Heralds of Light, Speed Away

Full Name: Jones, Lewis E. (Lewis Edgar), 1865-1936
Birth Year: 1865
Death Year: 1936
Pseudonym: Mary Slater

Lewis Edgar Jones was an American gospel hymn writer associated with the late nineteenth and early twentieth century evangelical movement. He was born on January 8, 1865, in Yates City, Illinois, and died on September 1, 1936, in Santa Barbara, California.

During his youth, his family relocated to a farm near Davenport, Iowa, where he lived until the age of twenty one. He later entered business for a period before pursuing further religious training at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. While there, he was a classmate of the evangelist Billy Sunday. Following his studies, Jones became active in Young Men’s Christian Association work.

He served with the YMCA in Davenport, Iowa, later in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was general secretary in 1915, and subsequently in Santa Barbara, California, where he also held the position of general secretary beginning in 1925. His professional life centered primarily on Christian lay leadership and organizational service rather than full time pastoral ministry.

Hymn writing was not his primary occupation but a secondary activity. He is credited with writing more than two hundred hymns. He stated that many of his texts were inspired by sermons delivered by pastors. Among his better known gospel hymns is “There Is Power in the Blood.” He also wrote under the pseudonym Mary Slater.

Jones married Lora May Wright (1872-1950). They had one daughter, Frances Ellen Jones (1897-1982). He spent his later years in California, where he remained active in Christian work until his death.