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Thursday, November 26, 2015

Partial, unedited, raw.

An untitled chapter, work in progress. It wont stay up for long for obvious reasons. Comments welcome. If you can put names to some of the people mentioned here, I would be a happy, short, scrawny person.

Clergymen and Lay Preachers

            From the earliest days some clergy were attracted to the Watch Tower message. As we observed in volume one, abandoning previous affiliation was difficult because it meant giving up regular income. So we meet two classes of clergy: Those who suffered the consequences of their faith, and those who flirted with the message, believing all or part of it, but who did not become adherents. We should profile some of these.

           Many of the clergy who accepted the Watch Tower message are unnamed in the magazine and, despite our best efforts, remain anonymous. Two of the earliest clerical converts were a Methodist Episcopal and a Lutheran clergyman. The Methodist may have been Samuel T. Tackabury, but that is uncertain. Russell wrote about them in the July 1882, Watch Tower: “During June two ministers came to see the force of the truth so clearly as to ask for a supply of ‘Food’ for their congregations, and one reports that he never saw people so hungry. He expects to withdraw from the M.[thodist] P.[rotestant] Church, and thinks that a number of his congregation will follow. The other minister is a Lutheran.”[1]
            A Methodist minister’s wife wrote expressing her interest in Food for Thinking Christians. Her letter was printed in January-February 1882, reveals discontent with her church:

Sent you a card which you will receive before you see this. Wished to asked several questions. [sic] I am interested in your paper, am a thinking Christian, but not settled in my views, seeking more light. Are we to expect revivals and the conversion of sinners now? Are we to labor for this result? Is the church coming up higher? Are we to come out of the church, take our name off the church books, or remain in the church and labor to bring the rest upon the higher plain; or is each individual to be fully persuaded in his own mind and act according to his conscience? Shall I tell my sisters of like faith, better come out from among them nominally? In spirit, I am far from the majority – this I have called “coming out from among them.” I want to be right. Will you take the trouble to answer “the thinking Christian’s” questions? Please be plain. Many are inquiring. What shall I tell them? I may read your letter (should you write one) to others.[2]

            Many of her questions derive from Methodist perfectionist and holiness beliefs. The reference to Higher Life comes from the title of William Edwin Boardman’s book, The Higher Christian Life. Holiness and perfectionist doctrine was especially influential among Methodists because it was similar to Wesleyan teaching. This clergyman’s wife discussed these issues with other women, fellow congregants. While she was in the minority, there were others who were interested.
            Russell turned the letter over to his wife who answered it. [continue]
            Early in April 1882, a “colored” Congregational clergyman wrote to Russell, expressing his interest. A small group developed in Caledonia, Mississippi, based on sharing Watch Tower publications with others:
I am anxious to know the truth of God’s word, but I am too poor to purchase Bible helps I need. I have learned more from “Food” and “Tabernacle” in two or three weeks than from anything else in ten years. I am grateful to you for them, and for the paper also. I and all that have seen and can understand them are much interested.[3]

            Another clergyman who expressed interest wrote from Gold Hill, North Carolina, after receiving one of the sample Watch Tower issues. His letter appeared in the March 1883, Watch Tower. A Methodist Episcopal minister, he questioned creeds:

I am thankful for sample copy of Z. W. T., which I received a few days ago. I am a minister of the M. E. Church. For years I have believed denominationalism was a positive disadvantage to the work of Christ in our own midst, much more so in heathen lands. In fact, I cannot see how they succeed among them at all so many advocates of such a diversity of creeds. Surely there is a more excellent way. The positions you take are certainly tenable; the elucidations of Scripture are clear and forcible. I think you have struck the key-note, and all the truly pious will hear. Those who like their creeds better than they do their Lord, will surely feel and lament.[4]

The Gold Hill clergyman does not reappear, but we think his interest was transitory. So, too, we think was that of a missionary to the Jews who wrote from Baltimore, Maryland. He was attracted to Watch Tower theology by its insistence on the restoration and blessing of the Jews. He offered to circulate tracts.[5] In the March 1883, Watch Tower we find a brief letter from a seminary student located in New York City. It is brief, and we cannot add significant detail to its contents:

I have once before – last year – received a number of “the Watch Tower,” and a tract, “Food for Thinking Christians;” but at that time I could not appreciate the truth and cast them away; now I love it, as far as I can see it and know it.

I had entered the Theological Seminary in this city to prepare myself for the ministry; but to-day I make up my mind to leave it: I feel constrained now as beforeto dromp Theology and turn to the Word of God alone. I will rather be a simple servant of God than a minister, though that has been my ambition since youth.

            The only observations we can make are that he was most likely an Episcopalian attending The General Theological Seminary in New York City. It alone would have been understood from his letter. A third letter from a clergyman appears in the same March 1883, issue. From an elderly minister with more than thirty years in the work, he explained that he circulated Watch Tower material, mentioning the October 1882, missionary issue of  Zion’s Watch Tower. He became interested in Last Times themes by hearing William Miller lecture. We do not know how deeply he was involved in the Millerite movement, or if he participated in it at all.
In 1883, a Baptist minister from Fayetteville, North Carolina wrote to Russell explaining his situation: “I have been a searcher after truth from youth up. Joined the Baptist Church at the age of 22 years, am now 49. I have been preaching over 20 years, but everything seems new to me since I have read your books.” The books he would have read were Food for Thinking Christians and Tabernacle Teachings. He accepted the ‘due time’ doctrine as the reason why the ‘truths’ he now believed were previously hidden: “Why is it that such light has not been revealed by some of the so-called wise and great before this? I suppose the time for it had not come. I have not language sufficient to express my gratitude. May the Lord increase you in strength physically and mentally to go on in this great work until thousands like myself shall be able to see the light and beauty of the Bible.” This was, of course, a false conclusion. Nothing in Watch Tower theology was original, though the combination of teachings was unique.
            The Fayetteville clergyman didn’t want to be part of Babylon and left his church:

I am determined to heed the words of Paul not to confer with flesh and blood, but to go out of Babylon lest I be partaker of her sins. Last Sabbath I preached from John 6:68, “Lord to whom shall we go?” I expect to preach my last sermon for them as their elder, from Numbers 22:18, as my course is beginning to be talked of among my friends. I don’t know what they will say more, but they will not say worse of me than they did of our Savior. They said He had a devil. I rejoice that I am accounted worthy to be reproached, and to bear stripes for his (Jesus’) sake.[6]

            A lay-preacher from Macon Depot, North Carolina, accepted the Watch Tower message sometime in early to mid-1883. Writing to Russell in July that year he explained that he had taken the offer for three free issues of Zion’s Watch Tower and carefully studied them and Food for Thinking Christians. He fully endorsed the teachings found in them, writing that he hoped, “God willing, to commence soon to preach the doctrine and views taught in the Scriptures as shown in the ‘Tower’ and ‘Food.’” A one-time Methodist clergyman wrote to Russell expressing his prior discontent with their creed: “The study of the Scriptures led me farther from their creed. I finally withdrew, and for the last eighteen years I have stood outside the nominal Churches. They have desired me to unite again, but I could not join with any sectarian organization. I felt and still feel called upon to come out from among them and be separate.” He wrote that there were “a number … waking up to the truth” and asked for material to circulate. No location is attached to his letter. [7]
            For an evangelist from Maine the attraction was the Watch Tower’s call for a clean, consecrated church. A brief letter has him preaching his newly found understanding:

I have long believed in a pure consecrated and holy ministry and church. But never have I so fully enjoyed my privilege as for the past few weeks and especially since Aug. 30, 1883. I spent forty years, five months and ten days in the wilderness; but glory be to God I then entered Canaan. I am an evangelist and have been preaching the truth as I understood it for many years. I intend to keep doing so. God has been wonderfully opening to me the Scriptures of late. I find a few hungry ones everywhere I go.[8]

            The reference to Canaan is an allusion to ‘the promised land.’ He believed himself in a spiritual paradise. A Baptist clergyman from Mt. Lookout, West Virginia, read Food for Thinking Christians sometime late in 1882 or early in 1883 and subscribed to The Watch Tower. Without defining them, he said that he, “I believed some of its doctrines before I read, and I have adopted some since; but it advocates some that I am not fully prepared to accept.” Rejection of sectarian doctrine seems to be a common theme among interested clergy. He approached others, discussing Watch Tower teachings with them. Two other Baptist clergy were interested. The Baptist community was divided, and controversy raged:

I have been circulating specimen copies of the tower and "Food" among thinking Christians, with a request to take the Bible for the standard of truth. Many have done so--two are Baptist preachers-- and they are all astonished at the new revelations of the Bible. With this class I have no trouble; they are sincere Bible students. But there is another class among us who are so certain that they are right, and that these teachings are wrong, that they will not examine the Bible. This class is in the majority here, and is troublesome. I am alone, or have been almost alone, for one or two years past, but the Lord has helped me very recently by opening the understanding of a few of my brethren. I was once blinded with denominational prejudices, but I think I am clear of that now. I am determined to seek for the truth, and follow it whithersoever it leads me.
           
