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Henry Francis Lyte

1793 - 1847 Person Name: Rev. Henry F. Lyte Hymnal Number: 59 Author of "Abide With Me" in Loving Voices 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)

J. H. Fillmore

1849 - 1936 Hymnal Number: 34 Author of "Bringing in the Sheaves" in Loving Voices James Henry Fillmore USA 1849-1936. Born at Cincinnati, OH, he helped support his family by running his father's singing school. He married Annie Eliza McKrell in 1880, and they had five children. After his father's death he and his brothers, Charles and Frederick, founded the Fillmore Brothers Music House in Cincinnati, specializing in publishing religious music. He was also an author, composer, and editor of music, composing hymn tunes, anthems, and cantatas, as well as publishing 20+ Christian songbooks and hymnals. He issued a monthly periodical “The music messsenger”, typically putting in his own hymns before publishing them in hymnbooks. Jessie Brown Pounds, also a hymnist, contributed song lyrics to the Fillmore Music House for 30 years, and many tunes were composed for her lyrics. He was instrumental in the prohibition and temperance efforts of the day. His wife died in 1913, and he took a world tour trip with single daughter, Fred (a church singer), in the early 1920s. He died in Cincinnati. His son, Henry, became a bandmaster/composer. John Perry

Will L. Thompson

1847 - 1909 Person Name: W. L. Thompson Hymnal Number: 62 Author of "There's a Great Day Coming" in Loving Voices 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.

Jeremiah Eames Rankin

1828 - 1904 Person Name: Rev. J. E. Rankin Hymnal Number: 72 Author of "God Be With You" in Loving Voices 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)

M. A. Kidder

1820 - 1905 Hymnal Number: 122 Author of "Is My Name Written There?" in Loving Voices Used pseudonym: Minnie Waters ========== Mary Ann Pepper Kidder USA 1820-1905. Born at Boston, MA, she was a poet, writing from an early age. She went blind at age 16, but miraculously recovered her sight the following year. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1844 she married Ellis Usher Kidder, a music publisher, working for the firm founded by his brother, Andrew, and they had three children: Mary Frances, Edward, and Walter. That year they moved to Charlestown, MA, and in 1857 to New York City. When the American Civil War broke out, Ellis enlisted in the 4th Regiment as a private. Mustered in for two years of service, he died of disease in 1862, six days after participating in the Battle of Antietam. Left alone, with three children to care for, her writing hobby became a much needed source of income. She began writing short stories, poems, and articles and submitting them to various magazines and newspapers. For over 25 years she wrote a poem each week to the New York Ledger and others to the Waverly Magazine and New York Fireside Companion. She also frequently contributed to the New York Weekly, Demorest’s Monthly, and Packard’s Monthly. It was estimated that she earned over $80,000 from her verse. She lost two of her children when Walter drowned while swimming, and 18 years later, her daughter, Mary Frances, a talented sketch artist, died of heart disease. Mary Ann was active in the temperance movement and one of the first members of the Sorosis club, a women’s club. She loved children and animals. Her daughter-in-law described her as gentle, patient, always serene, and a good listener. She was fiercely independent and refused to lean on others for support, mentally or materially. Mary Ann lived for 46 years in New York City. She is said to have written 1000+ hymn lyrics. She died at Chelsea, MA, at the home of her brother, Daniel, having lived there two years. It is said that her jet-black hair never turned gray, which was a real grief to her, as she longed for that in advancing age. John Perry =========== Kidder, Mary Ann, née Pepper, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, March 16, 1820, is the author of "Lord, I care not for riches" (Name in the Book of Life desired), and "We shall sleep, but not for ever" (Hope of the Resurrection), both of which are in I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs & Solos, 1878. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ===================== Kidder, Mary Ann, née Pepper, p. 1576, i. Mrs. Kidder died at Chelsea, Mass., Nov. 25, 1905. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and resided for 46 years in New York City. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

S. J. Vail

1818 - 1883 Hymnal Number: 134 Composer of "[Let us gather up the sunbeams]" in Loving Voices In his youth Silas Jones Vail learned the hatter's trade at Danbury, Ct. While still a young man, he went to New York and took employment in the fashionable hat store of William H. Beebe. Later he established himself in business as a hatter at 118 Fulton Street, where he was for many years successful. But the conditions of trade changed, and he could not change with them. After his failure in 1869 or 1870 he devoted his entire time and attention to music. He was the writer of much popular music for use in churches and Sunday schools. Pieces of music entitled "Scatter Seeds of Kindness," "Gates Ajar," "Close to Thee," "We Shall Sleep, but not Forever," and "Nothing but Leaves" were known to all church attendants twenty years ago. Fanny Crosby, the blind authoress, wrote expressly for him many of the verses he set to music. --Vail, Henry H. (Henry Hobart). Genealogy of some of the Vail family descended from Jeremiah Vail at Salem, Mass., 1639, p. 234.

