The Ordway new era., 1912-02-02
Strange Dual Personality Was
That Of Wright Lorimer, Pas
tor and Actor, Who Believed
He Had a Message to Deliver,
and After What He Considered
Failure Died by His Own Hand.

ESSaSEMy Upon the man-shape
mound which marks his
new made grave In Gods Acre. n lit.
tie way out from the sleepy drone OF
Dana. Mass.. two offerings of flowers
rest side by side-one the remem-
brance OF friend of L.orimer. the
star of the drama. the other the token
OF friend of Lowell. the pastor OF q
flock
Lorimer was both. He lived his
life along parallel lines. He believed
he was called to deliver n message to
mankind. But. while knowing In
which direction his life work lay. he
was not so certain how he should
play his part And so he told his
story. now to congregation In n lit
tie church with helpful voices In the
organ loft. and now to an audience in
theater. with orchestra In front OF
the footlights. He was dramatic In
the pulpit. he preached from the
stage.
And at thirty-seven. believing that
he had failed In his mission. he fixed
day on which It should end. and
died tragically.
One may not write the full story
Of this actor-preacher's mysterious
life. There are gaps in 1t which are
hard to bridge. as there are things in
1t which are hard to explain.
May Be Story Of His Life.
1t may be that in the novel Against
the Tide" which he himself penned
h &c, ,Ivl, htoh
strangely turns up Just after his
death. the story is told Rev. DR..
Baldwin. a Baptist clergyman Of Troy.
who prepared the preface to it. says
that It Is.
While he. whom theater goers knew
as Lorimer. was still n slip OF a boy
in Athol. Mass. he was left an or.
phan. A family Of the name Of Low
ell. at Cape Elizabeth. up the bleak
Maine coast near Portland. adopted
him and gave him the name-Walter
NJ. s. Lowell-by which. in turn. he
was known.
A fund was forthcoming to educate
him-a fund large enough to see him
through Colgate university and per-
NIT him to enjoy the broadening ad-
vantages of Oxford university. Eng.
land. AS student he became an
idealist He took a step to the seri.
Gus.
Returning to this country he enter.
ed the ministry. believing. as he said.
that one whom kindly fortune had
favored with an education should use
his talents In a field wherein there
tn r,1tf
His first pastorate. as the story now
is told. was in the arsenal town Of
Watervliet. a suburb OF Troy. In 1902.
where he was admired alike for the
fervor of his oratory and his earnest.
ness and enthusiasm In the service OF
his flock.
Ability Manifest.
At the start he gave evidence OF
ability to fill all the requirements OF
a leader among his people. but later
on. whether from inexperience-he
was scarcely more than youth-or
a failure to realize that struggling
church organization requires careful
financing. he became involved in
money difficulties. They were simply
the ordinary embarrassments that any
young minister is apt to meet. and
which some knowledge of business
would have adjusted without serious
friction. To young Lowell they were
as milestone about his neck.
Suddenly. and scarcely without no.
tice. the young minister announced his
intention Of resigning his charge. Soon
he went away.
It is unimportant to set down in
order the list of the other pulpits
which he filed The interesting fact
Is that his failure to achieve a real
success at the start did not discourage
him or turn him to other things. He
preached to the people Of the coal
mining community of Honesdale and
later ministered to the congregation
of the Baptist church of North Scran-
ton. In the latter town his sermons
shot wide of the Baptist doctrine and
there was a severance of relations be-
tween church and pastor.
Turns to the Stage.
From this time on until he finally
transferred his work from the pulpit
to the stage. a struggle was going on
within him as to how he might best
live according to his ideals. The
pulpit still continued to call him, but
he began to have doubts as to his own
ability to accomplish In his chosen
field the good that he felt should come
from his efforts. He wanted to in
spire men to well-doing In a way that
was new
While he was still minister In
Groton. Mass. whittier he went from
Pennsylvania. and in Richmond Hill.
the Brooklyn suburb. he began work
ing on play.