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James McGranahan

1840 - 1907 Meter: 10.10.10.10 Composer of "PERFECT PEACE (McGranahan)" James McGranahan USA 1840-1907. Born at West Fallowfield, PA, uncle of Hugh McGranahan, and son of a farmer, he farmed during boyhood. Due to his love of music his father let him attend singing school, where he learned to play the bass viol. At age 19 he organized his first singing class and soon became a popular teacher in his area of the state. He became a noted musician and hymns composer. His father was reluctant to let him pursue this career, but he soon made enough money doing it that he was able to hire a replacement farmhand to help his father while he studied music. His father, a wise man, soon realized how his son was being used by God to win souls through his music. He entered the Normal Music School at Genesco, NY, under William B Bradbury in 1861-62. He met Miss Addie Vickery there. They married in 1863, and were very close to each other their whole marriage, but had no children. She was also a musician and hymnwriter in her own right. For a time he held a postmaster’s job in Rome, PA. In 1875 he worked for three years as a teacher and director at Dr. Root’s Normal Music Institute. He because well-known and successful as a result, and his work attracted much attention. He had a rare tenor voice, and was told he should train for the operatic stage. It was a dazzling prospect, but his friend, Philip Bliss, who had given his wondrous voice to the service of song for Christ for more than a decade, urged him to do the same. Preparing to go on a Christmas vacation with his wife, Bliss wrote McGranahan a letter about it, which McGranahan discussed with his friend Major Whittle. Those two met in person for the first time at Ashtubula, OH, both trying to retrieve the bodies of the Bliss’s, who died in a bridge-failed train wreck. Whittle thought upon meeting McGranahan, that here is the man Bliss has chosen to replace him in evangelism. The men returned to Chicago together and prayed about the matter. McGranahan gave up his post office job and the world gained a sweet gospel singer/composer as a result. McGranahan and his wife, and Major Whittle worked together for 11 years evangelizing in the U.S., Great Britain, and Ireland. They made two visits to the United Kingdom, in 1880 and 1883, the latter associated with Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey evangelistic work. McGranahan pioneered use of the male choir in gospel song. While holding meetings in Worcester, MA, he found himself with a choir of only male voices. Resourcefully, he quickly adapted the music to those voices and continued with the meetings. The music was powerful and started what is known as male choir and quartet music. Music he published included: “The choice”, “Harvest of song”, “Gospel Choir”,, “Gospel hymns #3,#4, #5, #6” (with Sankey and Stebbins), “Songs of the gospel”, and “Male chorus book”. The latter three were issued in England. In 1887 McGranahan’s health compelled him to give up active work in evangelism. He then built a beautiful home, Maplehurst, among friends at Kinsman, OH, and settled down to the composition of music, which would become an extension of his evangelistic work. Though his health limited his hours, of productivity, some of his best hymns were written during these days. McGranahan was a most lovable, gentle, modest, unassuming, gentleman, and a refined and cultured Christian. He loved good fellowship, and often treated guests to the most delightful social feast. He died of diabetes at Kinsman, OH, and went home to be with his Savior. John Perry

Jaroslav J. Vajda

1919 - 2008 Person Name: Jaroslav J. Vajda, 1919-2008 Meter: 10.10.10.10 Author of "Come At the Summit of This Day" in Sing to the Lord Jaroslav J. Vajda (b. Lorain, Ohio, 1919; d. 2008) Born of Czechoslovakian parents, Vajda was educated at Concordia College in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Concordia Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Ordained as a Lutheran pastor in 1944, he served congregations in Pennsylvania and Indiana until 1963. He was editor of the periodicals The Lutheran Beacon (1959-1963) and This Day (1963-1971) and book editor and developer for Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis from 1971 until his retirement in 1986. Working mainly with hymn texts, Vajda served on several Lutheran commissions of worship. A writer of original poetry since his teens, he was the author of They Followed the King (1965) and Follow the King (1977). His translations from Slovak include Bloody Sonnets (1950), Slovak Christmas (1960), An Anthology of Slovak Literature (1977), and contributions to the Lutheran Worship Supplement (1969) and the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978). A collection of his hymn texts, carols, and hymn translations was issued as Now the Joyful Celebration (1987); its sequel is So Much to Sing About (1991). Vajda's hymns are included in many modern hymnals, and he was honored as a Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada in 1988. Bert Polman

