Fanny Crosby: Queen of Gospel Hymns

From: Mature Living; March 2000

By: Bonnie C. Harvey

“I’m terribly sorry,” Dr. Mott said and paused before continuing. “The man who treated your little girl’s eyes completely destroyed the corneas. The child will never be able to see.”

The words cut like daggers into Mercy Crosby’s soul, shredding her last bit of hope as she burst into tears.

“There, there,” the doctor reassured her, “your little 5-year-old is healthy in every other way. She will be able to live a useful life. You and your family can help her adjust to her condition.”

Within a short time, Mercy and her daughter Fanny arrived back home in Southeast, New York. When she heard the news, Grandma Crosby comforted her daughter telling her, “If God does not grant a request, it is best not to have it. He will provide for little Fanny Jane. He has something very special for her to do.”

Despite her blindness, Fanny’s childhood in the 1820s in New York was a happy one. While her mother went to work each day, Fanny and her grandmother Eunice spent many hours together. Eunice became Fanny’s eyes, teaching her about nature and how to distinguish between various birds, flowers, and even leaves.

Recalling these wonderful times in later years, Fanny remembered her grandmother “taking me on her knee and rocking me while she told me of the beautiful sun with its sunrise and sunset.”

The most important influence Fanny received from her grandmother was her understanding of God and the Bible. The Crosby family were devout Christians, especially Eunice. She shared the love of God with Fanny showing her that the world is God’s book and each natural phenomenon is a manifestation of God. Like many others in her day, Eunice saw nature as a mirror of the spiritual world, so Fanny’s walks across the fields and over the hills with her grandmother were like walks with God.

Eunice’s desire for Fanny, however, centered around her knowledge of God and the Bible. She read and explained Bible stories to her. Sitting in her rocker, Grandma Crosby told her blind granddaughter of a kind Heavenly Father who sent His only Son into the world to be Savior and Friend to all mankind.

The great unhappiness in Fanny’s childhood was when she could not attend school with other children. She could do everything most children could do, even more, but the schools at that time had no facilities to teach blind children.

Miraculously, her mother discovered a circular about a school in New York City, The New York Institution for the Blind. A short time later, the Institution accepted Fanny, and she arrived at the school in March 1835 at the age of 14. Fanny could only exclaim, “O, thank God! He has answered my prayer, just as I knew He could!” She had prayed for a miracle as Grandma had taught her, and God had granted it.

After several years at the school where she studied grammar, philosophy, and astronomy, Fanny excelled at playing the piano and the harp and in writing poetry.

Fanny became known as “the Blind Poetess.” In this role, her renown spread throughout New England as people marveled that someone blind could learn to do such things.

Fanny taught for a number of years at the Institution, but in 1851 she left the school to write hymns. She worked with composers such as George Frederich Root, William Bradbury, and William Doane. At this time hymns were changing from being lofty, somber, and dignified to being more personal, light, and informal. Soon Fanny’s hymns stood out as she wrote “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine” and “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.”

The hymns Fanny composed usually came as a result of an experience, or they reflected a certain theme. For example, Fanny wrote “Rescue the Perishing” for a home missions’ theme. Another hymn resulted from her rent being due. She had no idea how she would pay it but committed the matter to the Lord. Almost at once, a man she had never met appeared and placed in her hand the exact amount needed for the rent. Out of gratitude, Fanny wrote: “All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who thro’ life has been my guide?”

Often the Lord would give Fanny the words to hymns in the small hours of the morning when her apartment building was quiet. Later in the morning, she would go to Biglow and Main where she worked, and from her incredible memory speak the lyrics – sometimes as many as 45 stanzas. The people she worked for expressed amazement at her memory which served as Fanny’s eyes.

Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey used a number of Fanny’s hymns in their evangelistic campaigns, and she became their friend.

Overall, Fanny’s main purpose in life was turning people’s harts to the Lord. As a result, she became involved in New York City missions, in various conferences, and in churches where she spoke, counseled, and prayed with people. People loved to hear her speak and would line up and wait for hours to see her.

For some of her engagements, she had to travel away from New York, but that never bothered her. She traveled alone, even into her 90s, and felt perfectly safe as she trusted in the Lord to take care of her.

The love and joy she radiated touched people and made her a sought-after speaker. She would stand at the podium and give her famous greeting: “God bless your dear hearts! I’m so happy to be with you!” The she would tell them what the Lord meant to her.

By her 94^th birthday on March 24, 1914, Fanny spent much of her time in bed, still greeting and counseling the endless stream of visitors who came to see her. She died peacefully on February 11, 1915, a month before her 95^th birthday.