W. G. Fischer

1835 - 1912 Person Name: Wm. G. Fischer Hymnal Number: 146 Composer of "[I have entered the valley of blessing so sweet]" in Loving Voices William Gustavus Fischer In his youth, William G. Fischer (b. Baltimore, MD, 1835; d. Philadelphia, PA, 1912) developed an interest in music while attending singing schools. His career included working in the book bindery of J. B. Lippencott Publishing Company, teaching music at Girard College, and co-owning a piano business and music store–all in Philadelphia. Fischer eventually became a popular director of music at revival meetings and choral festivals. In 1876 he conducted a thousand-voice choir at the Dwight L. Moody/Ira D. Sankey revival meeting in Philadelphia. Fischer composed some two hundred tunes for Sunday school hymns and gospel songs. Bert Polman

Hattie E. Buell

1834 - 1910 Person Name: Harriet E. Buell Hymnal Number: 50 Author of "The Child of a King" in Loving Voices Hattie (Katie) Eugenia Peck Buell USA 1834-1910. Born in Cazenovia, NY, she lived in Manlius, NY, until 1898, then moved to Washington, D.C., but maintained a summer residence at Thousand Island Park, NY. She married Willard Barnes Buell, and they had two sons. Her husband died in 1905. She wrote poems to the Northern Christian Advocate in Syracuse, NY. John Perry

Mary Ann Baker

1832 - 1925 Person Name: Mary A. Baker Hymnal Number: 12 Author of "Satan the Seed Is Sowing" in Loving Voices Baker, Mary A.. Miss Baker, who is a member of the Baptist denomination, and a resident in Chicago, Illinois, is an active worker in the temperance cause, and the author of various hymns and temperance songs. Her most popular hymn:-— 1. Master, the tempest is raging, Peace, was written in 1874 at the request of Dr. H. R. Palmer, who desired of her several songs on the subjects of a series of Sunday School Lessons for that year. Its theme is "Christ stilling the tempest." During the same year it was set to music by Dr. Palmer, and pub. in his Songs of Love for the Bible School, 1874. It is found in other collections, including I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos, London, 1881. Its home popularity was increased by its republication and frequent use during the illness of Pres. Garfield. It was sung at several of the funeral services held in his honour throughout the States. 2. Why perish with cold and with hunger? Invitation. This is another of her hymns set to music by I. D. Sankey, and included in his Sacred Songs and Solos, Lond., 1881. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) _______ Mary Ann Baker (sometimes known as Mary Eddy Baker), daughter of Joshua Baker and Catherine Eddy, was born 16 Sept. 1832 in Orwell, Oswego, NY. As a young child, her family moved to Branch County, Michigan. Her father died there in 1839 at age 39. A few years later, in 1843, her mother married David Ripley and had two more children, but by 1850, her mother was a single parent again with five children, living in Kinderhook, Branch, Michigan. By 1855, her mother had remarried to Ephraim Potter, and they were living in Boonville, Oneida, New York. In 1860, she and her sister Rhoda Ripley were living in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she found work as a compositor. Some time between 1867 and 1868 (her sister Rhoda married George Ely in 1868 in Kalamazoo), she moved to Chicago, where she similarly worked as a compositor for Horton & Leonard. While in Chicago, she met composer Horatio R. Palmer and was associated with the Second Baptist Church. In 1900, she was still living in Chicago. Mary never married. In her final years, she was living in the Baptist Old People's Home in nearby Maywood, Cook County, Illinois, where she died at age 93 on 29 Sept. 1925. by Chris Fenner, 14 Feb. 2022

