William James Kirkpatrick

William James Kirkpatrick was an American gospel-music composer, editor, compiler, and church musician whose career was centered in Philadelphia. Reference sources disagree about his birthplace: Hymnary gives Duncannon, Pennsylvania, while other biographical records place his birth in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1838 and associate his family with Duncannon soon afterward. He received early musical instruction from his father and later studied with private teachers while also learning the carpenter's trade.

Kirkpatrick worked in the furniture business from 1862 to 1878 while remaining active in Methodist church music. He later devoted himself fully to music and served as music director at Grace Methodist Church in Philadelphia. His first collection, Devotional Melodies, appeared in 1859. Over the following decades he compiled or contributed to a large number of gospel-song and Sunday-school collections, many in partnership with John R. Sweney and through publishers such as John J. Hood and Kirkpatrick's own Praise Publishing Company.

His tunes became part of the standard American gospel-song repertory. Representative settings include TRUST IN JESUS for 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, KIRKPATRICK for He Hideth My Soul, and music associated with Jesus Saves. Kirkpatrick died in Philadelphia in 1921. His importance lies in the combination of practical congregational writing, extensive editorial work, and a long service to Methodist and interdenominational evangelical song.