Short Biography
By George Matheson

      Born: March 27, 1842, Glasgow, Scotland.
      Died: August 28, 1906, Avenell House, North Berwick, Edinburgh, Scotland.

      Buried: Family vault, Glasgow Necropolis.

      Born with poor vi'sion, Ma'the'son's eye'sight grad'ual'ly wors'ened un'til he was al'most to'tal'ly blind. How'ev'er, he was aca'dem'ic'al'ly gift'ed, and his sis'ters learned La'tin, Greek, and He'brew to help him stu'dy. He grad'u'at'ed from the Un'i'ver'si'ty of Edin'burgh (MA 1862), then became a min'is'ter in the Church of Scot'land. He pa'stored in the re'sort town of In'ne'lan for 18 years; due to his abil'i'ty to mem'o'rize serm'ons and en'tire sec'tions of the Bible, lis'ten'ers were of'ten un'a'ware he was blind. In 1886, Matheson be'came pas'tor of St. Ber'nard's Church in Edin'burgh, where he served 13 years. He spent the re'main'ing years of his life in lit'er'ary ef'forts. His works in'clude:

      Sacred Songs (Edinburgh, Scotland: W. Blackwood, 1890)