Daniel Webster Whittle

{{Infobox person

| name = Daniel Webster Whittle

| image = Daniel Webster Whittle (from LCCN2005678064).jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1840|11|22}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1901|03|04|1840|11|22}}

| death_place =

| nationality =

| other_names =

| occupation =

| years_active =

| known_for =

| notable_works =

}}

{{Infobox military person

| embed = no

| allegiance = {{flagu|United States|1861}}

| branch = {{Dodseal|War}} U.S. Army

| serviceyears = 1861–1865

| rank = 20px Major

| servicenumber =

| unit = 72d Illinois Infantry

| battles = American Civil War

}}

Major Daniel Webster Whittle (November 22, 1840, Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts - March 4, 1901, Northfield, Massachusetts) was a 19th-century American gospel song lyricist, evangelist, and Bible teacher.

Life and career

Whittle was associated with the evangelistic campaigns of Dwight Lyman Moody.{{cite book

|url = http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bwhittle.html

|first = Jacob Henry

|last = Hall

|chapter = Major D. W. Whittle: Evangelist and hymn writer

|title = Biography of gospel song and hymn writers

|location = New York

|publisher = Fleming H. Revell

|year = 1914

|accessdate = 2012-07-18

}}

Marrying Abbie Hanson in 1861 the night before he deployed with Company B of the 72d Illinois Infantry, he served in the American Civil War. He was wounded at Vicksburg and marched with General William Tecumseh Sherman’s forces through Georgia. Whittle was breveted with the rank of major at the end of the war and is still widely known among hymnologists as Major Whittle. Settling in Chicago to work for the Elgin Clock Company, he became closely associated with Moody, who successfully encouraged him to go into evangelistic work.

{{cite book

|url = http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bwhittle.html

|first = Jacob Henry

|last = Hall

|chapter = Major D. W. Whittle: Evangelist and hymn writer

|title = Biography of gospel song and hymn writers

|location = New York

|publisher = Fleming H. Revell

|year = 1914

|accessdate = 2012-07-18

}} One of Whittle’s war experiences served as the basis for the gospel song "Hold the Fort" by Philip Paul Bliss,{{cite news

|url = http://www.biblestudytools.com/classics/moody-gospel-awakening/d-w-whittle.html

|title = D. W. Whittle

|magazine = Bible Study Tools

|accessdate = 2012-07-18

}} of whom Whittle edited a biography.{{cite book

|last = Whittle

|first = Daniel Webster

|year = 1877

|url = https://archive.org/details/memoirsofphilipp00whit_1

|quote = P P Bliss - P P Bliss.

|title = Memoirs of Philip P. Bliss

|location = Chicago

|publisher = A. S. Barnes & Company

|page = [https://archive.org/details/memoirsofphilipp00whit_1/page/17 17]

|accessdate = 2012-07-19

|authorlink = Daniel Webster Whittle

}} He was also known to have worked with Bliss' sister, Mary Elizabeth Willson.

Whittle wrote mostly under the pseudonym "El Nathan" although editors of later hymnals routinely credit his actual name. Of his approximately 200 hymns, "I Know Whom I Have Believed" and "Showers of Blessing" are among the most familiar. James McGranahan wrote the tunes for both of those and for Whittle's "Banner of the Cross" as well. The name of the tune associated with "I Know Whom I Have Believed" is EL NATHAN, Whittle's pseudonym.{{cite news

|url = http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biorpwhittle.html

|title = Daniel Webster Whittle 1840-1901

|magazine = Christian Biography Resources

|accessdate = 2012-07-18

}} The tune for Whittle's "Moment by Moment" (first line "Dying with Jesus") was composed by Whittle's daughter Mary "May" Whittle Moody.

Writings of Daniel W. Whittle

Memoirs of Philip P. Bliss edited by D.W. Whittle. Chicago: A. S. Barnes and Company, 1877. B00085OH8S
Jonathan and other poems. BiblioBazaar, 2009 September. Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell company, 1900. {{ISBN|978-1-103-39065-6}}
The Wonders of Prayer. BiblioBazaar, 2009 February 10. {{ISBN|978-1-103-39065-6}}.