1831–1890

Introduction

portrait

Born: 1831, Wash­ing­ton, DC.

Died: Jan­ua­ry 28, 1890, Gar­field Me­mo­ri­al Hos­pi­tal, Wash­ing­ton, DC.

Buried: Rock Creek Ce­me­te­ry, Wash­ing­ton, DC.

Biography

Mary was the daugh­ter of An­drew Har­per and Ma­ry Mc­Der­mott-Roe (daugh­ter of Cor­ne­lius Mc­Der­mott-Roe, a la­bor­er who worked for George Wash­ing­ton), and wife of Ga­bri­el S. Kail (mar­ried 1843).

Mary’s fa­ther died young, pos­sib­ly of ma­la­ria, while Ma­ry and her sis­ter Vir­gin­ia were child­ren. Ma­ry and Vir­gin­ia moved to­ge­ther to Car­roll Coun­ty, Ohio.

By 1878, Ma­ry was ed­it­or of the Con­not­ton Val­ley Times in Car­roll Coun­ty.

In the late 1880s, she was a clerk for the Unit­ed States Trea­su­ry De­par­tment; she lost that job in Sep­tem­ber 1885 due to a change in ad­min­is­tra­tion.

Works

Poem

I Am Trusting in God

I am trusting in God,
And I see the land of glory;
I hear the angels singing from afar;
The words that they sing
Are the well-remembered story
Of how the heavenly gates were left ajar.
I know my Redeemer is waiting to receive me,
And the day of my rejoicing is begun,
For I hear a sweet voice saying,
Trusting soul, believe Me,
And the work of your salvation is begun.

I am trusting in God,
And I see the silent river;
I know the ship of Death is sailing near;
But the love of my Savior shall bear me on forever,
And my happy soul has nothing ill to fear;
Above me I hear precious voices sweetly singing,
Loving spirits are around me everywhere;
Sweet and sweeter the music
That in my soul is ringing,
And they tell me I shall meet them over there.

I am trusting in God,
For I know that pain and sorrow
And the weary, weary toiling of today
Shall be lost in the brightness
Of Heaven’s grand to-morrow,
When the Master’s hand shall wipe our tears away.
All around is the splendor of angels in the chorus;
On the shore, see the shining armies stand,
Of the friends who have conquered
And only gone before us
To their rest in the happy Beulah land.

I am trusting in God;
Friends farewell, but not forever.
Dearest mother, though our parting gives you pain,
Far beyond the blue sky,
Where no earthly hand can sever,
We shall meet, and to never part again.
Precious mother, your love like a holy benediction,
Hath so oft given my fainting spirit rest,
And I know that the Lord will sustain you in affliction,
Till you enter in the mansions of the blest.

Mary Elizabeth Harper Kail
Crown Our Heroes, 1887

Sources

Lyrics

  1. After the Har­vest, Gold­en Sheaves
  2. Always Cheer­ful Through the Night
  3. Christmas Bells Are Soft­ly Chim­ing
  4. Come, Let Us Sing of That Sweet Land
  5. From the Path of Sin and Sor­row
  6. Go Work, for the Har­vest Is Near
  7. Grandly Our Ar­mies Are Ris­ing
  8. Harvest Work Is Tru­ly Great, The
  9. Have You Heard the Good News?
  10. Joyfully, Cheer­fu­lly
  11. Lo the Roy­al Har­vest Rip­ens
  12. Morn Is Break­ing o’er the Hills
  13. My Home Is in the Hea­ven­ly Land
  14. Never Give Up the Sav­ior
  15. Open Wide the Gold­en Por­tal
  16. Sinner, the Bless­ed Gos­pel
  17. Sinner, Wilt Thou Not Relent?
  18. There’s Not a Cloud That Floats on High
  19. We’ll Soon Be There in That Bright Land
  20. We Are a Lit­tle Pil­grim Band
  21. We Ga­ther in the Sab­bath School
  22. When Mid Storms of Life
  23. When Mid the Dark­ness of the Night
  24. When Shall I Wear a Gold­en Crown?
  25. When We Cross the Crys­tal Ri­ver
  26. Who Will Go and Work for Je­sus?
  27. Will You Come to the Cross?
  28. World Is a War­fare, The

Help Needed

If you can help with any of these it­ems,