Take 15 hymnals and stack them one on top of another. Taken all together, that's about the number of hymns Fanny Crosby wrote in her lifetime! Of course, many of those have been forgotten today, but a large number remains favorites of Christians all over the world.

Francis Jane Crosby was born into a family of strong Puritan ancestry in New York on March 24, 1820. As a baby, she had an eye infection, which a quack doctor treated by placing hot poultices on her red and inflamed eyelids. The infection did clear up, but scars formed on the eyes, and the baby girl became blind for life. A few months later, Fanny's dad became ill and died. Mercy Crosby , widowed at 21, hired herself out as a maid while Grandmother Eunice Crosby took care of little Fanny.

Grandma's guidance
Grandmother took the education of her little granddaughter on herself and became the girl's eyes, vividly describing the physical world. Grandmother's careful teaching helped develop Fanny's descriptive abilities. But Grandmother also nurtured Fanny's spirit. She read and carefully explained the Bible to her, and she always emphasized the importance of prayer. When Fanny became depressed because she couldn't learn as other children did, Grandmother taught her to pray to God for knowledge.

A landlady of the Crosby 's also had an important role in Fanny's development. Mrs. Hawley helped Fanny memorize the Bible, and often the young girl learned five chapters a week. She knew the Pentateuch, the Gospels, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, and many of the psalms by heart. She developed a memory, which often amazed her friends, but Fanny believed she was no different from others. Her blindness had simply forced her to develop her memory and her powers of concentration more.

Amazing outlook
Blindness never produced self-pity in Fanny. In her adult years she would say, “It was the best thing that could have happened to me” or How or “How in the world could I have lived such a helpful life as I have lived had I not been blind?”

In 1834, Fanny learned of the New York Institute for the Blind and knew this was the answer to her prayer for an education. She entered the school when she was 12 and went on to teach there for 23 years. She became somewhat of a celebrity at the school and was called upon to write poems for almost every conceivable occasion.

On March 5, 1858, Fanny married Alexander van Alstine, a former pupil at the Institute. He was a musician who was considered one of the finest organists in the New York area. Fanny herself was an excellent harpist, played the piano and had a lovely soprano voice. Even as an old woman, (fanny lived to be 95) Fanny would sit at the piano and play everything from classical works to hymns to ragtime. Sometimes she even played old hymns in a jazzed up style.

Making much music after her marriage, Fanny left the Institute, and in a few years she found her true vocation in writing hymns. She had an agreement with the publishers Bigelow and Main to write three hymns a week for use in their Sunday school publications. Sometimes Fanny wrote six or seven hymns a day. Though, Fanny could write complex poetry as well as improves music of classical structure, her hymns were aimed at bringing the message of the Gospel to people who would not listen to preaching. Whenever she wrote a hymn, she prayed God would use it to lead many souls to Him.

“Blessed Assurance”, “All the Way My Saviour Leads Me”, “To God Be the Glory”, “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour”, “Safe in the Arms of Jesus”, “Rescue the Perishing”, “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross” and “I Am Thine, O Lord”.

Music for the masses
In her own day, the evangelistic team of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey effectively brought Fanny Crosby's hymns to the masses. Today, many of her hymns continue to draw souls to their saviour for both salvation and comfort. Fanny's popular songs include “Blessed Assurance”, “All the Way My Saviour Leads Me”, “To God Be the Glory”, “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour”, “Safe in the Arms of Jesus”, “Rescue the Perishing”, “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross” and “I Am Thine, O Lord”.

To the urban poor
Though, her hymn writing declined in later years, Fanny was active in speaking engagements and missionary work among America 's urban poor almost until the day of her death in 1915.

Fanny sought to bring others to her Saviour not only through her hymns but through her personal life as well. She was usually paid only one or two dollars for each poem. Those who composed the tunes had kept all the rights to the entire songs.

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