Born: September 2, 1809, Petersburg, New York.
Died: June 22, 1874, New York City.
Not long after moving to New York City, Lydia Baxter became afflicted with a chronic illness that confined her to bed for nearly thirty years. Yet visitors to her sickroom often remarked that they left more uplifted than when they arrived, despite coming with intentions to comfort her. With a radiant smile and unwavering faith, Lydia would share her secret: “I have a very special armor. I have the name of Jesus.” This profound trust in Christ’s name would eventually inspire one of Christianity’s most beloved hymns and touch countless lives across generations.
Lydia Odell was born in Petersburg, New York, 1809, to Jonathan and Mary Odell. Childhood passed in the quiet rhythms of rural life until a Baptist home missionary named Reverend Eber Tucker visited their town. His preaching sparked a fire of faith in young Lydia and her sister Mary that would define their lives. So transformed were the Odell sisters that their conversion became the catalyst for establishing the very first Baptist church in Petersburg. While many young converts might have been content to simply attend services, Lydia took an active role, becoming a Sunday School teacher and demonstrating early on her gift for nurturing others in faith.
In 1832, at age twenty-three, Lydia married John C. Baxter, a local businessman. Their relationship quickly became more than a mere marriage—it became a spiritual partnership. Lydia’s vibrant faith proved contagious, and within a few years of their wedding, John experienced his own conversion to Christianity. The couple eventually moved to New York City, where they established their permanent home. Despite being newcomers to the bustling metropolis, the Baxters’ residence soon became known throughout religious circles as a place of fellowship and spiritual encouragement. Ministers, evangelists, and Christian workers frequently gathered there to share stories from the field, seek counsel, and pray together.
What makes the Baxters’ hospitable ministry remarkable is that it flourished despite tremendous physical challenges. Around her mid-thirties, Lydia developed a debilitating chronic illness that would confine her to bed for the remaining three decades of her life. Often suffering excruciating pain, she had every reason to become bitter or withdrawn. Instead, she turned her attention heavenward and inward, devoting herself to intense Bible study from her sickbed.
Visitors were consistently amazed by her cheerful disposition. When asked how she maintained such joy in the face of constant suffering, Lydia would share what she called her “special armor”—the name of Jesus. This wasn’t mere religious sentiment; it was her practical strategy for combating discouragement. “When the tempter tries to make me blue or despondent,” she would explain, “I mention the name of Jesus, and he can’t get through to me anymore.”
Far from idle during her confinement, Lydia became skilled at creating handcrafted artificial birds and flowers to occupy her hands. But her most significant work happened through her pen as she turned her suffering into songs of faith.
In 1855, Lydia published “Gems by the Wayside,” a collection of approximately 265 devotional poems and hymns. In the introduction, she acknowledged that many pieces were “penciled while suffering affliction from the hand of a merciful God.” The title itself reveals her perspective—that even along life’s difficult paths, spiritual treasures could be discovered.
Though physically limited, Lydia’s contributions expanded beyond this single volume. For many years, she wrote new hymns for the annual gatherings of the New York Baptist Sunday School Union. Her lyrics, crafted in simple, heartfelt language, resonated particularly well with children and young converts. This accessibility helped her hymns gain wide circulation throughout America and even overseas.
During her extensive Bible study, Lydia developed a special fascination with the meanings of Biblical names. Of all these names, “Jesus”—meaning “Jehovah is salvation”—held the deepest significance for her. This study would eventually bear fruit in her most enduring composition.
In 1870, just four years before her death, Lydia distilled decades of faith-filled experience into what would become her most famous hymn: “Take the Name of Jesus With You.” The lyrics emerged directly from her own spiritual practice of calling on Jesus’ name during moments of pain and temptation. When paired with William Howard Doane’s lilting melody, the song captured something universal about the human need for divine comfort.
First published in 1871 in a hymnal called “Pure Gold for the Sunday School,” the hymn encourages believers—especially “child[ren] of sorrow and of woe”—to cherish Jesus’ name as a source of joy, comfort, and protection. One stanza describes this name as “a shield from every snare” that we can breathe in prayer when tempted. The chorus, with its simple exclamation “Precious name, O how sweet, hope of earth and joy of heaven,” became instantly memorable to all who heard it.
The hymn quickly gained popularity, especially during the great evangelistic campaigns led by Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey in the 1870s. Sankey included it in his repertoire, helping it spread to revival meetings on both sides of the Atlantic. Through these influential campaigns, “Take the Name of Jesus With You” found its way into numerous church hymnals and continues to be sung in congregations worldwide.
While “Take the Name of Jesus With You” remains Lydia’s most recognized composition, another of her hymns, “The Gate Ajar for Me,” achieved significant popularity during her lifetime. Written around 1872, this hymn presents a vivid image of heaven’s gate left open through God’s mercy, inviting sinners to enter.
The hymn became forever linked to a poignant story: In Edinburgh on New Year’s Eve 1873, a young woman named Maggie Lindsay heard “There is a gate that stands ajar” and was deeply moved to faith. Only days later, on January 28, 1874, Maggie was mortally injured in a train accident. Rescuers found her clutching a copy of Sankey’s hymnbook opened to Baxter’s hymn, the page stained with her blood. As she lay dying, Maggie softly sang the chorus, “For me, for me… was left ajar for me.”
This story, shared by Ira Sankey in his ministry, touched countless hearts and led many others to faith. So moved was Sankey by these events that he wrote his first original hymn, “Home at Last,” in response.
Beyond these two famous works, Lydia penned dozens of other hymns, including “One by One We Cross the River” (1866), “The Master Is Coming” (1870), “In the Fadeless Spring-Time” (1872), “Cast Thy Net Again, My Brother” (1873), and “Go, Work in My Vineyard” (1873).
Lydia Odell Baxter’s earthly journey ended on June 22, 1874, at age 64. After nearly three decades of illness and faithful service, she finally experienced the heavenly joy she had written about so eloquently. Her husband John survived her by a few years, passing away in 1877.
The epitaph on Lydia’s tombstone in Woodlawn Cemetery, New York, honors her as the “Author of ‘The Gate Ajar,’ ‘Precious Name,’ ‘By the Gate They’ll Meet Us,’” among other hymns. This simple inscription testifies to how her literary legacy defined her life’s contribution.
Though physically confined to her home, Lydia’s influence stretched around the world through her hymns. Most notably, “Take the Name of Jesus With You” has been translated into numerous languages and included in hundreds of hymnals over the past 150 years.
Beyond her musical contributions, Lydia’s personal example continues to inspire believers facing their own trials. She demonstrated how a homebound, chronically ill person could nonetheless become a powerful force for God’s kingdom—writing songs that continue to comfort and encourage, hosting gatherings that influenced church leaders, and radiating hope from a place of physical limitation.
As we sing her most famous hymn today, we participate in the legacy of a woman who discovered that even in life’s darkest valleys, the name of Jesus provides light, comfort, and strength sufficient for every need.
