In the Garden

In the Garden” (sometimes rendered by its first line “I Come to the Garden Alone” is a gospel song written by American songwriter C. Austin Miles (1868–1946), a former pharmacist who served as editor and manager at Hall-Mack publishers for 37 years. According to Miles’ great-granddaughter, the song was written “in a cold, dreary and leaky basement in Pitman, New Jersey that didn’t even have a window in it let alone a view of a garden.”   The song was first published in 1912 and popularized during the Billy Sunday evangelistic campaigns of the early twentieth century by two members of his staff, Homer Rodeheaver and Virginia Asher.  Roy Rogers and Dale Evans recorded the song with vocal quartet and orchestra on March 3, 1950.  Tennessee Ernie Ford performed the song on his 1956 platinum album Hymns. A June 18, 1958 recording by Perry Como was part of his album When You Come to the End of the Day.  Rosemary Clooney included it on her 1959 MGM Records album Hymns from the Heart.