1855–1930

Introduction

portrait

Born: Ju­ly 22, 1855, Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia.

Died: Oc­to­ber 10, 1930, Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia.

Buried: Laur­el Hill Ce­me­te­ry, Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia.

Biography

Louis was the son of Gus­ta­vus Smith Ben­son and Mar­ga­ret­ta Fitz­ger­ald Dale Ben­son, and husband of Car­o­line Per­ot War­ren.

He gra­du­at­ed from the Un­i­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­van­ia law school, but prac­ticed law on­ly se­ven years.

In 1877, he en­tered Prince­ton The­o­lo­gic­al Se­mi­na­ry, where his fa­ther was a trust­ee.

Upon gra­du­a­tion, Ben­son was or­dained, then pas­tored at the Pres­by­te­ri­an Church of the Re­deem­er in Ger­man­town, Penn­syl­van­ia.

He al­so be­came a lead­ing au­thor­i­ty in hym­nol­o­gy. His lib­ra­ry ev­ent­u­al­ly grew to 9,000 vol­umes.

In 1895, Ben­son helped ed­it The Hym­nal of the Pres­by­te­ri­an Church in the Unit­ed States of Am­er­i­ca.

Other Works

Sources

Lyrics

  1. By Roads That Wound Up­hill and Down (1927)
  2. For the Bread, Which Thou Hast Brok­en
  3. From Hands That Would Our Land De­flow­er
  4. Glory Lit the Win­try Sky, A
  5. Happy Town of Sa­lem
  6. I Name Thy Hal­lowed Name (1926)
  7. In Lands Across the Sea
  8. King Might Miss the Guid­ing Star, A
  9. Light of God Is Fall­ing, The
  10. Now the Win­try Days Are O’er
  11. O Christ, Who Didst Our Tasks Ful­fill
  12. O Love That Lights the Eas­tern Sky
  13. O Ris­en Christ
  14. O Sing a Song of Beth­le­hem
  15. O Thou Whose Gra­cious Pre­sence Blest
  16. Open the Door to the Sav­ior
  17. Our Will­ful Hearts Have Gone Astray
  18. Out of the Skies, Like An­gel Eyes
  19. Sun Is on the Land and Sea, The
  20. When I Awake from Slum­ber
  21. Who Will Teach Me How to Pray?
  22. Winter Night Was Dark and Still, The

Translations

  1. Near the Cross, Her Vi­gil Keep­ing