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

Howard Walter
A portrait photo of a white man with pince-nez spectacles and a moustache, wearing a coat and tie, facing and looking at the camera.
Undated photo of Howard Walter
Born
Howard Arnold Walter

(1883-08-19)August 19, 1883
DiedNovember 1, 1918(1918-11-01) (aged 35)
Burial placeIndian Christian Cemetery
Lahore, British Raj
Alma mater
Occupations
Notable work"My Creed" ("I Would Be True")
Spouse
Marguerite B. Darlington
(m. 1910)
Signature

Born in New Britain, Connecticut, on August 19, 1883,[1] Howard Arnold Walter was the son of Henry S. Walter, superintendent of the Stanley Rule & Level Company.[2] Walter graduated from Princeton University in 1905, and in 1906, he traveled to the Empire of Japan to teach English at Waseda University. There he wrote his mother a poem on his philosophy of life ("My Creed"), which became the hymn "I Would Be True" years after she submitted it to Harper's Magazine. When Walter returned to the US, he studied at Hartford Seminary, was ordained a Congregationalist minister, and was an assistant minister in Asylum Hill, Connecticut, for three years.[1]

Walter married Marguerite B. Darlington[3] on November 21, 1910, in a Brooklyn, New York, service officiated by James Henry Darlington.[2] On November 17, 1911, Marion D. Walter was born to the couple in Hartford, Connecticut.[4] In 1913, the family traveled to Lahore in the British Raj to allow Walter to teach and proselyte the Mohammedans there.[1] Two years later on April 7, 1914, Ruth A. Walter was born in Lahore.[4]

Walter died of the Spanish flu[1] in Lahore on November 1, 1918; he was buried there in the Indian Christian Cemetery, plot 211.[5] His book The Religious Life of India: The Ahmadīya Movement was published posthumously.[6]

Works

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  • Walter, Howard A. (May 1907). "I Would Be True". Harper's Magazine. ISSN 0017-789X.[1]
  • Walter, Howard Arnold (1912). My Creed and Other Poems. Boston: The Gorham Press. LCCN 13000096.
  • Walter, H. A. (1918). Farquhar, J. N.; Macnicol, Nicol (eds.). The Religious Life of India: The Ahmadīya Movement. Calcutta: Association Press.
  • Walter, H. A. (1919). Soul Surgery: Some Thoughts on Incisive Personal Work (second ed.). Calcutta: Association Press. OCLC 1085228839.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Osbeck, Kenneth W. (1985). "I Would Be True". 101 More Hymn Stories. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications. pp. 141–142. ISBN 0-8254-3420-3. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Mr. Walter Is Married". Hartford Courant. November 22, 1910. ISSN 1047-4153. OCLC 8807834.
  3. ^ "Marriage Licenses". Brooklyn Standard Union. Brooklyn. October 31, 1910.
  4. ^ a b National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Volume #: Volume 001: Colombo, Ceylon
  5. ^ Consulate General of the United States, Karachi (July 2, 1920), "Report of the Death of an American Citizen: American Consular Service", U.S., Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1835-1974, Karachi – via Ancestry.com{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Walter, H. A. (1918). "Errata". In Farquhar, J. N.; Macnicol, Nicol (eds.). The Religious Life of India: The Ahmadīya Movement. Calcutta: Association Press. p. 11. Retrieved November 2, 2023.