Howard Arnold Walter (August 19, 1883November 1, 1918) was an American Congregationalist minister, author, and

hymnwriter A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who composed many of ...

. Born in New Britain, Connecticut on August 19, 1883, Howard Arnold Walter was the son of Henry S. Walter, superintendent of the Stanley Rule & Level Company. Walter graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1905, and in 1906, he traveled to the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

to teach

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

. There he wrote his mother a poem on his philosophy of life ("My Creed"), which became the

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

"I Would Be True" years after she submitted it to '' Harper's Magazine''. When Walter returned to the US, he studied at

Hartford Seminary The Hartford International University for Religion and Peace (formerly Hartford Seminary) is a private theological university in Hartford, Connecticut. History Hartford Seminary's origins date back to 1833 when the Pastoral Union of Connectic ...

, was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

a Congregationalist minister, and was an assistant minister in Asylum Hill, Connecticut for three years. Walter married Marguerite B. Darlington on November 21, 1910 in a

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

service officiated by

James Henry Darlington James Henry Darlington (June 9, 1856 – August 14, 1930) was the first Episcopal bishop of Harrisburg, now jurisdictionally the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. Biography James Henry Darlington was descended from old New England, Ne ...

. On November 17, 1911, Marion D. Walter was born to the family in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1913, the family traveled to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

in the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

to allow Walter to teach and proselyte the Mohammedans there. Two years later on April 7, 1914, Ruth A. Walter was born in Lahore. Walter died of the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case wa ...

in Lahore on November 1, 1918; he was buried there in the Indian Christian Cemetery, plot 211. His book ''The Religious Life of India: The Ahmadīya Movement'' was published posthumously. On May 29, 1938, Dorothy Walker Bush had "My Creed" inscribed in the confirmation

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

of her son and future US president, George H. W. Bush.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Howard Arnold 1883 births 1918 deaths academic staff of Waseda University American Christian hymnwriters American Congregationalist ministers deaths from Spanish flu Hartford Seminary alumni Princeton University alumni writers from New Britain, Connecticut