Emma F. R. Campbell
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November 16, 1830
Emma F. R. Campbell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Emma Frances Riggs Campbell November 16, 1830 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | February 25, 1919 (aged 88) Morristown, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupations | Hymnwriter, author |
Emma Frances Riggs Campbell (November 16, 1830 – February 25, 1919) was an American hymnwriter and author. She is best known for her hymn "Jesus of Nazareth Passeth By".[1]
She was born on November 16, 1830 in Newark, New Jersey, one of eleven children of Abner Campbell, owner of a looking-glass and picture-framing business, and Deborah Conger. Her sister Catherine Smith Campbell married future Florida governor Ossian Bingley Hart.[1][2]
Campbell graduated from the Packer Institute for Girls in Brooklyn, New York in 1959. She and a sister opened a school in Morristown, New Jersey in the 1860s. She taught Sunday school for 37 years at the First Presbyterian Church in Morristown.[1]
"Jesus of Nazareth Passeth By" was inspired by an 1864 religious revival in Newark held by the Rev. Edward Payson Hammond, specifically a sermon mentioning Luke 18:37 and the story of Jesus healing the blind Bartimaeus. Campbell's hymn was first published using the Greek letter Eta as a pseudonym, which has led to Campbell being misidentified as Eta or Etta Campbell. The hymn was anthologized numerous times and was frequently performed by the gospel singer Ira D. Sankey.[1][3]
Campbell published several other hymns, a collection of verse, several children's novels, and a short biography of her brother-in-law Ossian Hart.[1][2]
Campbell died on February 25, 1919 in Morristown, New Jersey, aged 88.[4]
