I Know That My Redeemer Lives -- Frederick Augustus Fillmore

Frederick Augustus Fillmore could have been described as a “footsteps follower”. (See the picture here of one of the most well-known footsteps.)  In fact, his brothers were also of the same inclination, and thus may have approved of Fred’s apparent following of several of his musical ancestors when he wrote “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” in 1917. The Fillmores were Ohioans (versus the Millard Fillmore of New York who was America’s 13^th president in the early 1850s) who were well-steeped in Christian church music, so it wouldn’t have been much of a surprise if Fred was familiar with and inspired by the lines of other songs that he probably had heard about the Living Redeemer. What was it he wanted to emphasize with his version of this proclamation?

Fred Fillmore and his brothers James, and possibly also another brother Charles, were the second generation of musical publishers in Cincinnati in the latter 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Their father was a minister, composer, and music publisher, whose venture in this business they continued long after his death. Fred and his brothers no doubt must have heard many messages their father preached, using phrases from scripture that would have been familiar in the hymns he and other composers generated. By his 61^st year, Fred most likely would have known of many hymns already entitled “I Know That My Redeemer Lives”, including two that had been around for many generations and another that was more recent. Charles Wesley’s version in 1742 especially, and also Samuel Medley’s in 1775 from the 18^th Century both may have been known to Fillmore. Another by H.A. Merrill in 1879 added to the mix, and gave Fillmore and his contemporaries lots of thematic material to musically gird one’s faith. Finally, Fred should have also been aware of a version by Jessie Hunter Brown Pounds in 1893, since his own brother James had collaborated with Pounds to merge some music with her words to produce “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth”.  Some of the phrases in Fillmore’s 1917 “I Know…” are repeats of what Wesley penned some 175 years previously – things about God ‘ever praying for me’ and ‘will (ing) that I should holy be’. Fillmore also may have appreciated Merrill’s reminder that He has ‘prepared a place for me’, since it appears in his own version with the words reordered. Their shared words are prompts from a common scripture that the composers from all three centuries would have recognized. Was this how Fillmore birthed the 20^th Century’s “I Know That My Redeemer Lives”, by acknowledging the previous efforts and reaffirming their value? Were there additional circumstances that inspired Fillmore?

Fred Fillmore said he knew many things, a characteristic of his hymn that his predecessors did not emphasize as directly. Besides the title’s ‘I know’, Fillmore says he knew the following:  that He prays for me, that He gives eternal life, that His salvation is accessible to all people, that He will return, and that He’s prepared a home for me. Stunning, aren’t they? Was that Fillmore’s observation too, as he composed verse 2? Dwell on all I know of Him, Fillmore says. If He’s the magnet, then I am compelled to mimic—as much as humanly possible-- His holiness. I’m in His image, following in His steps, knowing He’s there. What do you know?    

See these links for a brief biography on the composer: http://www.hymnary.org/person/Fillmore_Frederick

http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/f/i/l/fillmore_fa.htm

The poetry of a possibly related hymn by the same title and written by Charles Wesley is here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/k/n/iknowtmy.htm  

Other songs of the same title are also here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/ttl/ttl-i.htm