Frances Jane Crosby

Frances Jane Crosby, commonly known as Fanny J. Crosby, was an American poet, hymn writer, educator, and urban mission worker. Blind from infancy, she entered the New York Institution for the Blind in 1835 and remained there for many years as a student and later as a teacher of subjects including English and history. Long before she became known primarily for gospel songs, she published poetry and appeared at public events connected with the education of blind people. In 1858 she married musician Alexander Van Alstyne, who had also studied at the institution.

Crosby began concentrated work as a gospel-hymn writer in the 1860s and eventually produced thousands of texts, often for composers and publishers working in the growing American Sunday school and revival-song movement. She collaborated with William H. Doane on many songs after meeting him in 1867. Her better-known texts include “Blessed Assurance,” “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” “Rescue the Perishing,” “Safe in the Arms of Jesus,” and “All the Way My Savior Leads Me.”

Although Crosby worshiped in several Protestant settings during her long life, she had significant Methodist Episcopal ties and formally joined Cornell Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church in 1887. In later years she also devoted substantial energy to rescue-mission work among poor and marginalized people in New York City. “To God Be the Glory” is distinctive within her output for its strongly declarative focus on God’s saving work rather than on a detailed personal testimony.