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Mary Mapes Dodge

1830 - 1905 Hymnal Number: d42 Author of "Father, we thank thee" in Bells of Heaven Mary Mapes Dodge is the often referred to as the "leader in juvenile literature" (Clarke, 1059), for she helped create and perpetuate the most widely circulated and read children's magazine during a time when American printing technology greatly improved and enabled the mass production of magazines and books. Dodge was born on January 26, 1831 in New York City. She grew up in a prominent family with two sisters. Her "own reminiscences were of 'a devoted father and mother and a happy childhood, a remarkably happy childhood, watched over with loving care'" (Gannon 3). Beginning in her early childhood, Dodge and her sisters were educated by a tutor in their home. Their father introduced them to a large variety of literature from the Bible to Shakespeare because at that time Dodge's father believed that children's literature was "a dreary wasteland" (Gannon 4). Dodge's early exposure to literature enabled her to develop a gift and appreciation for art, music, and writing. In her teenage years, Dodge could skillfully write and she assisted her father with his writings for pamphlets. In 1851 Mary celebrated her marriage to William Dodge, and within the next 4 years, she gave birth to two sons, James and Harrington. The Dodge family confronted several hardships throughout their life together. In 1857, William faced serious financial difficulties concerning debts and the destruction of the company he worked for. During that same year, at the age of six, their son James was diagnosed with a fatal sinus disease. The effect of these disastrous events caused William to leave his family in 1858. He left for a walk from which he never returned. A month after his disappearance his body was found dead from an apparent drowning. After the death of her husband, Mary was left in a bad financial position and with two sons to raise on her own. At this time, Mary "resolved 'to take up her life again in the old spirit of rejoicing; to rear and educate her boys as their father would have done; to do a man's work with the persistent application and faithfulness of a man, to gain a man's pay, yet to leave herself freedom and freshness to enter into all her children's interests and pursuits as their comrade and friend" (Gannon 7). Mary would not allow the unfortunate events of her husband's death and financial difficulty stand in her way from educating her sons and providing them with the life they deserved. In addition to educating her sons, she began writing and editing in 1859. Mary worked with her father to publish two magazines, the Working Farmer and the United States Journal. The editorial work she used for these magazines helped to shape her writing skills, which she later applied to edit the most successful children's magazine of her time. Some of Mary's early writings before the publication of St. Nicholas include The Irvington Stories (1864) and Hans Brinker (1865). Hans Brinker is by far Dodge's most well known story, for it was published in several languages all over the world and this classic was considered "the best and most faithful juvenile story" (Clarke 1063). Four years after the publication and success of Hans Brinker, Dodge began working for a newspaper known as Hearth and Home." Dodge worked on the juvenile and household departments under the editorship of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Roswell Smith, one of the founders of the children's magazine Scribner's Monthly, observed Dodge's work at Hearth and Home. Smith considered Dodge for the editor of his newly created children's magazine, St. Nicholas, named for the patron saint for children. Dodge faced a difficult decision because she wanted to pursue novel writing and other challenging fields, but her heart remained with children. "Many gifted men and women were writing novels; no one was doing all that could be done--ought to be done--for the boys and girls" (Clarke 1063), and thus Dodge accepted the position of editor for St. Nicholas. Dodge's goal for her children's magazine was to create literature that inspired and interested children. In 1873 she anonymously wrote for Scribner's Monthly,"a successful children's magazine "must not be a milk-and-water variety of the periodical for adults. In fact, it needs to be stronger, truer, bolder, more uncompromising than the other; its cheer must be the cheer of the bird-song; it must mean freshness and heartiness, life and joy" (Clarke 1063). Mary clearly illustrates here her intention for the path St. Nicholas. Mary hoped to portray the traditional values of society, to educate children, to provide enjoyable entertainment, and to prepare them for "life as it is" (Kelly 380). Dodge took careful consideration for the layout of her magazine so she could fulfill her goals for a successful children's magazine. Two important obstacles confronted Dodge when she considered the type of articles to include in her magazine. The first problem she faced was how to entice her readers and maintain their attention. Dodge's technique to overcome this problem was the use of "regular departments" and "reader involvement" (Gordon, 380). The most famous regular department found in her magazine was 'Jack-in-the-Pulpit'. 'Jack-in-the-Pulpit' was "the inimitably wise and witty little preacher whose tiny discourses of the keenest sense and most inspiriting nonsense, . . . were a feast for the mind and souls of young folks every month" (Clarke 1065). Jack was a maternal type character that reflected Dodge's own personality. Dodge hoped to instill value and morals into the children without directly preaching to them. Jack provided an advantageous resource for accomplishing this goal because he was witty, humorous, and sincere. The children reading the story could easily identify with Jack's "preachings" and accept them because they were not directly aimed at the reader. In addition, Dodge added two more characters, Deacon Green and Little Schoolma'am, to provide authority figures and the introduction of new and interesting knowledge for the readers. The second technique Dodge employed for her periodical was reader involvement. Dodge included two features, "The Puzzle Box" and "The Letter-Box." "The Puzzle Box" provided entertainment for the readers through riddles or games. The answers to these games, however, were not included in the issue of the magazine. Readers had to send their answers to the publisher for judging, and only then could they find out the true answers. "The Letter-Box" included letters written to Dodge from the readers. Publication for readers was not only included in this section, but Dodge also encouraged children to contribute their own literature to the magazine. St. Nicholas became one the most successful magazines for children during the second half of the nineteenth century. Circulation increased to almost 70,000 children all over the U.S. The success of this periodical can be attributed to Dodge's dedication and the many contributors. Dodge's persistence in finding extraordinary talents such as Louisa May Alcott, Rudyard Kipling, President Theodore Roosevelt, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Sarah Orne Jewett provided a variety of intellectual and artistic material for children every month. St. Nicholas' began in 1873 and continued for the next 30 years with a few publications after Dodge's death in 1905. Dodges dedication to children is clearly evident in the hard work she devoted to this magazine. Dodge is an inspirational women who set goals people thought impossible, but ones she was able to achieve. In a memoir written after Dodge's death in a St. Nicholas publication, Dodge is described as a woman who put her heart into her work and achieved the goals she put forth. "What she attempted, she performed. There was no emergency, great or small, to which she was not equal; there was no Hill of Difficulty" (Clarke 1064). She was a woman to be truly admired, for her thirty years of work dedicated to children has influenced the world of periodicals ever since. --www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/gcarr/ (excerpts)