Additional detail is found in Jehovah’s Witnesses: Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, the official Watchtower Society history, and in the Watchtower publication God’s Kingdom Rules. The former says:

In the late 1880’s, many members of a Baptist congregation in the area of Mount Lookout, West Virginia, became Bible Students. For a while they continued to share the Baptist church with the Baptists. Apparently, whichever group got to the building first used it. By 1890, however, our brothers had stopped meeting in the Baptist church and had constructed their own hall. This hall appears to be one of the first places of worship built by Jehovah’s modern-day people. It became known as the New Light church because the truths that the Bible Students taught were viewed as new light on the Scriptures.[9]

In mid-1884 someone who preached at least part-time wrote saying that he had introduced Watch Tower teachings to his Bible Class. He was a serious Bible student, he said. But as with Daniel the prophet, the book was largely sealed to him. He believed Watch Tower publications had given him new insight and resolved perplexing questions. As with many who wrote to Russell, he was less than specific, but explained that he had faulty ideas: “I once preached what I supposed to be the Word of God, but I find that I did not understand the book then. I had not a proper idea of the plan of salvation. But thanks be to God, I begin to see its beauty and harmony.” The introduction of Watch Tower theology produced some interest and some opposition: “Since I have read Z.W.T. works, I have introduced some of the ideas gained therefrom into our Bible class, and it has produced a startling effect, and it has caused many to search the word of God. The doctrine is new, yet many are very much interested; but some few think it is heresy.”[10]
            [Swiss theology student letter here.]
In late December 1885, a Methodist clergyman wrote from California explaining that he was acting as pastor for a Congregational church. He had an older issue of Zion’s Watch Tower and a copy of Food for Thinking Christians. They changed his theology:

I desire to become more familiar with the truth as expounded by you in your publications. Some time ago I received a WATCH TOWER and your Food for Thinking Christians, and I confess it has disturbed my old beliefs wonderfully. As a Methodist preacher for sixteen years, now acting pastor of a little Congregational church here, I have of course imbibed and upheld what is called orthodoxy. But I am disgusted with sectarianism; with its narrowness and domineering, titled ministry, who lord it over God’s heritage, and I am now drinking at the fountain of all truth, and henceforth am a New Testament theologian independent of philosophy and church creeds and antiquated scholasticism. The doctrine of the “restitution” is very attractive to me and explains away many difficulties that have burdened my mind. But I desire more light. I am in a little child attitude, teachable and hungry for the truth.[11]

           
           
Willard Presbury

A Protestant Episcopal clergyman from Kirkwood, Mississippi, wrote to Russell in mid-July 1882. He was brought up as a Congregationalist but believed that the Episcopal church was “the most liberal and scriptural of all the Protestant organizations.” The Watch Tower  and Watch Tower tracts satisfied him because they addressed areas where  he differed with his church and most of Protestantism:

There have been some points, held in common by all, of which I have had my doubts and misgivings, such as the Day of Judgment and the eternal punishment of a large portion of the human race who had no opportunity of being benefited by the Gospel. The reading of your publications has dispelled my doubts on these points. I have been deeply interested in the discussion of these points and of many others also, particularly the restitution. I have been struck with the aptness and cogency of the interpretation which extends throughout the publications. There are some points upon which I am not yet altogether satisfied, but presume that further investigation may clear my vision. I am now reading the Prophecies and Revelation with more interest than ever before. I am watching with intense anxiety the present movements of the Jews and the ominous condition of Europe. Most of my reading for the last few months has been your publications, and I may say, with a most absorbing interest.[12]

            There seems to be little doubt that this letter was written by Willard Presbury, a long-term Protestant Episcopal clergyman. Before his tenure in Kirkwood, he served as rector in Early Grove, Mississippi and for a rural Marshall County church. Before the Civil War he served black and white congregations, sometimes preaching to “colored” members in a wooden chapel erected by a plantation owner. In 1841 he served with the Diocese of Ohio. In 1840 he was church missionary in Indiana. Earlier still he was a deacon and missionary under the auspices of The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society.[13] One source summarizes his ministry thus:

Willard Presbury, A. M., Episcopalian, son of Nathaniel and Martha Presbury, was born Sept. 22, 1807 Graduated at Dartmouth  College, 1838. Teacher, Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1833-5. Stiidied for the  ministry at Lexington, Ky., 1835-7. Ordained deacon by Bishop Benjamin Bosworth Smith at Frankfort, Ky., 1837, and priest, at Madison, Ind., 1839. Rector, Christ Church, Madison, Ind., 1839-40 ; Springfield, O., 1840-3. Teacher and preacher, Elizabethtown, Ky., 1843-4. Preacher to a plantation of slaves. Sunflower River, Miss., 1844-5. Rector, Epiphany Church, Clairborne County, Miss., 1845-55; Grace Church, Paducah, Ky., and St. John's Church, Early Grove, near Yazoo City, Miss.; Kirkwood, Miss., 1873-91. Died there, Feb. 28, 1891. [14]
            Clearly, despite early interest, Presbury retained his status as Episcopal clergy. We do not know why.
G. A. Rose
A letter from a Baptist clergyman appeared in the March 1883, Watch Tower.[15] It is datelined from Goshen, New York, but he seems to have preached in a wider area. He explained that he was “still on the list” of Baptist ministers, but he had abandoned that faith for a more Scriptural message. “I have set my face like flint to the world,” he wrote, “and shall keep on until I reach the prize (immortality).” Food for Thinking Christians persuaded him to abandon the Baptist belief system:
When I got the “Food,” I began to read it, and it was food; and so I kept on eating, and am never done. My name will undoubtedly soon be erased from the Association. My brethren begin to lament my fall; but, glory to God, I rejoice in my rise. Yes, I am much higher than I ever was. I see God's love, and not hatred. … Pray that God will open the way that I can scatter the truth more abundantly.

He had been in the field for some time. We see that from his letter’s initial words: “I now send you another week's work-lists for the tower. The interest of the people here at the reading of z.w.t. is great.” He believed that he might obtain one hundred names for the Watch Tower subscription list “soon.” He lamented the lack of a horse. He was afoot with a wide territory. “As I can’t afford to buy a horse, which I much need. … But I am no better to go thus than the Lord was.”
He met interest and opposition, enough opposition that he expected adverse newspaper comment: “I expect every issue of our county paper to have some express themselves against the watch tower; but I have looked in vain so far.” Despite persistent opposition, he said, “more speak well of it than I expected would.” Curiosity led some to write to him, inviting him to visit their homes and explain the message:

Last night two families met, where they sent for me, and when I opened my mouth the Lord filled it with the restitution of all things. Night before last I was at Bro. ______'s for the first time. He said he was so glad that God's plan was now so plain; that he wished to make my acquaintance, and hear from human lips the blessed truths; and when the time came to part, he said, O, glory to God, we could talk about this until morning and would not get weary. It is good news! To-morrow I have three calls to make upon anxious inquirers for the truth. So, you see, I work both day and night.

The one additional salient point is that Rose wanted to expand his ministry, traveling from county to county to spread the message. His second letter came from New Hampton, New York. While Rose’s first letter was published anonymously, he is identified in two follow-up letters, once by name and once by circumstances. The signed letter appeared in the July 1883, Watch Tower. That it is signed in an era when Russell seldom printed correspondent’s names is significant. By attaching a name or initials to articles and letters, Russell demonstrated his approval. He noted the individual as someone he viewed as a fellow in the work. He did this for Thakabury, Adamson, Smith and others who came to prominence in the work. He saw Rose as a significant and faithful worker.
His letter adds detail. It shows him to be a persistent and articulate worker. He was persuasive:

I send you another list of names for the TOWER. In my work last week I was called upon to explain the teachings of Z.W.T. publicly. After doing so, a lady remarked that the plan was so very plain that she feared to accept it, thinking that Gods plan must be more obscure than the “Chart of the Ages” in “Food” teaches.

