Peter Cartwright – death, Sep. 25,1872

“The people crowded to this meeting from far and near. They came in their large wagons, with victuals mostly prepared. The women slept in the wagons, and the men under them. Many stayed on the ground night and day for a number of nights and days together. Others were provided for among the neighbors around. The power of God was wonderfully displayed; scores of sinners fell under the preaching, like men slain in mighty battle; Christians shouted aloud for joy.

 

“To this meeting I repaired, a guilty, wretched sinner. On the Saturday evening of said meeting, I went, with weeping multitudes, and bowed before the stand, and earnestly prayed for mercy. In the midst of a solemn struggle of soul, an impression was made on my mind, as though a voice said to me, “Thy sins are all forgiven thee.” Divine light flashed all round me, unspeakable joy sprung up in my soul. I rose to my feet, opened my eyes, and it really seemed as if I was in heaven; the trees, the leaves on them, and everything seemed, and I really thought were, praising God. My mother raised the shout, my Christian friends crowded around me and joined me in praising God; and though I have been since then, in many instances, unfaithful, yet I have never, for one moment, doubted that the Lord did, then and there, forgive my sins and give me religion.”

                                                                        – Cartwright’s account of his conversion

 

Peter Cartwright died this date,9/25/1872, in Illinois.   He was born 9/1/1785, in Amherst County,Virginia.  He came under Holy Ghost conviction at 16, and after several weeks (months?) of seeking was converted to Christ.  He was an ordained a Methodist minister, in Kentucky(1806) and married Frances Gaines (1808).

 

Cartwright was twice a member of the Illinois legislature.  He ran against A. Lincoln for seat in US Congress and was defeated (1846).  There was only one Peter Cartwright, frontier rough, limited in “book learning,” but willing to do what he felt God directed.  He spent over 50 years spreading the Gospel and reflects the same in his Fifty Years a Presiding Elder (1871).  He also produced Controversy with the Devil (1853) and his colorful Autobiography of Peter Cartwright (1856).

Read Full Post »

Sanford Fillmore Bennett, MD – death, June 12, 1898

“Sweet By and By” 

There’s a land that is fairer than day,
And by faith we can see it afar;
For the Father waits over the way
To prepare us a dwelling place there.

Refrain

In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore;
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.

We shall sing on that beautiful shore
The melodious songs of the blessed;
And our spirits shall sorrow no more,
Not a sigh for the blessing of rest.

To our bountiful Father above,
We will offer our tribute of praise
For the glorious gift of His love
And the blessings that hallow our days.

Sanford Fillmore Bennett, MD, died this date 6/12/1898 at Richmond, IL. 

 He was born 6/21/1836, at Eden, New York.  He attended an academy in Waukegan (his poetry first appeared in the Waukegan, Illinois, Gazette) and University of Michigan.  He was first a superintendent of schools (Richmond, Illinois), then an editor, then a soldier (the Uncivil War – 40^th Wisconsin Volunteers), ran a drugstore, and finding his niche graduated from Rush Medical College (1874) and was a medical doctor for over twenty years.  He penned “Sweet By and By.”  See more about it at  The Cyber Hymnal.

Read Full Post »

Palmer Hartsough – death, Oct. 24, 1932

I am resolved no longer to linger,
Charmed by the world’s delight,
Things that are higher, things that are nobler,
These have allured my sight.

 

Refrain

I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free;
Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.
I will hasten, hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free;
Jesus, Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.

 

I am resolved to go to the Savior,
Leaving my sin and strife;
He is the true One, He is the just One,
He hath the words of life.

 

I am resolved to follow the Savior,
Faithful and true each day;
Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth,
He is the living Way.

 

I am resolved to enter the kingdom
Leaving the paths of sin;
Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me,
Still will I enter in.

 

I am resolved, and who will go with me?
Come, friends, without delay,
Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,
We’ll walk the heav’nly way.

 

Palmer Hartsough died this date, 10/24/1932, at Plymouth, Michigan.  He was a Baptist who pastored and worked with music in Rock Island, Illinois and Cincinnati, Ohio before returning to his home state.  Palmer was born 5/7/1844, at Redford, Michigan.

Read Full Post »

Avis Marguerite Burgeson – birth, Oct 11, 1895

Out of the depths to the glory above,
I have been lifted in wonderful love;
From every fetter my spirit is free,
For Jesus has lifted me!

Refrain

Jesus has lifted me!
Jesus has lifted me!
Out of the night into glorious light,
Yes, Jesus has lifted me!

 

Out of the world into heavenly rest,
Into the land of the ransomed and blessed,
There in the glory with Him I shall be,
For Jesus has lifted me!

 

Out of myself into Him I adore,
There to hide in His love evermore;
Through endless ages His glory to see,
My Jesus has lifted me!

 

 

 

Avis Marguerite Burgeson was born this date, 10/11/1895, at Chicago, Illinois.

Avis married Ernest C. Christiansen (1917) who later became vice president in charge of investments for Moody Bible Institute.  She wrote at least twenty some songs  

among which are also “Up Calvary’s Mountain” and “Precious Hiding Place.  Mrs. Christiansen passed from this life in January 1985 at her native Chicago.

Read Full Post »

Helen Howarth Lemmel – birth, Nov 14, 1863

“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”  (stanza 1, chorus, stanza 2)

 

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Chorus

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

 

Through death into
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

 

Written by Helen Lemmel, born this date in England.  She came to American with her family when 12 years of age.  She lived (as a girl in Mississippi, Wisconsin and eventually called Seattle, Washington home.  Her musical talents were used as a music critic, at Moody Bible Institute, and with the work of Billy Sunday. The heartaches of her (including a husband who left her and blindness) make her admonition that much more real.

Read Full Post »