John Leland

LELAND, John. b. Grafton, Massachusetts, 14 May 1754; d. North Adams, Massachusetts, 14 January 1841. He was a leading Baptist minister and evangelist and a champion of individual religious rights and separation of church and state. His many writings include several hymns, of which the most widely published are ‘The day is past and gone’* and ‘O when shall I see Jesus’*. John Leland’s parents, James Leland, Jr. (1720–1807) and Lucy Warren (1721– ), were Congregationalists. ‘As my father had no library’, John writes, ‘and I was fond of reading, the Bible was my best companion’. He continues, ‘In the summer of 1772, I met with one thing singular. When I was returning from my frolicks or...