Charles Albert Dickinson

Charles Albert Dickinson was born on a farm in Westminster, Vermont, on July 4, 1849, and died at Corona, California, on January 9, 1907. After spending his early years on the family farm, he graduated from Phillips Academy in 1872, Harvard College in 1876, and Andover Theological Seminary in 1879. An American Congregational minister, he served Payson Memorial Church in Portland, Maine, and Kirk Street Church in Lowell, Massachusetts, before beginning a thirteen-year pastorate at Berkeley Street Church in Boston in 1887. Under his leadership the congregation became Berkeley Temple and expanded its community outreach and rescue work. That ministry included the establishment of the New England Kurn Hattin Homes for children in his native Westminster.

Ill health led Dickinson to retire from active ministry around 1899 and move to California. His hymn writing was directed especially toward young people and Christian discipleship. John Julian’s 1907 supplement identifies Blessed Master, I Have Promised as a hymn of consecration to Christ and dates its composition precisely to January 4, 1900. The earliest located publication is The Endeavor Hymnal of 1901, a collection for young people’s societies, Sunday schools, and prayer meetings. Dickinson’s other indexed texts include O Golden Day, So Long Desired; To Thee, O Savior Friend; and While Struggling in a Maze of Doubt. His death year is sometimes misstated as 1906, but the Dartmouth College necrology records January 9, 1907.