical missionaries for almost the entire country. He left behind him no less than fifty volumes of musical collections, instruction books, and manuals. As a composer of solid, enduring church music. Dr. Mason was one of the most successful this country has introduced. He was a deeply pious man, and was a communicant of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Mason in 1817 married Miss Abigail Gregory, of Leesborough, Mass. The family consisted of four sons, Daniel Gregory, Lowell, William and Henry. The two former founded the publishing house of Mason Bros., dissolved by the death of the former in 1869. Lowell and Henry were the founders of the great organ manufacturer of Mason & Hamlin. Dr. William Mason was one of the most eminent musicians that America has yet produced. Dr. Lowell Mason died at "Silverspring," a beautiful residence on the side of Orange Mountain, New Jersey, August 11, 1872, bequeathing his great musical library, much of which had been collected abroad, to Yale College. --Hall, J. H. (c1914). Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company.

Francis Scott Key

1779 - 1843 Hymnal Number: 216 Composer of "[Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light]" in Songs and Music Frances Scott Key USA 1779-1843. Born in Frederick County, MD, and educated at St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD, a devout Episcopalian, he practiced law in Washington, DC for four decades. He was U.S. District Attorney for the District of Columbia until his death. He argued some of his cases at the Supreme Court. Key served briefly in a Georgetown militia unit. He married Mary Tayloe Lloyd in 1802, and they had eleven children: Elizabeth, Maria, Francis, John, Anna. Edward, Daniel, Philip, Ellen, Maria, and Charles. He also wrote a few hymn lyrics. During the War of 1812, which Key was against, the British invaded the U.S. and burned the White House, Capitol Building, and Library of Congress. One of Key’s friends, Dr. William Beanes, accused of helping in the arrest of British soldiers, was taken prisoner by the British. With the permission of President James Madison, Keys went to Baltimore to try to secure his release with a prisoner exchange. Sailing on a sloup flying a flag of truce for several miles at sea, they found the Tonnant, the ship Beanes was held on, and finally negotiated the release, After showing the British letters from grateful wounded British troups that had been treated by Dr. Beanes. They tried to leave the area, but were temporarily prevented, as the British were bombarding Fort McHenry. Major George Armistead, Commander of Ft. McHenry, had asked that a large flag be made so British vessels could see it over the fort from a great distance. The flag made of cotton bunting was 24 x30 feet in size. When hoisted, it looked huge. Detained, and watching from a ship about eight miles away, Key saw the British fail to destroy the Fort, or even the flag flying over it. The British could not move in cfloser with their ships, as close-range bombardment from Americans had already sunk 22 vessels. After firing 1500 bomb shells, each weighing as much as 220 lbs. from a distance of several miles out the British gave up trying. Key penned his famous lines about the incident, then finished the poem in a hotel room later. The poem was printed in newspapers, and soon a popular drinking tune, “Anacreon in Heaven”, by John Stafford Smith, was chosen to accompany it, and people began referring to the song as “the star-spangled banner”. Four stanzas were written, but usually only one verse, the first, is sung. Key’s brother-in-law, Joseph Nicholson, noted that Key’s words fit the song, so he took the poem to a printer in Baltimore and had it printed. Two known copies of the printing have survived. His famous song was sung in 1897 at baseball opening day ceremonies in Philadelphia. In 1899 the U.S. Navy adopted the song. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official events. In 1918 it was sung during the 7th inning of the World Series . It was adopted as the National Anthem in March 1931. During WWII it was sung at every baseball game. Key was a slave owner for years, but an opponent of slave trafficking. He eventually became a leader of the American Colonization Society which sent freed slaves to Africa, and he freed his slaves, even giving free legal representation to some seeking their freedom. He also represented owners of run-away slaves. In 1841 Key became a member of President Andrew Jackson’s “kitchen cabinet” a group of informal close advisors that did not hold public office but met with the president from time to time. In 1823 Key helped found the Virginia Theological Seminary. He supported the Episcopal Church for decades, taking an active roll in Christ Church and St. John’s Church in Georgetown, and Trinity Church in Washington, DC. He served as a lay rector for many years, leading services and visiting the sick. Of his many poems, religious themes were frequent, and most of his works were printed, collected and published in New York as “Poems” in 1857. Key died in Baltimore, MD, of pleurisy. Honors include: two bridges names after him (in Arlington, VA & Baltimore, MD), St. John’s College auditorium, Inducted in Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, Key Hall at University of MD, a residence hall at George Washington U, a high school in rural MD, a middle school in Houston, TX, elementary schools in several states, a mall in MD, a Baltimore minor league baseball team, A San Francisco monument (torn down in 2020 by a radical group after a $140,000 renovation), a WWII Liberty ship, and a U.S. Navy submarine. Special note: In 2001, after the 9/11 catastrophe in New York, Queen Elizabeth II allowed her guards at Buckingham Palace to play the song, and the next day, at St. Paul’s Cathedral, she joined in the singing of it at a memorial service. John Perry ================= Key, Francis Scott, was born in Frederick County, Maryland, 1779, and educated at St. John's College, Annapolis. He practised as a lawyer in Washington, District of Columbia, and was the United States District Attorney there till his death on Jan. 11, 1843. His poetical pieces, which were printed in various works, were collected and published in New York as Poems in 1857. His hymns in common use include:— 1. Before the lord we bow. National Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving hymn for the 4th July was published in 1832, and was probably written for the celebration of that year. It is in use in Great Britain and America. 2. If life's pleasures charm [cheer] thee. The heart for God only. Appeared in The Christian Lyre, 1830. 3. Faith is the Christian's evidence. Faith. 4. Lord, with glowing heart I'll praise Thee. Praise for Pardon and Peace. Published in Dr. Mühlenberg's Church Poetry, 1823, the Prayer Book Collection, 1826, &c.; and altered as "Lord, with fervor I would praise Thee," in the Unitarian Hymns for the Church of Christ, Boston, 1853. In the Oberlin, Ohio, Manual of Praise, 1880, it begins with st. ii., "Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee." Of these hymns Nos. 1, 2, and 4 are in the Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868, together with the following:— 5. Behold the grant the King of kings. All things in Christ. 6. My God, my Father, may I dare. God, the Father. 7. When troubles, wave on wave, assail'd. Efficacy of Prayer. F. S. Key was also the author of "The Star Spangled Banner" (1814). For original text of his pieces see the Poems, 1857. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Ira David Sankey

1840 - 1908 Person Name: Ira D. Sankey Hymnal Number: 230 Composer of "[When the mists have rolled in splendor]" in Songs and Music Sankey, Ira David, was born in Edinburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1840, of Methodist parents. About 1856 he removed with his parents to New Castle, Pennsylvania, where he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Four years afterwards he became the Superintendent of a large Sunday School in which he commenced his career of singing sacred songs and solos. Mr. Moody met with him and heard him sing at the International Convention of the Young Men's Christian Association, at Indianapolis, and through Mr. Moody's persuasion he joined him in his work at Chicago. After some two or three years' work in Chicago, they sailed for England on June 7, 1872, and held their first meeting at York a short time afterwards, only eight persons being present. Their subsequent work in Great Britain and America is well known. Mr. Sankey's special duty was the singing of sacred songs and solos at religious gatherings, a practice which was in use in America for some time before he adopted it. His volume of Sacred Songs and Solos is a compilation from various sources, mainly American and mostly in use before. Although known as Sankey and Moody’s Songs, only one song, "Home at last, thy labour done" is by Mr. Sankey, and not one is by Mr. Moody. Mr. Sankey supplied several of the melodies. The English edition of the Sacred Songs & Solos has had an enormous sale; and the work as a whole is very popular for Home Mission services. The Songs have been translated into several languages. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) Pseudonymns: Harry S. Lower Rian A. Dykes ==================== Sankey, I. D., p. 994, i. During the past fifteen years Mr. Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos have had a very large sale, which has justified him in increasing the number of songs and hymns, including " New Hymns and Solos," to 1200. In 1906 he published My Life and Sacred Songs (London : Morgan & Scott). In addition to the "Story of his Own Life," the work contains an account of the most popular of his solos, with interesting reminiscences of the spiritual awakening of many who were influenced through his singing of them in public. In this respect it corresponds in some measure with G. J. Stevenson's Methodist Hymn Book, &c, 1883 (p. 1094, i.). It is an addition to the Sacred Songs and Solos, which will be held in esteem by many. In addition to his hymn, noted on p. 994, ii., Mr. Sankey gives details of the following:— 1. Out of the shadow-land into the sunshine. [Heaven Anticipated.] Mr. Sankey's account of this hymn is:— "I wrote this hymn specially for the memorial service held for Mr. Moody in Carnegie Hall, where 1 also sang it as a solo. It is the last sacred song of which I wrote both the words and music. The idea was suggested by Mr. Moody's last words, 'Earth recedes; heaven opens before me . . . God is calling me, and I must go.' On account of its peculiar association with my fellow-labourer in the Gospel for so many years, the words are here given in full." The hymn follows on p. 185, in 3 stanzas of 4 lines and a chorus. 2. Rejoice! Rejoice! our King is coming, [Advent.] Mr. Sankey writes concerning this hymn:— "During one of my trips to Great Britain on the SS. City of Rome a storm raged on the sea. The wind was howling through the rigging, and waves like mountains of foam were breaking over the bow of the vessel. A great fear had fallen upon the passengers. When the storm was at its worst, we all thought we might soon go to the bottom of the sea. The conviction came to me that the Lord would be with us iu the trying hour, and sitting down in the reading room, I composed this hymn. Before reaching England the tune had formed itself in my mind, and on arriving in London I wrote it out, and had it published in Sacred Songs and Solos, where it is No. 524 in the edition. of 1888. From Mr. Sankey's autobiographical sketch we gather that he was born at Edinburgh, in Western Pennsylvania, Aug. 28, 1840, joined Mr. Moody in 1871, and visited England for the first time in 1873. The original of the Sacred Songs, &c, of 23 pieces only, was offered as a gift to the London publishers of P. Phillips's Hallowed Song, and declined by them. It was subsequently accepted by Mr. K. O. Morgan, of Morgan & Scott, and is now a volume of 1200 hymns. From a return kindly sent us by Messrs. Morgan & Scott, we find that the various issues of the Sacred Songs and Solos were:— In 1873, 24 pp.; 1874, 72 pp. ; 1876, 153 hymns; 1877, 271 hymns; 1881, 441 hymns; 1888, 750 hymns; 1903, 1200 hymns. In addition, The Christian Choir, which is generally associated with the Sacred Songs and Solos, was issued in 1884 with 75 hymns, and in 1896 with 281. The New Hymns & Solos, by the same firm, were published in 1888. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

Chas. H. Gabriel

1856 - 1932 Hymnal Number: 241 Arranger of "[Come, Thou Fount of ev'ry blessing]" in Songs and Music Pseudonyms: C. D. Emerson, Charlotte G. Homer, S. B. Jackson, A. W. Lawrence, Jennie Ree ============= For the first seventeen years of his life Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (b. Wilton, IA, 1856; d. Los Angeles, CA, 1932) lived on an Iowa farm, where friends and neighbors often gathered to sing. Gabriel accompanied them on the family reed organ he had taught himself to play. At the age of sixteen he began teaching singing in schools (following in his father's footsteps) and soon was acclaimed as a fine teacher and composer. He moved to California in 1887 and served as Sunday school music director at the Grace Methodist Church in San Francisco. After moving to Chicago in 1892, Gabriel edited numerous collections of anthems, cantatas, and a large number of songbooks for the Homer Rodeheaver, Hope, and E. O. Excell publishing companies. He composed hundreds of tunes and texts, at times using pseudonyms such as Charlotte G. Homer. The total number of his compositions is estimated at about seven thousand. Gabriel's gospel songs became widely circulated through the Billy Sunday-Homer Rodeheaver urban crusades. Bert Polman

Robert Lowry

1826 - 1899 Person Name: R. L. Hymnal Number: 40 Author of "Christ Arose" in Songs and Music 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)

