Ellen Oliver Van Fleet

Ellen Oliver Van Fleet (née, Oliver; March 2, 1842 – May 8, 1893) was a 19th-century American poet and hymnwriter. "The Wanderer's Prayer" is one of her more notable hymns.[1] Under her maiden name, she published the hymns "Come, raise your flag, reformers", "The door of God's mercy is open", "They are winging, they are winging", "We are only boys in stature", and "With temperance banner wide unfurled".[2] She never aspired to literary fame, and she always wrote for a purpose. Her contributions to various periodicals and magazines were numerous.[3]

Ellen Oliver Van Fleet
"A Woman of the Century"
"A Woman of the Century"
BornEllen Oliver
March 2, 1842
Troy, Pennsylvania, US
DiedMay 8, 1893
Resting placeOak Hill Cemetery, Troy, Pennsylvania
Occupationpoet; hymnwriter
Alma materTroy Academy
Notable works"The Wanderer's Prayer"
Spouse
Charles G. Van Fleet
​
​
(m. 1887)​

Biography

Ellen Oliver was born in the town of Troy, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1842. She was of English parentage. From her mother, she inherited domestic tendencies, together with a regard for duty. From her father, she inherited a strong literary taste.[3]

Van Fleet was educated by private teachers at home, in the public schools and private schools of her native town, in the Troy Academy, and in Mrs. Life's seminary for young women, then in Muncy, Pennsylvania.[3]

Her lesson hymns were plentiful and beautiful. She wrote a large number during a period of eight years, which were used by David C. Cook, publisher, of Chicago, Illinois. Among her hymns of note is "The Wanderer's Prayer", music by the Rev. S. L. Conde,[4] which was extensively sung in the U.S. and in Europe. Her later writings bore the impress of mature thought toned by contact with the world.[3] In 1891, she published a volume of poems.[5]

On September 29, 1887, she married Charles G. Van Fleet (b. 1847, Benton Township, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania), a lawyer and a man of literary tastes who served as mayor of Boulder, Colorado.[6] Their home was in Troy.[3]

Ellen Oliver Van Fleet, a member of an old Troy, Pennsylvania family,[7] died May 8, 1893, and was buried at Troy's Oak Hill Cemetery.[8]

Selected works

Hymns
  • "The Wanderer's Prayer"
  • "Come, raise your flag, reformers"
  • "The door of God's mercy is open"
  • "They are winging, they are winging"
  • "We are only boys in stature"
  • "With temperance banner wide unfurled"

References
  1. Smith, Eva Munson (1888). "Miss Ellen Oliver". Woman in Sacred Song: A Library of Hymns, Religious Poems and Sacred Music by Woman : Containing Selections from the Writing of More Than Seven Hundred Authors ... Also Short Biographical Sketches of Many of the Writers (Public domain ed.). Standard Pub. p. 124. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  2. "Ellen Oliver". hymnary.org. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  3. Willard & Livermore 1893, pp. 731–32.
  4. "Musical Numbers". Star-Gazette. Elmira, New York. 22 March 1922. p. 9. Retrieved 7 November 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Sayings and Doings". The Canton Independent-Sentinel. The Canton Independent-Sentinel. 10 December 1891. p. 1. Retrieved 7 November 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. The Twentieth Century Bench and Bar of Pennsylvania (1903). The Twentieth Century Bench and Bar of Pennsylvania ... (Public domain ed.). H.C. Cooper, Jr., Bro. & Company. p. 197. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  7. "Home Gossip". The Canton Independent-Sentinel. Canton, Pennsylvania: The Canton Independent-Sentinel. 18 May 1893. p. 1. Retrieved 7 November 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Ellen Oliver Van Fleet". www.hymntime.com. Retrieved 7 November 2021.

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