Rowley at­tend­ed Ober­lin Coll­ege, then went west, where he held mu­sic­al con­ven­tions in Io­wa and Il­li­nois. In 1872, he re­turned to Ohio, and ac­cept­ed a po­si­tion in the Ada Nor­mal School, where, for five years, he taught el­o­cu­tion and vo­cal mu­sic. He be­came a min­is­ter in 1876, and or­ga­nized at least two church­es, and served as pas­tor of the Wes­ley­an Meth­od­ist Epis­co­pal Church in Ada, Ohio. His works in­clude:

• Victory Bells (To­le­do, Ohio: C. E. Row­ley, cir­ca 1900)

1. Abundantly Full the Grace of Our Lord
2. Blessed Atone­ment, So Wide and So Strong
3. Hosanna, Ho­san­na, Hosan­na to Our King
4. How Sweet, Amid Life’s Toil and Care
5. I Want My Heart Kept True
6. Jesus Came to Save
7. Look Away to Cal­va­ry’s Mount­ain
8. Lord, Give Us Strength
9. Love of Pen­te­cost We Need, The
10. My Lord Hath Ran­somed Me
11. My Sav­ior Came Gent­ly, and Whis­pered to Me
12. O Come to Me Ye Heavy La­den
13. O Come to the City, the Ci­ty of God
14. O Help Me Dear Sav­ior
15. O to Be Rea­dy When Death Shall Come
16. Oh, Vic­to­ry!
17. Savior Bids Thee Come, The
18. Teach Me, O Lord, by Faith Alone
19. There’s Naught So Pre­cious to My Soul
20. Trust Him for His Mer­cy
21. Victory in Je­sus, Vic­to­ry in His Name
22. We’re Tra­vel­ing on Through Beu­lah Land
23. With Hands Up­lift­ed, Bless­ed Lord

1. Let the Ho­ly Ghost Come in