Joseph Henry Gilmore

Joseph Henry Gilmore was an American Baptist minister, educator, editor, and author born in Boston in 1834. The son of Joseph A. Gilmore, who became governor of New Hampshire during the Civil War, he was educated at Phillips Academy, Brown University, where he graduated in 1858, and Newton Theological Institution, where he completed his studies in 1861. He was ordained to Baptist ministry in 1862 and served at Fisherville, New Hampshire, later called Penacook.

During 1863–1864 Gilmore also worked as private secretary to his father and edited the Daily Monitor in Concord. He subsequently served Second Baptist Church in Rochester, New York, before entering academic life. In 1868 he joined the University of Rochester as professor of logic, rhetoric, and English literature, eventually becoming a major figure in its English department. University records note more than four decades of teaching and his later involvement with the Rochester Rescue Mission and Railroad YMCA.

Gilmore wrote He Leadeth Me in Philadelphia in 1862 after reflecting on Psalm 23. He later published literary and rhetorical works, including The Art of Expression and Outlines of English and American Literature, but this single hymn became his most enduring contribution to congregational song.