Philadelphia Convention - 1900

 

Held in St. George's Hall, the same place where Barbour lectured at Russell's invitation. 

1957

Among the Rarest

 The Index lists a number of early Bible Student booklets. It is far from complete, but among those listed is  George W. Hessler's The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, 1888, It is exceptionally rare, and few have seen it. The copy below, from my personal research collection, was dis-bound from a collection of booklets owned by William Wright, a Watch Tower Society director.

Rarer still is a paper bound book by Jesse Harper of Danville, Illinois, entitled The Millennium Age. The Restoration. The Race Restored. The Earth Restored, 1892. There are perhaps ten copies in institutional libraries. Harper came in contact with Watch Tower belief by reading The Plan of the Ages. His book is a summary of his notes taken from Millennial Dawn series and Zion's Watch Tower. Shown below is my copy.

Photodrama postcards

     A series of sepia postcards has been found that advertise the Photodrama of Creation. They include both still shots from the slides and frames from the moving pictures.

     From the slides they include:

         This picture had earlier been used for the inside rear cover of the special 1 January 1912 Watch Tower.

     It was also the subject of a well-known Lardent card.

  
     From the moving pictures they include:

     The reverse of the postcards contain no further information. Of the ten this writer has seen, the one above is the only one to have been used in the mail. If any reader would like to decipher the address and message, please do let us know. What can be ascertained is that this particular card was posted from Chicago in 1919.

     The Chicago link suggests that this is part of a set that was advertised in the St Paul Enterprise in early 1915. Starting in the issue for 8 January 1915 the following advertisement appeared in the paper.

     The Chicago Temple produced its own postcards to advertise showings of the Photodrama. One famous view was this one.

     The temple actually ceased operation in mid-1915. For its full story see the article:

     https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-chicago-city-temple-and-photodrama.html

     The advertisements for Photodrama postcards disappeared from the Enterprise after its 13 August 1915 issue.

     Although the postcards were still being used in 1919 from the evidence above, they were soon superseded by a far superior product. In 1916 CTR ordered a series of 40 postcards that reproduced scenes from the Photodrama in color. They were printed in France but because of war conditions did not arrive in America until around April 1917. This announcement was placed in The Watch Tower in its issue for 15 April 1917.

     These cards are most collectable today, featuring a color picture on one side and the appropriate text of the lecture recording on the other. There was space for a mailing address but any personal messages had of necessity to be brief.

     A comparison of the quality shows why the 1917 cards had far greater circulation.

Additional photodrama cards from this set - B.W.S.

Interest Tract, 1900

 

Nels Edward Nelson

 

Revised and with pictures

A full account of the life of Nels Edward Nelson may someday be written. A tale that would chronicle the journey of a boy born in Sweden on October 2, 1875, who, at age seven, crossed the Atlantic to begin a new life in America. And tell how on August 13, 1902, the boy, now a young man forging steel in the mills of Duquesne, Pennsylvania, married Laura M. Reese with whom he built a family, welcoming Margaret A. Nelson on June 21, 1903. And how this family grew to include Carl Richard Nelson on March 10, 1910, who suffered from mental illness later in life and passed away at 43 years of age. It would vividly portray their triumphs and struggles in the gritty heart of coal and steel country during all the upheaval of The Great War and the decades that followed.

But today is not that day and this is not that story. This article has a much narrower aim: to share what available records say about Nels Edward Nelson's life as a devoted Bible Student. Nelson became identified with the Bible Students in 1897. This timing, revealed in an article published in response to critic of the movement William T. Ellis. Nelson writes of himself:

I have not only been at Brooklyn, and at the same convention that Mr. Ellis attended at Washington, D.C., but additionally have attended eleven other general conventions of the I.B.S.A. and I have been identified with the movement for sixteen years-a personal acquaintance of the venerable Pastor during the period and have read nearly all that he has written and many of his publications have been read several times.

Much of what we know about Nelson's relationship with Bible Students comes from The National Labor Tribune. While the Labor Tribune was not the first newspaper to regularly publish Russell's weekly sermons it was one of the earliest, publishing Russell's sermons as early as January 1905. The Labor Tribune became a favorite among Bible Students because of the prominent place it gave to Russell's sermons, placing them on page 2 or 3 rather than on the back page, and the generous spacing and clear font made it an easier read than other papers. Gradually, the Labor Tribune expanded the area given for Bible Student content to include letters of appreciation, and by 1910 they were publishing contributions by Bible Students other than Russell.

