Search This Blog

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

We need some research assistance

We need to identify the group meeting in the hall over 410 Main Street, Buffalo, New York, in 1881-1883. I don't have time to pursue this, but knowing would improve current work. Can you assist?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bruce, I will send you a note via email to get further details. BR

B. W. Schulz said...

Got your email and replied with what information I have. Thanks for your help.

jerome said...

Newspapers.com show a photographic shop/suppliers occupying 410 Main Street, Buffalo, at this time, but no reference to who used the space above. What paper or source gave you that address?

B. W. Schulz said...

The July 12, 1882, Buffalo Evening News mentions a "Buffalo Society that is opposed to stalwart orthodoxy." It refused any name but Christian. They met at the address noted on the blog. They believed the Evening News had misrepresented them. [They appear to have done so.] The News confused them with Christadelphians. They were not such. They appear to us to be a Watch Tower congregation. But we do not know that is so.

jerome said...

I checked through the whole story in the July 12, 1882 Buffalo Evening News. A meeting had been advertised with Baptist Rev Dr Lorimer billed as speaker. Something had gone awry if for no other reason than Lorimer had sailed to Europe some days before. In trying to establish what had actually happened the News called the group above 410 Main Street, Christadelphians. The local congregation of Christadelphians repudiated this. The reporter then met with a member of the group, a Mr E.C. Lavish, who said they had no sectarian name, but would go along with the name "The Church of God." So - was it a One Faith group, a fledgling Watch Tower group, or other? Maybe the name E.C. Lavish can be found elsewhere to provide an answer.

B. W. Schulz said...

The July 1, 1882 Evening News has a D. F. Lathrop as owner or rental agent of 410 Main Street. In chapter 2 of volume 2 we run into a D. D. Lathrop as host for a visit from Russell, but in Pennsylvania, not New York. The similarity of names is suggestive.

jerome said...

There was an Ezekiel C Lavish, born in New York in 1826. Still alive in the 1900 census in Monroe, Penn, where his occupation is transcribed as "Litnay Work". A possible?

jerome said...

Relying obviously on OCR, I did a search of all the early ZWTs and Restitutions in search of E C Lavish and also the initials E.C.L. Alas, while there was an overdose of adjectives like "lavish" and "slavish" there was no hint of this gentleman in their columns.

jerome said...

It would have been nice to link the D F Lathrop of Buffalo with the D D Lathrop of your chapter 2, but I have not been able to do so. The D F Lathrop of Buffalo (also a Daniel) was born in Auburn, NY, in 1826, son of Ederkin Lathrop and wife Theopracy. (Love those names). He was originally a farmer, called up for the Civil War in 1864 and was with the 25 NY Cav. After the war became a machinist in sewing machine store, also a janitor (possibly managed property for relatives, which may be where his renting space in the building where the "Church of God" met comes from). Married to Mary Ann. Suffered from dementia in later years and made the papers several times going walk-about and being detained by the police. Died 24 January 1895 in Buffalo.