God had a special task for little Fanny Jane, and Christians everywhere have enjoyed its benefits.

“I’m terribly sorry,” Dr. Mott said and paused before continuing. “The man who treated your little girl’s eyes completely destroyed the corneas. The child will never be able to see.”

The words cut like daggers into Mercy Crosby’s soul, shredding her last bit of hope as she burst into tears.

“There, there,” the doctor reassured her, “your little 5-year-old is healthy in every other way. She will be able to live a useful life. You and your family can help her adjust to her condition.”

Within a short time, Mercy and her daughter Fanny arrived back home in Southeast, New York. When she heard the news, Grandma Crosby comforted her daughter telling her, “If God does not grant a request, it is best not to have it. He will provide for little Fanny Jane. He has something very special for her to do.”

Despite her blindness, Fanny’s childhood in the 1820s in New York was a happy one. While her mother went to work each day, Fanny and her grandmother Eunice spent many hours together. Eunice became Fanny’s eyes, teaching her about nature and how to distinguish between various birds, flowers, and even leaves.

Recalling these wonderful times in later years, Fanny remembered her grandmother “taking me on her knee and rocking me while she told me of the beautiful sun with its sunrise and sunset.”

The most important influence Fanny received from her grandmother was her understanding of God and the Bible. The Crosby family were devout Christians, especially Eunice. She shared the love of God with Fanny showing her that the world is God’s book and each natural phenomenon is a manifestation of God. Like many others in her day, Eunice saw nature as a mirror of the spiritual world, so Fanny’s walks across the fields and over the hills with her grandmother were like walks with God.

Eunice’s desire for Fanny, however, centered around her knowledge of God and the Bible. She read and explained Bible stories to her. Sitting in her rocker, Grandma Crosby told her blind granddaughter of a kind Heavenly Father who sent His only Son into the world to be Savior and Friend to all mankind.

The great unhappiness in Fanny’s childhood was when she could not attend school with other children. She could do everything most children could do, even more, but the schools at that time had no facilities to teach blind children.

Miraculously, her mother discovered a circular about a school in New York City, The New York Institution for the Blind. A short time later, the Institution accepted Fanny, and she arrived at the school in March 1835 at the age of 14. Fanny could only exclaim, “O, thank God! He has answered my prayer, just as I knew He could!” She had prayed for a miracle as Grandma had taught her, and God had granted it.

After several years at the school where she studied grammar, philosophy, and astronomy, Fanny excelled at playing the piano and the harp and in writing poetry.

Fanny became known as “the Blind Poetess.” In this role, her renown spread throughout New England as people marveled that someone blind could learn to do such things.

Fanny taught for a number of years at the Institution, but in 1851 she left the school to write hymns. She worked with composers such as George Frederich Root, William Bradbury, and William Doane. At this time hymns were changing from being lofty, somber, and dignified to being more personal, light, and informal. Soon Fanny’s hymns stood out as she wrote “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine” and “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.”

The hymns Fanny composed usually came as a result of an experience, or they reflected a certain theme. For example, Fanny wrote “Rescue the Perishing” for a home missions’ theme. Another hymn resulted from her rent being due. She had no idea how she would pay it but committed the matter to the Lord. Almost at once, a man she had never met appeared and placed in her hand the exact amount needed for the rent. Out of gratitude, Fanny wrote: “All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who thro’ life has been my guide?”

Often the Lord would give Fanny the words to hymns in the small hours of the morning when her apartment building was quiet. Later in the morning, she would go to Biglow and Main where she worked, and from her incredible memory speak the lyrics – sometimes as many as 45 stanzas. The people she worked for expressed amazement at her memory which served as Fanny’s eyes.

Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey used a number of Fanny’s hymns in their evangelistic campaigns, and she became their friend.

Overall, Fanny’s main purpose in life was turning people’s harts to the Lord. As a result, she became involved in New York City missions, in various conferences, and in churches where she spoke, counseled, and prayed with people. People loved to hear her speak and would line up and wait for hours to see her.

For some of her engagements, she had to travel away from New York, but that never bothered her. She traveled alone, even into her 90s, and felt perfectly safe as she trusted in the Lord to take care of her.

The love and joy she radiated touched people and made her a sought-after speaker. She would stand at the podium and give her famous greeting: “God bless your dear hearts! I’m so happy to be with you!” The she would tell them what the Lord meant to her.

By her 94^th birthday on March 24, 1914, Fanny spent much of her time in bed, still greeting and counseling the endless stream of visitors who came to see her. She died peacefully on February 11, 1915, a month before her 95^th birthday.

God had a special task for little Fanny Jane, and Christians everywhere have enjoyed its benefits.