Charles Crozat Converse (1832–1918) was born in Warren, Massachusetts. His father, Maxey Manning Converse, became a prominent music teacher in Elmira, New York. Charles attended the academy at Elmira and studied music in Leipzig, Germany. He enjoyed the friendships of Franz Liszt and Louis Spohr. He returning to the U. S., graduated from the Albany School of Law, and worked as an attorney in Erie, Pennsylvania. He later received his LLD from Rutherford College. He composed under his own name and the pseudonyms C.O. Nevers, Karl Reden, and E.C. Revons. He wrote a tune to accompany the poem “Pray Without Ceasing” by Joseph M. Scriven and retitled the composition “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” He proposed the use of the gender neutral pronoun “Thon.” He died in Highwood, New Jersey.

All are mixed chorus unless noted; some contain divisi.