Fanny J. Crosby: An Autobiography by Fanny J. Crosby

There is still another man, famous in the annals of our nation, whom I am proud to count among my friends, and now while I write of him the tide of memory turns again bearing me backward more than fifty years on its tranquil bosom, and recalling a lesson in self reliance that he taught me. One morning in 1853, the late Mr. William Cleveland, our principal teacher, came to my classroom and said,

"I have a favor to ask of you. My brother, as you may know, has been appointed secretary to the superintendent. But the death of our father grieves him very much; and when you are at leisure I wish you would speak to him and try to divert his mind from sad thoughts. You can comfort him better than I can." And I promised to do my best.