Mary Elizabeth Willson

Mary Elizabeth Willson (pseudonyms, M. E. W., M. E. B. W., M. B. W., Mrs. M. E. Willson, Mate E. Willson, Mrs. M. E. Bliss Willson, Mrs. Bliss Wilson; May 1, 1842 – 1906) was an American gospel singer, composer, and evangelist.

Mary Elizabeth Bliss was born in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, May 1, 1842. Her father, Mr. Bliss, was a man of godly principles, of simple and childlike faith. Her mother, Lydia Bliss, was a Christian woman. Her only brother was the singing evangelist and hymn-writer, Philip Bliss. Of the two daughters, Mary Elizabeth was the younger. While she was still a child, the family removed to Tioga County, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Bliss bought a tract of wild land and built a modest home in a forest of hemlock and maple trees. She had fond memories of roaming those old woods with her brother, both shouting and singing.

When she was fifteen years old, she accompanied her brother into the adjoining county of Bradford, where the latter taught a select school. They made their home with a family named Young, who were very musical. Miss Young gave Philip his first lessons in singing and eventually became his wife. Willson did not remember learning to read notes by sight; it seemed to her that she always knew them.

In 1858, Willson commenced to teach, and she taught until 1860, when she married Rev. Clark Willson, of Towanda, Pennsylvania, where they made their home. For the first sixteen years of their married, the Willsons spent considerable time in teaching music and holding musical conventions. After the death of her brother in the Ashtabula Bridge disaster, on December 20, 1876, the first great sorrow of her life fell on Willson. She then said: "I can never again sing merely to entertain people, but if the Lord will use my voice for the salvation of men, I will go on singing."

Very soon a friend and co-worker of Philip, Major Daniel Webster Whittle, called the Willsons to aid him in evangelistic work in Chicago. They accepted the call, and their work as gospel singers was successful in Chicago and many other places. In 1878, Francis Murphy, the apostle of temperance, invited Mr. and Mrs. Willson to "sing the gospel" for him in what was known as the "Red Ribbon Crusade." They visited the principal cities of the Northern and Southern States, and everywhere Mrs. Willson won the admiration and respect of all who heard her.

...
Wikipedia