American Hymnody

Prior to 1800, psalmody rather than hymnody formed the standard usage in America. The famous Bay Psalm Book (or New England Version of 1640), published at Cambridge, New England, by Stephen Day, was the first volume printed in the British North American colonies. Due to its extreme rarity, surviving copies of the first edition are highly prized. Isaiah Thomas, founder of the American Antiquarian Society, estimated that no fewer than seventy editions were printed in Boston, London, and Edinburgh. Thomas Prince's 1757 revision of the version met with less favor and remains scarcer than the original, which was gradually superseded by the version of Tate and Brady. Numerous Boston editions of Tate and Brady, supplemented with hymns mostly by Isaac Watts, appeared between 1750 and 1800. Towards the close of the century, editions of Watts's Psalms and Hymns were widely issued across New England, continuing after the publication of amended psalm versions by Joel Barlow in 1785 and Timothy Dwight in 1800. Following the American Revolution, independent hymn compilation began in earnest across various religious denominations.

Denominational Hymnody

I. Protestant Episcopal Church

The Episcopal Church issued the Tate and Brady version with twenty-seven hymns in 1789, adding thirty more in 1808. These were superseded by an abridged psalm selection and a collection of 212 hymns in 1827 (commonly known as the Prayer-Book Collection), set forth by the General Conventions of 1789, 1808, and 1826. It remained in exclusive Sunday service use for thirty-five years and was bound with the Book of Common Prayer until 1871. In 1866, sixty-six Additional Hymns were authorized, leading to the adoption of a official Hymnal in 1871 (slightly revised in 1874). Important private collections designed for week-night services included Dr. C. W. Andrews's Church Hymns (1844, 1857) and Hymns for Church and Home (1859–1860).

II. Presbyterians

Presbyterians long relied primarily on Watts. Their first official Psalms and Hymns appeared in 1828–1829, with amended editions in 1830–1834 and 1843. The Church Psalmist (1843, supplement 1847) served for many years as the main hymnal of the New School body. Major collections include the Presbyterian Hymnal (1874), Joshua Leavitt's historic Christian Lyre (1830–1831), and Thomas Hastings's Spiritual Songs (1831–1833), which introduced early works by Hastings, Ray Palmer, and S. F. Smith. Dr. C. S. Robinson compiled Songs for the Sanctuary (1865) and Spiritual Songs (1878) for broad congregational use. Outstanding scholarly compilations notable for textual accuracy include Dr. E. F. Hatfield's The Church Hymn Book (1872) and Drs. Hitchcock, Eddy, and Schaff's Hymns & Songs of Praise (1874).

III. Congregationalists

Early Congregational compilations include Nathan Strong's Hartford Selection (1799) and Asahel Nettleton's widely influential Village Hymns (1824), which drew missionary pieces from Leonard Bacon's Hymns for the Monthly Concert (Andover, 1823). Other prominent manuals included Samuel Worcester's edition of Watts (1823), Lowell Mason and David Greene's Church Psalmody (1831), and Henry Ward Beecher's Plymouth Collection (1855). The Sabbath Hymn Book (1858), prepared by Professors Edwards A. Park and Austin Phelps of Andover, was among the most significant American hymnals of its era. By 1880, a reaction against oversized volumes (~1,200 to 1,500 hymns) led to smaller collections (~600 hymns), such as the Oberlin Manual of Praise, C. H. Richards's Songs of Christian Praise, and Hall and Lasar's Evangelical Hymnal.

IV. Baptists

Baptists quickly adopted independent hymn collections. A Philadelphia collection of 1790 referenced an even earlier volume printed in Newport, Rhode Island. Joshua Smith's Divine Hymns reached a ninth edition by 1799, while John Stanford issued a collection in New York in 1792 containing author attributions. Winchell's Arrangement of Watts (1817–1832) achieved large distribution. The Psalmist (1843), edited by Baron Stow and S. F. Smith, was adopted throughout the North, while Basil Manly's Baptist Psalmody (1850) predominated in the South. Later standard volumes included the Baptist Hymn Book, Praise Book, and Service of Song (all 1871).