I explained to them, that there are two reasons why many of Gods children are not able to accept the truth. First, early training; and second, denominational pride and fear. Had their parents been Roman Catholics, and taught them in that faith, in nine cases out of ten they would have been Roman Catholics. For the same reason, many cling to the Baptist and Methodist sects and the thousand isms of to-day. When we come to any of these sects and present a truth from God, the first thing they do is to inquire if it is the teaching of their church.

When they are satisfied that it is not, as a general thing they at once stop their ears and determine not to heed it. In a meeting, just a short time ago, after I was through preaching, one of the leaders of the people exclaimed, “Id rather go to hell than not be a Methodist.”

Surely he was very zealous – For the Bible, or the truth of its teachings? No; he was zealous for Methodism. See what denominational pride and fear is driving people to do in these days. They only know each other by their colors, not by the spirit of the Master displayed in each other. Jesus Christ only established one Church – one body. The Church of 1800 years ago was not known as Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc. Our Lord gave us our creed and discipline – the Bible – which is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for reproof, etc. But it is in these closing days of the Gospel Age, as it was in the last days of the Jewish Age, the mass of the nominal Church reject the commandments of God that they may keep their own traditions. Now, when we read from the Bible that the worlds resurrection will take place when our Lord Jesus comes, as foretold by all the holy prophets, and, by turning to the prophet Ezekiel, we read that he will bring Sodom and her daughters to their former estate, whom God took away as he saw good; if, in view of these plain statements, we stop our ears to the fact, we are not worthy of so great salvation.

Thank God some were convinced and persuaded to walk in the Lord’s footsteps and not with a worldly church. O Bro. Russell, if the dear Lord has only used your pen to bring me into light, it is worth ten thousand worlds to me. You are dear to me. I am running for the prize. It is hard work for me. Pray for me that I might crucify myself and keep humble.[16]

Rose brought at least one resident of New Hampton to belief. A letter from the new-believer is found in the August 1883, Watch Tower. He attributed his new belief to Rose:

I have read the “Food” in connection with the “Tower” and, owing to the clearer light obtained, find much pleasure therein. Thanks to Bro. G. A. Rose, who introduced them in this section. In response to the statement, that you have other reading matter for earnest inquirers, I write in the hope of obtaining.

It seems as if the dense night that has enshrouded us is at last dissolving, and the glorious light of the Word is slowly but surely breaking upon our benighted minds. We open our eyes in a convulsion of fear, just as the horrid nightmare is about to crush us with eternal torment, and lo, we are surrounded with the full radiance of day! A sweet sense of relief fills us with unutterable joy. But millions more are still blindly agonizing with their dreams, fearing to open their eyes lest they should find the awful vision real. This view is sad enough, but the break of day is near.

Surely God will prosper your undertaking. Continue your work; rouse the erring ones to their duty; bring them back to the fold.[17]

The last we hear of Rose is a letter found in the February 1884, Watch Tower. As with his first letter, it was published without name. He was impressed, he said, with Tabernacle Teachings. He is still active in the work:

In spite of the opposition I have encountered, I am happy to state that my labors have not been in vain. Occasionally I have been encouraged by meeting a hungry soul, one willing and even anxious to partake of the bread of life. ….

Truly it is an important time. The wonders of God's word are being revealed. The prophecies that have held the world in awe for centuries, are at last being fulfilled; but, alas! How few realize that it is the “fullness of time.”[18]

            We cannot add biographical details. There are many G. Roses in the records. We suspect that he was born in the 1820s and died shortly after his last letter. But supposition is not proof, and we do not know.
J. W. Ferrell
Sometime near July 1883, a Baptist minister from Pittsburg, Texas was “excluded” from the church for teaching Watch Tower doctrines. Embroiled in a test of influence and wills, Baptists in Texas were fractious. The General Association meeting in Pittsburg in 1879 issued a glum report:

The reports … showed a very discouraging condition …. Nothing had been prosperous. … There was great want of harmony and co-operation. Great complaints had been raised against the methods of the General Association as being partisan, and too much dominated by Waco University and the paper now called the Texas Baptist. A meeting had been held at Plano on July 3. and resolutions voicing these complaints and this dissatisfaction had been adopted.

            A report made to the 1883 General Association conference suggested that Baptist churches were deeply troubled, “that associations have been divided in counsel, some rent asunder; churches have been torn by factions, and brethren alienated, and strife engendered.” [19] While the expulsion of this minister must be understood within the context of Baptist pugnaciousness, there were sufficient doctrinal differences between Baptists and Zion’s Watch Tower adherents to overheat any Baptist. The minister’s identity is uncertain. He is not named in The Watch Tower. There are some clues, however. The American Baptist Year-Book for 1870 names a J. W. Ferrell as pastor in Pittsburg.[20]

Powell Samuel Westcott

           In 1885, Powell Samuel Westcott, a Baptist deacon prominent in the Potsdam, New York, area, was also expelled for embracing Restitution doctrine “as taught by Brother C. T. Russell.” We know more about Westcott then we know of the Baptist preacher at Pittsburg, Texas. Wescott was born in Charlotte, Vermont, April 29, 1821. He served in the 244th New York Regiment as a non-commissioned officer from which he was honorably discharged on August 21, 1846. He was for a period a cheese, lard, and butter merchant in Boston. In the 1859 he moved to Potsdam, establishing a music business and teach vocal music at the Potsdam Normal School, now the State University of New York at Potsdam. He was for a few years superintendent of the Baptist Sunday School in Potsdam.[21] His obituary said he was “for many years an active member of the Baptist church.” It does not mention his association with Zion’s Watch Tower, but describes him as “a man of strong religious convictions and … and earnest and intelligent student of the Bible … a man of integrity, faithful in business and an upright citizen.” Westcott died January 3, 1893, and C. E. Bacom, a Baptist clergyman officiated.
We do not know where or how he encountered Zion’s Watch Tower. His story is not told in the Watch Tower, but in a letter from J. W. Brite to J. H. Paton. Brite says that he “was expelled from his denomination for heresy.” Though Brite was introduced to Paton’s writing through him, Westcott did not advocate Universalism.[22] We don’t know how enduring his association with Watch Tower belief was, but he was willing for his conviction to be expelled from the Baptist fellowship. We suspect that the Baptist funeral was held at the request of his wife Phebe Ann who seems to have not shared his beliefs.[23]

Joseph Dunn

As we noted, sympathetic clergy were faced with hard choices, and not all took a firm stand or openly expressed their beliefs. A Mrs. H. F. Duke of New York City wrote to Russell in September 1901 expressing her concern for “the spiritual welfare of Bro. Joseph Dunn.” She described him as “the one whom the Lord used as a helping hand to lead [her] into the light.” Russell returned her letter, saying he was “glad” that she was “solicitous for his welfare, and seeking to counsel with hand encourage him to the taking of right steps to place himself fully on the Lord’s side in every sense of the word.” He expressed some sympathy for Baptists, Disciples and Congregationalists because they were “more independent” than most. But he warned Mrs. Duke (in a subsequent letter he addresses her as “Sister Duke.”) that Dunn faced difficult decisions:

I think Bro. Dunn, or any of us, would be justified in viewing such a congregation from the standpoint of its own claims, so that if its confession of faith were satisfactory to us, and if it agreed to give us full liberty of expression, we might consider it as one of the true congregations of the Lord. However, it would be most remarkable, under present conditions, if such a congregation should take such a stand and should maintain it for any length of time. Here will come the real test upon Bro. Dunn – whether or not he will preach the Gospel at any cost. If he does I am almost sure as that he lives that it will ere long mean a rupture between himself and the congregation and a sundering of their relationship as pastor and hearers. Indeed, I cannot see how any but spiritually minded people can accept the Gospel in the light of present truth as it is now shining. … I advice that you counsel him in every way to faithfulness, for certainly the Lord’s tests upon his minister are more crucial than upon the general average believer, and we all agree that it ought to be, for they have much advantage every way over the so-styled laity.[24]