Articles by well-known Bible Students such as Bohnet, Blackmore, and Van Amburgh found their way onto the pages of the Tribune. But it was the writings of N. E. Nelson that loomed largest. It's been said that every person has one good novel in them. For Nelson, this 'novel' was a history called "Pastor Russell's Sphere in the Reformation." This remarkable work first appeared in February 1913 Labor Tribune as "Pastor Russell and His Mission." His article continued in the October 1913 issues as “Pastor Russell and His Mission-Culminates in the Reformation (October 1913), and as "Pastor Russell's Sphere in the Reformation" which was serialized from October 1915 to 1917.

Nelson's argument was that Russell, and by extension Bible Student doctrine, unified the best of the Protestant Reformation while avoiding its excesses. Nelson wasn't the first person to say this, but he made the case persuasively. A version of this idea appears in The Finished Mystery. Its writer-compiler, Clayton J. Woodworth, also edited Nelson's Pastor Russell's Sphere in the Reformation.

A clue to how Nelson's work was received by Bible Students of the era can be found in the United States vs. Joseph F. Rutherford et al. trial transcript. A letter from Gertrude W. Seibert written to the then newly formed Executive Committee and dated December 6, 1916, suggested a memorial to Russell be published in book form that would include, among other things, Russell's comments on Revelation and Ezekiel and “Bro. Nelson's articles on 'Pastor Russell's place in the Reformation,’ " as printed in Labor Tribune.

Other articles, series, and letters appeared by Nelson in the Labor Tribune, all in his characteristic style. These include "Triunity of Creation," “Arius and Servetus contrasted to St. Augustine and Calvin," and “Dante's Camouflage." These writings reflect a mind deeply familiar with Literature, Church History, and Bible Student theology. The source of this knowledge is one of the enduring mysteries attached to him.

Nelson was very active at Russell's funeral. William Abbot, Editor of The St. Paul Enterprise, with whom Nelson had prior disagreements regarding The Enterprise's publishing standards, mentioned Nelson in his funeral account (November 14, 1916): "The lining of Brother Russell’s grave pure white, emblematic of his purity of life-was decorated with one thousand feathery mountain ferns and elaborately studded with white chrysanthemums, the handiwork of the cemetery associates, under the oversight of the writer, assisted by Brothers F. E. Williams and N. E. Nelson and wife of Duquesne. It was loving hands that wrought this work of art as a last tribute to our noble brother.”

In the first photo, which is circulating among Bible Student researchers, Nelson appears as the moustached gentleman standing in the middle. Nelson, his wife and daughter also appear in two additional photos from the Labor Tribune reporting following Russell’s death.

 

 

The divisions that formed in the Bible Student community as a result of the events of 1917 and early 1918 made their way onto the pages of the Labor Tribune. The Tribune's editor at that time, Joseph H. Vitchestain, though sympathetic to the cause was at a disadvantage in adjudicating these disputes as he was not 'consecrated' himself. Even with Bible Student J. H. Blackmore acting as a kind of censor for the Tribune's Bible Students’ pages, many divergent ideas still slipped through.

Nelson did not always comment, but when he did his words reflected a strong sensibility and acted as a corrective of sorts. For example, in 1918, Bible Student W. W. Giles suggested that paying the War Tax was equivalent to receiving the Mark of the Beast mentioned in the Bible book of Revelation. Nelson couldn't help himself, and his response, directed to the Editor, was published in the Labor Tribune on March 7, which says in part:

I appreciate your spirit of fair play in granting your readers the privilege of expression, even though they do not always voice the sentiments of the majority, but this particular article is no credit to your paper, nor to the cause of the I.B.S.A. Perhaps you are not aware of it, but this article contains seditious teaching, and since the writer poses as a representative of the I. B. S. A, in advocating resistance to paying war taxes to the United States Government I request this article be repudiated through your columns. The writer of this article sets forth a hazy and ill-defined proposition that the "Mark of the Beast" is an intellectual assent to, or a willing paying of taxes to the government because it is at war. Every one has a right to his opinions on all questions, but this article states that "we of the I.B.S.A., etc., implying that all members of that association stood for the principle as defined by him. I am not speaking for the association in repudiating this, but I know of no such proposition being promulgated officially by the proper representatives of our association. 

