Frances Jane Crosby

Frances Jane Crosby, widely known as Fanny J. Crosby and also published as F. J. Van Alstyne, was an American hymn writer, poet, educator, and mission worker. Blind from infancy, she became one of the most prolific writers of nineteenth-century gospel songs and collaborated with leading composers and publishers of the American gospel-hymn tradition. Her well-known hymns include “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” “Blessed Assurance,” “To God Be the Glory,” “Rescue the Perishing,” “Safe in the Arms of Jesus,” and “All the Way My Savior Leads Me.”