To this day, the vast majority of American hymnals contain Fanny Crosby's  work. Some of her best known songs include "Blessed Assurance," "Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home," "Praise Him, Praise Him," and "To God be the Glory." Since some publishers were hesitant to have so many hymns by one person in their hymnals, Fanny used nearly 100 different pseudonyms during her career.

Fanny Crosby was born in Southeast, Putnam County, New York to poor parents, John and Mercy Crosby. At six weeks old, she caught a cold and developed inflammation of the eyes. The family physician was not available, and the man who came in his place recommended hot poultices as treatment. The botched procedure blinded her.

Her father died when she was one year old, so she was raised by her mother and grandmother. These women grounded Crosby in Protestant Christian principles, helping her to memorize long passages from the Bible. Fanny became an active member of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City.

At age 15, Fanny enrolled at the New York School for the Blind (now the New York Institute for Special Education). She remained there for seven years. During that time she learned to play the piano and guitar, and to sing. In 1843, she joined a group of lobbyists in Washington, D.C. arguing for support of education for the blind. From 1847 to 1858, Fanny joined the faculty at the New York school, teaching English and history. She married Alexander Van Alstyne, a blind musician and fellow teacher, in 1858. At his insistence, she kept her maiden name. They had one daughter, Frances, who died in infancy. Alexander died on July 19, 1902.

From the time she was eight years old, Fanny delighted in writing poetry. Her first published work was A Blind Girl and Other Poems (1844), followed by Monterey and Other Poems (1853) and A Wreath of Columbia's Flowers (1858).

She also wrote some popular songs, which were set to music by George F. Root. Some of them were "Rosalie, the Prairie Flower," "Hazel Del," and "There's Music in the Air."  Fanny saw success with her secular verse writing, earning nearly $3,000 in royalties for her song "Rosalie, the Prairie Flower."

Fanny was never bitter about her disability. At the age of nine she wrote these verses about her condition:

Oh what a happy soul I am,
Although I cannot see;
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be.
How many blessings I enjoy,
That other people don't;
To weep and sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot, and I won't."
She later remarked:

"It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me."

She also once said, "When I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!"

She composed her poems and hymns entirely in her mind and then dictated them to someone else. She was said to work mentally on as many as twelve hymns at once before dictating them all out.

Fanny wrote her first hymn in 1863 for the composer William B. Bradbury, a respected musician and publisher. It was called "There's a Cry from Macedonia."  Over the years she wrote for Bradbury and for other composers, including Philip Phillips, Hubert P. Main, Dr. Lowry, Dr. W. H. Doane, Ira D. Sankey, Philip P. Bliss, Mr. W. F. Sherwin, and Phoebe Knapp.  Before her death, she had written at least 8,000 hymns.

Fanny Crosby was very well known during her time and often met with presidents, generals and other dignitaries. She played the hymn "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" at President Grant's Funeral in 1885. In her later years, she also became a popular public speaker.

When she died, her tombstone carried the words, "Aunt Fanny" and "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine." Eliza Hewitt memorialized Fanny’s passing in a poem:

Away to the country of sunshine and song,
Our songbird has taken her flight,
And she who has sung in the darkness so long
Now sings in the beautiful light.

Fanny is buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, Connecticut. She was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1975.

Whenever you sing any of the following hymns, smile and think of Fanny Crosby.

All the Way My Savior Leads Me
Blessed Assurance
The Bright Forever
Close to Thee
Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home
I Am Thine, O Lord
My Savior First of All
Near the Cross
Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour
Praise Him, Praise Him
Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It
Rescue the Perishing
Safe in the Arms of Jesus
Saviour, More Than Life to Me
Tell Me the Story of Jesus
To God Be the Glory

By Luella May