Daniel Webster Whittle (1840 to 1901)
Showers of blessing.
Birth of Daniel Webster Whittle at Chicopee Falls, Mass. A Union major in the Civil War, Whittle lost his right arm in the battle of Vicksburg, and was taken prisoner. While imprisoned he read the New Testament and was converted. He became an evangelist in 1873 under D. L. Moody's influence. In his campaigns he was joined by three of the foremost music evangelists of his day: Philip P. Bliss, James McGranahan and George C. Stebbins. Among the hymns he penned (using the pseudonyrn El Nathan) are "Showers of Blessing" and "I Know Whom I Have Believed" (1883), "The Banner of the Cross" (1887) and "Why Not Now?" (1891).