Elisha Hoffman

Who was Elisha Hoffman?

Elisha Albright Hoffman was a Presbyterian minister, composer of over 2,000 hymns and editor of over 50 song books. The son of an Evangelical minister, Hoffman grew up singing sacred hymns both in church and in the home with his parents. After completing high school, Hoffman furthered his education at Union Seminary in New Berlin, Pennsylvania, and was subsequently ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1868.

Following his seminary education, Hoffman began work with the publishing branch of the Evangelical Association in Cleveland, Ohio. After serving in this position for 11 years, Hoffman held several pastoral positions in the midwest. He pastored churches in both Cleveland and Grafton, Ohio, in the 1880s; moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan and the First Presbyterian Church in the mid-1890s; and finished his ministry in Cabery, Illinois from 1911-22. Hoffman died in 1929 in Chicago, Illinois, and is buried there in Oak Woods Cemetery.