ASHEVILLE, NC (WOWK) — Well-known southern gospel singer Squire Parsons, famous for writing the classic “Sweet Beulah Land,” has died, as confirmed by personal friends. He was 77 years old. Parsons ...

Edgar Page Stites, the lyricist behind Beulah Land, was a 19th-century American Methodist minister and hymn writer. He served as a soldier in the American Civil War and later became a riverboat pilot.