Jemima Luke

1813 - 1906 Hymnal Number: d142 Author of "The child's desire" in Bells of Heaven Luke, Jemima Thompson, the wife of Rev. Samuel Luke, an Independent minister of England, was the daughter of Thomas 422 Thompson, a philanthropist, and was born at Colebrook Terrace, Islington, August 19, 1813. When only thirteen years of age she began writing for the Juvenile Magazine. She published a volume titled The Female Jesuit in 1851 and A Memoir of Eliza Ann Harris, of Clifton, in 1859, but her name is known to the Christian world almost wholly through the one hymn found in this volume. Mrs. Luke died February 2, 1906. I think when I read that sweet 682 Hymn Writers of the Church, 1915, Charles Nutter =============== Luke, Jemima, née Thompson, daughter of Thomas Thompson, sometime of Bath, was born at Colebrooke Terrace, Islington, Aug. 19, 1813, and was married to the late Samuel Luke, a Congregational Minister, in 1843. She was an anonymous contributor to The Juvenile Magazine at the age of 13, and subsequently pub. several works, including The Female Jesuit, 1851; A Memoir of Eliza Ann Harris, of Clifton, 1859, &c. Mrs. Luke is known to hymnody through her hymn:— I think when I read that sweet story of old. [The Love of Jesus.] It is recorded that this hymn was composed in a stage coach in 1841, and was designed for use in the village school, near her father's seat, Poundsford Park. It was published anonymously in the Leeds Hymn Book, 1853, No. 874, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines, and has since come into use through children's hymn-books in most English-speaking countries. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

J. Grigg

1720 - 1768 Person Name: Joseph Grigg Hymnal Number: d164 Author of "Jesus, and shall it ever be" in Bells of Heaven Grigg, Joseph, was born in 1728, according to the D. Sedgwick’s Manuscript," but this date seems to be some six or eight years too late. He was the son of poor parents and was brought up to mechanical pursuits. In 1743 he forsook his trade and became assistant minister to the Rev. Thomas Bures, of the Presbyterian Church, Silver Street, London. On the death of Mr. Bures in 1747, he retired from the ministry, and, marrying a lady of property, look up his residence at St. Albans. He died at Walthamstow, Essex, Oct. 29, 1768. As a hymnwriter Grigg is chiefly known by two of his hymns, "Behold a stranger at the door"; and "Jesus, and can it ever be?" His hymnwriting began, it is said, at ten years of age. His published works of various kinds number over 40. Those in which his hymns are found are:— (1) Miscellanies on Moral and Religious Subjects, &c, London, Elizabeth Harrison, 1756. (2) The Voice of Danger, the Voice of God. A Sermon Preached at St. Albans, and at Box-Lane, Chiefly with a View to the apprehended Invasion. By J. Grigg. London, J. Buckland, 1756. To this is appended his hymn, "Shake, Britain, like an aspen shake." (3) Four Hymns on Divine Subjects wherein the Patience and Love of Our Divine Saviour is displayed, London, 1765. (4) Hymns by the late Rev. Joseph Grigg, Stourbridge, 1806. (5) During 1765 and 1766 he also contributed 12 hymns to The Christians Magazine. In 1861 D. Sedgwick collected his hymns and poems, and published them with a memoir as: Hymns on Divine Subjects, * * * * London, 1861. This volume contains 40 "Hymns," and 17 "Serious Poems." In the “S. MSS." Sedgwick notes that in 1861 he omitted three hymns by Grigg, which were then unknown to him, viz.:—l) On "The National Fast," appended to a sermon preached at Northampton, Feb. 13, 1761, by W. Warburton, and published in London, 1761. (2) "A Harvest Hymn by the late Rev. Joseph Grigg," in 6 stanzas, in the Evangelical Magazine, July, 1822; and (3) On the Parable of Dives and Lazarus, dated "Feb. 15, 1767." -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Joseph H. Martin

