"Detroit" is in The Sacred Harp, page 39 and The Southern Harmony, page 40. It first appeared in Ananias Davisson's Supplement to the Kentucky Harmony (1820), with the attribution "By [William] Bradshaw". The words are by Philip Doddridge (1702 - 1751), published posthumously in 1755. Some see a similarity to the English folk ballad, The Wife of Usher’s Well. In Lutheran practice it appears in The Lutheran Book of Worship where it is used for Anne Steele's "Father of Mercies" (#240) and Rosamond Herklots' "Forgive Our Sins" (#307). It is also used for "Forgive Our Sins" in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. It has been published in 64 hymnals.