My Country, ’Tis of Thee

Samuel Francis Smith, a 23-year-old first year seminary student, wrote the hymn in 1831. Because of his knowledge of the German language, he was given some German hymnals by a friend. Smith was intrigued by some of the songs, especially “Gott segne Sachsenland” (God bless our Saxon land). Later he said, “I instantly felt the impulse to write a patriotic hymn of my own, adapted to the tune. Picking up a scrap of paper, I wrote at once, probably within half an hour, the hymn as it is now known. “

A friend took a copy to the pastor of Boston’s Park Street Church. There it was sung for the first time by the children’s choir on July 4, 1831.