Nelson is credited with playing a key role in the release of Rutherford and associates from prison following the close of World War I. A report about the I.B.S.A. Convention at Scranton published in the Labor Tribune on August 26, 1920, includes the following detail: "Among the arrivals from your town is Brother H. E. [N.E.] Nelson, of Duquesne: who drove here with his family in his machine. Brother Nelson has the honor, with Mrs. Woodworth's assistance, of starting the ball rolling to release the "convicts" from Atlanta, He is quiet and unassuming and takes his honor lightly, knowing he did only his duty."

How Nelson "started the ball rolling" may in part be understood by reading about the vigorous campaign the Labor Tribune waged in late 1918 and 1919 to free "The Men at Atlanta." This campaign was aided by Nelson, as noted in the Labor Tribune, "The work and the indomitable persistency of N. E. Nelson, of Duquesne, Pa., must not be overlooked in the campaign for the freedom of the eight men who have been given their freedom. Nelson was tireless and was ever ready with his wise counsel.” A letter written by Nelson to Clayton J. Woodworth has also survived the walls of the Atlanta Penitentiary. These four handwritten pages dated August 1, 1918, give a peek into the personality of Nelson, Woodworth, and another notable Bible Student of the period:

Well dear brother are you getting accustomed to your quarters! How is brother Mack? [Alexander Hugh MacMillan] I fancy he will be hunting something to work off his energy. I hope he will not get into periods of despondency for he is a boy of extremes. And perhaps you also may be subject to this tendency. I understand you and Mack are together - I think you will make a good team.

Nelson attached to this letter a section of his will, expressing his desire to publish a 300 page manuscript of ‘Pastor Russell's Sphere in the Reformation’ in book form and leaving with executors $2500.00 ($53,700 by 2025 standards) for that purpose. Ultimately Nelson left the decision with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania whom he also gifted his manuscript concluding "if the Lord wishes to make use of it, my plans will not stand in the way."

In the Fall of 1920, the Labor Tribune severed its relationship with Bible Students. It is at this point that records of Nelson's writing stop. One can’t help but speculate on how his thinking developed over the subsequent decades. A short article by him about the weather, "A Strange Summer,” appeared in the Golden Age magazine, December 6, 1922. He ended the article with a perhaps uncharacteristically indecisive note: "Is The Christ, the new Power of the Air, actively taking in hand the atmospheric conditions, with a view to the still further undoing of Satan's empire? I wonder.”

Probably Nelson but maybe his son is reported to have sung at the 1929 Bible Student Convention Report "a tenor solo by Brother Nelson, of Duquesne, Pa. Later in life, Nelson and his family took the same course as several other Bible Students from Pennsylvania and left the city of rivers for the coasts of Florida, moving with his wife and, eventually, his son to St. Petersburg in 1930, where he lived for the remainder of his life. His passing was commented on in the Tampa Bay Times on September 20, 1956, page 4. Nelson's death was not listed in any of the journals that represented various branches of the Bible Student movement. The well- known Dawn Bible Student George O. Jeuck officiated. Regrettably, the report says little about his life but perhaps says enough with the words, "He was a member of the International Bible Students."

Invitation Tract. Locally Printed.

 Raymond S., a true friend to my research, forwarded this tract. He has a small amount of information, but we would appreciate your research and comments. 

The Pepworth poem

     

An interesting curiosity in Watchtower collecting is a small volume published in the early 1920s called The Coming of the Kingdom.  It was credited to W H Pepworth.   

     The small book of 92 pages (in its original edition) is one very long poem, with an introduction, 26 parts, and a conclusion. It is all in verse. In previous years extracts of such a project might have occasionally appeared in Watch Tower literature, credited to writers such as Gertrude Seibert. But by the time Pepworth published his magnum opus the idea of verse as fillers in Watch Tower literature was basically out, although extracts would later be published elsewhere. But what makes this work particularly collectable today is that when originally published in 1922 it was to be endorsed by the Watch Tower Society’s president, J F Rutherford.

     There appears to be no mention of Pepworth or his work in the Watch Tower or Golden Age magazines of the day, but a copy was obviously sent to J F Rutherford. He wrote back and his letter was either reproduced or pasted in the flyleaf of the third edition of 1924. This is how it appeared:

     One of the opening pages also contained a positive reference (undated) from The Manchester City News.