Fanny Crosby

1820 - 1915 Person Name: Fanny J. Crosby Hymnal Number: 89 Author of "Tell Me the Story of Jesus" in Songs and Music Pseudonymns: A.V., Mrs. A. E. Andrews, Mrs. E. A. Andrews, Mrs. E. L. Andrews, James L. Black, Henrietta E. Blair, Charles Bruce, Robert Bruce, Leah Carlton, Eleanor Craddock, Lyman G. Cuyler, D.H.W., Ella Dare, Ellen Dare, Mrs. Ellen Douglass, Lizzie Edwards. Miss Grace Elliot, Grace J. Frances, Victoria Frances, Jennie Garnett, Frank Gould, H. D. K., Frances Hope, Annie L. James, Martha J. Lankton [Langton], Grace Lindsey, Maud Marion, Sallie Martin, Wilson Meade, Alice Monteith, Martha C. Oliver, Mrs. N. D. Plume, Kate Smiley, Sallie Smith, J. L. Sterling, John Sterling, Julia Sterling, Anna C. Storey, Victoria Stuart, Ida Scott Taylor, Mary R. Tilden, Mrs. J. B. Thresher, Hope Tryaway, Grace Tureman, Carrie M. Wilson, W.H.D. Frances Jane Crosby, the daughter of John and Mercy Crosby, was born in Southeast, Putnam County, N. Y., March 24, 1820. She became blind at the age of six weeks from maltreatment of her eyes during a spell of sickness. When she was eight years old she moved with her parents to Ridgefield, Conn., the family remaining there four years. At the age of fifteen she entered the New York Institution for the Blind, where she received a good education. She became a teacher in the institution in 1847, and continued her work until March 1, 1858. She taught English grammar, rhetoric and American history. This was the great developing period in her life. During the vacations of 1852 and 1853, spent at North Reading, Mass., she wrote the words to many songs for Dr. Geo. F. Root, then the teacher of music at the blind institution. Among them were, "Hazel Dell,", "The Honeysuckle Glen," "Rosalie, the Prairie Flower," "Music in the Air," "Proud World, Good-bye, I'm Going Home," "All Together", "Never Forget the Dear Ones," and others. Subsequently she wrote the words for the cantatas of The Flower Queen and The Pilgrim Fathers, all of which were very popular in their day, though it was not generally known at the time that she was the author. While teaching at the institution she met Presidents Van Buren and Tyler, Hon. Henry Clay, Governor Wm. H. Seward, General Winfield Scott, and other distinguished characters of American history. Concerning Mr. Clay, she gives the following: "When Mr. Clay came to the institution during his last visit to New York, I was selected to welcome him with a poem. Six months before he had lost a son at the battle of Monterey, and I had sent him some verses. In my address I carefully avoided any allusion to them, in order not to wound him. When I had finished he drew my arm in his, and, addressing the audience, said through his tears: 'This is not the first poem for which I am indebted to this lady. Six months ago she sent me some lines on the death of my dear son.' Both of us were overcome for a few moments. Soon, by a splendid effort, Mr. Clay recovered himself, but I could not control my tears." In connection with her meeting these notable men, we might add that Miss Fanny Crosby had the honor of being the first woman whose voice was heard publicly in the Senate Chamber at Washington. She read a poem there on one occasion. In addition to the thousands of hymns that she has written (about eight thousand poems in all), many of which have not been set to music, she has published four volumes of verses. The first was issued in 1844 and was entitled The Blind Girl, and Other Poems, a second volume, Monterey, and Other Poems, followed in 1849, and the third, A Wreath of Columbia's Flowers, in 1858. The fourth, Bells at Evening and Other Verses, with a biographical sketch by Rev. Robert Lowry, and a fine half-tone portrait, in 1897, the sales of which have reached a fourth edition. The book is published by The Biglow & Main Co., New York. Though these show the poetical bent of her mind, they have little to do with her world-wide fame. It is as a writer of Sunday-school songs and gospel hymns that she is known wherever the English language is spoken, and, in fact, wherever any other language is heard. Fanny was married March 5, 1858, to Alex. Van Alstyne, who was also a scholar in the same institution in which she was educated. She began to write Sunday-school hymns for Wm. B. Bradbury in 1864. Her first hymn, "We are going, we are going To a home beyond the skies", was written at the Ponton Hotel on Franklin Street, New York City, on February 5th of that year. This hymn was sung at Mr. Bradbury's funeral in January, 1868. Since 1864 she supported herself by writing hymns. She resided in New York City nearly all her life, where, she says, she is "a member of the Old John Street M. E. Church in good standing." She spent regular hours on certain days at the office of The Biglow & Main Co., the firm for which she did most of her writing, and for whom she has composed over four thousand hymns. Her hymns have been in great demand and have been used by many of our most popular composers, among whom may be mentioned Wm. B. Bradbury, Geo. F. Root, W. H. Doane, Rev. Robert Lowry, Ira D. Sankey, J. R. Sweney, W. J. Kirkpatrick, H. P. Main, H. P. Danks, Philip Phillips, B. G. Unseld, and others. She could compose at any time and did not need to wait for any special inspiration, and her best hymns have come on the spur of the moment. She always composed with an open book in her hand, generally a copy of Golden Hymns, held closely over her eyes, bottom side up. She learned to play on the guitar and piano while at the institution, and has a clear soprano voice. She also received a technical training in music, and for this reason she could, and did, compose airs for some of her hymns. One of these is, "Jesus, dear, I come to Thee, Thou hast said I may," both words and music of which are wonderfully sweet. "Safe in the arms of Jesus", probably one of her best known hymns, was her own favorite. Fanny loved her work, and was happy in it. She was always ready either to sympathize or join in a mirthful conversation, as the case may be. The secret of this contentment dates from her first composition at the age of eight years. "It has been the motto of my life," she says. It is: "O what a happy soul am I! Although I cannot see, I am resolved that in this world Contented I will be;" This has continued to be her philosophy. She says that had it not been for her affliction she might not have so good an education, nor so great an influence, and certainly not so fine a memory. She knows a great many portions of the Bible by heart, and had committed to memory the first four books of the Old Testament, and also the four Gospels before she was ten years of age. Her scope of subjects is wide, embracing everything from a contemplation of heaven, as in "The Bright Forever" and "The Blessed Homeland", to an appeal to the work of this world, as in "To the Work" and "Rescue the Perishing." The most of Fanny's published hymns have appeared under the name of Fanny J. Crosby or Mrs. Yan Alstyne, but quite a large number have appeared under the nom de plumes of Grace J. Frances, Mrs. C. M. Wilson, Lizzie Edwards, Ella Dale, Henrietta E. Blair, Rose Atherton, Maud Marion, Leah Carlton, nearly two hundred different names. -Biographies of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers (excerpts) ======================= Van Alstyne, Frances Jane, née Crosby, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was born at South East, Putnam County, New York, March 24, 1823. When six weeks old she lost her sight. About 1835 she entered the New York City Institution for the Blind. On completing her training she became a teacher therein from 1847 to 1858. In 1858 she was married to Alexander Van Alstyne, a musician, who was also blind. Her first poem was published in 1831; and her first volumes of verse as A Blind Girl, and Other Poems, 1844; Monteresy, and Other Poems, 1849; and A Wreath of Columbia's Flowers, 1858. Her first hymn was "We are going, we are going" (Death and Burial), which was written for Mr. Bradbury and published in the Golden Censer, 1864. From 1853 to 1858 she wrote 20 songs, which were set to music by G. F. Root. Her songs and hymns number some 2,000 or more, and have been published mainly in several of the popular American Sunday school collections, and often under a nom de plume. About 60 have come into common use in Great Britain. The majority of these are taken from the following American collections:— i. From The Shining Star, 1864. 1. Softly on the breath of evening. Evening. ii. From Fresh Laurels, 1867. 2. Beautiful Mansions, home of the blest. Heaven. 3. Jesus the Water of Life has given. The Water of Life. 4. Light and Comfort of my soul. In Affliction. 5. There's a cry from Macedonia. Missions. 6. We are marching on with shield and banner bright. Sunday School Anniversary. iii. From Musical Leaves, 1868. 7. 0 what are you going to do, brother? Youth for God. iv. From Sabbath Carols, 1868. 8. Dark is the night, and cold the wind is blowing. Affliction anticipated. 9. Lord, at Thy mercy seat, Humbly I fall. Lent. v. From Silver Spray, 1868. 10. If I come to Jesus, He will make me glad. Peace in Jesus. 11. 'Twill not be long—our journey here. Heaven anticipated. vi. From Notes of Joy, 1869. 12. Little beams of rosy light. The Divine Father. 13. Press on! press on! a glorious throng. Pressing towards the Prize. vii. From Bright Jewels, 1869. 14. Christ the Lord is risen today, He is risen indeed. Easter. 15. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord! Sing 0 ye people, &c. Holiness of God. 16. Jesus, keep me near the Cross. Near the Cross of Christ. 17. Saviour, bless a little child. A Child's Prayer. Written Feb. 6, 1869. viii. From Songs of Devotion, 1870. 18. Pass me not, 0 gentle Saviour. Lent. Written in 1868. 19. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying. Home Missions. ix. From Pure Gold, 1871. 20. Great is Jehovah. King of kings. Greatness of God. 21. I would be Thy little lamb. The Good Shepherd. 22. Lead me to Jesus, lead me to Jesus. Desiring Jesus. 23. To the work, to the work, we are servants of God. Home Missions. 24. Why labour for treasures that rust and decay? The Fadeless Crown. x. From the Royal Diadem, 1873. 25. I am Jesus' little friend. For Infant Schools. 26. Jesus I love Thee. Loving Jesus. 27. Mourner, wheresoe'er thou art. To the Sorrowing and Penitent. Written Oct. 3, 1871. 28. Never be faint or weary. Joy in Jesus. 29. Only a step to Jesus. Invitation. xi. From Winnowed Hymns, 1873-4. 30. Loving Saviour, hear my cry. Lent. xii. From Echoes of Zion, 1874. 31. Say, where is thy refuge, my brother? Home Missions. xiii. From Songs of Grace and Glory, 1874. 32. Thou my everlasting Portion. Christ the Portion of His People. xiv. From Brightest and Best, 1875. 33. All the way my Saviour leads me. Jesus the Guide. 34. I am Thine, O Lord: I have heard Thy voice. Holiness desired. 35. O come to the Saviour, believe in His name. Invitation. Written, Sep. 7, 1874. 36. O how sweet when we mingle. Communion of Saints. Written in 1866. 37. O my Saviour, hear me. Prayer to Jesus for blessing and love. 38. Only Jesus feels and knows. Jesus the Divine Friend. 39. Revive Thy work, O Lord. Home Missions. 40. Saviour, more than life to me. Jesus All and in All. 41. To God be the glory, great things He hath done. Praise for Redemption. xv. From Calvary Songs, 1875. 42. Come, O come with thy broken heart. Invitation. xvi. From Gospel Music, 1876. 43. Here from the world we turn. Divine Worship. 44. When Jesus comes to reward His servants. Watching, xvii. From Welcome Tidings, 1877. 45. O hear my cry, be gracious now to me. For Pardon and Peace. xviii. From The Fountain of Song, 1877. 46. Lord, my trust I repose on Thee. Trusting in Jesus. xix. From Good as Gold, 1880. 47. In Thy cleft, O Rock of Ages. Safety in Jesus. 48. Sound the alarm ! let the watchman cry. Home Missions. 49. Tenderly He leads us. Christ the Leader. 50. 'Tis the blessed hour of prayer. The Hour of Prayer. In addition to these hymns, all of which are in common use in Great Britain (mainly through I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos, the Methodist Sunday School Hymn Book, the Silver Street Sunday Scholars Companion, and other collections for Sunday schools), there are also "A blessing for you, will you take it?" (Pardon through Jesus); "My song shall be of Jesus" (Praise of Jesus); “Now, just a word for Jesus"(Home Missions); "Onward, upward, Christian soldier" (Pressing Heavenward); 44 Sinner, how thy heart is troubled" (Invitation); "'Tis a goodly, pleasant land" (Heaven anticipated); and "When the dewy light was fading" (Death anticipated). All of these are in I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs & Solos. Mrs. Van Alstyne's most popular composition is "Safe in the arms of Jesus" (Safety in Jesus). This was written in 1868, at the request of Mr. W. H. Doane, to his well-known melody with which it is inseparably associated, and published in Bright Jewels, 1869. Mrs. Van Alstyne's hymns have sometimes been published anonymously; but the greater part are signed by a bewildering number of initials. The combined sales of the volumes of songs and hymns named above have amounted in English-speaking countries to millions of copies. Notwithstanding the immense circulation thus given to Mrs. Van Alstyne's hymns, they are, with few exceptions, very weak and poor, their simplicity and earnestness being their redeeming features. Their popularity is largely due to the melodies to which they are wedded. Since the above was in type we have found that the following are also in common use in Great Britain:— 51. Suppose the little cowslip. Value of Little Things. 52. Sweet hour of prayer. The Hour of Prayer. These are in Bradbury's Golden Chain, 1861. 53. Never lose the golden rule. Love to our Neighbours. In Bradbury's Golden Censer, 1864. 54. I will not be afraid at night. Trust in God. In Bradbury's Fresh Laurels, 1867. 55. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our, &c. Praise of Jesus. In Biglow & Main's Bright Jewels, 1869. 56. More like Jesus would I be. More like Jesus. In Perkins & Taylor's Songs of Salvation, 1870. 57. Behold me standing at the door. Christ at the Door. In Biglow & Main's Christian Songs, 1872. 58. If I come to Jesus. Jesus the Children's Guide. 59. Jesus, Lord, I come to Thee. Trust in Jesus. 60. Let me learn of Jesus. Jesus the Children's Friend. 61. Singing for Jesus, O singing for Jesus. Singing for Jesus. 62. There is a Name divinely sweet Holy Name of Jesus. Of these hymns Nos. 58-62 we have not been able to trace. --Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907 ================ Van Alstyne, Frances J., p. 1203, ii. From the American collections of recent date we find that Mrs. Van Alstyne is still actively engaged in hymn-writing. In the Funk and Wagnalls Company Gloria Deo, 1903, there are about 30 of her hymns, most of which are new. They are all signed, and some are dated, but we have not space to quote the first lines and subjects, as this hymnal is not an official collection of any denomination. Another name, "Mrs. S. K. Bourne" is credited in the same hymnal with about 40 new hymns. If this signature is not another pen-name of Mrs. Van Alstyne's (and these pen-names and initials of hers are very numerous), we can only say that she has a very successful understudy in "Mrs. S. K. Bourne." --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