Hubert P. Main

1839 - 1925 Person Name: Hubert Platt Main Meter: 10.10.10.10 Composer of "ROSEVILLE" in The Cyber Hymnal Hubert Platt Main DD USA 1839-1925. Born at Ridgefield, CT, he attended singing school as a teenager. In 1854 he went to New York City and worked as an errand boy in a wallpaper house. The next year he became an errand boy in the Bristow & Morse Piano Company. He was an organist, choir leader, and compiled books of music. He also helped his father edit the “Lute Songbook” by Isaac Woodbury. In 1866 he married Olphelia Louise Degraff, and they had two sons: Lucius, and Hubert. In 1867 he filled a position at William B Bradbury’s publishing house. After Bradbury’s death in 1868 the Bigelow & Main Publishers were formed as its successor. He also worked with his father until his father’s death in 1873. Contributors to their efforts were Fanny Crosby, Ira Sankey, Wilbur Crafts, and others. In addition to publishing, Main wrote 1000+ pieces of music, including part song, singing school songs, Sunday school music, hymns, anthems, etc. He also arranged music and collected music books. He 1891 he sold his collection of over 3500 volumes to the Newberry Library in Chicago, IL, where they were known as the Main Library. Some of his major publications include: “Book of Praise for the Sunday school” (1875), “Little pilgrim songs” (1884), “Hymns of Praise” (`1884), “Gems of song for the Sunday school” (1901), “Quartettes for men’s voices: Sacred & social selections” (1913). In 1922 Hope Publishing Company acquired Bigelow & Main. He was an editor, author, compiler, and composer, as well as publisher. He died in Newark, NJ. John Perry

