William Cushing

Short Name: W. O. Cushing
Full Name: Cushing, William Orcutt
Birth Year: 1823
Death Year: 1902

William Orcutt Cushing was born on December 31, 1823, in Hingham, Massachusetts, United States. He was an American Christian minister and hymn writer. As a teenager he read the Bible extensively and aligned himself with the Orthodox Christian movement. At the age of eighteen he decided to enter the ministry, following the theological views of his parents.

Cushing’s first pastorate was at the Christian Church in Searsburg, New York. He later served congregations in several New York locations, including Auburn, Brookley, Buffalo, and Sparta. In 1854 he married Hena Proper, who supported him throughout his ministerial work. After her death in 1870, Cushing returned to Searsburg to serve again as pastor.

After approximately twenty seven years of ministry, Cushing developed a progressive paralysis that resulted in the loss of his voice, forcing him to retire from pastoral service. During his ministry and afterward, he was actively involved in Sunday school work and charitable efforts. He contributed financially to the establishment of the seminary at Starkey, New York, and supported the school for the blind in Batavia, New York. He is also noted for donating his personal savings to assist a blind student in obtaining an education.

Following his retirement from preaching, Cushing turned to hymn writing. He wrote approximately three hundred hymn texts, many of which appeared in American gospel song collections, including Ira D. Sankey’s Sacred Songs and Solos. Well known hymns attributed to him include “Ring the Bells of Heaven,” “When He Cometh,” and “Down in the Valley with My Saviour I Would Go.”

During the final thirteen years of his life, Cushing lived with the Reverend and Mrs. E. E. Curtis in Lisbon Center, New York, and became associated with the Wesleyan Methodist Church there. He died in Searsburg, New York, in 1902.