(October 21, 1808–November 16, 1895), was an American poet and clergyman. In 1832, he wrote the patriotic hymn, My Country ’Tis Of Thee. He graduated from Harvard University in the same class as the poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, and continued through seminary, becoming a Baptist minister and professor of modern languages at Waterville College.
He edited The Christian Review and devoted much time to helping the American Baptist Missionary Union. As a 23 year old seminary student, Samuel was inspired after hearing the national anthems for England, Sweden and Russia, and within a half hour wrote:
My Country ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrim’s pride,
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring.2267
The fourth verse proclaims:
Our fathers’ God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light:
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King.2268