Philip Bliss
Encyclopedia
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s and a Gospel singer
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
. He wrote many well-known hymns, including Almost Persuaded, Hallelujah, What a Saviour!, Let the Lower Lights Be Burning, Wonderful Words of Life, and the tune for Horatio Spafford
Horatio Spafford
Horatio Gates Spafford was a prominent American lawyer, best known for penning the Christian hymn It Is Well With My Soul, following a family tragedy in which four of his daughters died....
's It Is Well with My Soul
It Is Well with My Soul
It is well, with my soul,It is well, with my soul,It is well, it is well, with my soul.Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,Let this blest assurance control,That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul....
.
Early life
Philip Bliss was born in Clearfield County, PA (although possibly in Rome,PA) in a log cabin. His father was Mr. Isaac Bliss, a practicing MethodistMethodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
, who taught the family to pray daily. Isaac loved music and allowed Bliss to develop his passion for singing.
When he was a boy, Bliss’s family moved to Kinsman, Ohio
Kinsman, Ohio
Kinsman is an unincorporated community in southern Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 44428; as well as a library, the Kinsman Free Public Library...
in 1844, and then returned to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in 1847, settling first in Espeyville, Crawford County and a year later in Tioga County. Bliss had little formal education and was taught by his mother, from the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.
When 10, while selling vegetables to help support the family, Bliss first heard a piano. At age 11 he left home to make his own living. He worked in timber camps and sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s. While working he irregularly went to school to further his education.
Teaching
At 17 Bliss finished his requirements to teach. The next year, in 1856, he became a schoolmaster at Hartsville, New YorkHartsville, New York
----Hartsville is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 585 at the 2000 census. The town is named after a prominent early settler, Reuben Hart....
, and during the summer he worked on a farm.
In 1857 Bliss met J. G. Towner, who taught singing. Towner recognised Bliss’s talent and gave him his first formal voice training. He also met William B. Bradbury who persuaded him to become a music teacher. His first musical composition was sold for a flute. In 1858 he took up an appointment in Rome Academy, Pennsylvania.
In 1858, in Rome, Bliss met Lucy J. Young, whom he married on June 1, 1859. She came from a musical family and encouraged the development of his talent. She was a Presbyterian
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
, and Bliss joined her Church.
Aged 22 Bliss became an itinerant music teacher. On horseback, he went from community to community accompanied by a melodeon
Melodeon (organ)
A melodeon is a type of 19th century reed organ with a foot-operated vacuum bellows, and a piano keyboard. It differs from the related harmonium, which uses a pressure bellows. Melodeons were manufactured in the United States sometime after 1812 until the Civil War era...
. Bliss’s wife’s grandmother lent Bliss $30 so that he could attend the Normal Academy of Music of New York for six weeks. Bliss was now recognised as an expert within his local area. He continued the itinerant teaching.
At this time he turned to composition. None of his songs were ever copyrighted.
Evangelist
In 1864 the Blisses moved to ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Bliss was then 26. He became known as a singer and teacher. He wrote a number of gospel songs. Bliss was paid $100 for a concert tour which lasted only a fortnight
Fortnight
The fortnight is a unit of time equal to fourteen days, or two weeks. The word derives from the Old English fēowertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights"....
. Bliss was amazed that so much money could be earned so quickly. The following week he was drafted for service in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
. Because the war
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
was almost over his notice was canceled after a couple of weeks. The unit he served with was the 149th Pennsylvania Infantry.
Following this Bliss went on another concert tour, but this failed. He was, however, offered a position at Root and Cady Musical Publishers, at a salary of $150 per month. Bliss worked with this company from 1865 until 1873. He conducted musical conventions, singing schools and concerts for his employers. He continued to compose hymns, which were often printed in his employer’s books.
In 1869 Bliss formed an association with Dwight L. Moody
Dwight L. Moody
Dwight Lyman Moody , also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts , the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.-Early life:Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large...
. Moody and others urged Bliss to give up his job and become a missionary singer
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
. In 1874 Bliss decided that he was called to the task of “winning souls”. He then became a full-time evangelist
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
. Bliss made significant amounts of money from royalties and gave them to charity and to support his evangelical endeavours.
Death
On 29 December 1876 the Pacific Express train which Bliss and his wife were traveling in approached Ashtabula, OhioAshtabula, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,962 people, 8,435 households, and 5,423 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,775.9 people per square mile . There were 9,151 housing units at an average density of 1,211.8 per square mile...
. While the train was in the process of crossing a trestle bridge, which collapsed, all carriages fell into the ravine below. Bliss escaped the carriage but the carriages caught fire and Bliss returned to try and extricate his wife. No trace of either body was discovered. Ninety-two of the 160 passengers are believed to have died in what became known as the Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster
Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster
The Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster was a train disaster caused by bridge failure...
.
The Blisses were survived by their two sons, George and Philip Paul, then aged 4 and 1 respectively.
A monument to Bliss was erected in Rome, Pennsylvania.
Found in his trunk, which somehow survived the crash and fire, was a manuscript bearing the lyrics of the only well known Bliss gospel song for which he did not write a tune. Soon thereafter set to a tune specially written for it by James McGranahan
James McGranahan
James McGranahan was a nineteenth-century American musician and composer, most known for his various hymns. He was born 4 July 1840, in West Fallowfield or Adamsville, Pennsylvania, and died 9 July 1907 in Kinsman, Ohio.He composed over 25 hymns...
, it became one of the first songs recorded by Thomas Alva Edison, that song being I Will Sing of My Redeemer.
Works
- Man of sorrows!/What a name/For the Son of God who came/Rebel sinners to reclaim/Hallelujah,what a Saviour
See also
- Ninde, Edward S.; The Story of the American Hymn, New York: Abingdon Press, 1921.
- Wells, Amos R.; A Treasure of Hymns, Boston: United Society of Christian Endeavour, 1914
External links
- The original Hymn manuscript penned by Horatio Spafford
- Christian Biography Resources
- The Memoirs of PP Bliss
- Bliss Photo & Disaster Monument
- The Music of Philip Paul Bliss
- Free scores Mutopia ProjectMutopia projectThe Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books.The music is reproduced from old scores that are out of copyright...