Charles William Fray (1837 to 1882)
Methodist
The Salvation Army's Brass Band Began with Him.
Charles William Fry was born in England. Converted at age 17 in a Weslyan chapel in Salisbury, he followed his father's vocation as a builder. He had learned to play the cornet skillfully and taught his sons to play brass instruments. When the Salvation Army began its work in Salisbury in 1878, Fry and his sons offered their services to play at the outdoor meetings. This marked the beginning of the Salvation Army's brass bands, and it was immediately successful, despite local opposition. Fry was in such demand that his business suffered and eventually he quit it to devote himself full time to the Salvation Army. Two years later, he died. But not before he had authored the lovely hymn "The Lilly of the Valley," his personal testimony: "I have found a friend in Jesus, He's everything to me: He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul, The Lilly of the Valley in him alone I see..." He died in Polmont, England.
Otto G. A. Rahlfs (1865 to 1935)
Lutheran
He Translated the Septuagint.
Otto G. A. Rahlfs was born near Hanover, Germany. A scholar, he taught at the University of G?ttingen, and produced a critical edition of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This was completed in 1935, the year he died.