Daniel W. Whittle1840-1901Daniel W. Whittle was born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, on November 22, 1840. At the age of twenty-one he joined the 72nd Illinois Infantry, enlisting in Company B as a Second Lieutenant. Later he rose to the rank of Major on General O.O. Howard's staff. He was with General Sherman on his march to the sea and was later wounded at the battle of Vicksburg. Upon his recovery and return home, he met the noted evangelist, D.L. Moody. His relationship with Moody changed the course of Whittle's life. After a rather brief time in business with the Elgin Watch Company, whose treasurer he became, he was persuaded by Moody to enter full-time evangelistic work. Soon he became known as one of the leading evangelists of his day. Whittle always worked with a gospel singer and song leader. His first such associate was Philip P. Bliss, whose tragic death at the Ashtabula, Ohio, train wreck in 1876 ended a most happy relationship. James McGranahan succeeded Bliss as Major Whittle's singing companion. The greater number of Whittle's more than two hundred hymn texts were set to music by McGranahan. Most of Whittle's hymns bore the pseudonym "El Nathan." Moody once said, "I think Major Whittle has written some of the best hymns of this century." Together Whittle and McGranahan made several trips to Great Britain for evangelistic crusades and traveled exclusively in this country until about 1890, when McGranahan's health began to fail. At Northfield, Massachusetts, on March 4, 1901, at the age of sixty-one, Major Daniel W. Whittle completed his colorful and fruitful pilgrimage and went to be with the Lord he loved and served so faithfully. (101 Hymn Stories, The Inspiring True Stories Behind 101 Favorite Hymns by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Copyright 1982 and published by Kregel Publications, a division of Kregel, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI., page 117.) 
The Hymns of Daniel W. Whittle(El Nathan)
(The date given in parentheses is the date of copyright and not when the hymn was written)
ResourcesSacred Songs No. 1 by Ira D. Sankey, James McGranahan and George C. Stebbins, Copyrighted, 1896, and Published by The Biglow & Main Co., New York, New York. Preface: This volume embraces selections from the latest new songs of the authors written during the past six years; each piece having been thoroughly tested and approved by Mr. Moody. In addition to these there are new and valuable contributions from a number of the leading sacred song writers of the day. The Gospel Choir by Ira D. Sankey and James McGranahan, Copyrighted, 1885, and Published by the Biglow & Main Co., New York, New York. |