Hymnal Number: d300 Author of "Jesus, Savior, Cast me not away" in Bells of Heaven Late 19th Century. Martin was a minister. http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/m/a/r/t/martin_jh.htm

W. T. Dale

1845 - 1924 Person Name: William Thomas Dale Hymnal Number: d122 Author of "I've been washed" in Bells of Heaven

Samuel Alman

1844 - 1911 Hymnal Number: d405 Author of "In the life boat" in Bells of Heaven Samuel Alman was born February 6, 1844 in Wales. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1854 as an apprentice and served until 1868. He was at the Washington Navy Yard when Lincoln was shot and was one of the few men who knew of the final disposition of J. Wilkes Booth's body, but he was sworn to secrecy. At one time he was commander-in-chief of the National Association of Naval Veterans, holding the title of Admiral. He was also chaplain of the G.A.R. and the Farragut Association of Naval Veterans. After two years of service with the United States Government, he resigned and became an evangelist, taking charge of the mission that later became Emmanuel Baptist Church in Manhattan. He was ordained in the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in 1871 and continued serving as pastor of Emmanuel Baptist church until 1899. He wrote many hymns and compiled two hymnals. He died in June 12, 1911, in New York. Dianne Shapiro, from obituary, "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle," 14 June 1911

Anzentia Igene Perry Chapman

1849 - 1889 Person Name: E. W. Chapman Hymnal Number: d251 Author of "Our friends on earth we meet with pleasure" in Bells of Heaven Anzentia Igene (Angie) Perry Chapman, 1849-1889. Born near Lansing, MI, Angie was the wife of Free Methodist minister, Edwin W. Chapman. They had three children. She helped on his evangelism tours and rural preaching circuits. They worked in Sparta, MI, and helped found the first Free Methodist church in Grand Rapids, MI. She also wrote hymn lyrics. In 1888 they followed an evangelistic tour of Kansas, and them moved to Isabella County, MI. She died in Mt. Pleasant, MI. John Perry

D. E. Dortch

1851 - 1928 Person Name: David E. Dortch Hymnal Number: d296 Author of "Turned away from the beautiful gate" in Bells of Heaven Born: March 5, 1851, Theta, Tennessee. Died: November 9/11, 1928, Tennessee. Buried: Rose Hill Cemetery, Columbia, Tennessee. Dortch was teaching music in Maury, Tennessee, in 1880, and was working as an evangelist by 1886. His works include: Tidings of Joy (Columbia, Tennessee: 1878) National Tidings of Joy (Nashville, Tennessee: National Baptist Convention of America, 1878) Gospel Melodies, with William Dale & Charles Pollock (Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1890) Spirit and Life, with Edmund Lorenz (Dayton, Ohio: Christian Publishing Association, 1893) Choice Songs (Nashville, Tennessee: National Baptist Convention of America, 1894) Gospel Voices (Nashville, Tennessee: South-Western Publishing House, 1895) Gospel Voices No. 3 (Columbia, Tennessee: David E. Dortch, 1902) Hymns of Victory, Parts 1 and 2 (Columbia, Tennessee: Dortch Publishing Company, 1905) Happy Greetings to All (Charlotte, North Carolina: Dortch Publishing Company, 1916) © Cyber Hymnal™ (www.hymntime.com/tch)

Ida L. Reed

1865 - 1951 Person Name: Ida L. Reed Smith Hymnal Number: d193 Author of "Little by little we're building a temple" in Bells of Heaven Ida Lilliard Reed (Smith), 1865-1951 Born: November 30, 1865, near Arden, Barbour County, West Virginia. Died: July 8, 1951, Arden, West Virginia. Buried: Ebenezer Methodist Church, Arden, West Virginia. Reed is said to have written 2,000 hymns in her lifetime. In 1939, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers recognized her "substantial contribution to American music" by awarding her a small "weekly bonus." © The Cyber Hymnal™ (www.hymntime.com/tch)

W. E. Penn

1832 - 1895 Hymnal Number: d82 Author of "Here am I, send me" in Bells of Heaven Penn, William Evander. (Near village of Old Jefferson, Rutherford County, Tennessee, August 11, 1832--April 29, 1895, Eureka Springs, Arkansas). Southern Baptist. Evangelist in Texas and other states, 1875-1895. Compiled three hymnals titled Harvest Bells (1881, 1884, 1887) for use in his meetings. His hymns were primarily revivalistic in emphasis. His finest hymn, "There is a rock in a weary land, Its shadow falls on the burning sand" was paid the compliment of being reworked and issued under the name of Edward Husband in D.B. Towner's Revival Hymns (Chicago, 1905). He and his wife Corilla Frances Sayle adopted three children. Ordained December 4, 1880. --David W. Music, and additional information from the DNAH Archives See: Linder, Michael. (1985). William Evander Penn : his contribution to church music (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. The Life and Labors of Major W. E. Penn. (1896). St. Louis: C. B. Woodward Printing).