Born: Jan­u­a­ry 9, 1807, Eliz­a­beth­town, New Jer­sey.

Died: Sep­tem­ber 23, 1883, Sum­mit, New Jer­sey.

Hatfield was ed­u­cat­ed at Mid­dle­bu­ry Coll­ege, Ver­mont, and at An­do­ver. From 1832 to 1835 he was pas­tor of the Se­cond Pres­by­ter­i­an Church, St. Louis, Mis­sou­ri. In 1835, he moved to New York, where he served as pas­tor of the Sev­enth Pres­by­ter­i­an Church, then at the North Pres­by­ter­i­an Church (1856-63) there. In 1864 he was ap­point­ed spe­cial agent to the Un­ion The­o­lo­gic­al Sem­in­ary, New York. He al­so held, from 1846, the po­si­tion of Stat­ed Clerk of the Pres­by­ter­i­an Gen­er­al As­sem­bly. His works in­clude:

• Freedom’s Lyre; or, Psalms, Hymns, and Sac­red Songs, for the Slave and His Friends (New York: 1840)
• The Church Hymn Book for the Wor­ship of God (New York: 1872)
• Cha­pel Hymns (New York: 1873)
• The Poets of the Church: Bio­graphical Sketch­es of Hymn Writ­ers, with Notes on Their Hymns (New York: An­son D. F. Ran­dolph and Com­pa­ny, 1884)

Sources

Lyrics

1. Come, Bless Jehovah’s Name
2. Come, Let Us Gladly Sing
3. Hallelujah, Praise the Lord
4. How Perfect Is Thy Law
5. How Sweetly Breaks the Sabbath Dawn
6. My Shepherd’s Name Is Love
7. O Sing Hallelujah, Praise Ye the Lord
8. Thee, Thee, We Praise, O God, and Now
9. ’Tis Thine Alone, Almighty Name
10. Why, O God, Thy People Spurn!
11. O God, the Father, Son