            Joseph Dunn was a Baptist clergyman active in Hague and in Glens Falls, New York. He was a popular preacher whose sermons were well attended, one report saying that his meetings were “very interesting” and the congregation large with nearly every seat occupied. Whatever interest in Watch Tower doctrine he had, he did not change his public doctrine. In April 1903 he was by unanimous vote of the congregation reappointed pastor of the Baptist Church at Hague.[25]
            Others found themselves in Dunn’s predicament. Russell sent sample copies of Zion’s Watch Tower to clergy in Allegheny City and Pittsburgh. Maria Russell reported that one of them believed but could not make the transition to advocacy:

A minister in our city said: Bro. R., I believe these things are true, but it would not be prudent to preach them. Husband replied, I would fear to be too prudent in this matter since the Lord “hides things from the wise and prudent.” That minister had a large family well supported by a fashionable, worldly congregation who did not want to be disturbed in their sleep. He ventured to preach a little of what he believed and they told him it would not do; and to-day he is hiding his light under a bushel, or rather it has gone out and he is walking on, hand in hand with the world.[26]

William Davis Williams

In the mid-1880s William Davis Williams (c. 1849 – 1918) was a “backwoods country” Baptist clergyman, school teacher and farmer. He described himself as “full of zeal and earnestness” traveling the back country on foot for he was “a poor country school teacher and owned no horse.” He felt responsible for others’ salvation and preached a fiery message: “I was a strong believer in the eternal torment doctrine, and the thought of sinners dying in their sins and plunged into an everlasting hell of torment, cause me to suffer with awful fear, and dread that through my neglect or carelessness some would die in their sins though lack of hearing the Word.”[27]
Some of his views conflicted with more conservative elements among the Baptist fellowship. He preached against sectarianism and maintained pleasant fellowship with people from other denominations: “I loved a good Methodist, Episcopalian or Presbyterian … and sometimes I boldly denounce those divisions as not in harmony with … Scripture. Some of our rigid brethren wanted to have me disciplined and brought to order for preaching ‘unsound doctrine,’ but the majority stood by me.”[28]
Someone gave him a sample copy of Zion’s Watch Tower, and he wrote to Russell expressing his interest. Though unsigned in the Watch Tower¸ a letter from Sterling, Florida, appearing in the July 1883, issue connects to Williams through its detail. He expressed his pleasure with Russell’s paper and requested a copy of Food for Thinking Christians:

I am a Baptist minister, young, comparatively, “in the cause;” have been preaching about three years. Yesterday, at meeting, a friend handed me a couple of copies of “Zion’s Watch Tower.” I brought them home and have been reading them. I am amazed! I am delighted! Can such indeed be true? Yet you have Scripture to sustain you.

Please send me right awayFood For Thinking Christians,” and any other reading matter. I want to investigate. I am not satisfied with so-called orthodoxy. I pray constantly for light, and it seems to me my prayer is about to be answered. I am astonished to find some things in your paper which I have been preaching, it seemed to me along by myself, with none to sustain me but God’s Word. I am poor, very poor, but I must have your valuable paper. If you can, you can sent it now,and in a short time I’ll send you the money. Surely, surely, you must be right.[29]

Williams read Food for Thinking Christians, finding its theology agreeable until he realized its editor rejected Hell-Fire doctrine. He was shocked:

I was delighted to find the Scriptures so beautifully opened up, giving me clearer light than any religious literature I had ever read before. But hold! What is this the editor is teaching? No hell of torment – why, Christ Himself taught that the rich man died and went to hell, and while in torment, he besought Father Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his fingers in water to cool his fiery sufferings! How can Bro. Russell thus condemn the very language of Jesus? I immediately sat down and wrote Pastor Russell a good lengthy letter, giving an account of myself and the pleasure and help I obtained from his teachings; in conclusion I denounced his error in teaching that there is no hell of torment. “By whose or what authority do you dare to make yourself wiser than Christ himself?” I demanded to know.

            Russell wrote back, praising his zeal and commending his “close Scripture studies.” “Go on, Bro. Williams,” Russell wrote, “continue to feed on the pure Word, prayerfully and earnestly, and you will come to a knowledge of the truth, as it is in Christ Jesus, and not the traditions of men.” Russell ignored Williams’ demand and “never mentioned hell.” Williams’ was disappointed, concluding that, “He (Russell) can’t answer my question, therefore he ignores it.” But Williams and Russell maintained contact, and, we think, a letter from him appeared in the November 1884, Watch Tower. As were most letters printed by Russell, it is without signature, but the contents point to Williams:

I wish I could only tell you all I feel, but I cannot. The teaching of the TOWER seems to me to be the truth, and yet, so different from what I have been taught. I read, and am amazed and delighted, and frequently I am led to exclaim, Surely, surely, this must be the truth! My Father in heaven knows how I long to know the truth – I have prayed to be kept from error.

For some time I have not been satisfied with so-called orthodox teaching. It didn't seem to me to harmonize with God's Word, and although for a time I tried to keep “in the lines,” I finally broke through and preached what I believed to be the truth. I have in consequence been persecuted and denounced as unsound in the faith. I became so disheartened that I meditated leaving the Baptist church. But where to go I knew not. When I came to examine, they all seemed to be afflicted with the same disease, and some worse off than my own denomination. Just then (it seemed an accident), a friend handed me, at meeting one day, a couple of Z.W.T., with the remark that as I was unsound, they would not hurt me to read them.

Oh! How they stirred my very soul! I am studying hard; if I become perfectly satisfied, I am done with sects and creeds. I have been lending the papers and circulating them about. Some of the strict ones are watching me. A storm is brewing for me, and I am all alone; but blessed thought, God will help.[30]

            Russell continued to send Zion’s Watch Tower and “many tracts on various subjects.” When The Plan of the Ages was published, he sent that too. Russell’s patience and message slowly altered his views:

I continued in the Baptist ministry, preaching the truth, as I saw it then, with the exception of the subject of future punishment, and I began to have my doubts on that subject; but having been reared from infancy in that horrible doctrine, it required time and strong convictions of the truth to overcome it.

Thanks to God, I was not left to grope in the darkness of Popish errors, but eventually the teaching of dear Bro. Russell convinced me beyond the least flickering doubt, and I could have shouted for joy. Oh, what a terrible burden was lifted from mind and heart! I thought that from then on I could preach the true gospel with such convincing power, until all men would receive it gladly and rejoice with me in the glad tidings of salvation which is to all people.

            He “began to realize that the dividing time had come.” Williams tendered his resignation to the church at Sandy Creek, Florida. They were reluctant to accept it. The asked him to stay. He recalled it this way:

“Why should you leave us?” they asked. “Is that treating us just and right? Can’t you go on and preach the Bible as you have light, without introducing subjects of doubtful decision, that only create confusion and distress?” And I would hold on awhile longer, praying all the time for light – more light.

            Not everyone in Sandy Creek Church was happy with the compromise. “Persecution arose in the church,” he wrote. Whoever was unhappy took the matter to the Sandy Creek Baptist Association, the governing agency for Baptists in Holmes County, Florida, and Geneva County, Alabama. Two issues worked against him: What he believed though did not teach in the church and jealousy over his reputation and status within the Sandy Creek Association. A. J. Huggins, pastor of the Cerro Gordo, Florida, church led the assault. The Sandy Creek Association’s Minute Book contains the only record outside of William’s own memoir:

Whereas, It having reached the care of this Association that Sandy Creek church did in the year 1881, call a presbytery and ordain W. D. Williams, and give him full liberty to preach the Gospel and administer all the church ordinances, said church knowing said Williams to be unsound in the Baptist faith all of which we deem to be unscriptural and disorderly. Resolved there for that she stand thus charged, November 4th, 1882.[31]

            A committee of nine, Association clergy and prominent adherents, were chosen to examine the charge. A meeting was scheduled for Sandy Creek Church for “Saturday before the third Sunday in July 1883.” Williams parted from the Baptist Association, and one of the churches he shepherded followed him out. He continued to regularly preach his newly found faith for three years, but taught school to support his “houseful of children.” As his family grew he took on a small farm to supplement family income. He was elected a county commissioner, and the press of work diminished time spent preaching. Political turmoil led him to become a newspaper editor and publisher.[32] He founded the Holmes County Advertiser in 1892, “in the interests of Democracy, and thus stem the tide of Populism.” Williams printed his religious views in the paper, but it was his opposition to radical socialists that caused him trouble. They burned his paper to the ground twice. Williams died September 25, 1918, still reading The Watch Tower.   




