Sarah Flower Adams was born at Harlow, Essex, England on February 22, 1805. She was the younger daughter of Mr. Benjamin Flower, editor and proprietor of the Cambridge Intelligencer and a political activist. Sarah grew up in a very literary household and was married in 1834 to Williams Bridges Adams, an inventor and civil engineer. Sarah wanted to be an actress, and in 1837 played

the part of Lady MacBeth in a London production to rave reviews, but ill health cut her acting career short, so she turned to writing.

As a member of the congregation of the Reverend William Johnson Fox, a Unitarian minister in London, she contributed thirteen hymns to “Hymns of Anthems” published by C. Fox London in 1841.

Of all her hymns, the most widely known are “Nearer, My God, to Thee” and “He Sendeth Sun, He Sendeth Shower.” “Nearer, My God, to Thee” was written by request to accompany a sermon by Reverend Fox on the account of Jacob’s dream in Genesis chapter 28, and was sung to a tune composed by Sarah’s sister, Eliza, who was a composer and musician. But the hymn did not gain wide appeal until paired with the Lowell Mason tune with which it is commonly sung today.

Lowell Mason, born January 8th, 1792, in Medfield, Massachusetts was a leading figure in American church and school music and the composer of over 1,600 hymns, many of which are often sung today.

He was largely responsible for introducing music into American public schools and is considered to be the first important music educator in the United States. Mason started out as a clerk, then a banker, and considered his music an avocation, publishing his first hymnal anonymously. But when he was successful, he left banking to make his career in music.