Born: March 9, 1839, New York, New York.

Died: Ju­ly 10, 1908, Po­land Springs, Maine.

Buried: Green­wood Cem­e­te­ry, Brook­lyn, New York. Thom­as Hast­ings and Hen­ry Beech­er lie near­by.

Phoebe’s parents were Meth­od­ist evan­gel­ists Dr. Wal­ter C. Palm­er and Phoe­be Wor­rall Palm­er. At 16 years of age, she mar­ried Joseph Fair­field Knapp, se­cond pres­i­dent of the Met­ro­pol­i­tan Life In­sur­ance Com­pa­ny. They be­longed to the John Street Meth­o­dist Church in New York Ci­ty, as did Phoe­be’s close friend Fan­ny Cros­by. Af­ter her hus­band’s death, Phoe­be was left with a large in­come, much of which she gave to char­i­ty. Phoe­be had a large pipe or­gan in her apart­ment in the Sa­voy Ho­tel in New York Ci­ty, and wrote over 500 hymn tunes.

Sources

Music

  1. Assurance
  2. Behold Me Standing at the Door
  3. Cleansing Wave
  4. Come with Rejoicing
  5. Nearer the Cross
  6. Open the Gates of the Temple
  7. Welcome to Glory