I Feel Like Traveling On

Six year old boys are not meant to be travelers. Boys that age are still growing and learning. Packing up your home and moving to a different country was dangerous and stressful stuff in 1817. Nonetheless, William’s family left their home in Ireland and headed for a new world.

The boy learned to adjust in the new land, excelled in school and eventually found himself enrolled at the now defunct Madison College in Western Pennsylvania. From there, he began a career as an educator.

William became the Professor of Hebrew at Allegheny College. When his tenure ended, he moved to Alliance, Ohio where he took the pulpit at one of the local churches.

Why am I telling you all of this, you may ask? Well, one of the things we learn in the Bible is that we are citizens of Heaven while we are just passing through on this Earth. That makes me think of a popular hymn by William. William wrote 125 hymns, but have you ever heard of William Hunter?

I thought so. To be honest, neither had I. William’s hymns have passed by the wayside and there is only one of them still being sung today. It’s entitled, “I Feel Like Traveling On.”

You may know it. It is a fun song and I love singing it, but here is the thing: I actually live in Alliance, Ohio and I had never heard of William Hunter. Our church is in a small town less than 10 miles from William’s church. One Sunday, we sang his hymn. I loved it and did some quick research. I was shocked to find that William had lived right here!