Mary Baker Eddy

1821 - 1910 Meter: 10.10.10.10 Author of "Mother's Evening Prayer" in Christian Science Hymnal (Rev. and enl.) Mary Baker Eddy (born Mary Morse Baker, July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) is the discoverer and founder of Christian Science, a religious movement that emerged in New England in the late 19th century. Eddy is the author of the movement’s textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (first published in 1875), and founder of The First Church of Christ, Scientist (1892). She also founded The Christian Science Publishing Society (1898). Mary Morse Baker was born in Bow, New Hampshire, the youngest of six children of Abigail and Mark Baker. Raised a Congregationalist, she came to reject teachings such as predestination and original sin, but she loved the biblical accounts of early Christian healing. Mark Baker, Eddy’s father, firmly believed in the Congregational church’s doctrine of predestination, but Eddy couldn’t accept the idea that the loving God she knew could condemn people to eternal damnation. Eddy eventually joined the Congregational church at Sanbornton Bridge (present-day Tilton), New Hampshire, when she was seventeen. A fragile child, Eddy suffered from a number of physical complaints. Her letters from this time, now at The Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston, Massachusetts, portray her sufferings and search for relief. In an effort to find health in her early adulthood, she tried homeopathy, dietary cures, mesmerism, hydropathy, and other popular treatments of the day. None of those methods brought lasting health. On December 10, 1843, Eddy married George Washington Glover. He died of yellow fever on June 27, 1844, a little over three months before the birth of their only child, George Washington Glover. As a single mother in poor health, Eddy wrote some political pieces for the New Hampshire Patriot, as writing was one of the few ways a woman in her position could make money. Eddy continued to struggle with poor health, and her son was put into the care of neighbors by her father and stepmother. She married Dr. Daniel Patterson, a dentist, in 1853, hoping he would adopt the young boy. Patterson signed papers to that effect on their wedding day, but failed to follow through on his promise. In 1873, Eddy divorced Daniel Patterson on the grounds of desertion. In October 1862, Eddy became a patient of Phineas Quimby, a magnetic healer from Maine. She benefited temporarily from his treatment. From 1862 to 1865 Quimby and Eddy engaged in lengthy discussions about healing methods practiced by Quimby and others. Eddy’s conclusions from her own scriptural study and healing practice differed from Quimby’s teachings. In 1866, Eddy had a substantial physical healing while reading about Jesus’ healings in the Bible, without employing any medical forms of treatment. This pivotal event showed her that Jesus’ teachings were practical throughout all time. She devoted the next three years of her life to biblical study and called her discovery Christian Science. In her autobiography, Retrospection and Introspection, Eddy writes, “I then withdrew from society about three years,—to ponder my mission, to search the Scriptures, to find the Science of Mind that should take the things of God and show them to the creature, and reveal the great curative Principle,—Deity” (pp. 24–25). Eddy became well known as a healer, and first-hand accounts state that she performed miracles similar to miracles performed by Jesus. In 1875, Eddy published her discovery in a book titled Science and Health (later retitled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures), which she called the textbook of Christian Science. As worded in the final edition, she wrote, “In the year 1866, I discovered the Christ Science or divine laws of Life, Truth, and Love, and named my discovery Christian Science” (p. 107). During these years she taught her new ideas to hundreds of people. Many of her students became healers themselves. The final chapter of Science and Health, titled “Fruitage,” contains testimonies of people who were healed by studying her book. In 1877 she married Asa Gilbert Eddy, a student of Christian Science and an active worker in the movement. Eddy founded The Christian Science Journal in 1883, a monthly magazine “designed to put on record the divine Science of Truth” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353). Eddy founded The Christian Science Publishing Society in 1898, which became the publishing home for numerous publications launched by her and her followers. The Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly religious periodical written for a more general audience, and The Herald of Christian Science, a religious magazine with editions in many languages, were established in 1898. In 1908, at the age of 87, Eddy founded The Christian Science Monitor, a daily newspaper. These periodicals continue to be published today. Five of Eddy’s poems were set to music and included in the Christian Science Hymnal during her lifetime: “Christmas Morn,” “Mother’s Evening Prayer,” “Christ my Refuge,” “Communion Hymn,” and “Feed My Sheep.” When the hymnal was revised in 1932, two more of her poems were added: “Love” and “Satisfied.” More information about these particular poems, their original publication and inclusion in the hymnal, is available from The Mary Baker Eddy Library. Eddy died on the evening of December 3, 1910, at her home in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Hundreds of tributes appeared in newspapers around the world, including The Boston Globe, which wrote, “She did a wonderful—an extraordinary— work in the world and there is no doubt that she was a powerful influence for good.” Today, there are Christian Science churches in 76 countries. This biography was written in collaboration with The Mary Baker Eddy Library and the staff of “Hymns 2016” on JSH-Online. More information about Mary Baker Eddy is available at MBELibrary.org. Submitted 8 August 2016.

Carlton R. Young

b. 1926 Person Name: Carlton R. Young, 1926- Meter: 10.10.10.10 Harmonizer of "SLANE" in Worship and Rejoice

William Gadsby

1773 - 1844 Person Name: William Gadsby, 1773-1844 Meter: 10.10.10.10 Author of "Immortal Honors Rest on Jesus' Head" in The Cyber Hymnal Gadsby, William , was born in 1773 at Attleborough, in Warwickshire. In 1793 he joined the Baptist church at Coventry, and in 1798 began to preach. In 1800 a chapel was built for him at Desford, in Leicestershire, and two years later another in the town of Hinckley. In 1805 he removed to Manchester, becoming minister of a chapel in Rochdale Boad, where he continued until his death, in January, 1844. Gadsby was for many years exceedingly popular as a preacher of the High Calvinist faith, and visited in that capacity most parts of England. He published The Nazarene's Songs, being a composition of Original Hymns, Manchester, 1814; and Hymns on the Death of the Princess Charlotte, Manchester, 1817. In 1814 he also published A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship, appending thereto a large number of his own compositions [Baptist Hymnody, § nr., 2]. The edition of 1882 pub. by his son J. Gadsby contains 1138 hymns, of which 157 are by William Gadsby, and form Pt. ii. of the Selection From his point of view they are sound in doctrine, but have little poetic fervour, and the rhyme is faulty in a large number of instances. Four of these hymns are in Denham's Selection and one in the Selection of J. Stevens. [Rev. W. R Stevenson, M.A. ] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

