Introduction

Biography

Walter was the son of James R. Southerton and Mel­vi­na Nes­tell, hus­band of Flo­ra Ad­ell Sor­to­re (mar­ried 1883).

He gra­du­at­ed from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mi­chi­gan in 1882, then moved to Sy­ra­cuse, New York, where he prac­ticed den­tist­ry for 12 years.

In 1894, he gave up den­tis­try and was or­dained a cler­gy­man.

He be­came as­so­ci­ate pas­tor at the Ba­ptist Tem­ple in Brook­lyn, New York, and was still there as of 1899.