Crosby, Frances "Fanny" - Timeline Biography
Time Period
03-24-1820 - 02-12-1915
Description
Fanny Crosby was blind six weeks following her birth in Brewster, NY, due to a physician’s mistake. Despite this, she was able to recite Scripture from a very young age, including memorizing the first four books of the Bible by the age of 10.
After first writing poetry, she began to write hymns in 1864. Over the course of her life, she wrote between 5,500 and 9,000 hymns. The exact number is uncertain due to some written under pseudonyms to preserve modesty. She once said, "True hymns make themselves." "I never undertake a hymn without first asking the good Lord to be my inspiration." Some of her most famous hymns include: "Blessed Assurance;" "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross;" "I Am Thine, O Lord," and "To God Be the Glory." Her hymns were so popular in the Methodist Church that they celebrated "Fanny Crosby Day" for a time.
After first writing poetry, she began to write hymns in 1864. Over the course of her life, she wrote between 5,500 and 9,000 hymns. The exact number is uncertain due to some written under pseudonyms to preserve modesty. She once said, "True hymns make themselves." "I never undertake a hymn without first asking the good Lord to be my inspiration." Some of her most famous hymns include: "Blessed Assurance;" "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross;" "I Am Thine, O Lord," and "To God Be the Glory." Her hymns were so popular in the Methodist Church that they celebrated "Fanny Crosby Day" for a time.
Interactive Timeline(s)
Browse Related Timeline Entries
Religious Groups
Methodist/Pietist Family: Other ARDA LinksMethodist/Pietist Family: Religious Family Tree
Events
Fanny Crosby Writes "Blessed Assurance"Related Dictionary Terms
Belief in Jesus, Measure of, Bible, Christian, Church, HymnalPhotographs
Fanny Crosby portrait- Internet Archive- from Fanny Crosby's Story of Ninety-Four Years by S. Trevena Jackson
Fanny Crosby portrait- Internet Archive- from Memories of Eighty Years by Fanny J. Crosby
Fanny Crosby and Hubert Main- Internet Archive- from Fanny Crosby's Story of Ninety-Four Years by S. Trevena Jackson
Fanny Crosby speaking- Internet Archive- from Memories of Eighty Years by Fanny J. Crosby
Book/Journal Source(s)
Reid, Daniel, Robert Linder, Bruce Shelley, and Harry Stout, 1990. Dictionary of Christianity in America Downers Grove, IL.Web Source(s)
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fanny-CrosbyFanny Crosby - Encyclopedia Britannica
Web Page Contributor
Benjamin T. GurrentzAffliated with: Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. in Sociology
