Elisha Albright
Hoffman (1839-1929) was a prolific songwriter who has many songs and
hymns in church hymnals. He never attended music school, but had natural talent
that won a great reception for his songs. Many of them are quite well known in
evangelical circles, including Are You Washed
in the Blood, I Must Tell Jesus, Is Thy Heart Right with God, Is Your All on
the Altar, and What A Wonderful
Savior. Hoffman wrote the stanzas for Leaning
On the Everlasting Arms, and Anthony J. Showalter wrote the music. Hall
says over 2000 of his compositions are in print, and that he has assisted in
the compilation and editing of at least fifty different songbooks.[i]
Elisha
Albright Hoffman – more commonly known as E. A. Hoffman or Rev. E. A.
Hoffman – was born May 7, 1839 in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Francis
A. and Rebecca Hoffman. His father was a minister of the Evangelical
Association. Elisha attended high school in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania and later attended Union Seminary in New Berlin, Pennsylvania.
He enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War and served briefly. In 1868 Elisha was ordained. He worked in publishing in
Cleveland, Ohio for the Evangelical Association, pastored the Grace
Congregational Church in Cleveland, Ohio, the Congregational Church in Grafton,
Ohio, the First Presbyterian Church in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and the
Presbyterian Church in Cabery, Illinois.
E. A. Hoffman married first Susan Orwig, and after her death Emma Sayres Smith. He died at age 90, November
25, 1929, in Chicago, Illinois, and is buried there in the Oak Woods Cemetery.
Despite more well known songs, my favorite is Enough for Me. It was first published in 1878 in Spiritual Songs for Gospel Meetings and the
Sunday School (E. A. Hoffman, J. H. Tenney, Cleveland, OH: Barker
& Smellie, 1878, 72–73). The tune is sometimes titled Boise. It is a simple
7s.6s. pattern hymn with a repetition, extolling God’s love, grace, blood,
salvation, and the knowledge he gives us of these as ENOUGH! It apparently was
popular in older times; it can be found in a number of older songbooks. I know
it from learning it in Favorite Songs and Hymns: a Complete Church
Hymnal (Homer F. Morris, Virgil O. Stamps, J. R. Baxter Jr., W.
W. Combs, Dallas, TX: Stamps-Baxter Music and Printing Co., 1939).
1. O love surpassing knowledge!
O grace so full and free!
I know that Jesus saves me,
And that’s enough for me!
And that’s enough for me!
And that’s enough for me!
I know that Jesus saves me,
And that’s enough for me!
2. O wonderful salvation!
From sin He makes me free!
I feel the sweet assurance,
And that’s enough for me!
And that’s enough for me!
And that’s enough for me!
I feel the sweet assurance,
And that’s enough for me!
3. O blood of Christ so precious,
Poured out on Calvary!
I feel its cleansing power,
And that’s enough for me!
And that’s enough for me!
And that’s enough for me!
I feel its cleansing power,
And that’s enough for me!
The Cincinnati Enquirer, Tuesday, November 26, 1929, p. 5, col. 3
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