[1]              C. T. Russell: View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, July 1882, page 1.
[2]              Her letter and Maria Russell’s reply are found in the January-February issue, pages 5-6.
[3]              C. T. Russell: View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, May 1882, pages 1-2.
[4]              C. T. Russell: View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, March 1883, page 1.
[5]              ibid.
[6]              C. T. Russell: View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower¸ June 1883, page 1.
[7]              C. T. Russell: View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower¸ July 1883, page 1.
[8]              C. T. Russell: View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, January 1884, page 1.
[9]              God’s Kingdom Rules, Watchtower, Brooklyn, 2014, page 203. We aren’t able to independently verify this. The name New Light Church was used by other groups.
[10]            Interesting Letters: Zion’s Watch Tower, June 1884, page 2.
[11]            Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower¸ January 1886, pages 1-2.
[12]            C. T. Russell: View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, July 1882, page 1.
[13]            Journal of the Thirty-Fifth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi, 1861, page 4. Twenty-First Convention proceedings, page 39. General Convention proceedings, 1838, pages 191, 272.
[14]            N. F. Carter: The Native Ministry of New Hampshire, page 70.
[15]            C. T. Russell: View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, March 1883, page 2. [Not in reprints.]
[16]            C. T. Russell: View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower¸ July 1883, page 1. [Not in reprints.]
[17]            Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, August 1883, page 3. [Not in reprints.]
[18]            Extracts of Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, February 1884, pages 1-2. [Not in reprints.]
[19]            Benjamin F. Fuller: History of Texas Baptists, Baptist Book Concern, Louisville, Tennessee, 1900, Pages 224-227.
[20]            Page 108.
[21]            Family history notes hosted on Rootsweb.
[22]            J. W. Brite: In Memoriam, The World’s Hope, February 15, 1892, page 61.
[23]            Westcott Obituary, The Potsdam, New York, Courier-Freeman, January 20, 1892.
[24]            Letter from C. T. Russell to Mrs. H. F. Duke dated October 3, 1901. Later letter mentioned above is dated November 2, 1901.
[25]            County and Vicinity New, The Glens Falls, New York Morning Star, September 26, 1903; Hague, Morning Star, April 3, 1903 and May 9, 1903; Untitled article in The Warrensburgh, New York, News, May 9, 1907.
[26]            M. F. Russell: Inquiries Answered, Zion’s Watch Tower, February 1882, page 6.
[27]            W. D. Williams to Editor Saint Paul Enterprise found in the July 4, 1916, issue. Family Puzzlers, a genealogy paper, suggests (Nos. 585-636) that Williams was born William R. Davis, Jr. It is claimed that he was a lawyer in South Carolina sometime between 1870 and 1880, and that he killed a man. He subsequently moved to Florida changing his name to William Davis Williams. We cannot verify any of that.
[28]            W. D. Williams to Editor, Saint Paul Enterprise found in the July 4, 1916, issue. Unless otherwise noted, this material all comes from his letter.
[29]            C. T. Russell: View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, July 1883, page 1.
[30]            Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, November 1884, page 2. [Not in reprints.]
[31]            Sandy Creek Baptist Association Minute Book as found in the Florida Baptist Historical Society Archives, Graceville, Florida.
[32]            Williams was founder and editor of The Holmes County, Florida, Advertiser.

Where we are more or less



            I appreciate the kind words of support and the helpful comments. So does Mr. Schulz, who, while somewhat restricted because of health and old-age issues, continues to work on this project.    
            We would welcome reader reviews on Amazon, B & N, and Google Books. And on lulu.com. I’m not certain why we aren’t getting many. A book we consider trash history has many. It’s a puzzle. But reviews help.
            We’ve split off part of the chapter entitled Out of Babylon. The section about clergy who expressed interest will become a short, stand-alone chapter. We’re about half done with that. It has no introduction and no analysis yet, and I have three years and two months of original ZWT to read through. The reprints omit most of the pertinent letters, so a decision made in 1920 gives a false color to some of the earliest history.
            When we’re done with Out of Babylon and the as yet untitled new chapter, we’ll sit down and read through everything we’ve written thus far. It’s time to revise our outline. We think there are maybe seven chapters or eight left to write.

Major things to research and write include:

  1. Startup of ZWT and continuing controversy with Barbour and Adams.
  2. The 1881 issues
  3. New workers and new doctrines
  4. Paton’s defection
  5. A D Jones and his issues.
  6. Conley’s faith cure and money issues.
  7. Liberia, Australia, other lands.
  8. Roots of self-view
  9. View of social issues.

That’s not an exhaustive list. Each time we re-read the WT we find new things. But we’re pushing to finish this.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

It's Gone

We left up a post from 2009 for its research value to others but with a note saying it was dated and to rely instead on the contents of Separate Identity, vol 1. I took the post down today. Too many copy from it and head in the wrong direction. We do not want to foster poor research.

I removed it reluctantly. There was stellar research in that article, and hard to find facts. But after talking to Bruce, I decided to take it down because a few internet articles have relied on it but took the wrong things from it.

If you've been using that 2009 article, I'm sorry. Buy our book. Everything that mattered from the 2009 essay is in it, and you'll find much more detail. The few silly things that were in it are gone along with the rest.
R

An update of sorts ...

I've split the chapter Out of Babylon in two. I've turned the section on adherent clergy into its own chapter. Not far enough along to post any of that yet, but if you think you have relevant information about interested clergy 1880-1890, please pass it on.

I miss Ton. Yes, I said that before. He'd stick with the mysteries until solved. Besides he was my friend.

Another without a name

Update: I think this is probably the same writer as G. A. Rose, whose letter appears in the July 1883, Watch Tower. Sadly there are so many G. A Roses that I can't add more to this. Can you?

Update to the update: A letter headed Newberg NY in the 8/83 ZWT seems to be from our G. A. Rose.

This letter was printed in the March 1883 issue of Zion's Watch Tower. It doesn't appear in 'reprints.' I've expended too much time trying to put a name to the writer. I must move on, but I'm posting it here, hoping that one of you can do what I can't.

The Letter:

Goshen, N.Y.
DEAR BRO. RUSSELL:--I now send you another week's work-
-lists for the TOWER. The interest of the people here at the
reading of Z.W.T. is great. I feel like going from county to
county the coming year, and scattering "God's truth." As I
cannot afford to buy a horse, which I much need, I have to go on
foot; but I am no better to go thus than the Lord was. I meet with
the best results and the worst together. I have set my face like
flint to the world, and shall keep on until I reach the prize
(immortality). I expect every issue of our county paper to have
some express themselves against the WATCH TOWER; but I
have looked in vain so far. More speak well of it than I expected
would. I am trying to get one hundred yearly subscribers here
soon. I am out of "FOOD," but shall wait until it can be sent me.
Some here are so much interested with the reading matter that
they send word by mail to have me call and explain the blessed
truth more fully. Last night two families met, where they sent
for me, and when I opened my mouth the Lord filled it with the
restitution of all things. Night before last I was at
Bro.__________'s for the first time. He said he was so glad that
God's plan was now so plain; that he wished to make my
acquaintance, and hear from human lips the blessed truths; and
when the time came to part, he said, O, glory to God, we could
talk about this until morning and would not get weary. It is good
news! To-morrow I have three calls to make upon anxious
inquirers for the truth. So, you see, I work both day and night. I
had better tell you how it is with me. I am, or was, a Baptist
preacher. My name still appears on the list of ministers of their
Association. But when I got the "Food," I began to read it, and it
was food; and so I kept on eating, and am never done. My name
will undoubtedly soon be erased from the Association. My
brethren begin to lament my fall; but, glory to God, I rejoice in
my rise. Yes, I am much higher than I ever was. I see God's
love, and not hatred. Above all you do, Brother Russell, "keep
little and humble," and to God be all the praise. I pray for you.
Pray that God will open the way that I can scatter the truth more
abundantly. With much love and prayer, I am
Your brother in Christ,

If we can't find his name, and I really want to find it, rough draft of this is below:



A letter from a Baptist clergyman appeared in the March 1883, Watch Tower. It is datelined from Goshen, New York, but he seems to have preached in a wider area. He explained that he was “still on the list” of Baptist ministers, but he had abandoned that faith for a more Scriptural message. “I have set my face like flint to the world,” he wrote, “and shall keep on until I reach the prize (immortality).” Food for Thinking Christians persuaded him to abandon the Baptist belief system:



When I got the “Food,” I began to read it, and it was food; and so I kept on eating, and am never done. My name will undoubtedly soon be erased from the Association. My brethren begin to lament my fall; but, glory to God, I rejoice in my rise. Yes, I am much higher than I ever was. I see God's love, and not hatred. … Pray that God will open the way that I can scatter the truth more abundantly.



