Albert Allen Ketchum

Albert Allen Ketchum
Full Name: Ketchum, Albert Allen
Birth Year: 1894
Death Year: 1982

Albert Allen Ketchum was an American gospel song writer active during the early to mid twentieth century. Documentary information about his life is limited, and most known details are derived from hymnological research rather than personal records. He was born in 1894, though the exact place of birth is not clearly documented in surviving sources. His death occurred in 1982, but details concerning the date and location of his death are likewise not well established in publicly available biographical references.

Ketchum is known to have been a student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, during the early 1920s. His time at Moody places him within a network of evangelical institutions that emphasized Bible training, evangelism, and gospel music. While attending the institute, he demonstrated musical ability and engaged in songwriting, producing both lyrics and melodies. During this period, he composed the gospel song “Why Do I Sing About Jesus?”, which became his most recognized contribution to hymnody.

The song “Why Do I Sing About Jesus?” was one of approximately twelve to fifteen compositions that Ketchum submitted to Harry Dixon Clarke, a well known hymn writer, editor, and publisher associated with gospel music and Sunday school songbooks. Clarke selected Ketchum’s work for publication, allowing it to enter wider circulation through gospel song collections. Despite this success, Ketchum does not appear to have pursued an extensive public career as a professional hymn writer, and no large body of additional published hymn texts or tunes is attributed to him.

By the 1940s, Ketchum was associated with Delco Products Company in Los Angeles, California. This employment suggests that his primary occupation during that period was outside church music or formal ministry. He resided in Long Beach, California, which is the most consistently documented location connected with his later life. No evidence indicates that he held pastoral office or academic positions related to theology or music.

Apart from his association with Moody Bible Institute, Delco Products Company, and the single well known gospel song, little verifiable information survives regarding Ketchum’s personal life, family background, or broader professional activities. His limited historical footprint is typical of many early twentieth century gospel song writers whose works were circulated through revival movements, Bible institutes, and songbooks without extensive biographical documentation.

Albert Allen Ketchum’s significance within hymnody rests primarily on his authorship and composition of “Why Do I Sing About Jesus?”, which continues to appear in gospel hymn collections and historical indexes of evangelical music.