“To all who are given to reflect upon the serious matters of the day, this work on ‘The Coming of the Kingdom’ may be strongly recommended. They will find much in the way of suggestions and inspiration, and doubtless the panacea which Mr. Pepworth holds out as the only possible one for the maladies of the age will be accepted with gratification. The volume is essentially one for thinkers, and the author must be congratulated upon his reverential handling of a profound theme.”

     William Henry Pepworth was born in Norwich, Norfolk in 1857 and died in 1940. He worked as an insurance clerk and later insurance cashier for the Prudential Insurance Company. He married Eliza Fallows from Manchester in 1881 and they had three daughters, Dora, Mabel and Elsie.

     From the late 1880s up to January 1915 Pepworth appeared regularly in newspapers of the Greater Manchester area for his involvement in various societies. These included the Manchester Microscopical Society, and the Natural History Society. He was a lecturer, librarian, president and vice-president at different times. On the religious front he appears with the Young Men’s (and then just Men’s) Bible Class, the Wesleyan Mutual Improvement Society, and particularly the Bramhall Wesley Guild, acting as chairman, magazine editor, secretary, and sometime entertainer.

     He was an occasional writer. A series of articles on The Humorous Side of Nature appeared in the Stockport Advertiser throughout March 1906, and were later turned into one of his lectures at the Wesley Guild.

     There was often a cross-over between his interests in nature and religion. A regular talk he gave was on “God’s Other Book” - namely the book of nature.

     One of the last religious talks he gave at the Guild was on “Milton and the Bible” in February 1914, and the last talk of all there from this writer’s newspaper search was in January 1915 which accompanied lantern slides on botanical life.

     There was no suggestion anywhere of Pepworth writing poetry or verse.

     He then disappears from the Methodist Wesley Guild. It may have signalled a change in religious direction or it may have signalled that he retired from his work and he and Eliza moved to the south coast of Britain after their girls married. Sadly, not that long after the move, his wife Eliza died at the age of 51 in Bournemouth, Dorset, in November 1915 at the age of 51.

     We don’t know when he’d become interested in the Bible Student message, but Eliza’s grave marker in a Bournemouth cemetery reads:

In loving memory of Eliza, beloved wife of William Harry Pepworth, who passed away Nov. 16, 1915, aged 51. “She hath done what she could.” Mark 14:8.

     While not conclusive, the marker also includes a version of the cross and crown symbol, which characterised the Bible Student movement at that time.

     See: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/259935003/eliza-pepworth

     This suggests that at some point not too long before this Pepworth become a believer in Bible Student teachings. His own obituary in 1940, suggested he had been a Bible Student for nearly 30 years, although that may have been a bit of a guess.

     He was to remarry in 1923. His second wife was Mary J Lawrence born c.1878 so about 46 years old at the time of the wedding. She survived him along with “daughters” – from either his first marriage or hers from a previous relationship. The couple moved to the Isle of Wight and lived in Sandown and the third edition of Pepworth’s book was published in 1924 from a Sandown address. They were still there in the 1939 census. After his death in 1940 she lived on in the area until her own death in 1953. The name Lawrence (female) has been found in a Manna book with a birth date of December 12. This is the birth date for Mary Pepworth in the 1939 census, so it may well be that William Pepworth’s second wife was a Bible Student.

     Pepworth did not remain in the IBSA fellowship. His brief obituary was in an independent Bible Student publication. There was talk of republishing his poem in book form, but it never happened. So the original blue colored volume remains quite collectable.

1911 Revival

Guest post by Tom S. to whom we owe many thanks for research material.

In 1911 a revival of sorts swept the United States. It was called “The Men and Religion Forward Movement.” It was backed by many notable men, including J. P. Morgan. The group wanted to use business methods in religion and thus encourage a greater influx into churches.

A door-to-door campaign was conducted from September 1911 to April 1912. Responding to this, the October 15, 1911, Watch Tower published a small card that could be cut out and presented to the caller.

The card was later printed in various formats. Into the 1920s it was seen as a kind of identity card.

Submissions

 I'm tied to three projects, limiting the amount of time I can devote to the blog. So I'm open to well-written submissions. Our focus is on the Russell era, but I will consider posts covering the Rutherford era up to 1933. Please follow these rules. They're not suggestions.

