Jesus wants me for a sunbeam

Jesus wants me for a sunbeam. Nellie Talbot* (1861-1950). Information about this text has been hard to find until a recent article in The Hymn 76/3 (Summer 2025). It was set to music by Edwin O. Excell*: words and music were published in Make His Praise Glorious (Chicago, 1900), edited by Excell. They re-appeared in Excell’s Praises (1905), in Winona Hymns (Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, 1906), edited by John W. Chapman* and Excell, and in Famous Gospel Hymns, edited by Daniel B. Towner* and Excell (Chicago, 1907). It had four stanzas and a refrain. The refrain was: A sunbeam, a sunbeam,  Jesus wants me for a sunbeam,A sunbeam, a sunbeam,  I’ll be a sunbeam for Him. The four stazas...