Newton Mann

Mann, Rev. Newton. (Cazenovia, New York, January 16, 1836--July 25, 1926, Chicago, Illinois). He graduated from Cazenovia Academy, and during the Civil War served as head of the Western Sanitary Commission. He then entered the Unitarian ministry and was ordained as pastor of the church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which he organized and served for three years. He later served churches in Troy, New York, 1868-1870; Rochester, N.Y., 1870-1888; and Omaha, Nebraska, 1888-1908, after which he retired to Chicago. His only connection with hymnody was his versification of an English translation of the Jewish creedal statement known as the Yigdal. His verse, which has not survived, was later recast by Rev. W.C. Gannett. In its present form the hymn is probably mostly the work of Gannett, but Mann should be credited with having drafted its earlier form. See also Foote, Three Centuries of American Hymnody, pp.339-340.

--Henry Wilder Foote, DNAH Archives