An anti-slavery hymn attributed to a person of this name is included in Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ, 1853. It begins,
Lord, when thine ancient people cried,
It is probable, but not certain, that the author was Rev. Charles Chauncy Sewall, Marblehead, Massachusetts, May 10, 1802—November 22, 1886, Medfield, Massachusetts; who was a graduate of Bowdoin College and who received the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard in 1832. He was a Unitarian minister serving churches in Peabody, Massachusetts, 1827-1841; Sharon, Massachusetts, 1857-1862; and Medfield, 1873-1377.
H.W.F.
Sigourney, Mrs. Lydia Howard (Huntley), Norwich, Connecticut, September 1, 1791—June 10, 1865, Hartford, Connecticut, wife of Charles Sigourney. She was a prolific writer of prose and verse contributed to many periodicals, and author of many books, chiefly moral tales for young people. She became a very popular writer and spent two years, 1840-1842, in England where she met many celebrities. Two hymns by her were included in Hedge and Huntington’s Hymns for the Church of Christ, 1853, viz:
1. Laborers of Christ, arise,(Brotherhood)
This was also included in Church Harmonies, 1895, with the first line altered to read
Servants of Christ, arise.
2. When adverse winds and waves arise(Trust)
Neither hymn has had later use.
J. 1057, 1589. H.W.F.
Sill, Edward Rowland, Windsor, Connecticut, April 29, 1841—February 27, 1887, Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Yale in 1861 and spent several months in the year 1866-1867 at the Harvard Divinity School, writing his one fine hymn,
Send down thy truth, O God,
for the School’s Visitation Day exercises in 1867. It was included in his collection of poems, The Hermitage, published the same year, and passed thence into many American hymnbooks. Presumably he entered the Divinity School intending to prepare for the Unitarian ministry, but he did not do so and neither then nor later associated himself with any denomination. At the end of the academic year 1867 he moved to California where he was Professor of English Literature, 1874-1882 at the University of California. He published several books of poems of superior quality.