"My Jesus I love thee, I know thou art mine," was published anonymously by William Antliff in "The Primitive Methodist Magazine" of October, 1862 (London: Richard Davies). An earlier version was published anonymously in "The Christian Pioneer" edited by Baptist publisher, Joseph Foulkes Winks (Vol. XVI, London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.). The first lines may have been taken from ("O Jesus, My Savior, I know thou art mine") written by Caleb Jarvis Taylor in 1804. The hymn was slightly edited from Antliff's version in The London Hymn Book (1864) edited by Charles Russell Hurditch.
In some sources in the early twentieth century, this hymn was attributed to James H. Duffell of West Bromwich, England. Duffell's authorship was corroborated by people who knew him. Featherston's purported authorship is troublesome, not least because he was a teenager in Canada when the hymn first emerged in England, and the hymn did not appear in any known sources in Canada (hymnals, books, newspapers, magazines) until much later. His aunt, Elizabeth Featherston Wilson, was living in Canada in the 1860s and did not emigrate to the U.S. until around 1895, first in Minnesota, then settled in Los Angeles around the time she contacted Ira Sankey; thus the popular notion of William sending the hymn to his aunt in Los Angeles is an anachronism, considering William died in 1873. For more details, see Hymnology Archive. —Chris Fenner
"My Jesus I love thee, I know thou art mine," was published anonymously by William Antliff in "The Primitive Methodist Magazine" of October, 1862 (London: Richard Davies). An earlier version was published anonymously in "The Christian Pioneer" edited by Baptist publisher, Joseph Foulkes Winks (Vol. XVI, London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.). The first lines may have been taken from ("O Jesus, My Savior, I know thou art mine") written by Caleb Jarvis Taylor in 1804. The hymn was slightly edited from Antliff's version in The London Hymn Book (1864) edited by Charles Russell Hurditch.
Dianne Shapiro, from David Maurand, The Hymn Descant (https://hymndescants.org/gordon) (accessed 5/9/2025)
In some sources in the early twentieth century, this hymn was attributed to James H. Duffell of West Bromwich, England. Duffell's authorship was corroborated by people who knew him. Featherston's purported authorship is troublesome, not least because he was a teenager in Canada when the hymn first emerged in England, and the hymn did not appear in any known sources in Canada (hymnals, books, newspapers, magazines) until much later. His aunt, Elizabeth Featherston Wilson, was living in Canada in the 1860s and did not emigrate to the U.S. until around 1895, first in Minnesota, then settled in Los Angeles around the time she contacted Ira Sankey; thus the popular notion of William sending the hymn to his aunt in Los Angeles is an anachronism, considering William died in 1873. For more details, see Hymnology Archive. —Chris Fenner
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files
