DuvALUMNI: Anthems and a Christmas Classic

“Silent Night” – This Christmas carol was originally written in German (“Stille Nacht”) by Austrians Father Joseph Mohr (lyrics) and Franz Gruber (music). Its connection to Jacksonville comes from the man who translated the words to English and thus popularized it to the United States and abroad. John Freeman Young’s first assignment after being ordained Deacon in the Episcopal Church was in Jacksonville in 1845. His assignments took him elsewhere until he returned as the second Bishop of Florida in 1867. In between that time, Young was researching older hymns and came across the original, which he translated in 1859. Young married into the Stockton family, is buried at the Old City Cemetery, and the St. Andrews Episcopal Church – which is now home to the Jacksonville Historical Society – was built in his honor two years after his death in 1885.