J. H. Gilmore

1834 - 1918 Person Name: J. H. Gilmour Hymnal Number: 90 Author of "He Leadeth Me" in Songs and Music Joseph H. Gilmore (b. Boston, MA, 1834; d. Rochester, NY, 1918) Educated at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and Newton Theological Seminary, Newton, Massachusetts, Gilmore was ordained to the Baptist ministry in 1862. He served churches in Fisherville, New Hampshire, and Rochester, New York. In 1868 he was appointed to the English faculty at the University of Rochester, where he served until retirement in 1911. He published various literary works, including Outlines of English and American Literature (1905). Bert Polman ============ Gilmore, Joseph Henry, M. A., Professor of Logic in Rochester University, New York, was born at Boston, April 29, 1834, and graduated in Arts at Brown University, and in Theology at Newton Theological Institution. In the latter he was Professor of Hebrew in 1861-2. For some time he held a Baptist ministerial charge at Fisherville, New Hampshire, and at Rochester. He was appointed Professor at Rochester in 1868. His hymn, "He leadeth me, O blessed thought" (Ps. xxiii.), is somewhat widely known. It was written at the close of a lecture in the First Baptist Church, Philadelphia, and is dated 1859. It is in the Baptist Hymnal [and Tune] Book, Philadelphia, 1871. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M. A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

