Prentiss, Elizabeth Payson, the author of Stepping Heavenward, was the daughter of that saintly man, Rev. Edward Payson, of Portland, Me., where she was born October 26, 1818. She became a contributor of both prose and poetry to the Youth's Companion as early as her sixteenth year. She was a devotedly pious woman. She taught school in Portland, in Ipswich, Mass., and in Richmond, Va. She was married in 1845 to Rev. George L. Prentiss, D.D., an eminent Presbyterian divine and professor in Union Theological Seminary, of New York City. She was never in robust health, but did much literary work, publishing several volumes. Her Stepping Heavenward (1869) is one of the most popular books ever published in the English language. Her Religious Poems appeared in 1873, and her Golden Hours; or, Hymns and Songs of the Christian Life, in 1874. She died August 13, 1878. Soon after her death her husband published her Life and Letters.

More love to thee, O Christ 317