1813–1891

Introduction

Born: De­cem­ber 26, 1813, Scotch Plains, New Jer­sey.

Died: May 3, 1891, at the Ho­tel Del Mon­te, near Mon­te­rey, Ca­li­for­nia.

Buried: Wil­low Grove Ce­me­te­ry, New Bruns­wick, New Jer­sey.

portrait

Biography

Abraham was the son of Den­nis Coles and Ka­tri­na (Ca­the­rine) Van Duer­sen, hus­band of Ca­ro­line Eli­za­beth Ack­er­man (mar­ried 1842), and fa­ther of Emi­lie Coles.

Educated by his par­ents ini­tial­ly, he be­gan teach­ing La­tin and Greek in Plain­field, New Jer­sey, around 1830.

He at­tend­ed the Uni­ver­si­ty of the City of New York; the Col­lege of Phy­si­cians and Sur­geons, New York; and the Jef­fer­son Me­di­cal Col­lege, Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia, where he gra­du­at­ed in 1835. He be­gan prac­tic­ing me­di­cine in New­ark, New Jer­sey, in 1836.

Coles was well a tra­veled man, vis­it­ing Eur­ope se­ver­al times, and st­udied both an­cient and mo­dern lang­uag­es. He was one of the found­ers of the New­ark, New Jer­sey, lib­ra­ry, and the New Je­rsey His­to­ri­cal So­ci­ety, and served on the New­ark Board of Edu­ca­tion for 12 years. In 1866, he be­came pre­si­dent of the New Jer­sey Me­di­cal So­ci­ety.

Coles re­ceived sev­er­al aca­de­mic de­grees, inc­lud­ing an AM from Rut­gers Col­lege, New Bruns­wick, New Jer­sey; a PhD from Lew­is­burg Uni­ver­si­ty (now Buck­nell) (1860); and an LLD from Prince­ton Uni­ver­si­ty, New Jer­sey (1871)

Works

Sources

Lyrics

  1. Day of Wrath, That Day of Burn­ing
  2. Divine, Eter­nal Word
  3. Ever, My Lord, with Thee
  4. Everywhere the Groves Are Ring­ing
  5. From Thee, Be­get­ting Sure Con­vict­ion
  6. God of All, Above and Un­der
  7. Have We Not All One Fa­ther?
  8. Here Are Part­ings and Pain­ful Fare­wells
  9. How Sweet the Me­mo­ry of Those
  10. I Sing the Shep­herd of the Sheep
  11. Let Us to Je­ho­vah Raise
  12. Lift to Him Your Hymns of Laud
  13. Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates
  14. Lord Has Ris­en as He Said, The
  15. Memory of Je­sus’ Name, The
  16. O Beau­ti­ful and Grand
  17. O’er the Ocean Is Waft­ed the Tre­mu­lous Cry
  18. Out of the Mouths of Babes and Suck­lings
  19. Savior of the Hu­man Race
  20. Set My Anx­ious Heart at Rest
  21. Sweet Pro­phe­tic Voice, The
  22. They Err Who Think That God Is Far
  23. Thou God of Love, Thy Glo­ries Bright
  24. To Sit at Je­sus’ Feet
  25. We Can­not Build Alone
  26. We Hail Each Re­turn of the Day of Thy Birth
  27. What Things Shall Hap­pen on the Mor­row
  28. When Je­sus Speaks, So Sweet the Sound
  29. Wicked Hands, How Sad the Sto­ry
  30. Ye Mes­sen­gers of God to Men