Another matter that I'm wondering about is exactly how early all those biographical details were published originally. If they were published well within Lake's lifetime then his contemporaries would have found it easy to criticize them, and they would have, given that he became quite well known in the US. The fact that his seminary professor was quoted in a Spokane newspaper in 1924 tells me that he really did go to seminary, they wouldn't have dared to publish a false claim about that while it was still easy to ascertain that it was false.