His compositional method was heavily dependent upon what he termed "inspiration"; he carried a notebook in which he would jot down snatches of melody that came to him during the day's activities, and would develop them later, when time allowed. Sometimes he would improvise a melody; one of his best-known hymns , "The Ninety and Nine", was composed in this way. He found Elizabeth Clephane's poem in a newspaper while travelling on a train in Scotland during the first British tour. At the meeting that evening, when Moody requested that he sing, "I had nothing suitable in mind ... At this moment I seemed to hear a voice saying "Sing the hymn you found on the train":  The publishing successes in Britain with "Sacred Songs and Solos" prompted Sankey to make a similar venture in the United States. In 1876, in collaboration with Bliss, he published a gospel songs collection "Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs", consisting of 131 numbers. Over the next 15 years, working with various associates, he produced five supplements to this work, and a complete edition of all six parts in 1894, this last containing 794 numbers. These collections, which included the hymns of Bliss, Crosby and many other writers, were very successful commercially. In 1895 Sankey assumed the presidency of Biglow & Main, America's leading publisher of Sunday school music. Sankey's career as a gospel singer contradicts the commonly held assumption that gospel music originated within the black communities in the southern states. Rather, as Mal Wilhoit points out, its source is found "in the context of Northern, urban, white revivalism of the nineteenth century" in which Sankey was a principal figure. Although new musical idioms developed in the later 20th century and subsequently, Sankey's influence persists, particularly in southern evangelical churches, well into the 21st century. The revivalist model that Moody and Sankey introduced established a paradigm for the conduct of rallies and services in evangelical churches for generations. From the sales of his various hymn collections, which totaled over 50 million copies, Sankey acquired a considerable fortune, much of which he used for benefactions. These included a new YMCA building in New Castle, a building plot for the erection of a new Methodist Episcopal Church there, and large donations to the Moody schools in Northfields. The centenary of Sankey's birth was celebrated in New Castle in 1940. Choirs from over 30 churches participated, and Sankey's portable organ was used as accompaniment.