It was the work of a traveling phrenologist (one who studies the shape and irregularities of the skull for insights into character and mental capacity) that changed the school's mind and again ignited her passion. Samuel Mills leads Haystack Prayer MeetingĪlexander Campbell begins Restoration MovementĮlizabeth Fry organizes relief in Newgate Prison "We have no right to be vain in the presence of the Owner and Creator of all things," he said. In time the principal asked her to avoid such "distractions" in favor of her general instruction. She initially indulged in her own poetry and was called upon to pen verses for various occasions. Shortly before her fifteenth birthday, Crosby was sent to the recently founded New York Institute for the Blind, which would be her home for 23 years: 12 as a student, 11 as a teacher.
Memorizing five chapters a week, even as a child she could recite the Pentateuch, the Gospels, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, and many psalms chapter and verse. While she enjoyed her poetry, she zealously memorized the Bible. Her love of poetry began early-her first verse, written at age 8, echoed her lifelong refusal to feel sorry for herself: Her mother was forced to find work as a maid to support the family, and Fanny was mostly raised by her Christian grandmother. A few months later, Crosby's father died. When the doctor was revealed to be a quack, he disappeared. Her illness eventually relented, but the treatment left her blind. Unfortunately, the family doctor was away, and another man-pretending to be a certified doctor-treated her by prescribing hot mustard poultices to be applied to her eyes.
"Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior." Blinded by a quackīorn in Putnam County, New York, Crosby became ill within two months. "Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I was born blind?" said the poet, who had been able to see only for her first six weeks of life. "I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when he showered so many other gifts upon you," remarked one well-meaning preacher.įanny Crosby responded at once, as she had heard such comments before. And, for most people, the most remarkable thing about her was that she had done so in spite of her blindness. She wrote so many that she was forced to use pen names lest the hymnals be filled with her name above all others. "Oh, what a happy soul I am, / although I cannot see! / I am resolved that in this world / Contented I will be."įrancis Jane Crosby wrote more than 9,000 hymns, some of which are among the most popular in every Christian denomination.
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