Philip P. Bliss

Gospel songwriter Philip Paul Bliss was born today in Pennsylvania in 1838. There are some accounts which claim that he really had no middle name; that his name was originally Philipp, and he decided to spell it differently by making the second "p" into a middle initial, but most modern sources believe that Paul was his true middle name.

He grew up in farm country, where he went to work in that profession as a boy of thirteen. He had little or no opportunity for exposure to music, but he did attend school as much as possible, in addition to work, and by age eighteen he was teaching school. Shortly after that, he met Lucy Jane Young and they were married in 1859. Lucy sang in her church choir and had received some musical education, and she encouraged his modest interest in music. Over the next few years he studied music more formally and discovered a talent for songwriting.

His first published (secular) song was Lora Vale, which was brought out by George Root's company. This new career avenue was very nearly delayed when he was drafted into the Union Army, in the spring of 1865, but as the Civil War was coming to an end the order was rescinded after two weeks. The following year Philip and Lucy moved to Chicago, where he went to work for Root's publishing house conducting singing schools and musical conventions, and continued to write secular and humorous songs, some under the pseudonym of Pro Phundo Basso.

In 1870 Bliss became both the choir director and Sunday school superintendent at the First Congregational Church of Chicago. Around this time he began to write Sunday School songs, and compiled the songbook The Charm in 1871, which included several of these songs. Over the next two years, he published three more collections.

In 1874 he joined Ira Sankey and Dwight Moody in their evangelical meetings as a song leader and soloist, and also began writing songs for their meetings. George Stebbins, in his Reminiscences and Gospel Hymn Stories (1924), recalled:

He had a voice of rare quality and splendid volume, a baritone of extraordinary range and evenness throughout... As a leader he occupied a position of prominence by reason of native gifts and years of enterience, which, combined with an impressive personality (he was six feet tall and of commanding stature, with features as perfect as form, and eyes that were large and kindly in expression), made him into the great leader of evangelistic song that he was.

In 1874 Bliss collaborated with Ira Sankey on the first volume of Gospel Songs, which contained this song which is still sung today.

Sing them over again to me,
Wonderful words of life,
Let me more of their beauty see,
Wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty,
Teach me faith and duty.

Refrain
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
wonderful words of life,
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
wonderful words of life.

Christ, the blessèd One, gives to all
Wonderful words of life;
We will list to the loving call,
Wonderful words of life;
All so freely given,
Wooing us to heaven.
Refrain

Sweetly echo the gospel call,
Wonderful words of life;
Offer pardon and peace to all,
Wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Savior,
Sanctify forever.
Refrain

Philip P. Bliss, 1874; alt.
Tune: WONDERFUL WORDS OF LIFE (8.6.8.6.6.6. with refrain)

During the next two years, Bliss wrote several more gospel songs (sometimes both words and music, sometimes collaborating with others), including the well-loved tune VILLE DU HAVRE for Horatio Spafford's text It is well with my soul. However, on December 29, 1876, Philip and his wife Lucy were killed in a horrific train accident in Ashtabula, Ohio while traveling back to Chicago from spending Christmas in Pennsylvania. He was reported to have escaped the crash, but returned to the burning train car to rescue her. The victims of the wreck were burned beyond recognition and were buried in a common grave in Ashtabula.

Friend and fellow songwriter Daniel Webster Whittle compiled the Memoirs of Philip P. Bliss, a brief biography which included testimonials from many friends and collaborators, which was sold to benefit the two young sons of Philip and Lucy, only two and four years old at the time of their parents' deaths. Many of Bliss's contemporaries believed that he would have become even more accomplished and popular as a songwriter had he lived to write for thirty more years.

Today, the Philip P. Bliss Gospel Songwriters Museum in Rome, Pennsylvania in their former family home (picture below), honors the legacy of the man and his work. Northeastern PA is not so far away from me, so it may be that a visit is in order at some point.

Three Years Ago: Henry J. Gauntlett

Two Years Ago: Henry J. Gauntlett

If Jordan Above Me Shall Roll

Today marks the anniversary of the sinking of the Ville du Havre in 1873, a passenger steamship traveling from New York to England, an event commemorated by a well-loved hymn.

Horatio G. Spafford was a successful attorney in Chicago, but the Great Fire of 1871 wiped out his real estate investments and brought hardship to his family: his wife Anna, and his four daughters. In 1873 the family planned to travel to England, but a last minute business commitment caused Spafford to stay behind and send his family on alone. During the early morning hours of November 22, their vessel, the Ville du Havre, was struck by another ship and sank within 12 munutes. Two hundred twenty-eight people perished in the accident, including all four Spafford daughters: Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta. Anna Spafford miraculously survived, and sent a telegram to her husband: "Saved alone."

Spafford sailed to join his wife in England, and along the way the captain of his ship pointed out to him the place where the Ville du Havre had gone down. Later on the voyage, he wrote this hymn.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain
It is well (it is well)
With my soul, (with my soul),
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And has shed precious blood for my soul.
Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Refrain

And God, haste the day when our faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Christ shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
Refrain

Horatio G. Spafford, 1873; alt.
Tune: VILLE DU HAVRE
Philip P. Bliss, 1876

Spafford's inspiration might have come from 2 Kings 4:8-37, the story of a Shunammite woman who, following the death of her son, is still able to say "it is well." There are two more verses which are usually left out of hymnals:

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper thy peace to my soul.
Refrain

But, Christ, ‘tis for thee, for thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!
Refrain

The second of these verses is probably considered too similar to the last verse and therefore superfluous. The first, with the line "If Jordan above me shall roll" may have been considered a bit too intense, considering the origin of the hymn (though I thought it a good title for today's post).

Philip P. Bliss wrote the music for Spafford's hymn, naming it after the doomed ship. Tragically, Bliss died soon after in a train collision.