Click photo to enlargeClick photo to enlargeEducated Irishman and Bible lover Joseph Scriven moved to Canada when his fiance drowned the night before their wedding.
Scriven moved to Port Hope across from upstate New York in Ontario and taught Bible, read passages to workmen, cut wood for widows and unofficially pastored a small flock.
In 1855 his mother lay sick in Ireland and Scriven, an amateur poet and hymn writer, penned these famous words to her: "What a Friend we have in Jesus..." Almost the whole church knows the rest.
About 1860 his second fiance died of pneumonia and Scriven battled depression and poor health the rest of his life while continuing to work among the poor and destitute.
His hymns were gathered after his death but "What a Friend" has earned this quiet backwoodsman a memorable slice of Christian history.