John Keble

1792 - 1866 Person Name: John Kepler Hymnal Number: 213 Author of "Sun of My Soul" in Songs and Music Keble, John, M.A., was born at Fairford, in Gloucestershire, on St. Mark's Day, 1792. His father was Vicar of Coln St. Aldwin's, about three miles distant, but lived at Fairford in a house of his own, where he educated entirely his two sons, John and Thomas, up to the time of their entrance at Oxford. In 1806 John Keble won a Scholarship at Corpus Christi College, and in 1810 a Double First Class, a distinction which up to that time had been gained by no one except Sir Robert Peel. In 1811 he was elected a Fellow of Oriel, a very great honour, especially for a boy under 19 years of age; and in 1811 he won the University Prizes both for the English and Latin Essays. It is somewhat remarkable that amid this brilliantly successful career, one competition in which the future poet was unsuccessful was that for English verse, in which he was defeated by Mr. Rolleston. After his election at Oriel, he resided in College, and engaged in private tuition. At the close of 1813 he was appointed Examining Master in the Schools, and was an exceedingly popular and efficient examiner. On Trinity Sunday, 1815, he was ordained Deacon, and in 1816 Priest, by the Bishop of Oxford, and became Curate of East Leach and Burthorpe, though he still continued to reside at Oxford. In 1818 he was appointed College Tutor at Oriel, which office he retained until 1823. On the death of his mother in the same year, he left Oxford, and returned to live with his father and two surviving sisters at Fairford. In addition to East Leach and Burthorpe, he also accepted the Curacy of Southrop, and the two brothers, John and Thomas, undertook the duties between them, at the same time helping their father at Coln. It should be added, as an apology for Keble thus becoming a sort of pluralist among "the inferior clergy," that the population of all his little cures did not exceed 1000, nor the income £100 a year. In 1824 came the only offer of a dignity in the Church, and that a very humble one, which he ever received. The newly-appointed Bishop of Barbadoes (Coleridge) wished Keble to go out with him as Archdeacon, and but for his father's delicate state of health, he would probably have accepted the offer. In 1825 he became Curate of Hursley, on the recommendation of his old pupil, Sir William Heathcote; but in 1826, on the death of his sister, Mary Ann, he returned to Fairford, feeling that he ought not to separate himself from his father and only surviving sister. He supplied his father's place at Coln entirely. 1827 was memorable for the publication of The Christian Year, and 1828 for the election to the Provostship of Oriel, which his friends, rather than himself, seem to have been anxious to secure for him. In 1829 the living of Hursley was offered to him by Sir William Heathcote, but declined on the ground that he could not leave his father. In 1830 he published his admirable edition of Hooker's Works. In 1831 the Bishop of Exeter (Dr. Philpotts) offered him the valuable living of Paignton, but it was declined for the same reason that Hursley had been declined. In the same year he was also elected to the Poetry Professorship at Oxford. His Praelectiones in that capacity were much admired. In 1833 he preached his famous Assize Sermon at Oxford, which is said by Dr. Newman to have given the first start to the Oxford Movement. Very soon after the publication of this sermon the Tracts for the Times began to be issued. Of these Tracts Keble wrote Nos. 4, 13, 40, and 89. In 1835 his father died, and Keble and his sister retired from Fairford to Coln. In the same year he married Miss Clarke and the Vicarage of Hursley, again becoming vacant, was again offered to him by Sir W. Heathcote, and as the reason for his previous refusal of it no longer existed, he accepted the offer, and in 1836 settled at Hursley for the remainder of his life. That life was simply the life of a devoted and indefatigable parish priest, varied by intellectual pursuits. In 1864 his health began to give way, and on March 29, 1866, he passed away, his dearly loved wife only surviving him six weeks. Both are buried, side by side, in Hursley churchyard. In his country vicarage he was not idle with his pen. In 1839 he published his Metrical Version of the Psalms. The year before, he began to edit, in conjunction with Drs. Pusey and Newman, the Library of the Fathers. In 1846 he published the Lyra Innocentium, and in 1847 a volume of Academical and Occasional Sermons. His pen then seems to have rested for nearly ten years, when the agitation about the Divorce Bill called forth from him in 1851 an essay entitled, An Argument for not proceeding immediately to repeal the Laws which treat the Nuptial Bond as Indissoluble; and in the same year the decision of Archbishop Sumner in the Denison case elicited another essay, the full title of which is The Worship of Our Lord and Saviour in the Sacrament of the Holy Communion, but which is shortly entitled, Eucharistical Adoration. In 1863 he published his last work, The Life of Bishop Wilson (of Sodor and Man). This cost him more pains than anything he wrote, but it was essentially a labour of love. In the popular sense of the word "hymn," Keble can scarcely be called a hymnwriter at all. Very many of his verses have found their way into popular collections of Hymns for Public Worship, but these are mostly centos. Often they are violently detached from their context in a way which seriously damages their significance. Two glaring instances of this occur in the Morning and Evening hymns. In the former the verse "Only, O Lord, in Thy dear love, Fit us for perfect rest above," loses half its meaning when the preceding verse, ending "The secret this of rest below," is excised, as it generally is in collections for public worship, and the same may be said of that most familiar of all Keble's lines, "Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear," which has of course especial reference to the preceding verse, "'Tis gone, that bright and orbed blaze," &c. The Lyra Innocentium has furnished but few verses which have been adopted into hymn collections; the Psalter has been more fortunate, but the translations from the Latin are almost unknown. Taking, however, the word "hymn" in the wider sense in which Dr. Johnson defines it, as "a song of adoration to some superior being," Keble stands in the very first rank of hymnwriters. His uneventful life was the very ideal life for such a poet as Keble was, but not the sort of life which would be best adapted to train a popular hymnwriter. The Christian Year and the Lyra Innocentium reflect in a remarkable degree the surroundings of the writer. They are essentially the works of a refined and cultured mind, and require a refined and cultured mind to enter into their spirit. Keble, all his life long, and never more than in the earlier portion of it, before he wrote, and when he was writing The Christian Year, breathed an atmosphere of culture and refinement. He had imbibed neither the good nor the evil which the training of a public or even of a private, school brings. It was not even the ordinary home education which he had received. He had been trained, up to the very time of his going to college, by his father, who was clearly a man of culture and refinement, and had been himself successively Scholar and Fellow of Corpus. When he went to Oxford, he can scarcely be said to have entered into the whirl of university life. The Corpus of those days has been admirably described by Keble's own biographer, Sir John Coleridge, and by Dean Stanley in his Life of Dr. Arnold; and the impression which the two vivid pictures leave upon the mind is that of a home circle, on rather a large scale, composed of about twenty youths, all more or less scholarly and refined, and some of them clearly destined to become men of mark. When he removed across the road to Oriel, he found himself in the midst of a still more distinguished band. Whether at home or at college he had never come into contact with anything rude or coarse. And his poetry is just what one would expect from such a career. Exquisitely delicate and refined thoughts, expressed in the most delicate and refined language, are characteristic of it all. Even the occasional roughnesses of versification may not be altogether unconnected with the absence of a public school education, when public schools laid excessive stress upon the form of composition, especially in verse. The Christian Year again bears traces of the life which the writer led, in a clerical atmosphere, just at the eve of a great Church Revival, "cujus pars magna fuit." “You know," he writes to a friend, “the C. Y. (as far as I remember it) everywhere supposes the Church to be in a state of decay." Still more obviously is this the case in regard to the Lyra Innocentium. It was being composed during the time when the writer was stricken by what he always seems to have regarded as the great sorrow of his life. Not the death of his nearest relations—-and he had several trials of this kind—-not the greatest of his own personal troubles dealt to him so severe a blow as the secession of J. H. Newman to the Church of Rome. The whole circumstances of the fierce controversy connected with the Tract movement troubled and unsettled him; and one can well understand with what a sense of relief he turned to write, not for, but about, little children, a most important distinction, which has too often been unnoticed. If the Lyra had been written for children it would have been an almost ludicrous failure, for the obscurity which has been frequently complained of in The Christian Year, is still more conspicuous in the latter work. The title is somewhat misleading, and has caused it to be regarded as a suitable gift-book for the young, who are quite incapable of appreciating it. For the Lyra is written in a deeper tone, and expresses the more matured convictions of the author; and though it is a far less successful achievement as a whole, it rises in places to a higher strain of poetry than The Christian Year does. Another marked feature of Keble's poetry is to a great extent traceable to his early life, viz. the wonderful accuracy and vividness of his descriptions of natural scenery. The ordinary schoolboy or undergraduate cares little for natural scenery. The country is to him a mere playing field. But Keble's training led him to love the country for its own sake. Hence, as Dean Stanley remarks, “Oxford, Bagley Wood, and the neighbourhood of Hursley might be traced through hundreds of lines, both in The Christian Year and the Lyra Innocentium.” The same writer testifies, with an authority which no other Englishman could claim, to "the exactness of the descriptions of Palestine, which he [Keble] had never visited.” And may not this remarkable fact be also traced to some extent to his early training? Brought up under the immediate supervision of a pious father, whom he venerated and loved dearly, he had been encouraged to study intelligently his Bible in a way in which a boy differently educated was not likely to do. Hence, as Sir John Coleridge remarks, "The Christian Year is so wonderfully scriptural. Keble's mind was, by long, patient and affectionate study of Scripture, so imbued with it that its language, its train of thought, its mode of reasoning, seems to flow out into his poetry, almost, one should think, unconsciously to himself." To this may we not add that the same intimate knowledge of the Bible had rendered the memory of the Holy Land so familiar to him that he was able to describe it as accurately as if he had seen it? One other early influence of Keble's life upon his poetry must be noticed. Circumstances brought him into contact with the "Lake poets." The near relation of one of the greatest of them had been his college friend, and John Coleridge introduced him to the writings not only of his uncle, S. T. Coleridge, but also of Wordsworth, to whom he dedicated his Praelectiones, and whose poetry and personal character he admired enthusiastically. To the same college friend he was indebted for an introduction to Southey, whom he found to be "a noble and delightful character," and there is no doubt that the writings of these three great men, but especially Wordsworth, had very much to do with the formation of Keble's own mind as a poet. It has been remarked that in Keble's later life his poetical genius seemed to have, to a great extent, forsaken him; and that the Miscellaneous Poems do not show many traces of the spirit which animated The Christian Year and the Lyra Innocentium. Perhaps one reason for this change may be found in the increased interest "which Keble took in public questions which were not conducive to the calm, introspective state of mind so necessary to the production of good poetry. The poet should live in a world of his own, not in a world perpetually wrangling about University Reform, about Courts of Final Appeal, about Marriage with Deceased Wife's Sister, and other like matters into which Keble, in his later years, threw himself—heart and soul. It is not needful to say much about Keble's other poetical works, The Psalter was not a success, and Keble did not expect it to be. It was undertaken," he tells us, "in the first instance with a serious apprehension, which has since grown into a full conviction, that the thing attempted is, strictly speaking, impossible." At the same time, if Keble did not achieve what he owned to be impossible, he produced a version which has the rare merit of never offending against good taste; one which in every line reflects the mind of the cultured and elegant scholar, who had been used to the work of translating from other languages into English. Hymnal compilers have hitherto strangely neglected this volume; but it is a volume worth the attention of the hymn compiler of the future. There is scarcely a verse in it which would do discredit to any hymnbook; while there are parts which would be an acquisition to any collection. His translations from the Latin have not commended themselves to hymnal compilers. Some of his detached hymns have been more popular. But it is after all as writer of The Christian Year that Keble has established his claim to be reckoned among the immortals. It would be hardly too much to say that what the Prayer Book is in prose, The Christian Year is in poetry. They never pall upon one; they realise Keble's own exquisite simile:— "As for some dear familiar strain Untired we ask, and ask again; Ever in its melodious store Finding a spell unheard before." And it would hardly be too bold to prophesy that The Christian Year will live as long as the Prayer Book, whose spirit Keble had so thoroughly imbibed, and whose "soothing influence" it was his especial object to illustrate and commend. [Rev. John H. 0verton, D.D.] Keble's hymns, poetical pieces, and translations appeared in the following works :— (1.) The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holy days Throughout the Year. Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1827. Preface dated "May 30th, 1827." The last poem, that on the “Commination," is dated March 9, 1827. The poems on the "Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea," "Gunpowder Treason," "King Charles the Martyr," "The Restoration of the Royal Family," "The Accession," and "Ordination," were added to the 4th edition, 1828. The Messrs. Parker have pub. a large number of editions to date, including a facsimile reprint of the first edition, and an edition with the addition of the dates of composition of each poem. A facsimile of Keble's manuscript as it existed in 1822 was also lithographed in 1882, by Eliot Stock, but its publication was suppressed by a legal injunction, and only a few copies came into the hands of the public. Since the expiration of the first copyright other publishers have issued the work in various forms. (2.) Contributions to the British Magazine, which were included in Lyra Apostolica, 1836, with the signature of "γ." (3.) The Psalter or Psalms of David; In English Verse; By a Member of the University of Oxford. Adapted for the most part, to Tunes in Common Use; and dedicated by permission to the Lord Bishop of Oxford. . . . Oxford, John Henry Parker: J. G. & F. Rivington, London, MDCCCXXXIX. Preface dated “Oxford, May 29, 1839." (4.) The Child's Christian Year: Hymns for every Sunday and Holy-Day. Compiled for the use of Parochial Schools. Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1841. This was compiled by Mrs. Yonge. Keble wrote the Preface, dated “Hursley, Nov. 6, 1841," and signed it “J. K." To it he contributed the four poems noted below. (5.) Lyra Innocentium: Thoughts in Verse on Christian Children, their Ways and their Privileges . . . Oxford: John Henry Parker : F. & J. Rivington, London, 1846. The Metrical Address (in place of Preface) “To all Friendly Readers," is dated "Feb. 8, 1846." (6.) Lays of the Sanctuary, and otter Poems. Compiled and Edited by G. Stevenson de M. Rutherford... London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1859. This was a volume of poems published on behalf of Mrs. Elizabeth Good. To it Keble contributed the three pieces noted below. (7.) The Salisbury Hymn-Book 1857. Edited by Earl Nelson. To this be contributed a few hymns, some translations from the Latin, and some rewritten forms of well-known hymns, as "Guide me, 0 Thou great Jehovah," &c. (8.) Miscellaneous Poems by the. Rev. J. Keble, M.A., Vicar of Hursley. Oxford and London: Parker & Co., 1869. The excellent Preface to this posthumous work is dated "Chester, Feb. 22, 1869," and is signed "G.M," i.e. by George Moberly, late Bishop of Salisbury. This volume contains Keble's Ode written for the Installation of the Duke of Wellington as Chancellor of the University of Oxford, in 1834, his poems from the Lyra Apostolica, his hymns named above, his translations from the Latin, and other pieces not published in his works. The most important centos from The Christian Year, which are in common use as hymns, and also the hymns contributed to the Salisbury Hymn Book, 1857, are annotated in full under the first lines of the original poems. The translations from the Latin and Greek are given under the first lines of the originals. There are also several of his more important pieces noted in the body of this work. Those that …have no special history, are the following (the dates given being those of the composition of each piece):— i. From The Christian Year, 1827 and 1828. 1. Creator, Saviour, strengthening Guide. Trinity Sunday. (March 3, 1826.) 2. Father, what treasures of sweet thought. Churching of Women. (March 13, 1827.) 3. God is not in the earthquake: but behold. 9th Sunday after Trinity. The still mall voice. (Aug. 13,1822.) 4. In troublous days of anguish and rebuke. 9th S. after Trinity. The still small voice. (Aug. 13, 1822.) 5. Lessons sweet of spring returning. 1st Sunday after Epiphany. Spring. (May 17,1824.) 6. My Saviour, can it ever be? 4th Sunday after Easter. The promised Comforter. 7. 0 Father of long suffering grace. 18th Sunday after Trinity. God's longsuffering. (Oct. 6, 1823.) 8. 0 God of mercy, God of might, How should, &c. Holy Communion. (Jan. 31, 1827.) 9. 0 Lord my God, do Thou Thy holy will. Wednesday before Easter. Resignation. (Aug. 13, 1821.) 10. 0 say not, dream [think] not, heavenly notes. Catechism. (Feb. 16, 1827.) 11. 0 shame upon thee, listless heart. SS. Philip & James. (Aug. 3, 1825.) 12. 0 who shall dare in this frail scene? St. Mark's Day. (1820.) 13. Red o'er the forest peers the setting sun. 23rd Sunday after Trinity. The Resurrection of the body. (Nov. 12, 1825.) 14. Spirit of Christ, Thine earnest give. Ordination. (March 28, 1828.) 15. Spirit of light and truth, to Thee. Ordination. (March 28, 1828.) 16. Spirit of might and sweetness too. Confirmation. (Feb. 21, 1827.) 17. Sweet nurslings of the vernal skies. 15th S. after Trinity. Consider the lilies. Live for today. (Feb. 3, 1826) 18. The days of hope and prayer are past. 4th Sunday after Easter. The promised Comforter. 19. The live-long night we've toiled in vain. 5th Sunday after Trinity. Miracle of the Fishes. (1821.) 20. The midday sun with fiercest glare. Conversion of St. Paul. (Mar. 2,1822.) 21. The shadow of the Almighty's cloud. Confirmation. (Feb. 22, 1827.) 22. The silent joy that sinks so deep. 2nd Sunday after Epiphany. Turning Water into Wine. 23. Then, fainting soul, arise and sing. 4th Sunday after Easter. The promised Comforter. 24. When brothers part for manhood's race. St. Andrew's Day. (Jan. 27, 1822.) 25. Who is God’s chosen priest ? St. Matthias's Day. 26. Why doth my Saviour weep? 10th Sunday after Trinity. Christ weeping over Jerusalem. (1819.) 27. Why should we faint and fear to live alone? 24th Sunday after Trinity. God's goodness in veiling the future. (June 7, 1825.) 28. Wish not, dear friends, my pain away. 16th Sunday after Trinity. Resignation. (1824.) ii. From The Psalter, 1839. 29. From deeps so wild and drear. Ps. cxxx. 30. God our Hope and Strength abiding. Ps. xlvi. 31. How pleasant, Lord of hosts, how dear. Ps. lxxxiv. 32. Lord, be my Judge, for I have trod. Ps. xxvi. 33. Lord, Thy heart in love hath yearned. Ps. lxxxv. 34. Lord, Thou hast search'd me out and known. Ps. cxxxix 35. My God, my God, why hast Thou me? Ps. xxii. 36. My Shepherd is the living God. Ps. xxiii. 37. My Shepherd is the Lord; J know. Ps. xxiii. 38. Praise the Lord, for He is love. Ps. cxxxvi. 39. Praise ye the Lord from heaven. Ps.cxlviii. 40. Sing the song unheard before. Ps. xcvi. 41. Sound high Jehovah's Name. Ps. cxxxv. 42. The earth is all the Lord's, with all. Ps. xxiv. 43. The mercies of the Lord my God. Ps. lxxxix. 44. The seed of Jacob, one and all. Ps. xxii. iii. From The Child's Christian Year, 1841, and later editions. 45. Bethlehem, above all cities blest. Innocents’ Day. 46. Lo, from the Eastern hills the Lord. l0th Sunday after Trinity. The Gospel. (Late editions.) 47. Our God in glory sits on high. 1st Sunday after Easter. The Epistle. 48. When Christ to village comes or town. 16th Sunday after Trinity. The Gospel. (Late editions.) iv. From Lyra Innocentium, 1846. 49. Christ before thy door is waiting. Presence of Christ in His poor; or, Offertory. 50. How [When] the new-born saints, assembling. Offertory. 51. Once in His Name Who made thee. Holy Baptism. 52. Who for the like of me will care? Naamans' Servant-maid v. From Lays of the Sanctuary, 1859. 53. Lord, lift my heart to Thee at morn. Emigrant's Midnight Hymn. 54. O Love unseen, we know Thee nigh. Cento from No. 53. 55. Slowly the gleaming stars retire. Morning Hymn for Emigrants at Sea. 56. The twilight hour is sweet at home. Evening hymn for Emigrants at Sea. The editor of Keble's Miscellaneous Poems says concerning Nos. 53, 55, and 56:— "The three hymns for Emigrants, for use at Midnight, Morning, and Evening, were written at the request of his friend Sir Frederic Rogers, at that time Emigration Commissioner. They were printed in the first edition of the ‘Prayers for Emigrants, which he had compiled, but were subsequently omitted, perhaps as being thought not sufficiently simple for the class of people for whose use the Book of Prayers was chiefly intended." Preface, p. vi. It is found that nearly 100 hymns (counting centos as such) by Keble are in common use at the present time, and of these some rank with the finest and most popular in the English language. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Ray Palmer