            He had been in the field for some time. We see that from his letter’s initial words: “I now send you another week's work-lists for the tower. The interest of the people here at the reading of z.w.t. is great.” He believed that he might obtain one hundred names for the Watch Tower subscription list “soon.” He lamented the lack of a horse. He was afoot with a wide territory. “As I can’t afford to buy a horse, which I much need. … But I am no better to go thus than the Lord was.”

            He met interest and opposition, enough opposition that he expected adverse newspaper comment: “I expect every issue of our county paper to have some express themselves against the watch tower; but I have looked in vain so far.” Despite persistent opposition, he said, “more speak well of it than I expected would.” Curiosity led some to write to him, inviting him to visit their homes and explain the message:



Last night two families met, where they sent for me, and when I opened my mouth the Lord filled it with the restitution of all things. Night before last I was at Bro. ______'s for the first time. He said he was so glad that God's plan was now so plain; that he wished to make my acquaintance, and hear from human lips the blessed truths; and when the time came to part, he said, O, glory to God, we could talk about this until morning and would not get weary. It is good news! To-morrow I have three calls to make upon anxious inquirers for the truth. So, you see, I work both day and night.



            We were unable to put a name to this letter. As with nearly all letters published in the Watch Tower, it was published anonymously, and the clues to identity that fill it led us nowhere. The one additional salient point is that the writer wanted to expand his ministry, traveling from county to county to spread the message.

 

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

An Introduction to What Never Was


This material is a slight abridgment of material that originally appeared on Blog 2. It was originally written nearly 25 years ago, as the forward to a bibliography of the publications of the Watchtower Society. I amassed a wealth of material, but the project never saw the light of the day. I tend to be a good starter, but not a good finisher. However, all the research was freely passed onto others who enquired, so it didn’t get wasted. More recent compilers like Stan Milosevic in Canada have produced useful works like WATCHTOWER PUBLICATIONS VALUATIONS GUIDE. I wouldn’t necessarily concur with all the valuations, but apart from not listing all the Bible Student Monthly tracts (under their three mastheads) it is quite comprehensive.

It was hidden away on my hard drive (through various computers) for decades, and only rediscovered by accident in a long overdue “clear out” of dead files. I would normally have consigned it to oblivion again, but noted that there are some snippets of history in it - about strange booklets, Angels and Women, Rutherford’s Ecclesiastical Heavens booklet, amongst others, and also some comments on attitudes of the time (largely superseded in modern times I am pleased to note). So, as filler, I am letting it see the surprising light of day here. But please note that it was written just after the Society’s 1990 index was produced, but before the Proclaimers book was released in 1993, so is a time capsule of the early 1990s.

Introduction to “Watch Tower Publications - A Celebration”

One of the problems with introductions is that very few people ever bother to read them, preferring to skip straight into the body of the work, in this case what is to date the most comprehensive bibliography of the publications of the Watchtower Society.

To understand what follows, and why certain things are included (or excluded) and the basic purpose of this volume a few minutes reading what follows will not be wasted.

The basis for the work

The basic starting point for this work is the Society's own bibliographies - the most detailed of which to date was recently published in the Publications Index 1985-90. There are a few occasions where this work will change categories slightly - e.g. the difference between a booklet or a brochure - but the Society's listing is closely followed otherwise.

However, the current work is designed to ADD a lot of detail not available before.

Many tracts for example are not listed at all in the Society's bibliography, or if they are, just the title of the series, e.g., Bible Students Monthly.  Yet that was a series of over 100 different four page tracts.  This work will list them all.  Then when is a tract not a tract but just a handbill or leaflet?  Both are used in mass-distribution witnessing work.  This work will include many other items that SEEM to qualify as tracts, and this of course will be a list to which many readers could easily add.

This work proposes to catalogue some of the ephemera, postcards, public talk handbills and outlines, forms, etc.  There is a special section on BEFORE THE WATCHTOWER, covering some pre-1879 materials that are of interest to many collectors.  There is a section on the Society's films, with a special section on the PHOTO DRAMA OF CREATION listing full details of the slides, moving pictures and recordings.  Slides presentations and videos are also catalogued in the audio-visual section

Why collect?

In the past, some have tended to frown on collectors.  Statements like 'You don't want to bother with that" or 'You need to keep up-to-date" have suggested that real collectors have somehow stayed in a time-warp, surrounded by yellowed Golden Age magazines, rarely sharing in current activities, and more likely to have studied their Old Theology Quarterly file than modern literature.  It must be stressed of course that browsing through history is generally NOT what most would term “personal study”, but is a leisure activity.  But if a collector turns off the TV and rearranges the dust on old materials with care, then that is their leisure activity, and who should criticize?

Criticisms of collecting have largely disappeared as the Society has more and more encouraged witnesses to collect in some shape or form old material.  They did this when they republished the Watchtower volumes back to 1951, and then the CD-ROM material back to 1950.  The Society's own published indexes will take a researcher back to 1930 - there has to be an assumption that, while the more recent references will be more used, once in a while someone really IS going back to the 1930s.  Then a book like REVELATION CLIMAX has over 40 pre-1930 references. All these factors make collecting USEFUL, as well as enjoyable for those who are natural collectors!

And collecting is not just the books and magazines.

To get an insight into the flavor of the past, the EPHEMERA of an era has a vital role - throwaway material has a tremendous value decades on in recreating what it was REALLY like at the time.

The Society has naturally not kept all its ephemera - the very nature of ephemera is that it is not valued as permanent at the time.  Although the Society is now far more conscious of preserving history, even in recent times it has had to rely heavily on private collectors to supply the materials.  The value of private collections goes back a long way.  When the reprint volumes were first proposed, the troubles of 1918 had decimated their library.  Those at headquarters did not even have a complete file of Watchtower magazines and had to rely on private collectors to lend the missing issues. Private collectors of course did so and so the project could be realized.  Until recently there were four issues of Old Theology Quarterly for which the Society did not know the titles.  Again private collectors helped fill the gaps and supplied photocopies.

So if you are a collector you will need no encouragement to 'save it' - who knows, one day it may prove useful.  If of course you are not a collector, then you will not be reading this anyway.

Previous attempts

There have been several previous attempts to produce bibliographies of the Society's materials. But earlier efforts, including the Society's own, starting with the 1930-60 Index, have contained inaccuracies, and in some cases it appears that writers have 'invented' publications, or at least passed on the errors of others.

A classic example is one bibliography that lists a number of booklets that no-one has ever been able to find. The problem can be traced back to the bibliography published by H H Stroup in his work JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES published first in 1945, as an early attempt as a sociological study.  Stroup quoted extensively from the then more current works of J F Rutherford, but unfortunately used the titles of the individual treatise rather than the titles of the booklets.  To explain, most Rutherford booklets contained a series of titles on different subjects, the first of which became the cover title for the whole booklet. But when Stroup quoted from a Rutherford treatise, he used the title at the top of the page as if it were the title of the whole publication - which generally, it wasn’t.

Here are some Stroup examples of this.

Stroup title in his bibliography
Jehovah's Organization (1932)
Hypocrisy (1932)
Prophets Foretell Redemption (1932)
Can American Government Endure (1933)
JWs - Why Persecuted (1933)
America's End (1934)
Justifying War (1934)
Religions (1934)
Marriage (1936)
Why Serve Jehovah (1936 wrong date)
Actually a chapter within booklet:
The Final War
Cause of Death
Good News
The Crisis
The Crisis
Supremacy
Beyond the Grave
Beyond the Grave
Home and Happiness
Dividing the People (pub 1933)

These mysterious missing booklets sent many collectors off on a wild goose chase for booklets that don’t exist as such - and some later “compilers” subsequently repeated Stroup’s error.  (It also illustrates the fact that many collectors don't actually read their collections - if they had done so, the problem would have quickly been solved).

The Society's own bibliography first appeared in 1960 in their 1930-1960 index.  It was a start.  There were many omissions, and some anomalies such as the date 1873 for OBJECT AND MANNER OF OUR LORD'S RETURN.  But as noted above, the current index is still limited.  For example, what are all the titles for Peoples Pulpit, Everybody’s Paper and Bible Students Monthly? 

