One Confederate officer even attributed the South's defeat to the song. He died in 1896, and is buried in Chicago.ĭuring the American Civil War, soldiers on both sides of the conflict thought of their wives and girlfriends back home when they heard the song 'Lorena'. Webster also married, fathered four children, and eventually became the minister of a Unitarian church in Chicago, Illinois. She died in 1917 and is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Ironton, Ohio. In 1854 Martha Ella Blocksom married William Wartenbee Johnson, Ohio Supreme Court justice from 1879 to 1886. The song was published in 1857 by Higgins Brothers of Chicago and soon was known across America. The composer required a three-syllable name and Henry Webster changed the name again, this time to Lorena. Webster was looking for lyrics to a song he was writing and Henry Webster responded by writing a ballad about his lost love, changing her name from Ella to Bertha.

Webster (who later composed the music of ' Sweet By-and-By'). Webster resigned his pastorate and left Zanesville. Miss Blocksom told Webster that they must part and gave him a letter containing the line 'If we try, we may forget,' which found its way into the song. As a wealthy and prominent member of the community he could not see his sister-in-law becoming romantically attached to a poor preacher and so stepped in to put an end to the relationship. Henry Blandy and his brother Fred were co-owners of the Blandy foundry in Zanesville. Miss Blocksom caught the eye of the young preacher and his feelings became more than just pastoral. Henry DeLafayette Webster was the minister. The family attended the Universalist Church in Zanesville where the Rev. Her parents being deceased, Miss Blocksom lived with her brother-in-law and sister, Mr. 'Lorena' was based on the lyricist's love for a Zanesville, Ohio girl named Ella Blocksom. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. It became a favorite of soldiers of both sides during the American Civil War. He wrote a long poem about his fiancée Ella Blocksom, but changed her name at first to 'Bertha' and later to 'Lorena', perhaps an adaptation of 'Lenore' from Edgar Allan Poe's poem ' The Raven.' Henry Webster's friend Joseph Philbrick Webster wrote the music, and the song was first published in Chicago in 1857. ' Lorena' is an antebellum song with Ohio origins.

Singing just for the thrill lyrics