Zanesville, Ohio melodrama: Martha Blocksom was engaged to a young minister, Henry Webster. Her wealthy family refused to allow her to marry him. She handed him a Dear-John letter. (Both subsequently married someone else and had long/ happy lives)
Heart-broken, Henry used some of the lines in the Dear-John letter to write the lyrics to “Lorena,” Joseph Webster composed the music. (He also composed Sweet By-and-By and Wildwood Flower) Published in 1857, the song became a hit in the North and the South and still shows up for Civil War movies and documentaries. [I don’t know for sure if both Websters are related]
Oh, the years creep slowly by, Lorena,
The snow is on the ground again…
… But there, up there, ’tis heart to heart.
C. T. Suddeth 
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