There are other problems to address as well.  What is an official publication and what isn't? Theoretically, the obvious answer is when it has the name Watchtower, or IBSA, or People’s Pulpit on the flyleaf.  But it is not that simple. A number of Bible Students and witnesses have published their own material, which has been actively circulated by the Society or at least been given tacit approval at the time.  There have also been occasions where Society material has been published under a different imprint.  So we get publications like ANGELOPHONE HYMNS from 1916.  This is so obviously a Society publication from references in the Watchtowers of the times, but was published from a different address.  Then what about ANGELS AND WOMEN?  This is a republication of a Victorian novel that the Society endorsed in 1924, but published by the A.B. ABAC Company.  More crucially, what about GREAT BATTLE IN ECCLESIASTICAL HEAVENS? This famous booklet by J F Rutherford defending C T Russell is NOT listed as a Watchtower publication in the latest index because the American edition was published privately by J F Rutherford - although still available on the official society's cost list. (Just to add to the confusion however, the British edition WAS published by the Society).  In this  latter instance we have included it as a Society publication, whereas Rutherford's earlier work PLAN OF SALVATION AS SEEN FROM A LAWYERS VIEWPOINT is not included as official.  More recent cases in point are works by Marley Cole and A H MacMillan.  In these cases we have made a personal decision whether to include them or not.  On most occasions we have followed the Society's decision and omitted them from the main listing, but have included them in a special section called FRINGE ITEMS. Such a list has to be the personal choice of this compiler, so obviously will appear incomplete to some.

Finally, the title of this work is to stress the expression A CELEBRATION.  It is the firm belief of this compiler that ALL the publications of the Society have done a work in their time and all tell part of the story.  For those who wish to collect the story it is hoped this descriptive bibliography and its illustrations will be helpful.

Friday, November 20, 2015

We need ...

We need to establish the identity of a J. W. B. from Pierce City, Missouri. He was resident there in the 1880s, and he was Sunday (Sabbath) School superintendent in the Baptist church. He worked for the Pierce City Baptist College. 

Usually, given this much information, we can come up with a name. Not this time. Can you help?

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Posts

I post our work here so you can see where our research is heading and to allow blog readers to give us feedback. It is frustrating when I post what I believe to be significant work but get no comments. I'm no longer posting long sections of research. No-one is interested.

While we will finish volume 2 of Separate Identity (We're too far along to not finish it.), we will not write the third book we had projected. There is insufficient interest. When volume 2 is published our work will end.

Zydeck's book, which is crap history, has drawn many reviews. Ours few. People do not want solid history; they want ear-tickling mythology. We devoted years of our life to this project. I believe there is nothing better out there. But what sells is polemic, myth and junk.

I'm terribly disappointed. I expected reader participation through this blog. It has not been forthcoming.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

One of those things ...

I have a brain like a sieve. Back in the day - when I was researching my master's thesis - I found a statement telling how many former clergymen associated with the Allegheny congregation. As I recall it was something like 127 or 125 or in that neighborhood. I didn't make a note of it, but remembered it. Now I need the exact quotation. I can't remember where I read it. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Know where I read this?

Thursday, November 12, 2015

C. A. Russell

While turning pages in one of our research folders I ran across a post card sent by a C. A. Russell of Marion, Ohio to the Lawrence Manthey family in Toledo. Russell invited the Manthey's to stay with them during C. T. Russell's visit:

"Dear Little Friend and also your Papa, I thank you for your card you sent us. We will have Pastor Russell with us Sept 28th. We will be glad to have you with us if you can come. His lecture will be in the evening 7:45 pm. Come for the day. We invite you also to our home, we are every yours in the service - Bro. and Sis C. A. Russell"

We need a clear identification of this C. A. Russell. Can you help?

Monday, November 9, 2015

Rough Draft, partial from Out of Babylon

I'm not formatting this; take it as is. I'm posting this for some sort of feedback. This is only an extract. It will be rewritten. I want comments on content, not grammar faults.



Fellowships and Congregations

            The formation of new congregations and fellowships usually followed one of two patterns. Sometimes newly interested were referred to others nearby who had also expressed pleasure in Watch Tower publications. [food, England here] After a traveling ministry was established, evangelists who found interest would remain long enough to collect people into a Bible study fellowship. This was especially so after the publication of The Plan of the Ages in 1886. Examples with the most detaile come from some few years after 1886, but we think they represent an establish process.
            The seeds of growth among  the Scranton, Pennsylvania, beliverss were sown “about the first of December” 1894 when Watch Tower evangelists found interest there. Amelia Erlenmeyer, probably working with another female evangelist, contacted Emma and Clayton Woodworth.[1] Amelia impressed the Woodworths, and they considered her “one of the Lord’s dear saints.” The Woodworths were “deeply interested in the subject of our Savior’s return,” and she had “little difficulty” persuading them to take The Plan of the Ages. Erlenmyer promised to return as soon as they had time to read it.  And read it they did. “In two or three weeks” they “were interested to such an extent that although nearly everything else was mixed up” that they “scarcely knew what” they believed. Clayton explained:

We did see clearly that there certainly is some special prize, some exceptional opportunity, for which the humble, sacrificing members of Christ's flock are invited to strive. We felt that there was only about one plank in the old platform left for the Christian worker to stand upon, and that was the one in which we have always been most interested, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” We have always been expecting to fall into some trap unless we clung close to our Savior, and at the time of which we speak were by no means sure that your interpretations of the Scriptures, despite their apparent harmony with them, were not the well-meant views of another class of those unfortunates who unwittingly go about “deceiving and being deceived.”

            “About a week later,” Amelia Erlenmyer returned “about a week later,” renewing their interest and leaving the next two volumes of Millennial Dawn. “We saw the old landmarks of orthodoxy topple and fall on every side,” Woodworth wrote to Russell. Between Erlenmyer’s visits they had engaged to support a missionary. This was now an issue. They no longer believed Methodist doctrine.[2] Could they conscientiously support a missionary teaching doctrine they no longer accepted? The woman missionary was unable to accept an assignment because of eye disease, and in this way, though saddened by their friend’s illness, the Woodworths were relieved of the conflict. Tragic as this was for their friend, the Woodworths saw in it a divine answer to prayer: “We asked our Father in Heaven to show us the truth or falsity of your teachings by sending our friend as we had planned, or preventing her from going.”
            By June 1895, they were fully committed believers:

Now we have proved the Lord, and he has answered us, and we mean to obey the call. With fear and trembling, but with confidence in our mighty King, we enter at the eleventh hour to run the race for crowns which others have flung aside. The thought that others have had them and lost them almost unnerves us. Oh! may he grant to strengthen our weak hands and confirm our feeble knees, that we be not castaways after having once entered the Holy Place and feasted on the wonderful truths so providentially placed in our way, is the heartfelt prayer of Your loving brother and sister in Christ.[3]

            The Woodworths were young, both eager to serve Christ before they met and married. They withdrew from their pervious church and took up the Watch Tower message. They found significant interest. Among those who found Watch Tower theology convincing was Hayden Samson, who would become a traveling evangelist for a period. They were not alone. At least one other represented pre-existing interest in Scranton.
            We know little about Daniel Milburn Hessler. He was a prominent citizen, owning a laundry business in Scranton with branches in Indian, New Jersey and Wyoming, Pennsylvania. He appears once in the Watch Tower through a letter to Russell. The letter’s date establishes him as preexisting interest. Commenting on a new cover design for Zion’s Watch Tower in February 1891, we find him expressing his strongly held belief:

I received January number last night and quickly noticed the new suit in which the tower is clothed. I feel sure that the improvement will be greatly appreciated by its readers. The emblem of the cross and crown is an appropriate and beautiful design to be worn by the tower. Its presence should ever encourage, sustain and comfort the household of faith. It should also be a warning or reminder; for as the cross and crown are inseparable in the design, so the two are to be inseparably associated in the experience of the overcomers. If we would wear the crown we must bear the cross.[4]


Newspaper Photo

            Hessler drops out of the record with this letter. We do not know if he maintained his interest or how active he was within the Scranton congregation. By  July 1895, meetings were held in George W. Hessler’s home at 728 Green Ridge Street. Erlenmyer would have directed the Woodworths to this meeting. The one notice of it appears in the July 13, 1895, Scranton, Pennsylvania, Tribune:

The Watch Tower Bible class will meet at the residence of G. W. Hessler, 728 Green Ridge street, [sic] Sunday, July 14, at 10 a. m. The subject will be “Restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began,” Acts, iii 21. The leader will also explain from the “Chart of the Ages” the special call of this gospel age, “The straight gate and narrow way to life, and the few there be that find it.” Matt. Vii, 14.

