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 13th 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 19th and early 20th 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 61st
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 18th 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 20th 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
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
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