In 1965, the Oklahoma City Star looked forward to the bicentennial celebration of America's birthday in 1976, predicting, “When that time comes, people will undoubtedly seek an appropriate commemorative hymn. If they look around, they do not have to search far. Right at hand are those stanzas that were first sung in Brandon just one hundred years earlier. Nothing, it would seem, could be more in keeping with America’s traditions of religious faith and reverence [...].” And so we can rightly claim that “God of Our Fathers”, the popular hymn written by Daniel Crane Roberts, deserves an honored place at the nation’s semiquincentennial anniversary in 2026 and all future Independence Day celebrations.

But if we think a hymn is all the fruit that Daniel bore, we under-estimate the man‒so much more than a country parson‒and his God‒able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. In this biography, we see many of our struggles today are no different from those Daniel experienced, and the remedies he pursued are just as applicable to us. Daniel Crane Roberts took hold of life at numberless points‒as a patriot, poet, priest, and more‒and became the living embodiment of a principle, a quality, a character, and a sentiment that is excellent and well worth remembering.