Author

Julia Ward Howe

1819–1910 · New York, New York · United States

An abolitionist and social reformer from New York, married to the philanthropist Samuel Gridley Howe. Visiting Washington in November 1861 she heard troops singing "John Brown's Body," and her pastor suggested she write better words. The verses came to her at dawn the next morning. The Atlantic Monthly paid four dollars for them, and an army chaplain spread the song through the Union ranks.

Text

1

Lived

1819–1910

Hymnal

1