B. D. Ackley
Bentley DeForest Ackley (September 27, 1872, in Spring Hill, Pennsylvania – September 3, 1958, in Winona Lake, Indiana) was an American musician and gospel composer. His brother Alfred Henry "A. H." Ackley (January 21, 1887 – July 3, 1960) composed with him, and is credited with the popular hymn He Lives. After moving to New York City in 1888, he began playing the organ in churches.
Also recorded as Alfred Henry Ackley · Bentley D. Ackley
B. D. Ackley
- Born
- 1872 · Cambria County.
- Died
- 1958
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- composer
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wikidata · Q2876643 · wikipedia · B. D. Ackley
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Biography
Biography
He was born on September 27, 1872, in Spring Hill, Pennsylvania. In 1907, he joined Billy Sunday and Homer Rodeheaver, an evangelist team, as secretary-pianist, and traveled with them for eight years. As a composer and editor with the Rodeheaver Company, he wrote over 3,000 Gospel tunes. "I met B. D. Ackley", fellow evangelist, Dr. Oswald J. Smith recalled, "in Buffalo, New York, where he was minister of music in the Churchill Tabernacle when I was preaching there one time. The first hymn I wrote with B. D. Ackley was Joy In Serving Jesus in 1931. From the time I met him and his brother, I stopped writing music altogether. They could write so much better." He died on September 3, 1958, in Winona Lake, Indiana, aged 85. He was interred in the Oakwood Cemetery in Warsaw, Indiana. Ackley was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1991.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1872
B. D. Ackley born at Cambria County.
1958
B. D. Ackley died.
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article B. D. Ackley, revision 1359829955 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Hymnary.org. B. D. Ackley › Tunes.
- 2.An Interview with Dr. Oswald J. Smith by Robert D. Kalis.
- 3.Inductees Archive. Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Kevin Mungons and Douglas Yeo, Homer Rodeheaver and the Rise of the Gospel Music Industry (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2021).
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 August 2026.
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