Born: November 23, 1831, Blandford, Massachusetts.
Died: October 21, 1899, Goshen, Massachusetts.
Buried: Goshen Center Cemetery, Goshen, Massachusetts.
A fifth generation preacher, Hastings began hymn writing and preaching at age 17, and worked as an evangelist in various parts of America.
In 1865, he founded the Scriptural Tract Repository in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1866, he established The Christian, a monthly paper in which many of his hymns appeared.