[We sing the water pure]

Composer: Emma M. Johnston

Born: October 18, 1835, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Died: February 15, 1904, Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Buried: Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Daughter of Robert Elliott Johnston and Grace Acheson Johnston, Emma was baptized at the Salem Methodist Episcopal Church. She attended different churches in Philadelphia, including Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church, where composer William Kirkpatrick also worshipped. She worked as a school teacher, and McElroy’s 1873 Directory of Philadelphia listed her as an authoress. After her elder sister, Esther Elliott Johnston Boyd, was widowed, the two sisters moved to Asbury Park, New Jersey, and later to Ocean Grove, New Jersey, where they shared a house. © Cyber Hymnal™… Go to person page >