Ira D. Sankey

Ira D. Sankey (1840-1908) was an American Gospel singer and composer associated with evangelist Dwight L. Moody.

Ira David Sankey, son of David Sankey, known as the father of Lawrence County, and Mary Leeper Sankey, was born Aug. 28,1840, at Edinburg.

At age 16 he was converted at a revival meeting at the King's Chapel Church, about three miles from his home.

As a young man, Sankey served in the Civil War as a soldier for the Union. After the war, he joined the IRS, and also worked with the YMCA. He became well known as a Gospel singer, and eventually came to the attention of evangelist Dwight L. Moody. The two men met at a YMCA convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, in June, 1870. Some months later, Sankey attended his first evangelistic meeting with Moody, and resigned from government service shortly thereafter.

In October 1871, Sankey and Moody were in the middle of a revival meeting when the Great Chicago Fire broke out. The two men barely escaped the conflagration with their lives. Sankey ended up watching the city burn from a rowboat far out on Lake Michigan.

Sankey composed about 1,200 songs in his lifetime. From 1895 to 1908, he was president of the Biglow and Main publishing company. He was blind from glaucoma the last five years of his life, and no doubt found a kindred spirit in his friend and music making partner, blind hymnist Fanny Crosby.

Sankey married Fanny V. Edwards, one of his choir members, in September, 1863. They had three sons.

Ira D. Sankey died Aug.13, 1908 in Brooklyn.