Lewis Edgar Jones
1865 - 1936
Biography
Lewis Edgar Jones (1865–1936) was an American YMCA leader, gospel-song writer, and composer whose work belongs to the evangelical gospel-song tradition of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in Yates City, Illinois, he grew up near Davenport, Iowa, worked in business for a time, and studied at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology notes that he was in the same graduating class as evangelist Billy Sunday.
Jones spent roughly three decades in Young Men’s Christian Association work. He served as a physical director in Davenport, later held a general-secretary post in Fort Worth, Texas, and became general secretary of the YMCA in Santa Barbara, California; the Canterbury account places him there from 1915 until his retirement in 1925. Hymn writing and composition were an avocation alongside that career rather than his principal employment.
His output was extensive. Hymnary attributes hundreds of texts and tunes to him and records the pseudonym Mary Slater. His best-known gospel song is “Power in the Blood,” dated 1899, for which he supplied both words and music; other representative works include “We Shall See the King Some Day” and “I’ve Anchored in Jesus.” He also composed music for texts by other writers, including John Henry Yates’s “The Old Book Stands.” Jones died in Santa Barbara in 1936. His lasting significance rests in compact, testimonial songs designed for participatory evangelical worship.
Jones spent roughly three decades in Young Men’s Christian Association work. He served as a physical director in Davenport, later held a general-secretary post in Fort Worth, Texas, and became general secretary of the YMCA in Santa Barbara, California; the Canterbury account places him there from 1915 until his retirement in 1925. Hymn writing and composition were an avocation alongside that career rather than his principal employment.
His output was extensive. Hymnary attributes hundreds of texts and tunes to him and records the pseudonym Mary Slater. His best-known gospel song is “Power in the Blood,” dated 1899, for which he supplied both words and music; other representative works include “We Shall See the King Some Day” and “I’ve Anchored in Jesus.” He also composed music for texts by other writers, including John Henry Yates’s “The Old Book Stands.” Jones died in Santa Barbara in 1936. His lasting significance rests in compact, testimonial songs designed for participatory evangelical worship.
Hymns by Lewis Edgar Jones
I've Anchored in Jesus
Role: Lyricist
There Is Power in the Blood
Role: Composer