ROBERT LOWRY MARCH 12, 1826 – NOVEMBER 25, 1899 BORN IN PHILADELPHIA, ROBERT LOWRY WAS CONVERTED AND RECEIVED INTO THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF THAT CITY AT THE AGE OF SEVENTEEN. ACTIVE IN VARIOUS AREAS OF SERVICE, HE SOON ACKNOWLEDGED HIS CALL TO THE MINISTRY. LOWRY ENTERED SCHOOL AT LEWISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA-NOW BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY. HE GRADUATED IN 1854, Read more...
From Wikipedia: Montgomery himself expected that his name would live, if at all, in his hymns. Some of these, such as “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed”, “Prayer is the Soul’s Sincere Desire”, “Stand up and Bless the Lord” and the carol “Angels from the Realms of Glory”, are still sung. “The Lord Is My Shepherd” is a popular hymn with Read more...
Written on stationary from the Brevoort House in Chicago, Horatio Spafford penned this famous hymn while on a ship as he crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Not that long ago, his daughters had drowned after the Ville du Havre suffered a tragic crash. His wife telegraphed back, “Saved alone.” The manuscript is now found at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem. Read more...
From FindAGrave: Hymn Writer, Religious Figure. He was a successful businessman in Chicago, Illinois in the late 1800s who lost a great deal of real estate in the Chicago Fire. He penned the famous hymn “It Is Well” after receiving word of the death of his four daughters in an accident at sea on November 22, 1873. Eventually having two Read more...
Although Fanny Crosby spent the majority of her life in Manhattan (growing up at the New York Institution for the Blind, working with the Bowery Rescue Mission, etc.), she did spend the last 11 years of her life in Bridgeport. Using Darlene Neptune’s Fanny Crosby Still Lives as our guide, we took the train into Bridgeport, Connecticut to see if Read more...
Horatio Spafford, well-off lawyer and friend of D.L. Moody lived here on the north side of Chicago. During the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, he lost much of his real estate holdings. A couple years later he sent his family ahead to Europe where D.L. Moody would be preaching. The Ville du Havre sank, and all four of his daughters Read more...
From Daytonian in Manhattan: Three blocks to the north, on Ninth Avenue between 33rd and 34th Street, the New York Asylum for the Blind had stood since 1831. In 1839 it had taken in a 19-year old student, Franny J. Crosby, who quickly was recognized for her talent in writing poetry and hymns. Fanny had been blinded by an incompetent physician at Read more...
Hello… My name is Fanny Crosby. I entered the New York Institution for the Blind as a student in 1835 at the age of 15. I later taught grammar, rhetoric, and history as a faculty member of the school. I published two autobiographies, four books of poetry, and over 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, some of which are still sung today. Read more...
At 26, Herbert G. Tovey wrote the song “Give Me a Passion for Souls” – out of 1,500 songs published under his Sacred Music Foundation, this was the most popular. 1 Give me a passion for souls, dear Lord, A passion to save the lost; O that Thy love were by all adored, And welcomed at any cost. Refrain: Read more...
When planning a shoot for our TV/ program, we try to group geographically proximate locations together. It so happened that while planning an interview with the son of Singspiration founder Al Smith, nearby we found a documented site tied to the old spiritual, “The Old Time Religion.” In 1834, the South Carolina Lutheran Synod purchased this building and started a Read more...
Inscription: Famous singing evangelist, fellow-worker with Dwight L. Moody in Europe and in America, was born August 28, 1840, at Edinburg, in a house since removed. He died in Brooklyn, New York, on August 13, 1908. Featured Image Credit: Photo: Ira D. Sankey Marker. www.hmdb.org/PhotoFullSize.asp?PhotoID=144313. Read more...
Actual grave location unknown – check findagrave and cemetery map Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master, Though the loss sustained our spirit often grieves; When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome, We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves. Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves, Read more...
Ballard Baptist Church, Seattle, WA We’re here in Seattle at Ballard Baptist Church, built in 1919, where Helen Lemmel was a member while she wrote Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus. She was born Mary Helen Howarth in the Manchester area of England, November 14, 1863, to a Methodist Minister. Her father took the family from England to Whitewater, Wisconsin Read more...
Listen to an audio narrative of the Ashtabula Train Disaster and learn more about Phillip Bliss in front of the hospital that was built as a result of the horrific disaster. Featured Image Credit: “The Ashtabula Disaster : Stephen D. Peet : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.” Internet Archive, 28 Sept. 2022, archive.org/details/ashtabula_disaster_2209_librivox. Read more...
Phillip Bliss and his wife were headed from their home in Rome, Pennsylvania, to Chicago to reunite with the evangelist D. L. Moody. On December 29th, 1876, their train, the Pacific Express was crossing a trestle bridge near Ashtabula, Ohio. The bridge collapsed, and the train cars fell into the ravine. In that day, each train car had a stove Read more...
On the east side of the river is a path to the bridge with additional information on the train wreck. Ashtabula Park, Marker on the Railroad Disaster. Photo by Randy Melchert Ashtabula Railroad Bridge, Photo by Randy Melchert Read more...
Referred to in the Moody Bible Institute archives. The story of the Ninety and Nine, one of Ira Sankey’s most beloved hymns is recorded in this beautiful stained glass window. Ira Sankey Stained Glass Window (Image Credit: Northeast – Sussman Architectural Products LLC. sussmanarchitectural.com/gallery/northeast.) This was a gift of Frances Victoria Edwards, Sankey’s wife, and was manufactured by Tiffany and Read more...
Kings Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church To promote the divine teachings a society here was organized in 1804 and the first building shortly thereafter erected. Successive houses of worship to serve the growing congregation were erected in 1835, 1856, and 1898. Ira D. Sankey Noted evangelist, singer and hymnologist was converted here to God’s Service and accepted into this fellowship in Read more...
Watch a short video about Phillip Bliss filmed on location From the Marker: “Near this site, an iron truss bridge collapsed into the Ashtabula River during a blizzard, plunging a passenger train with 160 on board into the gulf below. Nearly 100 people were killed in this, one of the worst train disasters in American history. The most well known Read more...
On our road trip filming the first season of Our Christian Heritage TV, we had just interviewed a Philip Bliss impersonator, who shared the life and songs of the second most famous Christian hymnwriter. Philip Bliss (1838-1876), wrote many songs in our hymnals, including “Almost Persuaded,” “Wonderful Words of Life,” “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning,” “I am so glad Read more...
