Annie johnson flint bio

Born: December 24, , Vineland, New Jersey.
Died: September 8, , Clifton Springs, New York.
Buried: Clifton Springs, New York.

The biographical account of poetess/hymn-writer Annie Johnson Flint () is a story of both heartbreak and triumph. Born on Christmas Eve in the small town of Vineland, New Jersey, she was welcomed by Eldon and Jean Johnson as their greatest earthly gift. Three years later, little Annie would lose her mother, who died as she gave birth to Annie’s baby sister. Mr. Johnson, who himself was suffering from an incurable disease, willed the children to the Flint family who would bring them up in the Baptist faith.

It was during a revival meeting at the age of 8 that the Spirit of God brought Annie's young heart to faith in Christ. She always believed that at that time, she was truly converted. Though she did not join the church until 10 years later, she never doubted that “the eternal work was then wrought.” She strongly opposed the idea that young children cannot comprehend spiritual truths. She felt that divine mysteries were often plainer to the simple faith of a child than to many adults, blinded by their own prejudices and intellectual doubts.

Whether by nature or through her early Christian experience, Annie was generally disposed to be cheerful and optimistic. She looked on the bright side of life and was able to get much enjoyment out of life. Her forward-looking, lifted-up head was a characteristic attitude and was typical of the courage she was to manifest in later life. She certainly learned to “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

After high school, she spent one year in teacher training and had a position offered to her, but felt that she was really needed at home. Later in her second year of teaching, arthritis began to show itself. She grew steadily worse until it became difficult for her to walk at all, and she was soon obliged to give up her work, followed by three years of increasing hel

Annie was born on Christmas Eve, in the year , in the little town of Vineland, New Jersey. Eldon and Jean Johnson, the father and mother, welcomed that Christmas present as the greatest earthly gift. The father was of English descent, and the mother was Scottish.

The only remembrance of her mother dates back to the time just before her mother's death in (at the age of twenty-three) following the birth of a baby sister for Annie. She must have looked with wonder from that baby face into the mother's face that day, for it was the only imprint of that mother's likeness that lived in her memory. The baby was left for life-long companionship. The father took the children to board with the widow of an old army comrade who had been killed in the Civil War. It was not a happy arrangement. The woman had two children of her own and her means were very limited. During the two years the Johnson girls added to the cares of that family, they were evidently unwelcome and unwanted.

But it was at this time when the outlook seemed so dark for their young lives, that a neighbor interposed in a kindly way. She loomed in the memory as Aunt Susie, although she could claim no blood relation to this friend. Aunt Susie was a school teacher, and boarded near the school in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Flint. She became so strongly attached to the Johnson girls that she was continually speaking of them to the Flints, and at last so aroused their sympathy on behalf of the motherless children, that a little over two years after their mother's death they were adopted by the Flints, whose name thereafter they bore. While their name might sound hard and stony, their hearts were very tender. Two things made Mr. Johnson willing to part with the children: first, he was suffering at the time with an incurable disease from which he shortly afterwards died; second, the Flints offered a home after his own desire. They were Baptists, and Mr. Johnson was very anxious that the children should be brought u

An Early Christmas present!

Annie Johnson was born in Vineland, New Jersey USA on Christmas Eve Her parents, Eldon and Jean rejoiced in the gift of their early Christmas present daughter! Nearly three years later, all the joy of that Christmas disappeared in a flood of sorrow, as Annie’s Mum died at the age of 23, soon after giving birth to Annie’s sister. Her Father was not well and for two years the bereaved family of three lived with a widow friend of Eldon’s. She had children of her own and it became evident that Annie and her sister were not really welcome in the home, they were simply an added burden.

By a remarkable providence, a local school teacher, who the children came to know simply as “Auntie Susie”, saw the distressing situation and recommended a childless Christian couple in the town, Mr and Mrs Flint, as a possible solution. It would, of course, require Eldon to be willing to allow them to be adopted as their own. He was willing to do this on two counts, firstly his serious illness, which resulted in his own death not long afterwards and secondly the fact that they were Baptists! Annie’s Father had long hoped that the children would be brought up in a Baptist tradition!

The couple offered a loving and warm-hearted Christian home to the two girls and after the adoption, their surname was added to Annie’s. Through their childhood years the girls were taught the Christian gospel and the teaching of the Bible framed every aspect of life.

Saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

At the age of eight, two great changes took place in the young life of Annie. The Flints moved from their rural home in the countryside, into the small town nearby. Despite this, Annie always retained her love for the natural world around her and it coloured the rest of her life. In God’s providence, the move coincided with a number of evangelistic meetings taking place in the town. She was taken along by her adopted parents, and there, at the age of eight, she was broug

American writer

Annie Johnson Flint (25 December – 8 September ) was a prolific writer of Christian poems.

Biography

Annie Johnson Flint was born on 25 December in a small town Vineland, New Jersey. Her father was of English descent, and her mother was Scottish. She lost both parents in her early childhood.

After completing high school, she spent one year at a training school for teachers. She then started teaching a primary class. She began experiencing the symptoms of arthritis during her second year of teaching career. She suffered from a “severe form of arthritis”, which “developed into a chronic condition from which she never recovered.”

She started composing religious poetry, and became “a renowned writer across the Christian world.” Her popular poems include He Giveth More Grace and Christmas Carols, which were published in Christian Endeavour World and Sunday School Times.

Flint passed away on 8 September Robert J. Morgan claims that she was called as the 'poet of helpfulness,' in her obituary published in the New York Times.

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