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Friday, July 5, 2013

Little Mysteries

We make a surprising amount of progress by solving little mysteries. We don't solve them all, of course. But when we do, we're often led into interesting, even importnt bits of the Watch Tower story. Here is one of the unsolved little mysteries:

Russell had friends in the Richmond, Virginia, area from the 1870s. Some left with Paton in the 1880s. So the mystery here is: who lived at 302 West Grace Street, Richmond, VA, in August 1900?

This illustrates one of the most difficult aspects of original historical research. Little questions such as this one are not easy to answer. Doing so is time consuming, and it's often a fruitless quest. If we don't try, we write off what might be an important, or merely interesting, detail. Want to give it a try?

Find the name that attaches to this address. ...

We know a number of things about the Watch Tower congregation in Richmond. In this era various names were used. The Richmond congregation called itself The Watchers. The met in Marshall Hall for an hour of Bible Study followed by "preaching." We can put names to few associated with this congregation.

4 comments:

RVA_Grandpa said...

I suppose I could go down to city hall and see what I can find. That is if you want me to.

Sha'el, Princess of Pixies said...

Hi Harry!

A better place would be the public libary. They may have old city directories. Play with the grandbabies first. Babies are more fun than history.

Sha'el, Princess of Pixies said...

Hi Harry,

Blogger swallowed my comment the first time I made it. ...

So, I'm trying again. ...

Probably you should try the public library if you want to help. The information would be in an old city directory, and the library is the most logical place to find that.

Play with the twins first. Babies are more fun than history.

Ton Hollander said...

302 West Grace Street aug 1900:

W.O. Wilkinson

Newspapers follow
Ton