Alan Johns
Research notes on:
"Nearer Home"
Earliest pub. seen to date is "Nearer My Beautiful Home!" #532 in "First Truths; or, Lessons and hymns for Christian children. New edition." Publication date 1843.  References to an earlier 1836 edition of the book have been noted, but is not on hand to see if this hymn is in it.[Coincidentally, Arthur J. Hodge's #209 "The Only Way" also is found in this book, which would suggest a higher probability that Frederick C. Spurr sourced this book for lyrics for a couple of Ada Rose Gibbs' tunes.  Also, Hodge's name does not appear in this book.  Hymnary.com doesn't show the hymn with the "A. J. Hodge" attribution until 1886, in "The Glad Refrain for the Sunday School," #81.  FYI: A British schooner named the "A. J. Hodge" fought in the American Civil War, on the side of the Confederacy.]
The third verse is omitted.  Romans 13:11 is the given scripture reference, with a chorus:
	"Nearer home, Beautiful home!
	Nearer home, Heavenly home!
	O 'tis sweet to know at eve'n,
	We are one day nearer home!"
https://archive.org/details/FirstTruthsOrLessons/page/n186?q=%22o%27er+the+hills+the+sun+is+setting%2C%22

Frederick C. Spurr, in a tribute to Ada Rose Gibbs, makes the claim that he “found for her nearly all the words from various sources.  (“Called Home: Mrs. W. J. Gibbs (Miss Ada Rose) In Memorium,” page 12: https://issuu.com/bobgibbs/docs/channels_only_composer_ada_rose_cal )

Spurr also published "The Union Mission Hymnal" with which is incorporated hymns for the heart and life."  In it he includes a different hymn with "nearer home" as its theme ("Only to Know that the Path I Tread," page 145).  This other hymn is attributed to "Allie Starbright" with music by Ira Sankey.  Perhaps this hymn was considered before the choosing of the one used by Ada Rose Gibbs.
https://archive.org/details/theunionmissiony00spuruoft/page/145?q=%22Nearer+My+Beautiful+Home%21%22
Spurr published 3 songs in this 1894 volume which are associated with Ada Rose Gibbs.  Two of them Ada published again in  "Twelve Musical Leaflets" (1899) and "Twenty-Four Gems of Sacred Song" (1900): "Call the Roll" and "Unfurl the Christian Standard."  Although the pdf file of the hymnal has no publication date within it, we know the hymnal is from 1894 because of:
A.) Trade advertisement in "The Publishers' Circular and Booksellers' Record of British and Foreign Literature, Sampson Low, Marston & Company, No. 1480, Nov. 10, 1894.
https://books.google.com/books?id=cHGWmLMruvgC&pg=PA542&lpg=PA542&dq=%22union+mission+hymnal%22+spurr&source=bl&ots=nE8r5X5zUS&sig=-pYE9PtJqgrd28frSTylXg6vyGc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjN-rGLh77fAhVSq1kKHf8MCRkQ6AEwEXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22union%20mission%20hymnal%22%20spurr&f=false
Ads also from 1895 in "The Baptist Handbook" pp. 24-25.
https://books.google.com/books?id=7nYRAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA24&dq=%22union+mission+hymnal%22+spurr&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUkvCspL7fAhUMx1kKHZFvCykQ6AEINzAD#v=onepage&q=%22union%20mission%20hymnal%22%20spurr&f=false
B.) Review in Jan. 1895 issue of "The Nonconformist Musical Journal" page 16.
https://books.google.com/books?id=PuYqAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA16&dq=%22union+mission+hymnal%22+spurr+1895&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwip1tv7pb7fAhWOr1kKHd7wDSkQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=%22union%20mission%20hymnal%22%20spurr%201895&f=false

This hymn, "Nearer Home," is attributed (perhaps incorrectly, as we have not yet seen evidence)  to W. J. Bostwick (no first pub. date mentioned) in:
Hymn book of the United Evangelical Church
by United Evangelical Church
Publication date 1897 
Also found with this attribute in many other printings by the United Evangelical group and Adventists.  Bostwick is cited elsewhere to have been an Adventist.  (Early Advent Singing: A Collection of 52 Early Adventist Hymns with Illustrating Stories, Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1994, pg. 189).