1808 - 1887 Hymnal Number: 214 Author of "My Faith Looks Up to Thee" in Songs and Music Ray Palmer (b. Little Compton, RI, 1808; d. Newark, NJ, 1887) is often considered to be one of America's best nineteenth-century hymn writers. After completing grammar school he worked in a Boston dry goods store, but a religious awakening prodded him to study for the ministry. He attended Yale College (supporting himself by teaching) and was ordained in 1835. A pastor in Congregational churches in Bath, Maine (1835-1850), and Albany, New York (1850-1865), he also served as secretary of the American Congregational Union (1865-1878). Palmer was a popular preacher and author, writing original poetry as well as translating hymns. He published several volumes of poetry and hymns, including Sabbath Hymn Book (1858), Hymns and Sacred Pieces (1865), and Hymns of My Holy Hours (1868). His complete poetical works were published in 1876. Bert Polman =================== Palmer, Ray, D.D., son of the Hon. Thomas Palmer, a Judge in Rhode Island, was born at Little Compton, Rhode Island, Nov. 12, 1808. His early life was spent at Boston, where he was for some time clerk in a dry-goods store. At Boston he joined the Park Street Congregational Church, then under the pastoral care of Dr. S. E. Dwight. After spending three years at Phillips Academy, Andover, he entered Yale College, New Haven, where he graduated in 1830. In 1835 he became pastor of the Central Congregational Church, Bath, Maine. During his pastorate there he visited Europe in 1847. In 1850 he was appointed to the First Congregational Church, at Albany, New York, and in 1865 Corresponding Secretary to the American Congregational Union, New York. He resigned in 1878, and retired to Newark, New Jersey. He died at Newark, Mar. 29, 1887. Dr. Palmer's published works in prose and verse include:-- (1) Memoirs and Select Remains of Charles Pond, 1829; (2) The Spirit's Life, a Poem, 1837; (3) How to Live, or Memoirs of Mrs. C. L. Watson, 1839; (4) Doctrinal Text Book, 1839; (5) Spiritual Improvement, 1839, republished as Closet Hours in 185; (6) What is Truth? or Hints on the Formation of Religious Opinions, 1860; (7) Remember Me, or The Holy Communion, 1865; (8) Hymns and Sacred Pieces, with Miscellaneous Poems, 1865; (9) Hymns of my Holy Hours, and Other Pieces, 1868; (10) Home, or the Unlost Paradise, 1873; and (11) Voices of Hope and Gladness, 1881. Most of Dr. Palmer's hymns have passed into congregational use, and have won great acceptance. The best of them by their combination of thought, poetry, and devotion, are superior to almost all others of American origin. The first which he wrote has become the most widely known of all. It is:— 1. My faith looks up to Thee. Faith in Christ. This hymn was written by the author when fresh from College, and during an engagement in teaching in New York. This was in 1830. The author says concerning its composition, "I gave form to what I felt, by writing, with little effort, the stanzas. I recollect I wrote them with very tender emotion, and ended the last line with tears." A short time afterwards the hymn was given to Dr. Lowell Mason for use, if thought good, in a work then being compiled by him and Dr. T. Hastings. In 1831 that work was published as Spiritual Songs for Social Worship: adapted to the use of Families, &c. Words and Music arranged by Thomas Hastings, of New York, and Lowell Mason of Boston. It is No. 141 in 4 stanzas of 8 lines, entitled "Self Consecration," and accompanied with the tune by Dr. L. Mason, there given as "My faith looks up to Thee, "but subsequently known as Olivet. (Orig. text of hymn in Thring's Collection, 1882.) It has passed into most modern collections in all English-speaking countries, and has been rendered into numerous languages. That in Latin, by H. M. Macgill (p. 708, ii.), begins "Fides Te mea spectat." 2. Fount of everlasting love. Praise for renewed Spiritual Life. This also appeared in the Spiritual Songs, &c, 1831, No. 191, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "Praise for a Revival." The hymns which are given below are all in Dr. Palmer's Poetical Works, N. Y., 1876, and the dates appended in brackets are those given by him in that work. 3. Thou who roll'st the year around. (1832.) Close of the Year. In several American collections. 4. Away from earth my spirit turns. (1833.) Holy Communion. Appeared in Lowell Mason's Union Hymns, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. In the Church Praise Book, N. Y.. 1882, it begins with st. ii., "Thou, Saviour, art the Living Bread." 5. Before Thy throne with tearful eyes. (1834.) Liberty of Faith. 6. Stealing from the world away. (1834.) Evening. Written at New Haven in 1834, and is very popular in America. 7. Thine [Thy] holy day's returning. (1834.) Sunday Morning. 8. Wake thee, 0 Zion. (1862.) Zion Exultant. 9. We stand in deep repentance. (1834.) Lent. This last, No. 9, in common with Nos. 10, 11, 12, is marked "original," in the Presbyterian Parish Hymns, 1843. Probably they were given to the editors of that book in manuscript, and had not previously appeared. 10. And is there, Lord, a rest? (1843.) Rest in Heaven. Written at Bath, Maine, in 1843. 11. 0 sweetly breathe the lyres above. Consecration to Christ. This was accidentally omitted from Dr. Palmer's Poetical Works, 18?6. S. W. Duffield says:— "It was written in the winter of 1842-43, at a time of revival. At the previous Communion several had been received under circumstances that made Doddridge's hymn, ‘0 happy day that fixed my choice 'a most appropriate selection. Not caring to repeat it, and needing something similar, Dr. Palmer composed the present hymn." English Hymns, N. Y., 1886, p. 432. 12. When downward to the darksome tomb. (1842.) Death Contemplated. Written at Bath, Maine, 1842. From 1843 there comes a long break, and Dr. Palmer seems to have done no more hymn-writing until called upon by Professors Park and Phelps, of Andover, for contributions to their Sabbath Hymn-Book, 1858. His hymns written for that important collection rank amongst the best that America has produced. This is specially true of the first four (Nos. 13-16) from the Latin. 13. Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts. (l858.) Translation of a cento from "Jesu dulcis memoria" (p. 588, ii.). 14. 0 Bread to Pilgrims given. (1858.) Translation of “O esca viatorum" (q.v.). 15. 0 Christ our King, Creator Lord. (1858.) Translation of “Rex Christe, factor omnium " 16. Come Holy Ghost, in love. (1858.) Translation of “Veni Sancte Spiritus" (q.v.) 17. Jesus, these eyes have never seen. (1858.) Christ loved, though unseen. This hymn is accounted by many as next in merit and beauty to "My faith looks up to Thee." 18. Lord, my weak thought in vain would climb. (1858.) God Unsearchable. This hymn deals with the mysteries of Predestination in a reverent and devout manner. 19. Thy Father's house! thine own bright home. (1858.) Heaven. The next group, Nos. 20-27, appeared in Dr. Robinson's Songs for the Sanctuary, 1865. 20. Lord, Thou wilt bring the joyful day. (1864.) Contemplation of Heaven. Written in New York City. 21. Eternal Father, Thou hast said. (i860.) Missions. 22. Jesus, Lamb of God, for me. (1863.) Jesus, the Way of Salvation. Written in Albany, New York. 23. Take me, 0 my Father, take me. (1864.) Lent. 24. Wouldst thou eternal life obtain. (1864.) Good Friday. 25. Come Jesus, Redeemer, abide Thou with me. (1864.) Holy Communion. 26. Lord, Thou on earth didst love Thine own. (1864.) Fellowship with Christ. 27. Thou, Saviour, from Thy throne on high. (1864.) Prayer. The next four (Nos. 28-31) present another group. They appeared in D. E. Jones's Songs for the New Life, 1869, and the Reformed Dutch Hymns of the Church, N. Y., 1869. The dates of composition are from Dr. Palmer's Poems, 1876. 28. Lord, Thou hast taught our hearts to glow. (1865.) Ordination, or Meeting of Ministers. 29. When inward turns my searching gaze. (1868.) Evening. 30. 0 Jesus, sweet the tears I shed. (1867.) Good Friday. 31. Jesus, this [my] heart within me burns. (1868.) Love. The hymns which follow are from various sources. 32. 0 Christ, the Lord of heaven, to Thee. (1867.) Universal Praise to Christ. Appeared in the author's Hymns of my Holy Hours, 1867. It is a hymn of great merit, and is widely used. 33. Behold the shade of night is now receding. (1869.) A translation of "Ecce jam noctis." (p. 320, i., and Various). 34. Hid evening shadows let us all be waking. (1869.) A translation of "Nocte surgentes" (p. 809, i.). 35. I give my heart to Thee. (Aug. 20, 1868.) A translation of "Cor meum Tibi dedo," p. 262, ii. 36. Holy Ghost, that promised came. (1873.) Whitsuntide. From the author's Poems, 1876. 37. 0 Holy Comforter, I hear. The Comforter. Appeared in the Boston Congregationalist, September 7th, 1867. 38. Lord, when my soul her secrets doth reveal. (1865.) Holy Communion. Most of the foregoing hymns are in common in Great Britain, and all are found in one or more American hymnbooks of importance. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) =================== Palmer, Ray, D.D., p. 877, i. The following original hymns by Dr. Palmer are also in common use:— 1. O Rock of Ages, since on Thee. Faith. From his Poetical Works, 1876, p. 27, where it is dated 1869. Bp. Bickersteth says "This hymn"... is "worthy of Luther." (Note Hymnal Companion, ed. 1876.) 2. Thy holy will, my God, be mine. Resignation. From his Hymns of my Holy Hours, &c, 1868, p. 47. Also in his P. Works, 1876, dated 1867. 3. We praise Thee, Saviour, for Thy grace. Holy Communion. From his Hymns and Sacred Pieces, &c, 1865. Also in P. Works, 1876, dated 1864. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ========== Ray Palmer was born at Little Compton, Rhode Island, in 1808. He studied at Phillip's Academy, Andover, Mass., and graduated at Yale College in 1830. In 1835, he was ordained pastor of a Congregational Society in Bath, Maine, from which he removed, in 1850, to the pastorate of a Congregational Society in Albany, N.Y. He has published many hymns, some of his own authorship, and some translations. He has published some sermons and reviews. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872.

