Take Thou My Hand and Lead Me

Author: Julie von Hausmann

Julie Katharina von Hausmann (born 7 March [O.S. 19 March] 1826 in Riga; died 2 August [O.S. 15 August] 1901 in Võsu, Estonia) was a Baltic German poet, known for the hymn Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me (German: So nimm denn meine Hände) with a melody by Friedrich Silcher. Earlier translations had been made by Herman Brueckner as "O take my hand, dear Father" and Elmer Leon Jorgenson as "Take Thou My Hand, and Lead Me." The hymn has also been translated by Martha D. Lange, whose version appears in the Great Songs of the Church Revised (1986). Julie Hausmann was the daughter of a teach­er. She worked for a while as a gov­ern­ess, but due to her ill health she lived with and cared for her fa­ther, who had gone blind. Af­ter his deat… Go to person page >

Translator: E. L. Jorgenson

Born: December 9, 1886, Nebraska. Died: December 14, 1968, at his home in Louisville, Kentucky. Buried: Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky. Jorgenson was the son of Danish immigrants. His father, Christopher Jorgenson, had been a soldier in the personal guard of the king of Denmark (probably Christian IX), and his mother a seamstress to the queen. The 1900 census shows the family living in Boone County, Nebraska. As a young man, Elmer led singing in churches in and around Albion, Nebraska, and in nearby Missouri. He was directing the music department at Western Bible and Literary College by 1908. In 1910, he and his wife Irene moved to Louisville, Kentucky. He was a member of the Churches of Christ. Jorgenson’s works include… Go to person page >