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Frank M. Davis

1839 - 1896 Hymnal Number: 160 Composer of "[Lord, I care not for riches]" in Joyful Greeting Frank Marion Davis USA 1839-1896. Born at Marcellus, NY, he became a teacher and professor of voice, a choirmaster and a good singer. He traveled extensively, living in Marcellus, NY, Vicksburg, MS, Baltimore, MD, Cincinnati, OH, Burr Oak and Findley, MI. He compiled and published several song books: “New Pearls of Song” (1877), “Notes of Praise” (1890), “Crown of gold” (1892), “Always welcome” (1881), “Songs of love and praise #5” (1898), “Notes of praise”, and “Brightest glory”. He never married. John Perry

William Hunter

1811 - 1877 Person Name: Rev. Wm. Hunter, D.D. Hymnal Number: 74 Author of "Hold the Light Up Higher" in Joyful Greeting 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)

A. J. Showalter

1858 - 1924 Hymnal Number: 73 Composer of "[Come in your need to Jesus]" in Joyful Greeting Anthony Johnson Showalter USA 1858-1924/ Born in Cherry Grove, VA, he became an organist, gospel music composer, author, teacher, editor, and publisher. He was taught by his father and in 1876 received training at the Ruebush-Kieffer School of Music, Dayton, VA. He also attended George Root’s National Normal school at Erie, PA, and Dr Palmer’s International Normal at Meadville, PA. He was teaching music in shape note singing schools by age 14. He taught literary school at age 19, and normal music schools at age 22, when he also published his first book. In 1881 he married Lucy Carolyn (Callie) Walser of TX, and they had seven children: Tennie, Karl, Essie, Jennie, Lena, Margaret, and Nellie. At age 23 he published his “Harmony & composition” book, and years later his “Theory of music”. In 1884 he moved to Dalton, GA, and in 1890 formed the Showalter Music Company of Dalton. His company printed and published hymnals, songbooks, schoolbooks, magazines, and newspapers, and had offices in Texarkana, AR, and Chattanooga, TN. In 1888 he became a member of the M T N A (Music Teachers National Association) and was vice-president for his state for several years. In 1895 he went abroad to study methods of teachers and conductors in Europe. He held sessions of his Southern Normal Music Institute in a dozen or more states. He edited “The music teacher & home magazine” for 20 years. In 1895 he issued his “New harmony & composition” book. He authored 60+ books on music theory, harmony, and song. He published 130+ music books that sold over a million copies. Not only was he president of the A J Showalter Music Company of Dalton, GA, but also of the Showalter-Patton Company of Dallas, TX, two of the largest music publishing houses in the American south. He was a choir leader and an elder in the First Presbyterian Church in Dalton (and his daughter, Essie, played the organ there). He managed his fruit farm, looking after nearly 20,000 trees , of which 15,000 are the famous Georgia Elberta peaches, the rest being apples, plums, pecans, and a dozen other varieties of peaches. He was also a stockholder and director of the Cherokee Lumber Company of Dalton, GA, furnishing building materials to a large trade in many southern, central and eastern states. He died in Chattanooga, TN, and is buried in Dalton, GA. He loved hymns, and kept up with many of his students over the years, writing them letters of counsel and encouragement. In 2000 Showalter was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Note: Showalter received two letters one evening from former music students, both of who were grieving over the death of their wives. He had heard a sermon about the arms of Moses being held up during battle, and managed to form a tune and refrain for a hymn, but struggled to find words for the verses that fit. He wrote to his friend in OH, Rev Elisha Hoffman, who had already composed many hymns and asked if he could write some lyrics, which he gladly did. John Perry

James Edson White

1849 - 1928 Person Name: J. E. White Hymnal Number: 6 Composer of "[All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name!]" in Joyful Greeting