Samuel Francis Smith

1808 - 1895 Person Name: S. F. Smith Hymnal Number: 217 Author of "America" in Songs and Music Smith, Samuel Francis, D.D., was born in Boston, U.S.A., Oct. 21, 1808, and graduated in arts at Harvard, and in theology at Andover. He entered the Baptist ministry in 1832, and became the same year editor of the Baptist Missionary Magazine. He also contributed to the Encyclopaedia Americana. From 1834 to 1842 he was pastor at Waterville, Maine, and Professor of Modern Languages in Waterville College. In 1842 he removed to Newton, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1854, when he became the editor of the publications of the Baptist Missionary Union. With Baron Stow he prepared the Baptist collection known as The Psalmist, published in 1843, to which he contributed several hymns. The Psalmist is the most creditable and influential of the American Baptist collections to the present day. Dr. Smith also published Lyric Gems, 1854, Rock of Ages, 1870, &c. A large number of his hymns are in use in America, and several have passed into some of the English collections. Taking his hymns in common use in alphabetical order, we have the following:— 1. And now the solemn deed is done. Ordination. Given in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 954. In Dr. Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, N. Y., 1872, it is altered to "The solemn service now is done." 2. As flows the rapid river. Life Passing Away. In Christian Psalmody, 1833, No. 33; the Hymns for the Vestry and Fireside, Boston, 1841; and The Psalmist, 1843, No. 1059. Found in a few English hymn-books, and in Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868. 3. Auspicious morning, hail. American National Anniversary. Written for July 4th, 1841, and published in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 1007. 4. Beyond where Cedron's waters flow. Gethsemane. In L. Bacon's Appendix, 1833; the Psalmist, 1843, No. 220, and later collections. 5. Blest is the hour when cares depart. Divine Worship. In The Psalmist, 1843, No. 947, and others. 6. Constrained by love we follow where. Holy Baptism. Appeared in the Baptist edition of the Plymouth Hymn Book, 1857. 7. Down to the sacred wave. Holy Baptism. Contributed to Winchell's Additional Hymns added to his Collection of 1817, in 1832, No. 510; repeated in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 818, and in several collections. Also in Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868. 8. Hail! ye days of solemn meeting. Public Worship. An altered form of No. 26 below, in Spurgeon's Our Own Hymn Book, 1866, as an "American Hymn, 1840." 9. How blest the hour when first we gave. Holy Baptism. Appeared in the Baptist edition of thePlymouth Hymn Book, 1857, No. 1468. 10. How calmly wakes the hallowed morn. Holy Baptism. Given in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 810, in later collections, and in Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868. 11. Jesus, Thou hast freely saved us. Salvation. In Winchell's Additional Hymns, 1832, No. 503, and others. 12. Meekly in Jordan's Holy Stream. Holy Baptism. Contributed to The Psalmist, 1843, No. 808. 13. My country, 'tis of thee. National Hymn. "Written in 1832, and first sung at a children's Fourth of July celebration in Park Street church, Boston." Included in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 1000, and found in a large number of American hymn-books, but not in use in Great Britain. It is one of the most popular of Dr. Smith's compositions. Text, with note in Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868. 14. 0 not my own these verdant hills. Bought with a Price. Appeared in Nason's Congregational Hymn Book, 1857, and given inLaudes Domini, 1884. 15. Onward speed thy conquering flight. Missions. Appeared in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 892, and is found in several modern collections in Great Britain and America. Also in Lyra Sac. Americana, 1868. 16. Planted in Christ, the living Vine. Christian Fellowship; or, For Unity. Given in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 929, inLyra Sacra Americana, 1868, and several hymn-books. Of the hymns contributed by Dr. Smith to The Psalmist this is the best, and one of the most popular. 17. Remember thy Creator. Youthful Piety Enforced. In Christian Psalmody, 1832, No. 32; the Hymns for the Vestry and Fireside, 1841; The Psalmist, 1843, No. 778; Lyra Sac. Americana, 1868, and other collections. 18. Sister, thou wast mild and lovely. Death and Burial. Written on the death of Miss J. M. C. of Mount Vernon School, Boston, July 13,1833, and published in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 1096. 19. Softly fades the twilight ray. Sunday Evening. Written in 1832, and included in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 56. Also in Lyra Sacra Americana, and several hymn-books. 20. Spirit of holiness, descend. Whitsuntide. Appeared in the Hymns for the Vestry and Fireside, 1841, No. 295, and again in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 384. In the Unitarian Hymns for the Church of Christ, Boston, 1853. St. ii., iii., iv. were given as "Spirit of God, Thy churches wait." This form of the text and the original are both in modern hymn-books. 21. Spirit of peace and holiness. Institution of a Minister. Appeared in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 953, and Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, 1872. 22. The morning light is breaking. Missions. Written in 1832, and included in Hastings's Spiritual Songs, 1832-33, No. 253; and The Psalmist, 1843, No. 912. This hymn is very popular and has been translated into several languages. Dr. Smith says of it that “it has been a great favourite at missionary gatherings, and I have myself heard it sung in five or six different languages in Europe and Asia. It is a favourite with the Burmans, Karens, and Telegus in Asia, from whose lips I have heard it repeatedly.” 23. The Prince of Salvation in triumph is riding. Missions. Given in Hastings and Mason's Spiritual Songs, 1832-33, No. 274; The Psalmist, 1843, and later collections. 24. Tis done, the [important] solemn act is done. Ordination. Appeared in The Psalmist 1843, No. 951, and later hymn-books. 25. Today the Saviour calls. Invitation. First sketch by Dr. Smith, the revised text, as in Hastings and Mason's Spiritual Songs, No. 176, and The Psalmist, No. 453, by Dr. T. Hastings (p. 495, i. 19). 26. Welcome, days of solemn meeting. Special Devotional Services. Written in 1834, and given in Dr. Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, 1872. See No. 8. 27. When shall we meet again ? Parting. This is a cento. The first stanza is from Alaric A. Watts's Poetical Sketches, &c, 1822, p. 158 ; and st. ii.-iv. are by Dr. Smith. In this form it was published in L. Bacon's Supplement to Dwight, 1833, No. 489. It is in several American hymn-books; and also the English Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858, &c. 28. When the harvest is past and the summer is gone. Close of Worship. Contributed to Hastings and Mason's Spiritual Songs, 1831, No. 244; and repeated in the Fuller and Jeter Supplement to The Psalmist, 1847, No. 22, and later collections. 29. When thy mortal life is fled. The Judgment. Contributed to Winchell's Additional Hymns, 1832, No. 379, and repeated in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 455, and later hymn-books. Also in Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868. 30. While in this sacred rite of Thine. Holy Baptism. Appeared in The Psalmist, 1843, No. 803: Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868, &c. 31. With willing hearts we tread. Holy Baptism. In The Psalmist, 1843, No. 798; and again in the Baptist Praise Book, 1871. 32. Yes, my native land, I love thee. A Missionary's Farewell. Contributed to Winchell's Additional Hymns, 1832, No. 445, and found in later collections. Also in Lyra Sacra Americana, 1868. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

William Hunter

1811 - 1877 Person Name: Wm. Hunter Hymnal Number: 221 Author of "The Great Physician" in Songs and Music Hunter, William, D.D, son of John Hunter, was born near Ballymoney, County Antrim, Ireland, May 26, 1811. He removed to America in 1817, and entered Madison College in 1830. For some time he edited the Conference Journal, and the Christian Advocate. In 1855 he was appointed Professor of Hebrew in Alleghany College: and subsequently Minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Alliance, Stark Country, Ohio. He died in 1877. He edited Minstrel of Zion, 1845; Select Melodies, 1851; and Songs of Devotion, 1859. His hymns, over 125 in all, appeared in these works. Some of these have been translated into various Indian languages. The best known are :— 1. A home in heaven; what a joyful thought. Heaven a Home. From his Minstrel of Zion, 1845, into the Methodist Scholar's Hymn Book, London, 1870, &c. 2. Joyfully, joyfully onward I [we] move. Pressing towards Heaven. This hymn is usually dated 1843. It was given in his Minstrel of Zion, 1845, and Select Melodies, 1851, and his Songs of Devotion, 1859. It has attained to great popularity. Two forms of the hymn are current, the original, where the second stanza begins "Friends fondly cherished, have passed on before"; and the altered form, where it reads: “Teachers and Scholars have passed on before." Both texts are given in W. F. Stevenson's Hymns for Church & Home, 1873, Nos. 79, 80, c. 3. The [My] heavenly home is bright and fair. Pressing towards Heaven. From his Minstrel of Zion, 1845, into the Cottage Melodies, New York, 1859, and later collections. 4. The Great Physician now is near. Christ the Physician. From his Songs of Devotion, 1859 5. Who shall forbid our grateful[chastened]woe? This hymn, written in 1843, was published in his Minstrel of Zion, 1845, and in his Songs of Devotion, 1859. [ Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Robert Robinson

1735 - 1790 Hymnal Number: 241 Author of "Come, Thou Fount" in Songs and Music Robert Robinson was born at Swaffham, Norfolk, in 1735. In 1749, he was apprenticed to a hairdresser, in Crutched Friars, London. Hearing a discourse preached by Whitefield on "The Wrath to Come," in 1752, he was deeply impressed, and after a period of much disquietude, he gave himself to a religious life. His own peculiar account of this change of life is as follows:--"Robertus Michaelis Marineque Robinson filius. Natus Swaffhami, comitatu Norfolciae, Saturni die Sept. 27, 1735. Renatus Sabbati die, Maii 24, 1752, per predicationem potentem Georgii Whitefield. Et gustatis doloribus renovationis duos annos mensesque septem, absolutionem plenam gratuitamque, per sanguinem pretiosum i secula seculorum. Amen." He soon after began to preach, and ministered for some time in connection with the Calvinistic Methodists. He subsequently joined the Independents, but after a short period preferred the Baptist connection. In 1761, he became pastor of a Baptist congregation at Cambridge. About the year 1780, he began to incline towards Unitarianism, and at length his people deemed it essential to procure his resignation. While arrangements for this purpose were in progress he died suddenly at Bingham, in June 1790. He wrote and published a good many works of ability. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872. ============================= Robinson, Robert, the author of "Come, Thou fount of every blessing," and "Mighty God, while angels bless Thee," was born at Swaffham, in Norfolk, on Sept. 27, 1735 (usually misgiven, spite of his own authority, as Jan. 8), of lowly parentage. Whilst in his eighth year the family migrated to Scarning, in the same county. He lost his father a few years after this removal. His widowed mother was left in sore straits. The universal testimony is that she was a godly woman, and far above her circumstances. Her ambition was to see her son a clergyman of the Church of England, but poverty forbade, and the boy (in his 15th year) was indentured in 1749 to a barber and hairdresser in London. It was an uncongenial position for a bookish and thoughtful lad. His master found him more given to reading than to his profession. Still he appears to have nearly completed his apprenticeship when he was released from his indentures. In 1752 came an epoch-marking event. Out on a frolic one Sunday with like-minded companions, he joined with them in sportively rendering a fortune-telling old woman drunk and incapable, that they might hear and laugh at her predictions concerning them. The poor creature told Robinson that he would live to see his children and grandchildren. This set him a-thinking, and he resolved more than ever to "give himself to reading”. Coincidently he went to hear George Whitefield. The text was St. Matthew iii. 7, and the great evangelist's searching sermon on "the wrath to come" haunted him blessedly. He wrote to the preacher six years later penitently and pathetically. For well nigh three years he walked in darkness and fear, but in his 20th year found "peace by believing." Hidden away on a blank leaf of one of his books is the following record of his spiritual experience, the Latin doubtless having been used to hold it modestly private:— "Robertus, Michaelis Mariseque Robinson filius. Natus Swaffhami, comitatu Norfolciae, Saturni die Sept. 27, 1735. Renatus Sabbati die, Maii 24,1752, per predicationem potentem Georgii Whitefield. Et gustatis doloribus renovationis duos annosque septem absolutionem plenam gratuitamque, per sanguinem pretiosum Jesu Christi, inveni (Tuesday, December 10, 1755) cui sit honor et gloria in secula seculorum. Amen." Robinson remained in London until 1758, attending assiduously on the ministry of Gill, Wesley, and other evangelical preachers. Early in this year he was invited as a Calvinistic Methodist to the oversight of a chapel at Mildenhall, Norfolk. Thence he removed within the year to Norwich, where he was settled over an Independent congregation. In 1759, having been invited by a Baptist Church at Cambridge (afterwards made historically famous by Robert Hall, John Foster, and others) he accepted the call, and preached his first sermon there on Jan. 8, 1759, having been previously baptized by immersion. The "call" was simply "to supply the pulpit," but he soon won such regard and popularity that the congregation again and again requested him to accept the full pastoral charge. This he acceded to in 1761, alter persuading the people to "open communion." In 1770 he commenced his abundant authorship by publishing a translation from Saurin's sermons, afterwards completed. In 1774 appeared his masculine and unanswerable Arcana, or the Principles of the Late Petitioners to Parliament for Relief in the matter of Subscription. In 1776 was published A Plea for the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ in a Pastoral Letter to a Congregation of Protestant Dissenters at Cambridge. Dignitaries and divines of the Church of England united with Nonconformists in lauding this exceptionally able, scholarly, and pungently written book. In 1777 followed his History and Mystery of Good Friday. The former work brought him urgent invitations to enter the ministry of the Church of England, but he never faltered in his Nonconformity. In 1781 he was asked by the Baptists of London to prepare a history of their branch of the Christian Church. This resulted, in 1790, in his History of Baptism and Baptists, and in 1792, in his Ecclesiastical Researches. Other theological works are included in the several collective editions of his writings. He was prematurely worn out. He retired in 1790 to Birmingham, where he was somehow brought into contact with Dr. Priestley, and Unitarians have made much of this, on exceedingly slender grounds. He died June 9, 1790. His Life has been fully written by Dyer and by William Robinson respectively, both with a bias against orthodoxy. His three changes of ecclesiastical relationship show that he was somewhat unstable and impulsive. His hymns are terse yet melodious, evangelical but not sentimental, and on the whole well wrought. His prose has all…that vehement and enthusiastic glow of passion that belongs to the orator. (Cf. Dyer and Robinson as above, and Gadsby's Memoirs of Hymn-Writers(3rd ed., 1861); Belcher's Historical Sketches of Hymns; Millers Singers and Songs of the Church; Flower's Robinson's Miscellaneous Works; Annual Review, 1805, p. 464; Eclectic Review, Sept. 1861. [Rev. A. B. Grosart, D.D., LL.D.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Will L. Thompson

