Lorena Song Lyrics

Lorena "is a song before the war with the origins of the North. The letter was written in 1856 by the Rev. Henry DL Webster, after a broken engagement. He wrote a long poem about his girlfriend, but changed its name to "Lorena", an adaptation of "Lenore" from Edgar Allan Poe poem "The Raven." Friend of Webster, Joseph Philbrick Webster, composer of the music and the song was first published in Chicago in 1857. He became a favorite of soldiers on both sides during the American Civil War.
During the American Civil War soldiers on both sides of the conflict thought of their wives and girlfriends back home when he heard the song "Lorena". A Confederate officer even attributed the South's defeat of the song. He reasoned that upon hearing the sad ballad that soldiers became so nostalgic that have lost their effectiveness as a fighting force.
Lorena is based on the composer's love for a girl of Zanesville, Ohio Blocksom named Ella (who later married William Johnson Wartenbee, Ohio Supreme Court Justice from 1879 to 1886).
Parents of Miss Blocksom be deceased, lived with his sister and brother, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Blandy. The family attended the Universalist Church in Zanesville where the Rev. Henry DeLafayette Webster was the minister. Miss Blocksom caught the attention of the young preacher and his feelings became more than pastoral. Henry Blandy and his brother Fred were co-owners of the Blandy foundry in Zanesville. As a wealthy and prominent member of the community who could not see his sister in law ever romantically linked to a poor preacher and so stepped in to end the relationship. Blocksom Miss Webster said that they should participate and gave him a letter containing the line "If we try, we forget" that found its way into the song. The brokenhearted Mr. Webster resigned his pastorate and left Zanesville. In 1856, Webster met Joseph P. Webster, author of "In the sweet by." JP Webster was looking for the lyrics of a song he was writing and Henry Webster responded by writing a ballad about lost love, changing her name from her to Bertha. The composer requires a three-syllable name and Henry Webster changed the name, this time to Lorraine. The song was published in 1858 by Higgins Brothers of Chicago, and soon became known throughout the United States.