Elizabeth Payson Prentiss (1818-1878) was a Presbyterian pastor's wife, mother, and an author, well known for her hymn "More Love to Thee, O Christ" and the didactic story Stepping Heavenward (1870). Some of her verses were recently compiled in a book published by Solid Ground Christian Books Golden Hours: Hearthymns of the Christian Life. She was born and raised in Portland, Maine, the fifth of eight children of the eminent Congregationalist pastor Edward Payson. The influences of New England Christianity, consisting of the inherited Puritan foundation with added evangelistic, missional, and philanthropic elements, were evident in the Payson family. From an early age Elizabeth exhibited sharp mental abilities, deep and indiscriminatory sympathy, and an exceptional perceptiveness. Combined, these traits made her an ideal author, not only of instructive children's books but also of characteristically warm and insightful letters to family and a wide circle of friends. As a young woman she published some of her children's stories and poems in "The Youth's Companion, " a New England religious periodical. - from Amzon