Now on Land and Sea Descending

Born in Portland, Maine, Samuel Longfellow (1819-1892) was ordained as a Unitarian minister and served congregations in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. In 1846, he and Rev. Samuel Johnson compiled and edited <i>A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion</i>, often revising lyrics to meet the needs of churches with increasingly liberal theologies. Devoted partners for 40 years, Longfellow and Johnson enlarged upon their work in 1864 with <i>Hymns of the Spirit</i>. Noting the difference between Samuel and his famous older brother Henry Wadsworth, a friend remembered, “It was said that while Henry Longfellow was made a poet, Samuel was born one, and also it was said that he was good enough to be a saint and interesting enough to be a sinner. He was certainly a mystic.”  (prepared by Rev. Norman Allen)