Fanny Crosby blind American hymn writer, poetess

Frances Jane "Fanny" Crosby (1820-1915), American hymn writer and poetess who wrote over 8,000 hymns. Once a preacher sympathetically remarked, "I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you." She replied quickly, "Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I should be born blind?" "Why?" asked the surprised minister. "Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!"

Frances Jane Van Alstyne. Short biography.
"Safe in the Arms of Jesus". Fanny Crosby's life and hymns.
Frances Jane Van Alstyne (Fanny Crosby). Short biography.
Miss Fanny J. Crosby. Biographical sketch.
"Speed Away!" - Fanny Crosby.
Fanny Crosby (1820-1915).
Fanny Crosby. Short biography.
Fanny Crosby. Biographical sketch.
Fanny Crosby, Famous Blind Hymn Writer. Biography for young people.
Fanny Crosby Gravesite. Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, CT.
Photograph of Fanny Crosby and Ira Sankey. .PDF

Writings:
Handfuls of Purpose from the Poetry of Fanny Crosby

Marriage:
In 1858, Fanny married a fellow teacher at the New York Institution of the Blind, the blind musician and composer Alexander Van Alstyne. Their only child, a daughter named Frances, died as an infant. Fanny and Van had been married 44 years when he died in 1902.

Recommended Books:
Her Heart Can See: The Life and Hymns of Fanny J. Crosby by Edith L. Blumhofer. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, ©2005. ISBN 0802842534. 365 pages.
Fanny J. Crosby: An Autobiography. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008. ISBN 9781598562811. 240 pages. Originally published in 1906 as Memoirs of Eighty Years.

More Sources of Information:
Life and Ministry of Fanny Crosby.
Frances Jane (Fanny) Crosby. Words and MIDI music of her hymns.
Papers of Fanny Crosby. Includes biographical sketch and index to hymns.
eBook About Fanny Crosby.

< Biography Index