1847 - 1909 Person Name: W. L. T. Hymnal Number: 275 Author of "Softly and Tenderly" in Songs and Music Will Lamartine Thompson (1847-1909) Born: November 7, 1847, East Liverpool, Ohio. Died: September 20, 1909, New York, New York. Buried: Riverview Cemetery, East Liverpool, Ohio. Rebuffed in an early attempt to sell his songs to a commercial publisher, Thompson started his own publishing company. He later expanded, opening a store to sell pianos, organs and sheet music. Both a lyricist and composer, he ensured he would always remember words or melodies that came to him at odd times: "No matter where I am, at home or hotel, at the store or traveling, if an idea or theme comes to me that I deem worthy of a song, I jot it down in verse. In this way I never lose it." Thompson took ill during a tour of Europe, and his family cut short their travels to return home. He died a few weeks later. Music-- 1.Jesus Is All the World to Me 2.Lead Me Gently Home, Father 3.Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling 4.There’s a Great Day Coming --hymntime.com/tch ================================== Various biographical sketches and newspaper articles about Thompson are available in the DNAH Archives.

Civilla D. Martin

1866 - 1948 Person Name: C. D. Martin Hymnal Number: 360 Author of "God Will Take Care of You" in Songs and Music Martin, Civilla Durfee (Jordan Falls, Nova Scotia, August 21, 1866--March 9, 1948, Atlanta, Georgia). Daughter of James N. and Irene (Harding) Holden. She married Rev. John F. Geddes, Congregational minister of Coventryvilee, N.Y. at Jordan Falls Methodist Church, Shelbourne Co., Nova Scotia, on May 19, 1891. There is thus far no information about their marriage and its end. After several years of teaching school, she married Walter Stillman Martin, a Baptist minister, and traveled with him in evangelistic work. However, because of frail health, she was compelled to remain home much of the time. In 1916, they became members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). They had one son, A.G. Martin. In her writing, she used only her initials, "C.D." rather than her full name of that of her composer-husband. She is reputed to have written several hundred hymns and religious songs. Her first one, "God Will Take Care of You," written in 1904 became world-famous. Her husband wrote the music for this and many of her other hymns. "His Eye is on the Sparrow" written in 1906 and set to music by Charles H. Gabriel, has also received wide acclaim. In addition to the above, "Like As A Father," "A Welcome for Me," and "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power" are among her better-known hymns. Her husband and collaborator, W.S. Martin (1862-1935) preceded her in death. For the last 29 years of her life, she made her home in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was a member of the First Christian Church. Her funeral was held on March 10, 1948 at Spring Hill and the interment was in the West View Cemetery in Atlanta. --Carlton C. Buck, DNAH Archives and email from Rev. Lester M. Settle (Glenholme, Nova Scotia) to Mary Louise VanDyke 18 September 2008, DNAH Archives.

C. Austin Miles

1868 - 1946 Person Name: C. A. M. Hymnal Number: 382 Author of "Dwelling in Beulah Land" in Songs and Music Charles Austin Miles USA 1868-1946. Born at Lakehurst, NJ, he attended the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and the University of PA. He became a pharmacist. He married Bertha H Haagen, and they had two sons: Charles and Russell. In 1892 he abandoned his pharmacy career and began writing gospel songs. At first he furnished compositions to the Hall-Mack Publishing Company, but soon became editor and manager, where he worked for 37 years. He felt he was serving God better in the gospel song writing business, than as a pharmacist. He published the following song books: “New songs of the gospel” (1900), “The service of praise” (1900), “The voice of praise” (1904), “The tribute of song” (1904), “New songs of the gospel #2” (1905), “Songs of service” (1910), “Ideal Sunday school hymns” (1912). He wrote and/or composed 400+ hymns. He died in Philadelphia, PA. John Perry

William Henry Monk

1823 - 1889 Person Name: Wm. H. Monk Hymnal Number: 212 Composer of "[Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide]" in Songs and Music William H. Monk (b. Brompton, London, England, 1823; d. London, 1889) is best known for his music editing of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861, 1868; 1875, and 1889 editions). He also adapted music from plainsong and added accompaniments for Introits for Use Throughout the Year, a book issued with that famous hymnal. Beginning in his teenage years, Monk held a number of musical positions. He became choirmaster at King's College in London in 1847 and was organist and choirmaster at St. Matthias, Stoke Newington, from 1852 to 1889, where he was influenced by the Oxford Movement. At St. Matthias, Monk also began daily choral services with the choir leading the congregation in music chosen according to the church year, including psalms chanted to plainsong. He composed over fifty hymn tunes and edited The Scottish Hymnal (1872 edition) and Wordsworth's Hymns for the Holy Year (1862) as well as the periodical Parish Choir (1840-1851). Bert Polman

Samuel Webbe

1740 - 1816 Hymnal Number: 7 Composer of "[Come, ye disconsolate, where'er you languish]" in Songs and Music Samuel Webbe (the elder; b. London, England, 1740; d. London, 1816) Webbe's father died soon after Samuel was born without providing financial security for the family. Thus Webbe received little education and was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker at the age of eleven. However, he was determined to study and taught himself Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German, and Italian while working on his apprenticeship. He also worked as a music copyist and received musical training from Carl Barbant, organist at the Bavarian Embassy. Restricted at this time in England, Roman Catholic worship was freely permitted in the foreign embassies. Because Webbe was Roman Catholic, he became organist at the Portuguese Chapel and later at the Sardinian and Spanish chapels in their respective embassies. He wrote much music for Roman Catholic services and composed hymn tunes, motets, and madrigals. Webbe is considered an outstanding composer of glees and catches, as is evident in his nine published collections of these smaller choral works. He also published A Collection of Sacred Music (c. 1790), A Collection of Masses for Small Choirs (1792), and, with his son Samuel (the younger), Antiphons in Six Books of Anthems (1818). Bert Polman

Henry Francis Lyte

1793 - 1847 Person Name: H. F. Leyte Hymnal Number: 212 Author of "Abide with Me" in Songs and Music Lyte, Henry Francis, M.A., son of Captain Thomas Lyte, was born at Ednam, near Kelso, June 1, 1793, and educated at Portora (the Royal School of Enniskillen), and at Trinity College, Dublin, of which he was a Scholar, and where he graduated in 1814. During his University course he distinguished himself by gaining the English prize poem on three occasions. At one time he had intended studying Medicine; but this he abandoned for Theology, and took Holy Orders in 1815, his first curacy being in the neighbourhood of Wexford. In 1817, he removed to Marazion, in Cornwall. There, in 1818, he underwent a great spiritual change, which shaped and influenced the whole of his after life, the immediate cause being the illness and death of a brother clergyman. Lyte says of him:— "He died happy under the belief that though he had deeply erred, there was One whose death and sufferings would atone for his delinquencies, and be accepted for all that he had incurred;" and concerning himself he adds:— "I was greatly affected by the whole matter, and brought to look at life and its issue with a different eye than before; and I began to study my Bible, and preach in another manner than I had previously done." From Marazion he removed, in 1819, to Lymington, where he composed his Tales on the Lord's Prayer in verse (pub. in 1826); and in 1823 he was appointed Perpetual Curate of Lower Brixham, Devon. That appointment he held until his death, on Nov. 20, 1847. His Poems of Henry Vaughan, with a Memoir, were published in 1846. His own Poetical works were:— (1) Poems chiefly Religious 1833; 2nd ed. enlarged, 1845. (2) The Spirit of the Psalms, 1834, written in the first instance for use in his own Church at Lower Brixham, and enlarged in 1836; (3) Miscellaneous Poems (posthumously) in 1868. This last is a reprint of the 1845 ed. of his Poems, with "Abide with me" added. (4) Remains, 1850. Lyte's Poems have been somewhat freely drawn upon by hymnal compilers; but by far the larger portion of his hymns found in modern collections are from his Spirit of the Psalms. In America his hymns are very popular. In many instances, however, through mistaking Miss Auber's (q. v.) Spirit of the Psalms, 1829, for his, he is credited with more than is his due. The Andover Sabbath Hymn Book, 1858, is specially at fault in this respect. The best known and most widely used of his compositions are "Abide with me, fast falls the eventide;” “Far from my heavenly home;" "God of mercy, God of grace;" "Pleasant are Thy courts above;" "Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;" and "There is a safe and secret place." These and several others are annotated under their respective first lines: the rest in common use are:— i. From his Poems chiefly Religious, 1833 and 1845. 1. Above me hangs the silent sky. For Use at Sea. 2. Again, 0 Lord, I ope mine eyes. Morning. 3. Hail to another Year. New Year. 4. How good, how faithful, Lord, art Thou. Divine care of Men. 5. In tears and trials we must sow (1845). Sorrow followed by Joy. 6. My [our] rest is in heaven, my [our] rest is not here. Heaven our Home. 7. 0 Lord, how infinite Thy love. The Love of God in Christ. 8. Omniscient God, Thine eye divine. The Holy Ghost Omniscient. 9. The leaves around me falling. Autumn. 10. The Lord hath builded for Himself. The Universe the Temple of God. 11. Vain were all our toil and labour. Success is of God. 12. When at Thy footstool, Lord, I bend. Lent. 13. When earthly joys glide swift away. Ps. cii. 14. Wilt Thou return to me, O Lord. Lent. 15. With joy we hail the sacred day. Sunday. ii. From his Spirit of the Psalms, 1834. 16. Be merciful to us, O God. Ps. lvii. 17. Blest is the man who knows the Lord. Ps. cxii. 18. Blest is the man whose spirit shares. Ps. xli. 19. From depths of woe to God I cry. Ps. cxxxx. 20. Gently, gently lay Thy rod. Ps. vi. 21. Glorious Shepherd of the sheep. Ps. xxiii. 22. Glory and praise to Jehovah on high. Ps. xxix. 23. God in His Church is known. Ps. lxxvi. 24. God is our Refuge, tried and proved. Ps. xlvi. 25. Great Source of my being. Ps. lxxiii. 26. Hear, O Lord, our supplication. Ps. lxiv. 27. How blest the man who fears the Lord. Ps.cxxviii. 28. Humble, Lord, my haughty spirit. Ps. cxxxi. 29. In this wide, weary world of care. Ps. cxxxii. 30. In vain the powers of darkness try. Ps.lii. 31. Jehovah speaks, let man be awed. Ps. xlix. 32. Judge me, O Lord, and try my heart. Ps. xxvi. 33. Judge me, O Lord, to Thee I fly. Ps. xliii. 34. Lord, I have sinned, but O forgive. Ps. xli. 35. Lord, my God, in Thee I trust. Ps. vii. 36. Lord of the realms above, Our Prophet, &c. Ps.xlv. 37. Lone amidst the dead and dying. Ps. lxii. 38. Lord God of my salvation. Ps. lxxxviii. 39. Lord, I look to Thee for all. Ps. xxxi. 40. Lord, I would stand with thoughtful eye. Ps. lxix. 41. Lord, my God, in Thee I trust. Ps. vii. 42. My God, my King, Thy praise I sing. Ps. cviii. 43. My God, what monuments I see. Ps. xxxvi. 44. My spirit on [to] Thy care. Ps. xxxi. 45. My trust is in the Lord. Ps. xi. 46. Not unto us, Almighty Lord [God]. Ps. cxv. 47. O God of glory, God of grace. Ps. xc. 48. O God of love, how blest are they. Ps. xxxvii. 49. O God of love, my God Thou art. Ps. lxiii. 50. O God of truth and grace. Ps. xviii. 51. O had I, my Saviour, the wings of a dove. Ps. lv. 52. O how blest the congregation. Ps. lxxxix. 53. O how safe and [how] happy he. Ps. xci. 54. O plead my cause, my Saviour plead. Ps. xxxv. 55. O praise the Lord, 'tis sweet to raise. Ps. cxlvii. 56. O praise the Lord; ye nations, pour. Ps. cxvii. 57. O praise ye the Lord With heart, &c. Ps. cxlix. 58. O that the Lord's salvation. Ps. xiv. 59. O Thou Whom thoughtless men condemn. Ps. xxxvi. 60. Of every earthly stay bereft. Ps. lxxiv. 61. Our hearts shall praise Thee, God of love. Ps. cxxxviii. 62. Pilgrims here on earth and strangers. Ps. xvi. 63. Praise for Thee, Lord, in Zion waits. Ps. lxv. 64. Praise to God on high be given. Ps. cxxxiv. 65. Praise ye the Lord, His servants, raise. Ps. cxiii. 66. Redeem'd from guilt, redeem'd from fears. Ps. cxvi. 67. Save me by Thy glorious name. Ps. liv. 68. Shout, ye people, clap your hands. Ps. xlvii. 69. Sing to the Lord our might. Ps. lxxxi. 70. Strangers and pilgrims here below. Ps. cix. 71. Sweet is the solemn voice that calls. Ps. cxxii. 72. The Church of God below. Ps. lxxxvii. 73. The Lord is King, let earth be glad. Ps. xcvii. 74. The Lord is on His throne. Ps. xciii. 75. The Lord is our Refuge, the Lord is our Guide. Ps. xlvii. 76. The mercies of my God and King. Ps. lxxxix. 77. The Lord Who died on earth for men. Ps. xxi. 78. Tis a pleasant thing to fee. Ps. cxxxiii. 79. Thy promise, Lord, is perfect peace. Ps. iii. 80. Unto Thee I lift mine [my] eyes. Ps. cxxiii. 81. Whom shall [should] we love like Thee? Ps. xviii. Lyte's versions of the Psalms are criticised where their sadness, tenderness and beauty are set forth. His hymns in the Poems are characterized by the same features, and rarely swell out into joy and gladness. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================== Lyte, Henry Francis, p. 706, i. Additional versions of Psalms are in common use:-- 1. Lord, a thousand foes surround us. Psalms lix. 2. Praise, Lord, for Thee in Zion waits. Psalms lxv. 3. The Christian like his Lord of old. Psalms cxl. 4. The Lord of all my Shepherd is. Psalms xxiii. 5. The Lord of heaven to earth is come. Psalms xcviii. 6. Thy mercy, Lord, the sinner's hope. Psalms xxxvi. 7. To Thee, O Lord, in deep distress. Psalms cxlii. Sometimes given as "To God I turned in wild distress." 8. Uphold me, Lord, too prone to stray. Psalms i. 9. When Jesus to our [my] rescue came. Psalms cxxvi. These versions appeared in the 1st edition of Lyte's Spirit of the Psalms, 1834. It must be noted that the texts of the 1834, the 1836, and the 3rd ed., 1858, vary considerably, but Lyte was not responsible for the alterations and omissions in the last, which was edited by another hand for use at St. Mark's, Torquay. Lyte's version of Psalms xxix., "Glory and praise to Jehovah on high" (p. 706, ii., 22), first appeared in his Poems, 1st ed., 1833, p. 25. Read also No. 39 as "Lord, I look for all to Thee." --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Lydia Baxter

