1847–1929

Introduction

Born: Ap­ril 29, 1847, Bed­ford­shire, Eng­land.

Died: Ju­ly 29, 1929, Pro­vi­dence, Rhode Is­land.

Buried: Pos­si­bly Pro­vi­dence, Rhode Is­land.

portrait

Biography

At age 17, Wes­ley be­gan writ­ing for me­tro­po­li­tan and lo­cal pa­pers. By age 22, he was spe­cial cor­res­pond­ent for the New York Times in Bue­nos Air­es, Ar­gen­ti­na, and a con­tri­but­or to the Con­sti­tu­ci­on and In­ter­es­es Ar­gen­ti­onos and the Standard.

While in Bue­nos Air­es, Wes­ley was li­censed to preach by the Me­tho­dist Epis­co­pal Church. For a num­ber of years, he man­aged the Club Es­tran­gei­ro.

Emigrating to Am­eri­ca in the ear­ly 1870s, he at­tend­ed Drew Theo­lo­gic­al Se­mi­na­ry in Ma­di­son, New Jer­sey, and held pas­tor­ates in Mon­sey, New York; Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia; Low­ell, Mas­sa­chu­setts; and Pro­vi­dence, Rhode Is­land.

For 10 years he was a re­gu­lar con­tri­bu­tor to Gos­pel in All Lands, the Bap­tist Un­ion and oth­er re­li­gious and se­cu­lar pa­pers.

He was ed­it­or of the Young Peo­ple’s De­part­ment of the Morn­ing Star of Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts, from 1895 to around 1911.

In 1873, Wes­ley mar­ried An­gel­ete Coe of New­ark, New Jer­sey. By 1880, he was teach­ing school in Har­ring­ton, New Jer­sey. By 1900, he and his fa­mi­ly had moved to Pro­vi­dence, Rhode Is­land, where they lived through at least 1920.

Works

Wesley wrote 500–600 hymns, and near­ly 2,000 ar­ti­cles, chief­ly on re­li­gious and theo­lo­gic­al sub­jects. About a hun­dred of his po­ems were set to mu­sic.

Many of his ear­li­er po­ems ap­peared in the Nash­ville and New York Chris­tian Ad­vo­cate.

He al­so wrote Songs of the Heart, Steps in­to the Bless­ed Life, and a num­ber of tracts.

Sources

Lyrics

  1. All My Need Sup­plied in Je­sus
  2. Are Clouds of Deep Darkness Above Thee?
  3. Are You a Temple for Je­sus?
  4. Beneath the Sha­dows, Dark and Still
  5. Blessed Are the Pure in Heart
  6. Blessed Sav­ior, Lord Di­vine
  7. Christ the Lord, Com­eth?
  8. Christ Will Nev­er Fail
  9. Close Be­side Thee Stands
  10. Come, Ho­ly Spir­it, Source of Pow­er
  11. Come, Ho­ly Spir­it, the God of Might
  12. Day Has Come for Sin’s De­throne­ment, The
  13. Door Is Wide Op­en, The
  14. Dwell Deep, O My Soul
  15. Earth’s Christ­less Mill­ions
  16. From Death to Life
  17. God Calls for Men of Faith To­day
  18. God’s Words to Thee Are Spok­en
  19. Have You E’er a Thought Once Giv­en
  20. He Know­eth the Way That Is Best for Me
  21. How Oft­en Do I Won­der
  22. I Be­lieve Thee, I Re­ceive Thee
  23. I Do Love Je­sus with All My Heart
  24. I Have Cho­sen a Child of God to Be
  25. I Have Found the Place Where I Safe Can Rest
  26. I Know Not How Such Love Could Be
  27. I Stand To­night, Be­side the Cross
  28. I Would Be Like Thee
  29. If We Fol­low, Love and Serve Him
  30. Jesus Calls Me
  31. Jesus Came to Seek His Lost Ones
  32. Jesus, I Will Fol­low Thee
  33. Jesus, My Sav­ior, Through the Chang­ing Ways
  34. Jesus, Take This Heart of Mine
  35. Life Is Mine, Yes, Mine Through the Blood
  36. Lord, Our God, Is King, The
  37. Make Je­sus King
  38. Many the Hearts Who of Er­ror Are Wea­ry
  39. Marching to the Bat­tle­field
  40. More of Je­sus
  41. No Oil in Thy Lamp and the Bride­groom Near
  42. No Such Friend Has Man Like Je­sus
  43. O Wea­ry One, by Night Dis­tressed
  44. O What Joy Would Be Ours
  45. O’er the Rough Wa­ters Now Lashed by the Storm
  46. Oft Times I Sit and Won­der
  47. Once More We Meet, O Lord
  48. Only a Lit­tle While, and Then, the Long, Long Day
  49. Our Ev­en­ing Hymn to Thee
  50. Sheltered in the Rock of Ag­es
  51. Since the Day When Je­sus Found Me
  52. Sinners Lost, but Sought by Je­sus
  53. Some Day the Clouds of Earth­ly Life Will Pass
  54. Still Un­de­cid­ed
  55. Tell It Again
  56. Thou Lamb of God, Thou Lov­ing Lamb
  57. Though My Feet In­cline to Stray
  58. Thy Doors Un­bolt and Op­en Wide
  59. ’Tis the Lord’s Com­mand
  60. Today Earth’s Fields Are Ripe and Gold­en
  61. Tonight, for Thee the Door Stands Op­en Wide
  62. Unchangeable Art Thou
  63. Until He Come!
  64. Voice of God Is Call­ing Thee, The
  65. Why Dost Thou Wan­der Away from Thy Lord?
  66. Will Je­sus Now Save a Poor Sin­ner Like Me?
  67. Wonderful Tid­ings the An­gels Are Tell­ing

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