Emma F. R. Campbell | |
---|---|
Born | Emma Frances Riggs Campbell November 16, 1830
Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
Died | February 25, 1919
Morristown, New Jersey, U.S. | (aged 88)
Nationality | USA |
Occupation(s) | Hymnwriter, author |
Emma Frances Riggs Campbell (November 16, 1830 – February 25, 1919) was an American hymnwriter and author. She is best known for her hymn " Jesus of Nazareth Passeth By". [1]
She was born on November 16, 1830 in Newark, New Jersey, one of eleven children of Abner Campbell, owner of a looking-glass and picture-framing business, and Deborah Conger. Her sister Catherine Smith Campbell married future Florida governor Ossian Bingley Hart. [1] [2]
Campbell graduated from the Packer Institute for Girls in Brooklyn, New York in 1959. She and a sister opened a school in Morristown, New Jersey in the 1860s. She taught Sunday school for 37 years at the First Presbyterian Church in Morristown. [1]
"Jesus of Nazareth Passeth By" was inspired by an 1864 religious revival in Newark held by the Rev. Edward Payson Hammond, specifically a sermon mentioning Luke 18:37 and the story of Jesus healing the blind Bartimaeus. Campbell's hymn was first published using the Greek letter Eta as a pseudonym, which has led to Campbell being misidentified as Eta or Etta Campbell. The hymn was anthologized numerous times and was frequently performed by the gospel singer Ira D. Sankey. [1] [3]
Campbell published several other hymns, a collection of verse, several children's novels, and a short biography of her brother-in-law Ossian Hart. [1] [2]
Campbell died on February 25, 1919 in Morristown, New Jersey, aged 88. [4]