E. (Elizabeth) Prentiss

Born in Portland, Maine, in 1818, Elizabeth Payson Prentiss grew up in a deeply religious family; her father, Edward Payson, was a well-known minister. She later married Presbyterian pastor George Lewis Prentiss and became known as a writer whose work blended domestic life, spiritual reflection, and quiet emotional honesty.

She wrote children's stories, poems, and devotional fiction, but she is especially remembered for Stepping Heavenward (1869), a novel that remained widely loved long after her death. Many readers also know her through the hymn "More Love to Thee, O Christ," written out of seasons of grief and ill health that shaped much of her life and writing.

Prentiss died in 1878 in Dorset, Vermont. Her books and hymns have endured because they speak simply about suffering, faith, and everyday perseverance, making her an important voice in 19th-century American religious literature.