Jennie Bain Wilson
American hymn writer (1856–1913)
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Mary Jane "Jennie" Bain Wilson (November 13, 1856 – September 3, 1913) was an American hymn writer.
November 13, 1856
Jennie Bain Wilson | |
|---|---|
A 1907 Christmas card featuring hymn writer Jennie Bain Wilson. | |
| Born | Mary Jane Bain Wilson November 13, 1856 South Whitley, Indiana |
| Died | September 3, 1913 (aged 56) South Whitley, Indiana |
| Other name | Jennie Wilson |
| Occupations | hymn writer, poet, church worker |
| Years active | 1880s-1913 |
Early life
Wilson was born on a farm in South Whitley, Indiana in 1856,[1] the younger daughter of Robert Wilson and Mary Frances Russell Wilson.[2] She survived typhoid fever as a little girl, and her spine was damaged by the bacterial infection ("typhoid spine" was first described in the medical literature many years later).[3] She used a wheelchair from childhood.[4]
Career
Wilson wrote thousands and published hundreds of Christian hymns;[5] she was known as the "Fanny Crosby of the West".[2] Her hymn "Hold to God's Unchanging Hand" (1905)[6] was especially popular in the 1910s and 1920s.[7]
Wilson was also the author of the slogan of Fort Wayne, Indiana, "Fort Wayne with Might and Main", taking the $50 prize in the city's slogan contest, out of 25,000 submissions.[8][9][10]
Personal life
After 1902 Wilson lived with her married older sister. She sought some surgical treatment of her paralysis in Indianapolis, and "improved somewhat".[9] Wilson died in 1913, aged 57 years, from kidney disease, in South Whitley, Indiana.[1][4]
