eHymns.org

Keble, John, M.A., was born at Fairford, in Gloucestershire, on St. Mark's Day, 1792. His father was Vicar of Coln St. Aldwin's, about three miles distant, but lived at Fairford in a house of his own, where he educated entirely his two sons, John and Thomas, up to the time of their entrance at Oxford. In 1806 John Keble won a Scholarship at Corpus Christi College, and in 1810 a Double First Class, a distinction which up to that time had been gained by no one except Sir Robert Peel. In 1811 he was elected a Fellow of Oriel, a very great honour, especially for a boy under 19 years of age; and in 1811 he won the University Prizes both for the English and Latin Essays. It is somewhat remarkable that amid this brilliantly successful career, one competition in which the future poet was unsuccessful was that for English verse, in which he was defeated by Mr. Rolleston. After his election at Oriel, he resided in College, and engaged in private tuition. At the close of 1813 he was appointed Examining Master in the Schools, and was an exceedingly popular and efficient examiner. On Trinity Sunday, 1815, he was ordained Deacon, and in 1816 Priest, by the Bishop of Oxford, and became Curate of East Leach and Burthorpe, though he still continued to reside at Oxford. In 1818 he was appointed College Tutor at Oriel, which office he retained until 1823. On the death of his mother in the same year, he left Oxford, and returned to live with his father and two surviving sisters at Fairford. In addition to East Leach and Burthorpe, he also accepted the Curacy of Southrop, and the two brothers, John and Thomas, undertook the duties between them, at the same time helping their father at Coln. It should be added, as an apology for Keble thus becoming a sort of pluralist among "the inferior clergy," that the population of all his little cures did not exceed 1000, nor the income £100 a year. In 1824 came the only offer of a dignity in the Church, and that a very humble one, which he ever received. The newly-appointed Bishop of Barbadoes (Coleridge) wished Keble to go out with him as Archdeacon, and but for his father's delicate state of health, he would probably have accepted the offer. In 1825 he became Curate of Hursley, on the recommendation of his old pupil, Sir William Heathcote; but in 1826, on the death of his sister, Mary Ann, he returned to Fairford, feeling that he ought not to separate himself from his father and only surviving sister. He supplied his father's place at Coln entirely. 1827 was memorable for the publication of The Christian Year, and 1828 for the election to the Provostship of Oriel, which his friends, rather than himself, seem to have been anxious to secure for him. In 1829 the living of Hursley was offered to him by Sir William Heathcote, but declined on the ground that he could not leave his father. In 1830 he published his admirable edition of Hooker's Works. In 1831 the Bishop of Exeter (Dr. Philpotts) offered him the valuable living of Paignton, but it was declined for the same reason that Hursley had been declined. In the same year he was also elected to the Poetry Professorship at Oxford. His Praelectiones in that capacity were much admired. In 1833 he preached his famous Assize Sermon at Oxford, which is said by Dr. Newman to have given the first start to the Oxford Movement. Very soon after the publication of this sermon the Tracts for the Times began to be issued. Of these Tracts Keble wrote Nos. 4, 13, 40, and 89. In 1835 his father died, and Keble and his sister retired from Fairford to Coln. In the same year he married Miss Clarke and the Vicarage of Hursley, again becoming vacant, was again offered to him by Sir W. Heathcote, and as the reason for his previous refusal of it no longer existed, he accepted the offer, and in 1836 settled at Hursley for the remainder of his life. That life was simply the life of a devoted and indefatigable parish priest, varied by intellectual pursuits. In 1864 his health began to give way, and on March 29, 1866, he passed away, his dearly loved wife only surviving him six weeks. Both are buried, side by side, in Hursley churchyard.

Source: https://hymnary.org/person/Keble_John

Johann Peter Ritter (2 July 1763 - 1 August 1846) was a German composer, conductor, chorus master, and cellist born and died in Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany). He is best known in the United States for "Sun of My Soul" and "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name."

Peter Ritter was son of the oboist Georg Wilhelm Ritter and the nephew of the bassoonist Georg Wenzel Ritter. He was a student of Abbé Vogler, who also taught Giacomo Meyerbeer and Carl Maria von Weber. He played cello in the orchestra of the Mannheim National Theatre beginning in 1786 and became one of its concertmasters in 1801. From 1803 to 1823 he worked as its conductor. His successor was the Antonio Salieri student, Michael Frey.

In addition to more than 20 stage works, including Die lustige Weiber, one of the earliest known operas after William Shakespeare and one of ten operatic adaptations of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Ritter also composed church music and various instrumental works. His brother, Heinrich Ludwig Ritter, became known as a violinist, his, son Karl August Ritter, was a singer.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ritter

Born: October 4, 1880, Union Furnace, Ohio.

Died: December 18, 1955, Winona Lake, Indiana.

Buried: Oakwood Cemetery, Warsaw, Indiana. Bentley Ackley lies nearby.

Rodeheaver began his career touring with the Billy Sunday evangelism campaign in the early 20th Century. Afterward, he helped found the Rodeheaver-Ackley Company, a Gospel music publisher which later became the Rodeheaver Hall-Mack Company. He also founded Rainbow Records, which specialized in Gospel music. His works include:

* Golden Bells (Chicago, Illinois: The Rodeheaver Company, 1923)
* Hymnal Handbook for Standard Hymns and Gospel Songs (Chicago, Illinois: The Rodeheaver Company, 1931)

Sources

* Anderson, p. 202
* Randel, p. 753

Music

1. Confidence
2. Good Night and Good Morning
3. Sail On!
4. Somebody Cares
5. Then Jesus Came

Source: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/r/o/d/rodeheaver_ha.html