James Milton Black

James Milton Black was an American Methodist Episcopal lay musician, hymn writer, composer, songbook editor, singing-school teacher, choir leader, and Sunday-school worker. Born at South Hill, New York, on August 19, 1856, he moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, around 1881 and became deeply involved in the city's Methodist musical life. He studied music with teachers including John Howard of New York and Daniel B. Towner and eventually served for many years at Pine Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Williamsport.

Black combined local church work with a substantial publishing career. He edited more than a dozen gospel-song collections, beginning with Songs of the Soul, and biographical sources credit him with a very large body of hymns and gospel songs. He also served on the commission responsible for the 1905 Methodist Hymnal. Other works associated with him include Come, Oh, Come to Me, The Day of All Days, and We Shall Reign with Him in Glory.

In 1893 Black wrote the text now commonly known as When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder after a Sunday-school roll-call incident led him to think about the biblical Book of Life. He also composed the tune, making the familiar song an original text-and-music pairing rather than a later editorial match.