Crosby was also later a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Bridgeport, Connecticut, writing the verses of the state song of the Connecticut branch. Crosby traced her ancestry from Ann Brigham and Simon Crosby who arrived in Boston in 1635, and was one of the founders of Harvard College, whose descendants later married into Mayflower families, making Crosby a descendant of Elder William Brewster, Edward Winslow, and Thomas Prence, and later a member of the exclusive Daughters of the Mayflower. had become a source of embarrassment, and she maintained that she did not know anything about his lineage'.Ĭrosby was proud of her Puritan heritage, and said in 1903: 'My ancestors were Puritans my family tree rooted around Plymouth Rock'. Bernard Ruffin, John and Mercy were possibly first cousins, however 'by the time Fanny Crosby came to write her memoirs, the fact that her mother and father were related. She was the only child of John Crosby, a widower who had a daughter from his first marriage, and his second wife, Mercy Crosby, both of whom were relatives of Revolutionary War spy Enoch Crosby. He wants you to have it even more than you want.Frances Jane 'Fanny' Crosby was born on March 24, 1820, in the village of Brewster, about 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City.

If there is anyone reading this post who doesn't have the kind of assurance that Fanny describes - that 'blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!' - then I encourage you to seek God until you do receive that assurance.

She didn't care how many times people saw her go to the altar, and she refused to take comfort in the fact that she had memorized so much scripture and knew so much about God - she wanted to know God for herself. She was determined to have a personal experience with the Lord, a personal assurance that she had been born again. I think it is so fascinating to know Fanny's experience. In fact, the next week she started attending Methodist class meetings at the Institute and testified to students and staff of the assurance she had received. This, needless to say, led to one of her most famous songs: Blessed Assurance.Īfter this experience, she found herself publicly testifying, and never shied away from praying in public. She had been born again, and finally had the personal assurance she had been seeking for. The song that was playing as she went forward included the line “ Here, Lord – I give myself away! ‘Tis all that I can do.' This line took hold in her heart, and she began to shout. Three times she went to the altar before she received a personal assurance of her salvation, and she was 30 years old at the time. It would be five years from this dream until she was saved.

She responded yes in the dream, but when she awoke the next morning she felt uneasy about the state of her soul. She dreamed one night that he was on his deathbed, and he asked her quite pointedly (in the dream) if she would meet him in heaven. She had become acquainted with a man named Camp who had been attending some of the same meetings she did. Fanny attended Pilgrim, Congregationalist, Episcopalian, Dutch Reformed, Methodist Episcopalian churches, as well as attending Wesleyan camp meetings.įanny's concerns intensified after an interesting dream. She began to attend numerous churches of varying denominations in her quest to find what she needed from the Lord.

Fanny crosby