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Updated 09/08/2020

Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior

Fanny Crosby

“Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” is collaboration between Fanny Crosby and Howard Doane.  Frances Jane Crosby (March 24 1820 – February 12 1915) usually known as Fanny Crosby, an American lyricist best known for her Protestant Christian hymns. A lifelong Methodist, she was one of the most prolific hymnists in history, writing over 8,000 despite becoming blind shortly after birth. Also known for her preaching and speaking, during her lifetime Fanny Crosby was one of the best known women in the United States. 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 a quack who came in his place recommended mustard plasters 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, for example, memorize long passages from the Bible. Crosby became an active member of the John Street Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City.

William Howard Doane

Crosby was noted for writing poetry from the time she was eight years old. 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).

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."

William Howard Doane (born in Preston, Connecticut on February 3, 1832; died in South Orange, New Jersey on December 23, 1915) was an industrialist who composed Christian hymn tunes. He held patents on wood-working machinery and in 1861 became President of J. A. Fay and Company. In religious work he headed the Ohio Baptist Convention Ministers Aid Society for the Midwest. In 1875 he received his doctorate in music from Dennison University. In his musical career he edited forty-three collections of hymns and composed hundreds of hymns. He also wrote the music to several hymns by Fanny Crosby.

Lyrics by Fanny Crosby