George F. Root

1820 - 1895 Person Name: Geo. F. Root Hymnal Number: 140 Composer of "[O, I love to think of Jesus as he sat beside the sea]" in Loving Voices Root, George F., MUS. DOC, born in Sheffield, Berkshire County, Mass., Aug. 30, 1820. He is much more widely known as a composer of popular music than as a hymn writer. Four of his hymns are in I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs & Solos, 1878. Nos. 16, 100, 293, and 297. A sympathetic biographical sketch, with portrait, is in The Tonic Sol-Fa Reporter, Sep. 1886. He died Aug. 6, 1895. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ===================== George Frederick Root was born in Sheffield, Mass., August 30, 1820. His father moved to North Reading, near Boston, when the boy was six years old, and there his youth was spent. He was always fond of music— not singing at all as a boy, but played upon every kind of instrument that came in his way. At thirteen it was his pride that he could "play a tune" on as many instruments as he was years old. His dream of life was to be a musician, although such an ambition was looked down upon by all his relatives and friends, excepting a fond mother. In the fall of 1838 he went to Boston and made an engagement to work for Mr. A. N. Johnson and take lessons on the piano. His father and one of the brothers were at the time in South America, and the mother, with six younger children, was at home on the farm. When he secured the engagement with Mr. Johnson to receive three dollars a week and board and lessons, the neighbors became interested and encouraged him to go ahead, they promising to help look after the farm and see that the family got along. The young man's happiness over these events can better be imagined than described. On the second day of October, 1838, he entered upon his duties in his new heaven on earth located at Harmony Hall, Mr. Johnson's music-room, in Boston. His duties were to see to the fires, care for the room, answer callers, give information about Mr. Johnson when he was out, and practice his lessons when not otherwise engaged. He worked industriously and made steady progress. It was but a few weeks till Mr. Johnson had him playing for the prayer-meeting, and but a few more till he began turning over pupils to him. In about seven weeks' time Mr. Johnson encouraged him by a considerable increase of salary. A most important event to him was meeting Dr. Lowell Mason and being accepted as a bass singer in the celebrated Bowdoin Street choir. Also, on Mr. Johnson's recommendation, he began taking private voice lessons of Mr. Geo. Jas. Webb, the then celebrated voice teacher of Boston. He continued at least a year with Mr. Webb. His first real singing class was taught the following fall, 1839, at the North End. It lasted nearly through the winter, and on the closing night his class made him a present of a silver goblet, suitably engraved, which he kept among his treasures. Before the first year was up Mr. Johnson proposed a five year partnership, by which Mr. Root was to receive one-third of their earnings, and the former was to have the privilege of visiting Germany part of the time if he chose. They then changed their quarters to three rooms in the basement of Park Street Church. The annual rental was six hundred dollars. They were kept quite busy. At this time Dr. Mason's music teaching in the public schools was a growing success, and Messrs. Johnson and Root were employed to assist him. Drs. Mason and Webb had introduced what is now called Musical Conventions a year or two previous to this. They called them "The Teachers' Class." Teachers and singers were called to Boston from surrounding territory to study and practice pretty much as they do now at normals. In 1841 Mr. Root became one of the teachers in this class. He taught vocal training and continued this work for years afterward in Dr. Mason's teachers' classes, and later incorporated the same method in his own normals. During this year Mr. Johnson went to Germany, and left the two large church choirs (Winter Street and Park Street) in charge of Mr. Root. One of the organs was played by a pupil — Mr. S. A. Bancroft. Everything went smoothly during Mr. Johnson's absence as it did also after his return. During the last year of the five-year partnership, Mr. Root was called to take the organ at Bowdoin Street, Mr. Mason changing to Winter Street. An amicable settlement was made between Messrs. Johnson and Root, and the partnership dissolved. In 1811, Mr. Jacob Abbott (father of Lyman Abbott)and his three brothers had established a young ladies' school in New York City. They wanted a music teacher, and offered the position to Mr. Root. They also secured him the organ and choir of the Mercer Street Church, with prospects for other good work. It required pretty strong persuasive arguments to tempt Mr. Root to leave Boston, he was doing well there, and as the sequel shows, there was an attraction in Boston that held him in too tight a grasp to be relinquished by the mere offer of greater power and place. He made up his mind, however, only after getting the consent of the powders of Boston to take with him this [to him] the greatest attraction of the city — Miss Mary Olive Woodman — an accomplished lady, a sweet singer, and a member of a prominent family of musicians. He went to New York first to prepare a home, and in August, 1845, returned for his bride, who took her place in his New York choir as leading soprano, and through his long and eventful career she was ever at his side, a true helpmeet. He was soon employed at Rutger's Female Institute, Miss Haines' School for Young Ladies, Union Theological Seminary and the New York State Institution for the Blind. Within six weeks after he arrived in New York his time was fully occupied. He continued with Mr. Abbott's young ladies' school ten years. While teaching in New York he continued his summer work with Messrs. Mason and Webb in Teachers' Classes. Up to the year 1849 he had written but little music; only a few hymn tunes while in Boston. He needed more music for the young ladies of his schools, so he made his first book, The Young Ladies' Choir, of which he had enough copies made for his own use, as he had no thought of offering it to the public. Then in connection with Mr. J. E. Sweetser, they compiled the Root and Sweetser's Collection. Mr. Root did work enough for two men, hence broke down in health. Mr. Abbott suggested that he take a trip to Paris. After weighing the matter carefully, in December, 1853, he sailed, and in due time arrived at Paris, where he began studying French, voice culture and piano under celebrated teachers. After spending nearly a year abroad, he returned home in improved health and ready for active work. He began to feel the need of new music for his classes, and after some thought decided upon a musical play ; the subject and title, The Flower Queen. At the Institution for the Blind was a young lady, a former pupil, but now a teacher who had shown some poetical talent. He asked her to help him with the words. He would suggest in prose what the flowers might say and she would put it into rhyme. She did it so well that it seldom needed any alteration. This lady was the now famous Fanny Crosby. The cantata became very popular. About this time Mr. Root wrote a half dozen simple songs for the people. They all sold pretty well, but Hazel Dell and Rosalie, the Prairie Flower, became the most popular, and had a large sale. It was in the summer of 1853 that the first real normal was held. Mr. Root originated it, and held it in New York. The principal teachers were Messrs. Mason, Root, Hastings, and Bradbury. This school became famous. Sessions were also held at North Reading, Mass., a village near Mr. Root's "Willow Farm Home," with Dr. Mason, Mr. Webb, Mr. Bradbury and himself as principal teachers. About this time Mr. Root decided to give up his work in New York, and devote himself entirely to conventions, normal work and authorship. He was eminently successful. Among the most eminent teachers and composers of our country have been students in Dr. Geo. F. Root's Normal Musical Institute. In 1860 Dr. Root settled in Chicago and entered the music publishing business with his brother E. T. Root, and C. M. Cady, as "Root & Cady," Mr. Root's reputation being the most important capital of the firm. His books and popular songs soon made the new firm prosperous. Then came the war with its horror. Dr. Root wielded his musical sword in the way of writing war songs, which made him famous. The Battle Cry of Freedom, Just Before the Battle, Mother, and others, made thousands of dollars for the music house. In the great Chicago fire of 1871 the interests of the firm of Root & Cady became engulfed in the general ruin. Their loss was upward of a quarter of a million dollars. They then sold their book catalogue, plates and copyrights to John Church & Co., of Cincinnati, and the sheet music plates and copyrights to S. Brainard's Sons, Cleveland. These sales realized about §130,000. The final result was that Dr. Root, his talented son F. W., and others became connected with John Church & Co. Under this new business relationship Mr. Root went right on with his normal and convention work; also issued a great many new books and cantatas. In 1872 the Chicago University very worthily conferred upon him the degree Doctor of Music. In 1886 he made a trip to Scotland and England, and arranged with publishers to issue some of his cantatas. He was royally received. Dr. Root was the author of about seventy-five books, nearly two hundred songs in sheet form, and many popular gospel songs. Dr. Root occupies a prominent place in the musical history of this country. It was Dr. Mason who lifted music from almost nothing and gave it an impetus, but he left no better follower than Dr. Root to carry on his work. He was a man of spotless integrity and high Christian character, and to know him was to love him. At the time of Dr. Root's death he was at Bailey Island, Maine, a summer resort, where he and other relatives had cottages. On August 6, 1895, he was seized with neuralgia of the heart — and died within one hour. He was buried at North Reading, Mass., his old home. --Hall, J. H. (c1914). Biographies of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company.