Submissions to this site must be in our suggested format. Submission must come in either .pdf or .doc. I prefer that you do not use docx. 

Submissions must be footnoted to sources, using THIS format: 

Books, pamphlets and booklets:

Author, Title, publisher, place of publication, edition if there’s more than one, publication date, page. Abbreviating this is unacceptable. Repeat citations may site “author, op. cit., and page.” 

Magazines: 

Author if known, article title, publication name, date, page. 

Newspaper articles: 

Author if known, article title, publication name, date. Page is unnecessary unless you’re quoting a large multiage edition. 

I do not want citations to web pages, though I understand that may be necessary in some circumstances. Use customary academic formatting. 

Grammar and Punctuation: 

Limit abbreviations. Spell words fully, including Miss, Missus, and Mister and Street. An exception is “St.” for ‘saint.’ We follow American practice of putting a full stop (period) after “St.” Parts of the English speaking world have abandoned the period for this abbreviation. We retain it. 

Use direct sentences. Prolix writing is not welcome. Be concise. Use active rather than passive verbs. Passive voice is irritating and distracting to American readers, my primary audience. 

Background color: 

Some versions of Word default to a white background. This is unnecessary and creates a formatting problem. Delete formatting and reform paragraphs if your word processor does this. Otherwise, I must go through formatting line by line deleting that nonsense. It’s time consuming, and I may return  your submission asking you to reformat.  

 

 

From the June 1878 Herald of the Morning

 Your analysis of this please ...

Q: lf Christ only bestows the spiritual life, then must man not have lost spiritual life by Adam? for Christ counteracts, first of all,  the work of Adam’s transgression, (Rom. 5, 18). Alb.  Jones, Pittsburg, Pa. 

A: Our brother From Pittsburg makes the assertion, based on the old theory, the very one we are contesting, thus “begging the question,” and asks me to reconcile the facts with that false theory; 1 cannot do it;  more is* there anything in Rom. 5: 18, from which to draw a conclusion that Christ does a twofold work, first contracts, and then regenerates, or imparts spiritual life. 

“Therefore, as by the offence of one upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one upon all men unto justification of life.” 

[He misquotes. The verse reads: “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”] 

Here is a clear statement of the work of the first in bringing death, and of the second in brining life. And what I want our reader to keep distinctly before them is, that wherever the apostle speaks of life, it, never refers to the physical life; on the contrary, the flesh life is counted as dead; and when God raises the I dead, they never see life, but remain dead, until the come to Christ. Until we recognize this fact, we never shall clearly distinguish between natural and the spiritual. 

As we lose the germ of life in the first Adam by his sin, that is, he lost it, and so could transmit only death to his posterity; so we gain the life that is in the second Adam by his righteousness; that is, he won life for himself, and can therefore transmit that life to his posterity.

 

Nels Edward Nelson -Guest Article by Liam C.

Slight edits by blog editor for clarity. Photos were submitted, but did not transfer well. So, they're omitted for now.

A full account of the life of Nels Edward Nelson may someday be written. A tale that would chronicle the journey of a boy born in Sweden on October 2, 1875, who, at age seven, crossed the Atlantic to begin a new life in America. And tell how on August 13, 1902, the boy, now a young man forging steel in the mills of Duquesne, Pennsylvania, married Laura M. Reese with whom he built a family, welcoming Margaret A. Nelson on June 21, 1903. And how this family grew to include Carl Richard Nelson on March 10, 1910, who suffered from mental illness later in life and passed away at 43 years of age. It would vividly portray their triumphs and struggles in the gritty heart of coal and steel country during all the upheaval of The Great War and the decades that followed. 

But today is not that day and this is not that story. This article has a much narrower aim: to share what available records say about Nels Edward Nelson’s life as a devoted Bible Student. Nelson became identified with the Bible Students in 1897. This timing, revealed in an article published in response to critic of the movement William T. Ellis. Nelson writes of himself: 

I have not only been at Brooklyn, and at the same convention that Mr. Ellis attended at Washington, D. C., but additionally have attended eleven other general conventions of the I. B. S.A. and I have been identified with the movement for sixteen years-a personal acquaintance of the venerable Pastor during the period and have read nearly all that he has written and many of his publications have been read several times.

