Gannett was ed­u­cat­ed at Har­vard Un­i­ver­si­ty (BA 1860, MA 1863). Af­ter the Amer­i­can civ­il war, he spent three years work­ing with freed slaves in Port Roy­al, South Car­o­li­na. Af­ter­ward, he toured Eur­ope (1865-1866), then re­turned to Har­vard, grad­u­at­ed from its Di­vin­i­ty School, and be­came a Un­i­tar­i­an min­is­ter in 1868. He served in Mil­wau­kee, Wis­con­sin (1868-70); East Lex­ing­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts (1871-1872); St. Paul, Min­ne­so­ta (1877-1883); Hins­dale, Il­li­nois (1887-1888); and Ro­ches­ter, New York (1889-1908). He was al­so a lead­er in the wo­men’s suf­frage move­ment, found­ed the Boys Even­ing Home as­so­ci­a­tion, and was ac­tive in ma­ny other causes. He helped ed­it Un­i­ty Hymns and Chor­als, 1880. His other works in­clude:

• The Thought of God in Hymns and Po­ems (Bos­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts: 1885 & 1894) (with Fred­er­ick Hos­mer)
• Of Mak­ing One’s Self Beau­ti­ful, 1899
• A Wick­et Gate of the Bi­ble, 1907

Sources

Hymns

1. Bring, O Morn, Thy Mu­sic
2. Clear in Memory’s Silent Reaches
3. He Hides with­in the Lily
4. I Hear It Often in the Dark
5. Lord Is in His Ho­ly Place, The
6. Morn­ing Hangs Its Signal, The
7. Praise to God and Thanksgiving
8. Sleep, My Little Jesus
9. Truth Is the Voice of God, The