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In 1886, the First Baptist Church of North Adams, Massachusetts, was growing in interest of spiritual things. They also had a young Swiss musician, named Peter Bilhorn, helping Pastor Rowley. One Sunday evening, after the service, Peter asked Pastor Rowley for a poem that he could set to music. That night the verses came together, and Pastor Rowley wrote the original poem, “Can’t You Sing the Wondrous Story.”
Later, Peter Bilhorn went to Brooklyn, New York, where the famous musician and publisher, George Stebbins, was. When they met, Stebbins asked if he had any songs he had written, and Peter Bilhorn showed him the piece that Pastor Rowley and he had produced. George Stebbins offered to give Peter anything he needed to help him in his singing or music, and Peter gladly accepted. Peter had not studied harmony at that point, so Stebbins harmonized the song for him.
George Stebbins then took Peter Bilhorn to meet another famous musician and publisher, Ira Sankey. They showed the song to him and Sankey was impressed and thought he could use it.
After checking with Rowley, Bilhorn presented it to Ira Sankey as a gift. Sankey was really impressed with the usefulness of the hymn and published it in 1887, in the Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs and Solos book. However, Sankey changed the words from “Can’t You Sing …” to “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story.”
The hymn soon became one of the most popular songs in the whole book!
Chorus
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Sources
Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1982), pp. 114, 115.
Logos Hymnal, 1st edition. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995).
Uncredited articles quoted at KeanMacOwan’s “MacOwan Family Tree.” Ancestry.com (Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), www.ancestry.com.
