Hymn Composer. The author of over 2,000 hymns which are still available in print, he is remembered his widely popular songs "What a Wonderful Savior!," "Enough for Me," "Is Thy Heart Right With God?," "Are You Washed in the Blood?," "No Other Friend Like Jesus," "Is Your All on the Altar?," and "I Must Tell Jesus." He also wrote the verses to ever-popular hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" in conjunction with Anthony J. Showalter, who wrote the music and the chorus. Born in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, the son of an Evangelical minister, he grew up singing sacred hymns both in church and in the home with his parents. He possessed natural musical abilities and never attended a music school. After completing high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania he attended Union Seminary in New Berlin, Pennsylvania. During the American Civil War, he enlisted as a private in the Union Army in July 1863, serving with Company A, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, but was discharged a month later. In 1868 he was subsequently ordained as a Presbyterian minister and for the next 11 years he worked with the publishing branch of the Evangelical Association in Cleveland, Ohio, after which he pastored churches for the next 42 years in Cleveland, Grafton, Ohio, Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Cabery, Illinois. He also assisted in the compilation and editing process of over 50 different song books. He died in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 90.
Hymn Composer. The author of over 2,000 hymns which are still available in print, he is remembered his widely popular songs "What a Wonderful Savior!," "Enough for Me," "Is Thy Heart Right With God?," "Are You Washed in the Blood?," "No Other Friend Like Jesus," "Is Your All on the Altar?," and "I Must Tell Jesus." He also wrote the verses to ever-popular hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" in conjunction with Anthony J. Showalter, who wrote the music and the chorus. Born in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, the son of an Evangelical minister, he grew up singing sacred hymns both in church and in the home with his parents. He possessed natural musical abilities and never attended a music school. After completing high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania he attended Union Seminary in New Berlin, Pennsylvania. During the American Civil War, he enlisted as a private in the Union Army in July 1863, serving with Company A, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, but was discharged a month later. In 1868 he was subsequently ordained as a Presbyterian minister and for the next 11 years he worked with the publishing branch of the Evangelical Association in Cleveland, Ohio, after which he pastored churches for the next 42 years in Cleveland, Grafton, Ohio, Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Cabery, Illinois. He also assisted in the compilation and editing process of over 50 different song books. He died in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 90.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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