Daniel Webster Whittle | |
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Born | November 22, 1840 |
Died | March 4, 1901 60) | (aged
Major Daniel Webster Whittle (November 22, 1840, Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts - March 4, 1901, Northfield, Massachusetts) was a 19th-century American gospel song lyricist, evangelist, and Bible teacher.
Whittle was associated with the evangelistic campaigns of Dwight Lyman Moody. [1]
Marrying Abbie Hanson in 1861 the night before he deployed with Company B of the 72d Illinois Infantry, he served in the American Civil War. He was wounded at Vicksburg and marched with General William Tecumseh Sherman’s forces through Georgia. Whittle was breveted with the rank of major at the end of the war and is still widely known among hymnologists as Major Whittle. Settling in Chicago to work for the Elgin Clock Company, he became closely associated with Moody, who successfully encouraged him to go into evangelistic work. [2] One of Whittle’s war experiences served as the basis for the gospel song "Hold the Fort" by Philip Paul Bliss, [3] of whom Whittle edited a biography. [4] He was also known to have worked with Bliss' sister, Mary Elizabeth Willson.
Whittle wrote mostly under the pseudonym "El Nathan" although editors of later hymnals routinely credit his actual name. Of his approximately 200 hymns, "I Know Whom I Have Believed" and "Showers of Blessing" are among the most familiar. James McGranahan wrote the tunes for both of those and for Whittle's "Banner of the Cross" as well. The name of the tune associated with "I Know Whom I Have Believed" is EL NATHAN, Whittle's pseudonym. [5] The tune for Whittle's "Moment by Moment" (first line "Dying with Jesus") was composed by Whittle's daughter Mary "May" Whittle Moody.
I know not why God's wondrous grace
To me He hath made known;
Nor why—unworthy—Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
[REFRAIN]
But I know whom I have believèd
And am persuaded that he is able
To keep that which I've committed
Unto Him against that day.— "I Know Whom I Have Believed", Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete. New York: The Biglow & Main Co. and The John Church Co. 1894. The refrain is drawn verbatim from Paul in 2 Timothy 1:12.
Dwight Lyman Moody, also known as D. L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher connected with Keswickianism, who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts, Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers. One of his most famous quotes was "Faith makes all things possible... Love makes all things easy." Moody gave up his lucrative boot and shoe business to devote his life to revivalism, working first in the Civil War with Union troops through YMCA in the United States Christian Commission. In Chicago, he built one of the major evangelical centers in the nation, which is still active. Working with singer Ira Sankey, he toured the country and the British Isles, drawing large crowds with a dynamic speaking style.
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P P Bliss - P P Bliss.