[Missouri-l] Words to live by

[Denny Huff]

 Fannie Crosby, the great hymn writer. For most of her life Fannie Crosby
was blind, and yet at the tender age of eight, Fannie wrote:

"Oh! What a happy soul am I. Although I cannot see, I am resolved that in
this world, contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy that other people don't.
To weep and sigh because I'm blind, I cannot and I won't."

And do you know what? She didn't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Crosby
Fanny Crosby
Frances Jane Crosby (March 24, 1820 - February 12, 1915) usually known as
Fanny Crosby, was an American lyricist best known for her Protestant
Christian hymns. A lifelong Methodist, she was one of the most prolific
hymnists in history, writing over 8,000 despite becoming blind shortly after
birth.[1] Also known for her preaching and speaking, during her lifetime
Fanny Crosby was one of the best known women in the United States.
To this day, the vast majority of American hymnals contain her work. Some of
her best known songs include "Blessed Assurance",[1] "Jesus Is Tenderly
Calling You Home",[2] "Praise Him, Praise Him",[3] and "To God Be the
Glory".[4] Since some publishers were hesitant to have so many hymns by one
person in their hymnals, Crosby used nearly 100 different pseudonyms during
her career.


Early life and career
Fanny Crosby was born in Southeast, Putnam County, New York to poor parents,
John and Mercy Crosby. At six weeks old, she caught a cold and developed
inflammation of the eyes. The family physician was not available, and the
man who came in his place recommended hot poultices as treatment. The
botched procedure blinded her.
Her father died when she was one year old, so she was raised by her mother
and grandmother. These women grounded Crosby in Protestant Christian
principles, helping her, for example, memorize long passages from the Bible.

Crosby became an active member of the John Street Methodist Episcopal Church
in New York City.
At age 15, Crosby enrolled at the New York School for the Blind (now the New
York Institute for Special Education). She remained there for seven years. 
During that time she learned to play the piano and guitar and to sing. In
1843, she joined a group of lobbyists in Washington, D.C. arguing for
support of education for the blind. From 1847 to 1858, Crosby joined the
faculty at the New York school, teaching English and history. She married
Alexander Van Alstyne, a blind musician and fellow teacher, in 1858. At his
insistence, she kept her maiden name. They had one daughter, Francis, who
died while a baby. Alexander died on July 19, 1902.
[edit] Early writing career
Crosby was noted for writing poetry from the time she was eight years old. 
Her first published work was A Blind Girl and Other Poems (1844), followed
by Monterey and Other Poems (1853) and A Wreath of Columbia's Flowers
(1858).
She also wrote some popular songs, which were set to music by George F. 
Root. Some of them were "Rosalie, the Prairie Flower", "Hazel Dell",
"There's Music in the Air". Crosby saw success with her secular verse
writing, earning nearly $3,000 in royalties for her song "Rosalie, the
Prairie Flower".


Blindness
Crosby was never bitter about her disability. At the age of eight she wrote
these verses about her condition:
Oh what a happy soul I am,
Although I cannot see;
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy,
That other people don't;
To weep and sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot, and I won't."
She later remarked:
It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind
all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight
were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns
to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and
interesting things about me.
She also once said, "when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever
gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!"
She composed her poems and hymns entirely in her mind and then dictated them
to someone else. She was said to work mentally on as many as twelve hymns at
once before dictating them all out.
Career in writing hymns


"A Hymn of Thanksgiving" sheet music cover Crosby wrote her first hymn in
1863 for the composer William B. Bradbury, a respected musician and
publisher. It was called "There's a Cry from Macedonia". Over the years she
wrote for Bradbury and for other composers, including Philip Phillips,
Hubert P. Main, Robert Lowry, W. H. Doane, Ira D. 
Sankey, Philip P. Bliss, Mr. W. F. Sherwin, and Phoebe Knapp. Before her
death, she had written at least 8,000 hymns,[2] using dozens of pen names.
Fame
Crosby was very well known during her time and often met with presidents,
generals, and other dignitaries. She played the hymn "Safe in the Arms of
Jesus" at President Grant's Funeral in 1885. In her later years, she also
became a popular public speaker.
When she died, her tombstone carried the words, "Aunt Fanny" and "Blessed
assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine." Eliza
Hewitt memorialized Fanny's passing in a poem:
Away to the country of sunshine and song, Our songbird has taken her flight,
And she who has sung in the darkness so long Now sings in the beautiful
light.
Crosby is buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, Connecticut. She
was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1975. 



Denny Huff
President

Missouri Council of the Blind
5453 Chippewa
St. Louis, MO  63109

Phone: (636) 262-1383
Toll Free: (888) 362-1383
Phonecast: (816) 298-8969
FAX: (636) 629-1710

DHuff at MoBlind.Org
www.moblind.org

MCB - A GREAT PLACE TO BE!

The purpose of Missouri Council of the Blind shall be to promote the general
well-being of our members and legally blind people in Missouri, and to
support or participate in other programs promoting the best interests of
legally blind people everywhere.