Howard Arnold Walter was graduated cum laude in 1905 from Princeton University while Woodrow Wilson was president of the institution. He then entered Hartford Theological Seminary to prepare himself for the ministry, but after the first year went to Japan to teach English in Waseda University in Tokyo. After one year, he returned to Hartford where, upon graduation, he won the Two-Year Fellowship. In 1909 and 1910 he studied in Edinburgh and in German Universities. He chose the foreign mission field for life service but, owing to a weak heart, was unable to pass the required physical examination. In spite of his handicap, he volunteered for Y.M.C.A. work and was assigned by John R. Mott to India, where he worked among the Mohammedan students in Foreman Christian College, Lahore. He died there November 1, 1918, during the influenza epidemic, leaving a devoted wife and three small children. The words, “I would be true,” were inscribed on a memorial tablet erected in his home church in New Britain, Conn.
The hymn was written in 1907 in Japan when Walter was just 23 years old. Recalling the joys and friendships of his home, the words came to him on New Year’s morning as he was on his knees. He mailed the poem entitled, “My Creed,” to his mother who sent it to Harper’s Magazine in order to share with others the beauty of its message. It appeared in the May, 1907, issue of that magazine and later found its way into a number of hymn books.
The third stanza, making the hymn more complete, was later written by the author and sent to Rev. Theodore A. Green, minister of the First Church of Christ, New Haven, Connecticut:
I would be prayerful through each busy moment;
I would be constantly in touch with God;
I would be tuned to hear the slightest whisper;
I would have faith to keep the path Christ trod.
MUSIC. PEEK. No one seemed to know anything of the composer of this tune until very recently when Dr. Reginald L. McAll, secretary of the Hymn Society of America, assigned to the Hon. Edgar M. Doughty, Brooklyn, an official referee of the New York State Supreme Court, an accomplished musician and active member of the Baptist Church, the task of searching out in behalf of the Society the facts concerning Mr. Peek. The Hon. Mr. Doughty completed his research just before his death in 1947, at the age of 80 and the information presented here is based on a document compiled from his papers by his secretary. Miss Mildred Taylor Denisch:
Joseph Yates Peek, 1843-1911, born in Schenectady, N. Y., had very little formal musical training, but was endowed with a love for music and considerable native musical ability and became a proficient amateur performer on the violin and piano. In early life he was a carpenter and farmer but later established a business as florist and horticulturist. A deeply religious man, always interested in the church, he retired from business in 1904, and in spite of his advanced years, became a prominent lay preacher in the Methodist Church. In 1911 he was ordained, but his career as a regular minister was cut short when a heart attack, which occurred while preaching, resulted in his death. Peek was a humble Christian gentleman who sought no honors for himself, which may account for the fact that his identity as the composer of this tune remained hidden so long. Then, too, he may have felt that the credit for the tune did not belong entirely to himself, for he received considerable help from a friend, Dr. Tuller, an organist and composer, who jotted down the notes as Peek whistled the melody, and later added the harmonization.
Peek had received a copy of Walter’s poem which was printed on a New Year’s card and entitled, “My Creed.” He was greatly impressed with the words, and in a moment of inspiration gave them wings of song to carry them over the wide world.