“In the Sweet By and By” was written by Sanford Fillmore Bennett (lyrics) and Joseph Philbrick Webster (music) in Elkhorn, Wisconsin in 1868. According to Bennett’s account, Webster — a violinist and amateur composer prone to bouts of depression — came into Bennett’s drugstore one day in low spirits, saying “it will be all right by and by.” Bennett wrote the lyric within thirty minutes; Webster set it to music, and within the same afternoon the song was being sung by friends gathered in the store.
The song was first published in Webster’s The Signet Ring songbook in 1868. One early listener reportedly said “that hymn is immortal” — a verdict the song’s nearly continuous presence in American hymnody for over 150 years has confirmed. It moved quickly into Sunday-school books, revival meetings, and (later) early gospel-quartet recordings.
The lyric is a heaven-bound conviction text: troubles end at the Jordan, the saints gather on the further shore, all is bright and well in the sweet by-and-by. The Grascals’ 2005 self-titled Rounder reading is one of the more frequently cited contemporary bluegrass recordings.