V. Methodists

American Methodists initially used a Pocket Hymn Book (revised by Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury in 1802). Official hymnals were established in 1836 and 1849, later replaced by the Methodist Hymnal (1878). The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, issued its own Hymns in 1847, adhering closely to John Wesley's original compilations. Revivalistic camp-meeting songs grew rapidly in popularity throughout the nineteenth century, eventually shaping popular movements represented by Ira D. Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos.

VI. Universalists

Universalists began compilation efforts early, publishing collections in Boston and Philadelphia in 1792. In 1808, the General Convention requested a volume of 415 original hymns contributed by Hosea Ballou, Abner Kneeland, and others. Subsequent works included collections by Ballou and Turner (1821), S. and R. Streeter (1829), and John G. Adams and E. H. Chapin's Hymns for Christian Devotion (1846).

VII. Unitarians

Unitarians produced a large number of hymnals and original texts. Important collections, primarily published in Boston, include Jeremy Belknap's (1795), Sewall's (New York, 1820), F. W. P. Greenwood's (1830–1835), Samuel Longfellow and Samuel Johnson's Book of Hymns (1846–1848) and Hymns of the Spirit (1864), and the Unitarian Hymn Book (1869). A comprehensive study of their writers was compiled by Dr. A. P. Putnam in Singers and Songs of the Liberal Faith (1875).

VIII. Other Religious Bodies

• Roman Catholic: The Roman Catholic Church in the United States produced few formal congregational hymnals, relying mainly on reprints and expansions of Edward Caswall's Lyra Catholica (1849).

• Lutherans: Early English-speaking Lutherans were served by Dr. John Christopher Kunze (1795), Strebeck (1797), and Williston (1806). Synodical collections culminated in the Church Book of the General Council (1868).

• Reformed Dutch: Issued psalm and hymn collections in 1767, 1789, 1814, 1831, and 1850, which were superseded by Hymns of the Church (1869).

Statistical Survey of Major Hymnals

The following table summarizes eighteen leading nineteenth-century American hymnals, detailing their total hymn counts and the proportion of native American compositions (averaging approximately one in seven, or 14%):

Synopsis of American Hymnists by Denomination

Protestant Episcopal Church

• Alexander Viets Griswold, D.D. (1766–1843)

• Francis Scott Key (1779–1843)

• John De Wolf (1786–1862)

• Henry Ustic Onderdonk, D.D. (1789–1858)

• Sarah J. Hale (1795–1879)

• William Augustus Muhlenberg, D.D. (1796–1877)

• James Wallis Eastburn (1797–1819)

• George Washington Doane, D.D. (1799–1859)

• William Croswell, D.D. (1804–1851)

• William R. Whittingham, D.D. (1805–1879)

• Roswell Park, D.D. (1807–1869)

• George Burgess, D.D. (1809–1866)

• Charles William Everest, M.A. (1814–1877)

• Harriet Beecher Stowe (1812–1896)

• Christopher Christian Cox, M.D. (1816–1882)

• John Williams, D.D. (1817–1899)

• Arthur Cleveland Coxe, D.D. (1818–1896)

• Edward A. Washburn, D.D. (1819–1881)

• Frederick D. Huntington, D.D. (1819–1904)

• Eliza Scudder (1821–1896)

Presbyterians

• Samson Occom (1723–1792)

• Samuel Davies (1723–1761)

• Thomas Hastings, Mus. Doc. (1784–1872)

• Josiah Hopkins, D.D. (1786–1862)

• Henry Mills, D.D. (1786–1867)

• Nathan S. S. Beman, D.D. (1786–1871)

• David Nelson, M.D. (1793–1844)

• Jane L. Gray (1796–1871)

• James W. Alexander, D.D. (1804–1859)

• Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D. (1807–1883)

• Joseph A. Alexander, D.D. (1809–1860)

• Alfred A. Woodhull, D.D. (1810–1836)

• Deodatus Dutton, Jun. (c. 1810–1832)

• Thomas MacKellar (1812–1899)

• George Duffield, Jun., D.D. (1818–1888)

• Elizabeth Lee Smith (1817–1898)

• Elizabeth Prentiss (1818–1878)

• Robert Morris, LL.D. (1818–1888)

• Philip Schaff, D.D. (1819–1893)

• Anson D. F. Randolph (1820–1896)