F. E. Belden

1858 - 1945 Hymnal Number: 131 Author of "Who Is On the Lord's Side?" in Joyful Greeting Belden was born in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1858. He began writing music in his late teenage years after moving to California with his family. For health reasons he later moved to Colorado. He returned to Battle Creek with his wife in the early 1880s, and there he became involved in Adventist Church publishing. F. E. Belden wrote many hymn tunes, gospel songs, and related texts in the early years of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Belden was able to rapidly write both music and poetry together which enabled him to write a song to fit a sermon while it was still being delivered. He also wrote songs for evangelist Billy Sunday. Though Belden’s later years were marred by misunderstandings with the church leadership over his royalties, he did donate his papers and manuscripts to the church’s seminary at his death. He died on December 2, 1945 in Battle Creek, Michigan. N.N., Hymnary. Source: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/e/l/belden_fe.htm

John T. Grape

1835 - 1915 Hymnal Number: 129 Composer of "[Waters from the smitten rock]" in Joyful Greeting John Thomas Grape USA 1835-1915. Born at Baltimore, MD, he became a successful coal merchant. He married Sophia F MacCubbin, and they had one daughter, Agnes. He was a member of Monument St. Methodist Church in Baltimore, where he played the organ, directed the choir, and was active in the Sunday school. Later, he directed the choir at the Hartford Avenue Methodist Church. The hymn noted below was composed by Grape in 1868, with lyrics composed by Envina Mable Hall of the same church in 1865 while sitting in the choir loft during a sermon. Both words and music had been given to the pastor, Rev George W Schreck, at different times, and one day he remembered he had been given both. Grape's tune had a refrain, so Ms Hall, hearing it, then added words to her poem for that, and the hymn was complete. At Schreck's urging they sent the hymn to Professor Theodore Perkins, publisher of “Sabbath Carols” periodical, and it became popular. Grape died in Baltimore. John Perry

John H. Stockton

1813 - 1877 Person Name: Rev. J. H. Stockton Hymnal Number: 61 Composer of "[Down at the cross where my Saviour died]" in Joyful Greeting 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

Emma Pitt

b. 1846 Hymnal Number: 43 Author of "Sing Redeeming Love" in Joyful Greeting Born: 1846, Maryland. Pitt was living in Baltimore, Maryland, by 1880, and through at least 1910. She may have died before 1920, as the daughter with whom she was living in 1910 was on her own and still single in 1920. --www.hymntime.com

