Joseph M. Scriven
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Joseph Medlicott Scriven, 1820 - October 10, 1886 was a hymnist.
Joseph Scriven was born at Dublin, Ireland. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin and embraced the teachings of the Plymouth Brethren. He was known to be eccentric but was a born philanthropist and devoutly religious; he gave freely of what money he had, even his own clothing and his services to all poorer then himself who needed them. He died at Port Hope.
His fiancé drowned in 1845, the night before they were to be married. The grief-stricken young man moved to Canada. There he again fell in love, was due to be married and the young woman suddenly fell ill and died. He then devoted the rest of his life to helping others. After spending the evening with others, he disappeared one night and his body was found in the water nearby.
He wrote the famous hymn, What a Friend we have in Jesus, to comfort his mother.
[edit] Memorials
A tall obelisk was built upon his grave with the words from the song and the following inscription:
This monument was erected to the memory of Joseph Scriven,B.A.,by lovers of his hymn, which is engraved hereon, and is his best memorial. Born at Seapatrick, Co.Down,Ireland, Sept.10, 1819, emigrated to Canada 1844. Entered into rest at Bewdley, Rice Lake, August 10,1886, and buried here. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
A plaque can be found on the Port Hope-Peterborough Highway with the following inscription:
Four miles north, in Pengally's Cemetery, lies the philanthropist and author of this great masterpiece, written at Port Hope, 1857. The composer of the music, Charles C. Converse, was a well-educated versatile and successful Christian, whose talents ranged from law to professional music. Under the pen name of Karl Reden, he wrote numerous scholarly articles on many subjects. Though he was an excellent musician and composer with many of his works performed by the leading American orchestras and choirs of his day, his life is best remembered for this simple music so well suited to Scriven's text.
From an anonymous submitter: There is a Plaque, like a Tombstone, on the North East Corner of the Town Hall Square in Port Hope, Ontario, beside the Capitol Theatre. Inscribed on that plaque are the words and the author of "What a Friend we have in Jesus." I believe there is a mention of the Massey family, famous for a politician, Governor General Vincent Massey, an actor, Raymond Massey, and a line of Agricultural Machinery, Massey-Harris-Ferguson. The genesis of that song had a great deal to do with the Massey family, and has become the most wide-spread and translated hymn in the world.
[edit] Reference
Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Hymn Writers of the Church. Scriven, Joseph. Retrieved on January 30, 2007.
How Did Joseph M. Scriven Come to Drown?. Christian History Institute. Retrieved on January 30, 2007.
Bailey, Albert Edward (1950). The Gospel in Hymns. New York: Charles Scribner's sons, 405-406.
What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
J.Harris Rea. Joseph Scriven. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
