Jesus Loves the Little Children Clare Herbert Woolston

I have been teaching my 4 year old great grandson Sunday school songs while he is on deliveries  with me. The other day he asked if I could put on “Jesus Loves the Little Children”. So I found it on my smart phone and we sang it and I told him that I remember singing that when I was his age in Sunday school. Of course he asked how long ago. Being almost 79 years I told him it was about 74 years ago. He said “That's a big number”. I thought to my self  “That is a long time ago”, so I decided to look up when it was written. It actually has some local Hunterdon County roots. I remember being taught all through my younger days growing up in Sunday school that the color of ones skin does not matter, we are all God's children.                                                                                                                                                                                 The song Jesus Loves the Little Children has been listed as a hymn, a prayer, and a nursery rhyme. It is one of the first songs small children learn in church, perhaps second only to Jesus Loves Me. Woolston’s three-stanza hymn was initially published in The Gospel Message, No. 3 (Philadelphia, 1913). Only the refrain of which remains in common use. Stanza 1 enlarges the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:14, “Let the children come to me”. Most children and adults know the words to the chorus:                                                         

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.                                                                                  The tune was written by George Frederick Root as an 1864 Civil War tune titled “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching.” Later the words of “Jesus Love the Little Children” were written for the tune by one of Root’s favorite lyricists, Clare Herbert Woolston.                                                                               Root (1820-1895), was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts. He studied in Boston, New York, and Paris. He became an established music educator and composer, noted for sacred and patriotic music. Among his credits are “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” “Just Before the Battle, Mother,” “The Shining Shore,” and “The First Gun Is Fired” which was written in April 1861 after the firing on Fort Sumter.                         Clarence Herbert Woolston (1856–1927), a pastor, gospel songwriter, and sleight-of-hand magician,  claimed that he had “addressed many more than 1,000,000 children”   He attended public schools in Camden, New Jersey, and the South Jersey Institute at Bridgeton. He entered the ministry under the influence of evangelist H.G. DeWitt in 1873, attending Crozier Theological Seminary (Upland, Pennsylvania) from 1877–79, an institution devoted to training American Baptist ministers. Following his ordination in 1880, Woolston served New Jersey Baptist congregations at South River (1880–85) and Lambertville (1885–87). He concluded his ministry with a forty-year pastorate at East Baptist Church, Philadelphia (1887–1927). Under his leadership, “the congregation grew from 176 members to more than 1,000”                  The lyrics are inspired by Jesus words in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  After Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children is one of the first songs children learn in Sunday School.     Woolston’s obituary notes that he was known as “a pastor-magician because of his use of sleight-of-hand to demonstrate features of his sermons with which he wished particularly to impress his congregation.                                                     Original Verses                                                  

Jesus loves the children dear,
‘Come to me and never fear,
For I love the little children of the world.
I will take you by the hand,
Lead you to the better land
For I love the little children of the world.                                                                                       

Jesus is the Shepherd true,
And he'll always stand by you,
For he loves the little children of the world.
He's a Saviour great and strong,
And he'll shield you from the wrong,
For he loves the little children of the world.                                                                                   

I am coming Lord to the[e],
And thy soldier I will be,
For he loves the little children of the world.
And his cross I'll always bear,
And for him I'll do and dare,
For he loves the little children of the world.                                                                                   He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”        Mark 9: 36–37