Fanny Crosby

mrs. F.J. Van Alstyne) (1823-1915. American hymnwriter. Born in Putnam County, New York, she lost her sight when six weeks old. At the age of eleven she entered the New York City Institution for the Blind, remaining there for twenty-three years as pupil and teacher. While at school she began writing poetry (published first in 1831). She married in 1858 a blind musician, Alexander Van Alstyne, and together they produced a number of hymns. From 1864 she published more than 2,000, of which sixty are still commonly used. Her association with Ira D. Sankey* and W.H. Doane yielded many of her most popular compositions, notably “Safe in the arms of Jesus,” and “To God be the glory.”