John Edgar Gould was born in Bangor, Maine, on April 9, 1822.
John Gould had a music store in New York and later a piano dealership called Gould and Fischer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
John was a music conductor and composer of psalm, hymn and glee tunes. He compiled and published eight books of church, Sunday School, and secular songs.
When John was suffering from illness, he wrote the only thing that has remained in use to this day, the music for “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me.” Shortly afterwards he sailed to Africa, hoping to improve his health. He died there four years later.
The hymn tune he wrote:
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John died in Algiers, Africa on February 13, 1875.
Sources
Theron Brown and Hezekiah Butterworth, The Story of the Hymns and Tunes (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1906), p. 374.
Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 More Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1985), p. 165.
