Loreena

LORENA 1858

Inspired by actual events, this well known song was especially popular among the southern soldiers during the Civil War. Universalist pastor Henry De Lafayette Webster’s first preaching job was in Zanesville, Ohio where he fell in love with Miss Ella Blocksom. As wealthy and prominent members of the community, Ella’s family would not permit her becoming romantically attached to a poor preacher. When they stepped in to end the relationship, the brokenhearted Mr. Webster resigned his position and left Zanesville.

In 1856, Henry met Joseph R. Webster (no relation), the composer of In the Sweet By and By. J. R. Webster was looking for lyrics to a song he was writing, and Henry composed a poem about his lost love, originally changing her name to Bertha. As the music needed a three-syllable name, Henry changed the name to Lorena, supposedly inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s Lost Lenore. J. R. Webster would go on to write I’ll Twine Mid the Ringlets, which would become The Wildwood Flower.