            We do not know who the class “leader” was, but we do know something of George Hessler. [died May 1913] He was a cabinet maker, “well known in building circles,” and a member of the Improved Order of Heptasophs, a fraternal organization. Hessler was an inventor, holding patents for a ‘book holder’ and a toilet chair.[5] A German immigrant, he became a citizen in February 1909.[6] Later in life he was swindled, investing in a gold mine in Cuba.[7] As with Daniel Hessler, we do not know if he maintained his interest. When his daughter Hazel was married in 1905, it was by the Reverent Stahl.[8] This cannot be taken as evidence, because in this era adherents still turned to clergy for weddings. There were few Watch Tower evangelists who were recognized by state or county officials to perform marriages.
            The Scranton congregation drew Watch Tower traveling evangelists. Frank Draper, a well-traveled and well-known Watch Tower representative visited nearby Peckville in May, 1896, holding two meetings in the Grand Army of the Republic Hall. A newspaper announcement read: “A cordial invitation is extended to all, especially the interested readers of Millennial Dawn. Bring your Bibles and come rain or shine.” It is likely that the meeting was sponsored by Hayden Samson who was then living in Peckville.[9]
            Russell visited the congregation in May 1897. In this era this wasn’t unusual. He continued to travel extensively, visiting small groups until a few years after his sermons were syndicated. The newspaper article that announced his speech was prepared by the Watch Tower. It said that “Scranton readers and students of the “Millennial Dawn,” series of Bible helps, and all others who are interested in the subject of the pre-millennial advent of the Lord have a rare treat in store for next Wednesday evening. C. T. Russell, the author … has consented to come to Scranton and deliver an address on “Why Christians Should Take a Lively Interest in the Second Coming of the Lord.” His talk was held in the Green Ridge Tabernacle, a Methodist church, on Jefferson Avenue.
            Most of the article was an advertisement for Russell and his books. The Watch Tower press release said:

Mr. Russell stands free from all creeds and sects of men and is therefore able to give an unbiased view of every phase of Scripture truth and it is believed that all classes of honest thinkers who read his works will be enabled to realize the Bible as indeed God’s word and to recognize his plan therein revealed as one sublime exhibition of justice, wisdom, love and power. This is borne out by the fact that “Millennial Dawn” has been the direct means of conversion of hundreds of life infidels.[10]

            Frank Draper followed Russell, delivering two lectures on “the signs of the times” and “kindred topics” at Raub’s Hall, October 17, 1897. The Scranton, Pennsylvania, Tribune carried an announcement:

Mr. Draper is not an alarmist, but with very many excellent Christian people of today, he believes that “important events cast their shadow before,” when viewed in the light of prophecy, and that we are well into the time when “many were to run to and fro and knowledge be increased.” Hence the importance of attending these meetings.[11]     
           
            We did not locate post-event reports for either Russell or Draper’s lectures. The announcements seem to convey the content well. Watch Tower press releases in Scranton were typical of the age. The speaker if prominent was praised. Russell was presented as a free Bible student, able to discern the divine message where others had failed. Many others believed as did the speaker. If you were a thinking person, you would too.
            Russell and the Woodworths were close friends. Emma died in April 1899, and Russell traveled to Scranton to preach the funeral discourse. Clayton became seriously ill during the winter of 1898-1899, and Emma took on family responsibilities and her husband’s care while ill herself. She collapsed at his bedside, dying of heart failure. The funeral was held at the Woodworth residence.
            The small Scranton congregation, really not more than a fellowship, placed a notice in The Tribune separate from the funeral notice: “Charles T. Russell, author of the “Millennial Dawn Series,” will be in the city Sunday to conduct the funeral services of Mrs. C. J. Woodworth. He will also address the Bible class which meets at Gurney’s hall. … All are invited to hear the most wonderful Bible scholar of the age.”[12]
            One is taken aback by the lavish praise heaped on Russell, but it is within the context of the era not spectacular. However, when set against the modesty attributed to Russell by himself and others, it comes across as crass advertising. If his friends and associates saw the praise as deserved, many more of his contemporaries did not.
            By 1897 the Scranton group was small be well-established. A report of annual communion attendance said twenty attended in Scranton, eight more than the previous year. By 1899 the number had increased by one. A report from 1900 said that the Scranton group was one of those “leading in the volunteer work,” the circulation of Watch Tower tracts outside public places. Thirteen of their number were regular participants.[13]
            Russell and other Watch Tower evangelists continued to support the fledgling group. Russell returned to Scranton in late July 1902, speaking to the congregation in Guernsey Hall. His address resulted in a lengthy newspaper article, and this time Russell was introduced only as an editor and author; all the hyperbole had disappeared.[14] To follow up interest generated by Russell’s talk, Hayden Samson returned to Scranton in September 1902. An announcement said: “All people … who are interested in ways and means for the betterment of social, economic and religious conditions, as all in this valley must be in such times of unrest as the present, will be doubly interested in the subject for discussion, ‘God’s Agency for the Blessing of the World.’”[15]

Advertisement: Scranton Tribune¸ July 26, 1902.

            As the congregation grew, so did opposition. Clergy in Scranton supervised the burning of Russell’s books.[16] The pattern found here was repeated elsewhere, and was by the 1890s not a new one. We can find similar events in places such as Richmond, Virginia; Huston, Texas; and Washington, D. C. Colporteurs and locals testified to their neighbors, telling “the truth of the Bible as they saw it.” Residents were introduced to Millennial Dawn and other Watch Tower literature. Lectures were presented. Local interest was gathered by letter or by personal invitation. Before the press of fame limited Russell’s visits to larger gatherings, he accepted invitations to speak which were advertised in newspapers. Forming new congregations was a group effort, not the work of one man.


[1]              If there was one, we don’t know the name of the other evangelist. In 1892 she was working in concert with “sisters” Peck and Clark. In 1900 she was working with a Lenora Thompson, a single woman born in 1871. Amelia Erlenmyer was born in Germany in February 1852 to Otto Erlenmyer and died in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in 1932. She never married, but devoted her life to the ministry. Her death date is uncertain, but she was still alive in 1900, a resident of Harrisburg, PA. She boarded with Anna Mackey, an elderly widow. The 1900 census lists her as “a colporteur tract.”
[2]              We conclude that the Woodworths were Methodists on two grounds: Members of the family were Methodist; [Scranton Tribune¸ July 10, 1901, page 2.] and a letter from Woodworth to a friend preserved in Proclaimers details his pervious beliefs, and that detail fits Methodist Episcopal Church doctrine.
[3]              Woodworths to Russells, “Out of Darkness into his Wonderful Light,” Zion’s Watch Tower, June 15, 1895, pages 147-148.
[4]              Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, February 1891, page 29.
[5]              U.S. Patents numbers 263,290 and 752,551.
[6]              Scranton Wochenblatt, February 25, 1909.
[7]              The Scranton, Pennsylvania, Truth, January 12, 1911.
[8]              The Scranton, Pennsylvania, Truth¸ June 7, 1905.
[9]              Peckville, The Scranton, Pennsylvania, Tribune, December 24, 1900.
[10]            Author of Millennial Dawn, C. T. Russell to Speak in Scranton, The Scranton, Pennsylvania, Tribune, May 1, 1897.
[11]            The Signs of the Times, The Scranton, Pennsylvania, Tribune, October 14, 1897. The “important events” quotation comes from a poem of the same name by the British poet Thomas Campbell [1777-1844].
[12]            Both announcements appear in The Scranton Tribune of April 22, 1899.
[13]            See ZWT May 1, 1897, page 134; April 15, 1899, page 94; July 1, 1900, page 198.
[14]            Hopes for the Millennium, The Scranton, Pennsylvania, Tribune, July 28, 1902. Text of his address is found in the booklet Millennial Hopes and Prospects.
[15]            Free Bible Lecture, The Scranton, Pennsylvania, Tribune, September 27, 1902.
[16]            Jehovah’s Witnesses: Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, page 642.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Quite a nice little collection...


           


...but alas, I don't have these covers on mine...



Tuesday, November 3, 2015

An Historic Headline



A little outside the usual era covered by this blog, but interesting nonetheless.


Monday, November 2, 2015

Help ....

An opposition writer made this claim:


He cites no source. We need the exact source. Can you find it?