Introduction

Biography

Jorgenson was the son of Da­nish im­mi­grants. His fa­ther, Chris­to­pher Jor­gen­son, had been a sol­dier in the per­son­al guard of the king of Den­mark (prob­ab­ly Christ­ian IX), and his mo­ther a seam­stress to the queen.

His wife was Irene Eli­za­beth Do­ty. The 1900 cen­sus shows the fa­mi­ly in Boone Coun­ty, Ne­bras­ka.

As a young man, El­mer led sing­ing in church­es in and around Al­bi­on, Ne­bras­ka, and in near­by Mis­sou­ri. He was di­rect­ing the mu­sic de­part­ment at West­ern Bi­ble and Li­ter­ary Col­lege by 1908.

In 1910, he and Irene moved to Lou­is­ville, Ken­tuc­ky.

Works

• Truth and Grace, with Ro­bert Boll & James Shep­herd (F. L. Rowe, 1917)
• Great Songs of the Church (Lou­is­ville, Kentucky: Word and Work, 1921)
• The New Al­pha­be­ti­cal Hymnal (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Great Songs Press, 1957)