John Freeman Young

John Freeman Young (1820–1885) was an American Episcopal priest, bishop, translator, and church-music editor. Born in Pittston, Maine, he studied at Wesleyan institutions and at Virginia Theological Seminary before entering ordained ministry in the Protestant Episcopal Church. His clerical work took him through several parts of the United States, including the South and New York, and his interests increasingly joined liturgy, hymnody, and the musical life of the church.

While serving in New York, Young published the small collection Carols for Christmas Tide in 1859. Its opening piece was his English version of Joseph Mohr’s “Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!” Young selected three of Mohr’s six German stanzas—the first, sixth, and second—and fashioned the English text that became the dominant version in English-speaking worship. He also produced Hymns and Music for the Young in 1860–61 and remained active in the study and editing of church song. His work shows the nineteenth-century Episcopal interest in recovering and translating European hymn traditions for American congregations.

In 1867 Young was consecrated the second Bishop of Florida at Trinity Church, Wall Street. Contemporary Episcopal remembrance emphasizes his learning, cultural interests, and attention to church music and liturgy. He continued episcopal ministry until his death in New York City in 1885. A posthumous collection, Great Hymns of the Church, appeared in 1887, extending his influence as an editor as well as a translator.