Another tune setting from 1869, by the editor of
Song garland; or, Singing for Jesus : a new collection of music and hymns prepared expressly for Sabbath schools / by Suffern, J. William. Publication date 1869.
https://archive.org/details/songgarlandorsin00suff/page/26?q=%22o%27er+the+hills+the+sun+is+setting%2C%22

Anonymous, in "Friends' Intelligencer," Aug 30, 1862 issue (bound 1863 Volume XIX, page 396).
"The Sacred Harmonium" of 1864 is also unattributed.
"Alice Cary" is the attributed author in W. A. Ogden's "Crown of Life" of 1875.  However, Ogden may have been thinking of Alice's sister, Phoebe Cary, who wrote "One Sweetly Solemn Thought," in 1852, which says, "Nearer my home today am I Than e'er I've been before."
With the exception of Ogden and the United Evangelicals, other publications give neither author or year published, at most a "by permission of" some other work.  At this point, it appears Ogden attributed it to Alice to fill a blank spot on the page based on a dim recollection of her sister's unrelated poem.
"New jubliee harp, or Christian hymns and songs : a new collection of hymns and tunes for public and social worship," 1888, declares "Words by permission of Asa Hull."  HOWEVER, Asa's copyright was in 1879 for the music, in which he attributes the words to "by permission of S. S. Gem":  (Gospel Praise Book.: a collection of choice gems of sacred song suitable for church service, gospel praise meetings, and family devotions. (Complete ed.).  Editor: Asa Hull. Publisher: D. W. Knowles / James P. Magee, New York/ Boston, 1885)
Asa Hull cites the permission of "S. S. Gem" in several works.  He apparently is giving permission to himself from his previous publication of 1863!:
"The Sabbath School Gem : a collection of hymns and tunes for the sabbath school"
Publication date 1863
Publisher Boston : H.V. Degen & Son 
https://archive.org/details/sabbathschoolgem00hull/page/22
This just obfuscates attempts to locate information on the text's true author.

While there are others who have written tune settings for this poem, at this time I find none earlier than Hull's from 1863, which he republished in many of his songbooks over the years -- far more than any other score I've seen for this hymn.

Cyberhymnal cites: Alice Cary, in The Morning Light, by Solomon W. Straub (Chicago, Illinois: Root & Sons, 1880), number 5.  HOWEVER, upon inspection of the book, Alice Cary is not mentioned in it.  Both it and the expanded edition only say "Duet," and no, that is not an author's name.  So, I think they may have paired an attribution in one source to the earliest musical setting they could find in another source.  So much for THE authoritative source of hymnody weighing in.
The posthumous collected writings of sisters Alice and Phoebe do not contain this poem.  The one known as "One Sweetly Solemn Thought" by Phoebe shares the expression "nearer home," but that is all.  The new edition of "First Truths" was 1843, and the girls were old enough to have written  the poem then, but would it have ended up in a Catholic pub. in England but not in their own book of poems?  And, was the poem in the first edition of "First Truths" and when was it printed? (References to an 1836 edition exist.)
https://books.google.com/books?id=sw5EAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA278&lpg=PA278&dq=%22alice+cary%22+%22nearer+home%22&source=bl&ots=PORWRYGK5o&sig=bJmu-EF8cmVd-XTt_tRjfegsgx4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwizkbOk2ajfAhUum-AKHextAFsQ6AEwBnoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22alice%20cary%22%20%22nearer%20home%22&f=false

Romans 13:11  "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."
Heb. 4:9
NEARER HOME.
"Heaven is my Father-land,
Heaven is my home."
1._O'er the hill the sun is set-ting, And the eve is draw-ing on;
Slow-ly drops the gen-tle twi-light, For an-o-ther day is gone:
Gone for aye, its race is o-ver; Soon the dark-er shades will come;
Still 'tis sweet to know at e-ven We are one day near-er home.

2._"One day near-er," sings the sai-lor, As he glides the wa-ters o'er,
While the light is soft-ly dy-ing On his dis-tant na-tive shore.
Thus the Chris-tian on life's o-cean, As his light boat cuts the foam,
In the ev-'ning cries with rap-ture, "I am one day near-er home."

3._Worn and wea-ry, oft the pil-grim Hails the set-ting of the sun,
For the goal is one day near-er, And his jour-ney near-ly done:
Thus we feel, when o'er life's des-ert, Heart and san-dal sore we roam,
As the twi-light ga-thers o'er us, We are one day near-er home.

4._Near-er home! yes, one day near-er To our Fa-ther's house on high—
To the green fields and the foun-tains Of the land be-yond the sky;
For the heav'ns grow bright-er o'er us, And its lights hang in the dome,
And our tents are pitch'd still clo-ser, For we're one day near-er home.