1809 - 1874 Person Name: Mrs. Lillian Baxter Hymnal Number: 207 Author of "Take the Name of Jesus With You" in Songs and Music Baxter, Lydia, an American Baptist, was b. at Petersburg, N. York, Sep. 2, 1800, married to Mr. Baxter, and d. in N. Y. June 22, 1874. In addition to her Gems by the Wayside, 1855, Mrs. Baxter contributed many hymns to collections for Sunday Schools, and Evangelistic Services. Of these, the following are the best known:— 1. Cast thy net again, my brother. Patient toil. Given in the Royal Diadem, N. Y., 1873. 2. Go, work in my vineyard. Duty. Also given in the Royal Diadem, 1873, and Mr. Sankey's S. & Solos, No. 4. 3. I'm kneeling, Lord, at mercy's gate. Lent. In Coronation Hymns, &c, N. Y., 1879. 4. I'm weary, I'm fainting, my day's work is done. Longing for rest. Royal Diadem. 1873. 5. In the fadeless spring-time. Heavenly Reunion. In the Royal Diadem, 1873, I. D. Sankey's S. S. & Solos, No. 256, and others. It was written for Mr. H. P. Main in 1872. 6. One by one we cross the river. Death. In Songs of Salvation, N. Y., 1870, I. D. Sankey's S. S. & Solos, No. 357, &c. It dates cir. 1866. 7. Take the name of Jesus with you. Name of Jesus. Written late in 1870, or early in 1871, for W. H. Doane, and pub. in Pure Gold, 1871. It is No. 148 of I. D. Sankey's S. S. & Solos. 8. The Master is coming. Invitation. In Songs of Salvation, 1870, No. 38. 9. There is a gate that stands ajar. Mercy. In New Hallowed Songs, and also the Gospel Songs of P. Bliss, 1874. It was written for S. J. Vail about 1872. It has attained to some popularity. It is given in Mr. Sankey's S. & Solos, No. 2. -John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

W. Stillman Martin

1862 - 1935 Person Name: W. S. Martin Hymnal Number: 360 Composer of "[Be not dismayed whate'er betide]" in Songs and Music Born: March 8, 1862, Rowley, Massachusetts. Died: December 16, 1935, Atlanta, Georgia. Buried: Westview Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia. Husband of hymnist Civilla Martin, Stillman attended Harvard University and was ordained a Baptist minister, though he later switched to the Disciples of Christ denomination. In 1916, he became a professor of Bible studies at Atlantic Christian College in Wilson, North Carolina. Three years later, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia. It was from there he went all over America to run Bible conferences and evangelistic meetings. Sources: Hustad, p. 282 http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/m/a/r/t/martin_ws.htm

William G. Tomer

1833 - 1896 Person Name: W. G. Tomer Hymnal Number: 240 Composer of "[God be with you till we meet again]" in Songs and Music Born: October 5, 1833, New Jersey. Died: September 26, 1896, New Jersey. Buried: Union Cemetery, Finesville, New Jersey. Tomer studied singing and sang in the choir in Finesville, New Jersey, and began teaching school at age 17. He served in the Union army during the American civil war, then worked as a clerk in Washington, DC, served as music director for Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, and taught school in New Carpentersville and Greenwich, New Jersey. He was living in Greenwich as of 1880. --www.cyberhymnal.org/

Ada Blenkhorn

1858 - 1927 Hymnal Number: 8 Author of "Let the Sunshine In" in Songs and Music Ada Jane Blenkhorn Canada 1858-1927 Born in Cobourg, Ontario, the 10th of 11 children, she emigrated with her family to the U.S. In 1884 and settled in Cleveland, OH.. She was raised a Methodist, and began writing hymn lyrics at age 34. A prolific writer of hymn lyrics, she was about to give it up when a friend encouraged her to continue, telling her some soul might be saved by a hymn she would write. She worked for many years as secretary to her brother, Henry's, real estate company. After his death in 1923, she became president of the company. She never married. John Perry

Edward F. Rimbault

1816 - 1876 Person Name: E. F. Rimbault Hymnal Number: 220 Composer of "[O happy day that fixed my choice]" in Songs and Music Edward Francis Rimbault PhD LLD United Kingdom 1816-1876. Born in Soho, London, England, son of an organist and composer of French descent, he was taught music by his father., Samuel Wesley, and Wiliam Crotch. At age 16 he became organist of the Swiss Church in Soho. He later became organist at various churches, including St Peter’s, Vere Street, and St John’s Wood Presbyterian Church. He edited many collections of music, journals, and publications of music, and arranged music compositions. In addition to editing or arranging contemporary operas, he had a strong interest in editing or arranging earlier English music. He studied the musical treatises in the library of Archbishop Tenison, one of the oldest public libraries in London. In 1838, At age 22 he began lecturing about the history of English music, and was in much demand due to the interest aroused. He did editorial work for the Percy Society, the Camden Society, the Motet Society, and the Handel Society. For the latter he edited the “Messiah”, “Saul”, and “Samson” He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and was granted membership in the Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden. Gottingen University also conferred upon him a PhD. His reputation was such that he was offered a teaching position at Harvard University in the U.S., which he turned down. In 1848 he was given an honorary degree by the University of Oxford. In 1849 he published a collection of English nursery rhymes and the tunes to which they were sung. Rimbault authored 76 books, a few named here include : “Bibliotheca madrigaliana” (1847); “The pianoforte” (1860); “Early English organ builders and their works” (1865). In 1855 he co-authored “The organ- its history and construction” with John Hopkins. He did a small amount of composing as well. He wrote an operetta in 1838, and a musical drama. He also composed a large number of pianoforte scores for operas by others. He was an admirable harmonium player. Traveling to various auctions for years, he accumulated a rare collection of books. After his death his extensive collection was auctioned off in 1877, with many items going to the British Library. About 300 items were sold to an individual, and upon his death in 1888, the ‘Drexel collection’ was bequeathed to the Lenox Library (precursor of the New York Public Library). Today, the collection is part of the Music Division of the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts. He was an author, editor, arranger, composer, lithographer, translator, scribe, adapter, and bookseller. He died at London, England. No information found regarding a family. John Perry

Nellie Talbot

Hymnal Number: 215 Author of "I'll Be a Sunbeam" in Songs and Music

Annie Herbert

1844 - 1932 Hymnal Number: 230 Author of "When the Mists Have Rolled Away" in Songs and Music Annie Elvira Hubbart (Herbert) Barker USA 1844-1932. Born in Leon, NY, she received some education at Randolph Academy in her home county. She later taught there herself. Gospel songs were becoming popular in evangelistic services in the 19th century. She became a successful public recitalist, studying at the Buffalo School of Oratory and with Anna Randall Diehl of New York and Professor Leonard of Boston. After marrying in 1879, she moved to Montana with her husband, from that area. Along with other pioneers. She claimed those years as the best of her life. In 1888 they moved again to San Rafael, CA, he being an invalid at that time. She lived there the rest of her life. John Perry

Ira O. Hoffman

1867 - 1943 Hymnal Number: 72 Arranger of "[I've seen the lightning flashing]" in Songs and Music Born: Circa 1867, Pennsylvania. Died: May 4, 1943, Cleveland, Ohio. Ira’s father was song writer Elisha Hoffman. His middle name was his mother’s maiden name. At age nine, he is said to have written the music for his father’s song "The Little Pilgrim;" as an adult, he was a composer, arranger, and music editor. His works include: Favorite Gospel Songs: A Tune Boo (music editor) (Jersey City, New Jersey: J. N. Davis, 1894) --www.hymntime.com/tch

J. B. Mackay

1861 - 1940 Person Name: Rev. James Bruce Mackay Hymnal Number: 402 Author of "I've Moved" in Songs and Music James Bruce Mackay

Evangeline Booth

1865 - 1950 Person Name: Commander E. C. Booth Hymnal Number: 12 Composer of "[Dark shadows were falling]" in Songs and Music General Evangeline Cory Booth, OF, (December 25, 1865 – July 17, 1950) was the 4th General of the Salvation Army from 1934 to 1939. She was its first female General. See also in: Wikipedia

D. B. Watkins

Hymnal Number: 343 Author of "That Old, Old Story Is True" in Songs and Music

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