G. W. Briggs

1875 - 1959 Person Name: George W. Briggs Meter: 10.10.10.10 Author of "We Meet, As in That Upper Room" in Hymnal of the Church of God George Wallace Briggs is a Canon of Worcester Cathedral and one of the most distinguished British hymn writers and hymnologists of today. Six of his hymns appear in the Episcopal Hymnal of 1940 (American). Another hymn on the Bible entitled "Word of the living God" was written for the 25th Anniversary of the British Bible Reading Fellowship and was sung in Westminster Abbey on June 5, 1947. It has been widely used since that time. Canon Briggs is a leading member of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland. He is also the composer of several hymn times, six of which have appeared in British hymnals. In addition to his work as a clergy man of the Church of England and an hymnologist, he has interest himself actively in the field of religious education, being largely responsible for two books with wide circulation in Britain, "Prayers and Hymns for used in Schools" and "The Daily Service." These books have had great influence on the worship practices of British schools, public and private. It is of historic interest that he is the author of one of the prayers used at the time of the famous meeting of Churchill and Roosevelt on H.M.S. Prince of Wales in 1941 when the Atlantic Charter was framed. --Ten New Hymns on the Bible, 1952. Used by permission.

Henry Child Carter

1875 - 1954 Meter: 10.10.10.10 Author of "Give Me, O Christ, the Strength That Is in Thee" in Rejoice in the Lord Rev Henry Child Carter was a Minister in the Congregational Church in England and Wales. He served, among other places, Emmanuel Congregational Church, Cambridge (now Emmanuel United Reformed Church, Cambridge) from 1910 to 1942. email sent by Gordon Woods

Hugh Mitchell

1914 - 2014 Meter: 10.10.10.10 Author of "Thy Loving Kindness" in The Celebration Hymnal

Horatio Nelson

1823 - 1913 Person Name: Earl Nelson Meter: 10.10.10.10 Adapter of "Draw Nigh to Thy Jerusalem" in Rejoice in the Lord Earl Nelson was born in 1823. He was educated at Eton, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He is a relative of England's greatest naval hero. An active layman, he has been of service to the Church in many of her religious and benevolent enterprises. In hymnology he has taken a prominent position; his own hymns are most creditable, and he has been foremost in compiling the Sarum Hymnal, a work of the best character. This hymnal was compiled in 1857, with the assistance of John Keble, at the request of the Bishop of Salisbury. Its first title was The Salisbury Hymn Book. Its popularity was very great. In 1868 it was revised and is now known as The Sarum Hymnal. Earl Nelson has also published a few other works, mostly of a devotional character. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872 Nelson, Horatio, 3rd Earl Nelson, son of Mr. Thomas Bolton, of Burnham, Norfolk (nephew of the celebrated Admiral Viscount Nelson, whose name he assumed on succeeding to the title as 2nd Earl); was born Aug. 7, 1823, and educated at Eton, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He succeeded to the title Nov. 1, 1835. In 1857 he edited the Salisbury Hymn-Book. In this work he was assisted by J. Keble, who re-wrote some of the older hymns and translated others from the Latin. This collection was remodelled and published as the Sarum Hymnal in 1868. In the preparation of this work Earl Nelson was assisted by the Revs. J. R. Woodford (afterwards Bishop of Ely) and E. A. Dayman. In 1864 he published his Hymn for Saint’s Day, and other Hymns. In this appeared the hymn by which he is most widely known, “From all Thy saints in warfare, for all Thy saints at rest" (p. 398, ii.). He has also published A Form of Family Prayer, with Special Offices for the Seasons, 1852; and A Calendar of Lessons for Every Day in the Year, 1857. He was also an active member of the Home Reunion Society, and wrote extensively on the subject. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)