• Aaron Robarts Wolfe (1821–1902)

• Hervey Doddridge Ganse (1822–1891)

• Charles S. Robinson, D.D. (1829–1899)

• Catherine H. Johnson

Congregationalists

• Mather Byles, D.D. (1706–1788)

• Nathan Strong, D.D. (1748–1816)

• Timothy Dwight, D.D. (1752–1817)

• Joel Barlow (1754–1812)

• Phoebe Hinsdale Brown (1783–1861)

• Asahel Nettleton, D.D. (1783–1843)

• William Allen, D.D. (1784–1868)

• Charles Jenkins (1786–1831)

• Thomas H. Gallaudet, LL.D. (1787–1851)

• Emma C. Williams (1787–1870)

• Leonard Withington, D.D. (1789–1885)

• Eleazar T. Fitch, D.D. (1791–1871)

• Augustus L. Hillhouse (1792–1859)

• William Mitchell (1793–1867)

• William B. Tappan (1794–1849)

• John G. C. Brainard (1796–1828)

• Joseph Steward (c. 1799)

• Abby Bradley Hyde (1799–1872)

• Thomas C. Upham, D.D. (1799–1872)

• Jared B. Waterbury, D.D. (1799–1876)

• William Cutter (1801–1867)

• Leonard Bacon, D.D. (1802–1881)

• Nehemiah Adams (1806–1878)

• George Barrell Cheever, D.D. (1807–1890)

• Ray Palmer, D.D. (1808–1887)

• Daniel C. Colesworthy (1810–1893)

• Russell Sturgis Cook (1811–1864)

• Elias Nason (1811–1887)

• George N. Allen (1812–1877)

• Samuel Wolcott, D.D. (1813–1886)

• Charles Beecher (1815–1900)

• Zachary Eddy, D.D. (1815–1891)

• Mary Torrey (1817–1869)

• James Henry Bancroft (1819–1844)

• Leonard Swain, D.D. (1821–1869)

• Henry Martyn Dexter, D.D. (1821–1890)

• Jeremiah E. Rankin, D.D. (1828–1904)

• Horatio R. Palmer, Mus. Doc. (1834–1907)

Baptists

• Thomas Baldwin, D.D. (1753–1825)

• John Leland (1754–1841)

• Oliver Holden (1765–1844)

• Robert T. Daniel (1773–1840)

• Gurdon Robins (1783–1861)

• Adoniram Judson, D.D. (1788–1850)

• Lydia Sigourney (1791–1865)

• Benjamin Cleveland (c. 1792)

• Joseph Belcher, D.D. (1794–1859)

• Nathaniel Colver, D.D. (1794–1870)

• James Davis Knowles (1798–1838)

• Sarah B. Judson (1803–1845)

• John Newton Brown, D.D. (1803–1868)

• George Barton Ide, D.D. (1806–1872)

• Stephen P. Hill (1806–1884)

• Samuel F. Smith, D.D. (1808–1895)

• Lydia Baxter (1809–1874)

• Robert Turnbull, D.D. (1809–1877)

• Henry S. Washburn (1813–1903)

• Sewell S. Cutting, D.D. (1813–1882)

• Sidney Dyer (1814–1898)

• Jacob R. Scott (c. 1815–1861)

• Edmund Turney, D.D. (1816–1872)

• Sylvanus D. Phelps, D.D. (1816–1895)

• James N. Winchell (c. 1817)

• Maria F. Anderson (1819)

• William McDonald (1820)

• Edwin T. Winkler, D.D. (1823–1883)

• Basil Manly, Jun., D.D. (1825–1892)

• Robert Lowry, D.D. (1826–1899)

• Enoch W. Freeman (c. 1829)

• Christopher R. Blackall, M.D. (1830)

• W. H. Doane (1832–1915)

• Joseph Henry Gilmore (1834–1918)

• Philip Bliss (1838–1876)

• H. C. Ayres (c. 1849)

• Caroline L. Smith (c. 1852)

• Will E. Witter (1854)

• Mary Ann Baker

• S. A. Collins

Methodists

• George Perkins Morris (1802–1864)

• Thomas H. Stockton, D.D. (1808–1868)

• Samuel Y. Harmer (1809–1899)

