Ye Lands, to the Lord

Author: Ulrik Vilhelm Koren

Born: December 22, 1826, Bergen, Norway. Died: December 19, 1910, Decorah, Iowa. Buried: Washington Prairie Lutheran Church, Decorah, Iowa. Koren has been called the "patriarch of Norwegian-American Lutherans." He graduated from the University of Christiana in 1852; helped found Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota; and received a doctorate of divinity from Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1903. He served as pastor of the Washington Prairie congregation in Iowa, and president of the Norwegian Synod (1894-1910). The king of Norway made him a Commander of the Order of St. Olaf for his achievements. His works include: Synodens Salmebog, 1874 --www.hymntime.com/tch/ Go to person page >

Translator: Harriet Reynolds Krauth

Harriet Reynolds Krauth Spaeth [Harriet Krauth], 1845-1925 Born: September 21, 1845, Baltimore, Maryland. Died: May 5, 1925, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Buried: Mount Vernon Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Daughter of hymn translator Charles Krauth, Harriet attended the Girls’ School in Philadelphia, and lived independently as a writer. In 1880, she married Adolph Spaeth, pastor of St. Johannis Church in Philadelphia (and later president of the General Council of the Lutheran Church in America). She sang contralto, played the piano and organ, and for many years was the organist at St. Stephen’s Church in west Philadelphia. She provided hymn translations for The Church Book (1868), The Sunday School Hymnal (1901), and was r… Go to person page >