Lucy Rider Meyer

1849 - 1922 Person Name: L. J. R. Hymnal Number: 89 Author of "Singing as We Journey" in Joyful Greeting Lucy Jane Rider Meyer MD USA 1849-1922. Born at New Haven, VT, she became an author, social worker, teacher, and physician. She attended the New Hampton Literary Institution (a college prep school) and the Upham Theological Seminary. She also went to Oberlin College, graduating in 1872 with her degree in literary studies. In 1873 she entered the Women’s Medical College of PA, but withdrew after two years. She intended to become a Methodist medical missionary, but changed her mind after her then-fiance died in 1875. She did not get her medical degree until 1887, when she obtained it from the Women’s Medical College of Chicago. In 1884 she taught Bible at the Dwight L Moody Young Ladies Seminary, Northfield, MA. In 1885 she met and married a Chicago Methodist pastor and businessman, Rv Josiah Shelley Meyer (1849-1926), also Assistant Secretary for the YMCA in Chicago. He had great business acumen. She called him “Papa”.. he called her “Jennie”. They had a son, Shelly. Lucy became an educator, serving as principal of the Troy Conference Academy in Poultney, VT. After studying chemistry at M.I.T. (1877-78), she became a professor of chemistry for two years at McKendree Coillege in Lebanon, IL (1879-81). She did not wish to continue teaching chemistry. She was a good illustrator and later wrote an introductory book for children about chemistry, titled ‘The fairy land of chemistry’ (1887). From 1881-1884 she served as field secretary fror the IL State Sunday School Association and attended the 1880 World Sunday School Convention in London, England. She felt that people wanting to become religious teachers needed better training. In 1885 she and her husband opened the ‘Chicago Training School for City, Home, and Foreign Missions’. She was its first principal (1885-1917) and her husband its first superintendent. The school trained young women, offering a broad curriculum of Bible study, theology, church history, economics, sociology, and basic medical training. There was some adversity to the school by outsiders, thinking a women’s place was in the home. She is credited with reviving the office of the female deacon (or deaconess) in the U.S. Methodist Episcopal Church. In faith, she was liberal, while he was more conservative, believing the Bible should be taught literally. He did most of that teaching at the school, insisting on its interpretation as written. In 1887 Meyer began preparing some women students of her school to become deacons, with a mission of working in tenement communities. She set up the Methodist Deaconess Home and appointed her former student, Isabella Thoburn, as the first house mother and superintendent, even designing a uniform for the new women deacons. In 1888 the Methodist Episcopal Church recognized the office of deaconess. A similar school was set up in Boston, MA in 1889, with another following in Toronto, Canada in 1894. They took vacations, but she preferred a wilderness environment and he did not, so they had one wilderness vacation property and later another retreat in MI, closer to Chicago, to compromise on both travel distance and environment. She edited a periodical called ‘The message’ and later changed its name to ‘The deaconess advocate’, (1884-1914). In 1889 she published a history of the female diaconate: ‘Deaconesses: Biblical, early church, European, American’. In 1908 she founded the Methodist Deaconess Association. She and her husband resigned from the Chicago Training School in 1917, having graduated over 5000 students, but thinking they could not continue with the school as their opinions for its operation were becoming more and more divergent. They moved to CA for a year and enjoyed their retirement, she suffering from several debilitating maladies, but got much of her strength back as a result. They returned to Chicago and tried to help their school in various ways for the next couple of years. Her health eventually worsened and she died. He returned to the west coast, but never really got over losing his wife. The school later merged with the Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, IL. She is credited with initiating 40 institutions/homes for unfortunates. She died in Chicago. She published five works. John Perry

Laura E. Newell

1854 - 1916 Hymnal Number: 60 Author of "Oh, List to the Call" in Joyful Greeting Born: February 5, 1854, New Marlborough, Connecticut. Died: October 13, 1916, Manhattan, Kansas. Daughter of Mr. and Edward A. Pixley, but orphaned as an infant, Laura was adopted by her aunt, then Mrs. Hiram Mabie, who at the time lived in New York. In 1858, the Mabie family moved to a farm south of where Wamego, Kansas, now stands. Two years after the move, Mr. Mabie died, and his wife resumed teaching. In 1860, Mrs. Mabie accepted a position in Topeka, Kansas, where she taught many years. Under her tutelage, Laura received her education. As early as age 12, Laura was writing rhymes, and two years later her poems began to appear in local newspapers. She had no thought of a literary career; she simply wrote to give vent to her poetical mind. In 1871, Laura married Lauren Newell, a carpenter from Manhattan, Kansas. They had at least six children, and belonged to the Congregational denomination. In 1873, Laura was listening to an address by a speaker who lamented the death of "genuine" hymns, and she resolved to try her hand in that line of work. That began a long period of writing songs, sacred and secular, services for all anniversary occasions, cantatas, adapting words to music, and music to words. "Mrs. Newell is indeed a prolific writer. Her poems number in the thousands. She has had over eight hundred poems published in a single year, a most remarkable record. The great ease with which Mrs. Newell writes is one of her special gifts. Not long since an order, accompanied by music and titles, was sent her for eight poems to suit. At seven o’clock in the evening she sat down to her organ to catch the music. Then she went to her desk, and at ten o’clock the order was ready for the return mail. Her work pleased the publisher so well that he sent her an order for forty-eight additional poems. Mrs. Newell writes several hundred poems annually. She is a very modest and unpretentious lady, and goes about her daily work as cheerfully as her poems advise others to do. The deeply religious character of the woman stands out boldly in nearly all her work. The next world is apparently as real to her as the present. Her heart is in her work, and to the end of life’s chapter, while able, may she wield her pen to tell the Story to dear to her heart, in verse and song." Hall, pp. 316-17 http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/n/e/w/newell_lep.htm