• Robert A. West (1809–1865)

• William Hunter, D.D. (1811–1877)

• David Creamer (1812–1887)

• Thomas O. Summers, D.D. (1812–1882)

• Elvina M. Hall (1818–1889)

• Fanny J. Van Alstyne (1820–1915)

• Harriet A. Phillipi (1849)

• Hannah Flagg Gould (1789–1865)

Universalists

• George Richards (1755–1816)

• James Freeman, D.D. (1759–1835)

• Hosea Ballou (1771–1852)

• Abner Kneeland (1774–1844)

• John Greenleaf Adams (1810–1887)

• Edwin Hubbell Chapin, D.D. (1814–1880)

• J. H. Hanaford

Unitarians

• John Quincy Adams (1767–1848)

• James Flint, D.D. (1779–1855)

• John Pierpont (1785–1866)

• Andrews Norton, D.D. (1786–1853)

• Eliza Lee Follen (1787–1860)

• Sarah White Livermore (1789–1874)

• Samuel Gilman, D.D. (1791–1858)

• Nathaniel L. Frothingham, D.D. (1793–1870)

• Henry Ware, Jun., D.D. (1794–1843)

• Caroline Gilman (1794–1888)

• William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)

• William B. O. Peabody, D.D. (1799–1847)

• William H. Furness, D.D. (1802–1896)

• Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

• Thomas Gray, Jun., M.D. (1803–1849)

• William P. Lunt, D.D. (1805–1857)

• Frederick H. Hedge, D.D. (1805–1890)

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)

• Sarah E. Miles (1807–1877)

• Stephen G. Bulfinch, D.D. (1809–1870)

• Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D. (1809–1894)

• Edmund H. Sears, D.D. (1810–1876)

• Sarah Margaret Fuller, Marchesa Ossoli (1810–1850)

• Theodore Parker (1810–1860)

• Chandler Robbins, D.D. (1810–1882)

• James Freeman Clarke, D.D. (1810–1888)

• Abiel Abbot Livermore (1811–1892)

• Robert Cassie Waterston (1812–1893)

• William H. Burleigh (1812–1871)

• Jones Very (1813–1880)

• Charles Timothy Brooks (1813–1883)

• Lucy E. Akerman (1816–1874)

• Samuel Longfellow (1819–1892)

• James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)

• Samuel Johnson (1822–1882)

• Octavius B. Frothingham (1822–1895)

• Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909)

• Thomas W. Higginson (1823–1911)

• William H. Hurlbert (1827–1895)

• William J. Loring

• Joseph P. Bartrum

Other Denominations and Unaffiliated Writers

• Henry Alline (1748–1784)

• Samuel J. Smith (1771–1835)

• Lucius M. Sargent (1786–1867)

• William Russell (1798–1873)

• James Gilborne Lyons, LL.D. (c. 1800–1868)

• Erastus C. Benedict, LL.D. (1800–1880)

• Charles Dexter Cleveland, LL.D. (1802–1869)

• George W. Bethune, D.D. (1805–1862) [Reformed Dutch]

• John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

• Martha Cooke (1807–1874)

• William G. Clark (1810–1841)

• Mary S. B. Shindler (Dana) (1810–1883)

• Edwin H. Nevin, D.D. (1814–1889) [German Reformed]

• Henry Harbaugh, D.D. (1817–1867) [German Reformed]

• Isaac Beverley Woodbury (1819–1858)

• Sarah E. York (1819–1851) [Reformed Dutch]

• Alice Cary (1820–1871)

• Alexander R. Thompson, D.D. (1822–1895) [Reformed Dutch]

• Phoebe Cary (1824–1871)

• Robinson Porter Dunn, D.D. (1825–1867)

• Lucy Larcom (1826–1893)

• Anna Warner (1827–1915)

• Grace Webster Hinsdale (1832–1911)

• Emily Miller (1833–1913)

• Harriet McEwan Kimball (1834–1917)

• Annie Hawks (1835–1918)

• Ellen E. Gates (1835–1920)

• Caroline W. Sewall [or Seward] (c. 1836)

• Margaret Elizabeth Winslow (1836)

• Frances Mace (1836–1899)

• Emma Campbell (c. 1863)