 

Much of what we know about Nelson’s relationship with Bible Students comes from The National Labor Tribune. While the Labor Tribune was not the first newspaper to regularly publish Russell’s weekly sermons it was one of the earliest, publishing Russell’s sermons as early as January 1905. The Labor Tribune became a favorite among Bible Students because of the prominent place it gave to Russell’s sermons, placing them on page 2 or 3 rather than on the back page, and the generous spacing and clear font made it an easier read than other papers. Gradually, the Labor Tribune expanded the area given for Bible Student content to include letters of appreciation, and by 1910 they were publishing contributions by Bible Students other than Russell. 

Articles by well-known Bible Students such as Bohnet, Blackmore, and Van Amburgh found their way onto the pages of the Tribune. But it was the writings of N. E. Nelson that loomed largest. It’s been said that every person has one good novel in them. For Nelson, this ‘novel’ was a history called “Pastor Russell’s Sphere in the Reformation.” This remarkable work first appeared in February 1913 Labor Tribune as “Pastor Russell and His Mission.” His article continued in the October 1913 issues as “Pastor

Russell and His Mission–Culminates in the Reformation (October 1913), and as “Pastor Russell’s Sphere in the Reformation” which was serialized from October 1915 to early 1916. Efforts to recover archives of the Labor Tribune for most of the year 1916 are ongoing so the complete Nelson series is not currently available. But enough has survived understand Nelson’s argument. 

Nelson wrote that Russell, and by extension Bible Student doctrine, unified the best of the Protestant Reformation while avoiding its excesses. Nelson wasn’t the first person to say this, but he made the case persuasively. A version of this idea appears in The Finished Mystery. Its writer-compiler, Clayton J. Woodworth, was also edited Nelson’s Pastor Russell’s Sphere in the Reformation. 

A clue to how Nelson’s work was received by Bible Students of the era can be found in the United States vs. Joseph F. Rutherford et al. trial transcript. A letter from Gertrude W. Seibert written to the then newly formed Executive Committee and dated December 6, 1916, suggested a memorial to Russell be published in book form that would include, among other things, Russell’s comments on Revelation and Ezekiel and “Bro. Nelson’s articles on ‘Pastor Russell’s place in the Reformation,’” as printed in Labor Tribune. 

Other articles, series, and letters appeared by Nelson in the Labor Tribune, all in his characteristic style. These include “Triunity of Creation,” “Arius and Servetus contrasted to St. Augustine and Calvin,” and “Dante’s Camouflage.” These writings reflect a mind deeply familiar with Literature, Church History, and Bible Student theology. The source of this knowledge is one of the enduring mysteries attached to him. 

Nelson was very active at Russell’s funeral. William Abbot, Editor of The Saint Paul Enterprise, with whom Nelson had prior disagreements regarding The Enterprise’s publishing standards, mentioned Nelson in his funeral account (November 14, 1916): “The lining of Brother Russell’s grave pure white, emblematic of his purity of life-was decorated with one thousand feathery mountain ferns and elaborately studded with white chrysanthemums, the handiwork of the cemetery associates, under the oversight of the writer, assisted by Brothers F. E. Williams and N. E. Nelson and wife of Duquesne. It was loving hands that wrought this work of art as a last tribute to our noble brother.” 

A week later, the Enterprise advertised a list of 18 photos taken on the day of Russell’s burial; Nelson, his wife, and daughter are listed as appearing in several of them. I have located none of the original photos.

 The divisions that formed in the Bible Student community as a result of the events of 1917 and early 1918 made their way onto the pages of the Labor Tribune. The Tribune’s editor at that time, Joseph H. Vitchestain, though sympathetic to the cause was at a disadvantage in adjudicating these disputes as he was not ‘consecrated’ himself. Even with Bible Student J. H. Blackmore acting as a kind of censor for the Tribune’s Bible Students pages, many divergent ideas still slipped through. 

