1863–1961

Introduction

portrait

Born: No­vem­ber 14, 1863, War­dle, Eng­land.

Died: No­vem­ber 1, 1961, at her home in Se­at­tle, Wash­ing­ton.

Cremated: Lo­ca­tion of ash­es is un­known.

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portrait

Biography

Daughter of a Me­tho­dist min­is­ter, Hel­en emi­grat­ed from Eng­land with her fa­mi­ly to Am­er­ica when she was 12 years old. They first set­tled in Mis­sis­sip­pi, then re­lo­cat­ed to Wis­con­sin.

She moved to Se­at­tle, Wash­ing­ton, in 1904, and for three years was mu­sic cri­tic for the Se­at­tle Post-In­tel­li­genc­er.

While in­ter­view­ing Ger­man sing­er Er­nes­tine Schu­mann-Hein, Hel­en was per­suad­ed to go to Eur­ope. A gift­ed sing­er, she stu­died mu­sic in Ger­ma­ny for four years.

Upon re­turn to Am­er­ica, she be­gan giv­ing con­certs and tra­vel­ing on the Chau­tau­qua cir­cuit. Even­tu­al­ly, she be­came a vo­cal mu­sic teach­er at the Moody Bi­ble In­st­itute in Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois.

After re­tire­ment, she moved back to Se­at­tle, where she was a mem­ber of the Ball­ard Bap­tist Church.

Works

Among her works are a hym­nal used by ev­an­gel­ist Bil­ly Sun­day for ov­er a de­cade. Lem­mel and a wo­men’s cho­ral group she di­rect­ed were part of Sun­day’s group at the peak of his ca­reer. She is said to have wri­tten about 400 hymns.

Sources

Lyrics