Born: September 21, 1845, Baltimore, Maryland.
Died: May 5, 1925, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Buried: Mount Vernon Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Harriet was the daughter of hymn translator Charles Krauth. and wife of Adolph Spaeth, pastor of St. Johannis Church in Philadelphia (and later president of the General Council of the Lutheran Church in America) .
She attended the Girls’ School in Philadelphia, and lived independently as a writer.
She sang contralto, played the piano and organ, and for many years was the organist at St. Stephen’s Church in west Philadelphia.
She worked zealously for the founding of the Krauth Memorial Library at the seminary in Philadelphia, and was active in the work of the Mary J. Drexel Home, the Lankenau Hospital, and the Lutheran Orphans’ Home in Germantown, Pennsylvania.
Spaeth provided hymn translations for The Church Book (1868) and The Sunday School Hymnal (1901), and was responsible for the music edition of The Church Book (1872).
Many of her essays were published in The Lutheran.
When American Lutherans adopted the Common Service in 1888, she prepared an edition with notes for chanting the service.
Her other works include:
If you know where to get a good photo of Spaeth (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),