Nelson did not always comment, but when he did his words reflected a strong sensibility and acted as a corrective of sorts. For example, in 1918, Bible Student W. W. Giles suggested that paying the War Tax was equivalent to receiving the Mark of the Beast mentioned in the Bible book of Revelation. Nelson couldn’t help himself, and his response, directed to the Editor, was published in the Labor Tribune on March 7, which says in part:

I appreciate your spirit of fair play in granting your readers the privilege of expression, even though they do not always voice the sentiments of the majority, but this particular article is no credit to your paper, nor to the cause of the I.B.S.A. Perhaps you are not aware of it, but this article contains seditious teaching, and since the writer poses as a representative of the I. B. S. A, in advocating resistance to paying war taxes to the United States Government I request this article be repudiated through your columns. The writer of this article sets forth a hazy and ill-defined proposition that the "Mark of the Beast" is an intellectual assent to, or a willing paying of taxes to the government because it is at war. Every one has a right to his opinions on all questions, but this article states that "we of the I. B.S.A., etc., implying that all members of that association stood for the principle as defined by him. I am not speaking for the association in repudiating this, but I know of no such proposition being promulgated officially by the proper representatives of our association.

 

Nelson is credited with playing a key role in the release of Rutherford and associates from prison following the close of World War I. A report about the I.B.S.A. Convention at Scranton published in The Labor Tribune on August 26, 1920, includes the following detail: “Among the arrivals from your town is Brother H. E. [N.E.] Nelson, of Duquesne: who drove here with his family in his machine. Brother Nelson has the honor, with Mrs. Woodworth's assistance, of starting the ball rolling to release the "convicts" from Atlanta, He is quiet and unassuming and takes his honor lightly, knowing he did only his duty.” 

How Nelson “started the ball rolling” may in part be understood by reading about the vigorous campaign The Labor Tribune waged in late 1918 and 1919 to free “The Men at Atlanta.” This campaign was aided by Nelson, as noted in the Labor Tribune, “The work and the indomitable persistency of N. E. Nelson, of Duquesne, Pa., must not be overlooked in the campaign for the freedom of the eight men who have been given their freedom. Nelson was tireless and was ever ready with his wise counsel.” 

A letter written by Nelson to Clayton J. Woodworth has also survived the walls of the Atlanta Penitentiary. These four handwritten pages dated August 1, 1918, give a peek into the personality of Nelson, Woodworth, and another notable Bible Student of the period: 

Well dear brother are you getting accustomed to your quarters! How is brother Mack? [Alexander Hugh MacMillan] I fancy he will be hunting something to work off his energy. I hope he will not get into periods of despondency for he is a boy of extremes. And perhaps you also may be subject to this tendency. I understand you and Mack are together - I think you will make a good team.

 

Nelson attached to this letter a section of his will, expressing his desire to publish a 300 page manuscript of Pastor Russell’s Sphere in the Reformation in book form and leaving with executors $2500.00 ($53,700 by 2025 standards) for that purpose. Ultimately Nelson left the decision with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania whom he also gifted his manuscript concluding “if the Lord wishes to make use of it, my plans will not stand in the way.” 

In the Fall of 1920, The Labor Tribune severed its relationship with Bible Students. It is at this point that records of Nelson’s writing stop. One can’t help but speculate on how his thinking developed over the subsequent decades. A short article by him about the weather, “A Strange Summer,” appeared in the Golden Age magazine, December 6, 1922. He ended the article with a perhaps uncharacteristically indecisive note: “Is The Christ, the new Power of the Air, actively taking in hand the atmospheric conditions, with a view to the still further undoing of Satan's empire? I wonder.” 

Probably Nelson but maybe his son is reported to have sung at the 1929 Bible Student Convention Report “a tenor solo by Brother Nelson, of Duquesne, Pa. Later in life, Nelson and his family took the same course as several other Bible Students from Pennsylvania and left the city of rivers for the coasts of Florida, moving with his wife and, eventually, his son to St. Petersburg in 1930, where he lived for the remainder of his life. His passing was commented on in the Tampa Bay Times on September 20, 1956, page 4. Nelson’s death was not listed in any of the journals that represented various branches of the Bible Student movement. The well-known Dawn Bible Student George O. Jeuck officiated. Regrettably, the report says little about his life but perhaps says enough with the words, “He was a member of the International Bible Students.”

The Watch Tower in France

 

 Very first issue, October 1903

1908

 

1909

 

1910

 

1930

 

World War 2

 

1947

 

 In 1952 the Watchtower magazine was banned in France for public distribution. The contents were thereafter published in Bulletin Interior up to the end of 1975 when the ban was lifted and the normal looking magazine cover restored.

With grateful thanks to Cedric for some of the earlier images.