Federal Street, Allegheny

 

1886 Millennial Dawn Advertisement

 

Click on the image to see the entire image.

One Hundred Fifty Years Ago

 

The National Labor Tribune, Oppy, and CTR's funeral

 

     The National Labor Tribune, published in Pittsburgh, was a supporter of the ministry of CTR from at least 1905, when they started publishing his sermons. The Bible Student content grew until the paper became a rival of the St Paul Enterprise. While the Enterprise became fully given over to Bible Student matters, even resulting in a change of title to the New Era Enterprise in December 1919, the Tribune still retained its position as a newspaper. Still, there were regular sermons from CTR, and eventually regular contributions from other Bible Students. This has solved at least one mystery. The book below was published in 1918 by J A Oppy (and modern reprints are available from various print on demand sources).

     Who was he? Checking the pages of the Tribune, Oppy was an elder of the Siloam Springs class of Arkansas, and regularly contributed material to its columns.

     The above was a series started in the 16 November 1916 issue, which provoked a debate with J A Bohnet in succeeding numbers.

     But it identified Oppy as a Bible Student elder.

     John Amandus Oppy was born in 1847, and converted to the Bible Student message around 1912 according to the article MISTAKES in the Tribune for 4 January 1917. He lived until 1931. The census return for 1910 describes him as a farmer, the 1920 census as having no occupation and his death certificate from 1931 as a minister. A newspaper advertisement for his book, actually lists two authors, J A and A B Oppy. From the Fairbury Blade (Illinois) for 10 January 10 1919:

     Abraham Briggs Oppy (1841-1920) was John’s older brother.

     However, by the time the book was published in 1918, the Oppys had left “mainstream” Bible Student thought. In it they calls CTR “a well meaning man” (page 27) but criticise his “blind followers” (page 69) for not recognising their (Oppy) truth – that while the Gentile Times had ended in 1914, the Kingdom was not to be fully established until 1945 – specifically on September 20^th and even more specifically, at 10 o’clock in the morning. At that point the marriage of the Lamb would occur with the first resurrection (page 56). Yet before that point was reached, literal Israel “will become the head nation on the earth, the earthly phase of God’s Kingdom” (page 75). And returning to page 69, “The Turk will (have been) driven out of Palestine, and the Jewish people restored there. The Temple will be rebuilt, in all its glory and grandeur, and Jerusalem become the grand metropolis of the world.”

     I don’t think added comment or analysis is called for.

     But I digress...

     The Tribune for 16 November 1916 published its own funeral report for CTR. While not as extensive as those in the Enterprise and in the special 1 December 1917 memorial edition of the Watch Tower, it does provide a few extra photographs that have not, as yet, appeared elsewhere.

     Here are close ups of four pictures, three from the cutting above and one from the next issue of 23 November 1916.

     Note that one picture has the number 8 on it. This was part of a set of eighteen photographs sold through the rival Enterprise paper for a number of weeks in late 1916, available from the George T Nichols studio or direct from N E Nelson. The picture of Bohnet and Nelson at the grave was number 1 in this series, and the picture of young Margaret Nelson at the graveside was number 17. Margaret (1903-1983) would grow up to marry a dentist, Dr Lenhart, and raise a family in the greater Pittsburgh area.

     Regrettably, the reproduction of the photographs is poor, because they are taken from newsprint that is well over one hundred years old, and only from microfilm copies rather than originals. Sadly the actual prints have not as yet surfaced, and at this late date it is unlikely they ever will, although one can always hope.

     We note that two of the photographs feature members of the Nelson family. Nels Edward Nelson was highly committed to the Tribune, and more about his history and involvement in the paper can be found on this link: 

https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2025/09/nels-edward-nelson-guest-article-by.html

     Following CTR’s funeral, the Tribune continued to publish material for Bible Students and those interested in their message, for example serialising THE DIVINE PLAN OF THE AGES throughout 1917. And many will be familiar with the special issues devoted to campaigning for the release of J F Rutherford and his associates in 1918-1919. From the special 27 March 1919, number:

Can we put a date to this

 

If our Blog Readers can help with this, it would be amazing

From an Italian Historian of Watch Tower Faith

Question: among the many individuals identified and studied during the research phase, there is one particular name that is still missing: FRANK FERRARA (possibly Ferraro or Ferrari), whose Italian name may have been Franco or Francesco.

 

He appears to have been an Italian immigrant to the United States (???), residing in New York, N.Y., at 520 E. 118th St. He was married and apparently had no children.

 

According to the information collected so far, Frank Ferrara had been a Catholic friar/religious brother in Italy for approximately 25 years. He subsequently left the religious life and emigrated to the United States (???), where he became a Bible Student and was reportedly very close to the Bethel circles of that period.

 

However, on December 10, 1939, while travelling by automobile with two fellow Italian-born associates, Salvatore Raimondo, who was driving, and Cesare Pucci, all residents of New York, N.Y., they were involved in a tragic automobile accident in New Haven, Connecticut. Both Frank Ferrara and Cesare Pucci died in the accident.

 

The accident was reported by the local newspapers in New Haven, Connecticut. The case subsequently went to court. On April 10, 1940, Salvatore Raimondo was acquitted of the charges relating to responsibility for the accident and was released on $150.00 bail. This latter piece of information was also reported in the local New Haven newspapers.

 

My request, therefore, is to identify Frank Ferrara with certainty, in order to investigate his life in greater depth and, in particular, to reconstruct his history in Italy before his emigration to the United States, using reliable Italian sources and documentation.

 

I hope that someone may be able to provide me with reliable and documented information about Frank Ferrara, so that I can further investigate and reconstruct his story in Italy as well.

 

Thank you in advance for any information, archival references, bibliographical sources, or documentation that may help identify him.

 

Pace Emanuele – Historian

 

P.S. Please send me the link to the page on your blog where the question will be posted, so I can follow it for any answers, if there are any.Thank you.

Roberto

 Roberto was blog editor here for some years until health issues took him away from this blog other than as a reader. He has since died. He was a faithful friend.

The Campgrounds

 Second Advent Campgrounds. Barbour, Russell, and Adams all preached here. As they were about 1910

Research help

 On of our blog readers whom I often rely on for difficult research help feels that I've asked too much with a current research need. And it does require patience and persistence.

I do not have access to Ancestry.com and, as things are now, I cannot afford it. Ancestry has a digital copy of Paxton's history of the Link family. 

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/19776

It is otherwise available through interlibray loan, also for a prohibitive amount. 

It is searchable on ancestry and individual pages can be copied, though the book cannot be downloaded. 

If you're willing to volunteer I need page by page results for the search terms "Stover" and "Brethren."

I know this is asking much. Hopefully one of you is willing to volunteer. 

1928 Toronto Convention - Rutherford leaving for the Convention

 

Golden Age Work - Zurich

 From Marcus W. to whom we owe many thanks

Photo is undated but probably 1919-1925

1st Ward School. M. F. Russell Taught Here

 

Litchfield, Illinois, Riot 1940

 

Jonas Wendell in Allegheny and Pittsburgh

Jonas Wendell in August 1868

Photograph restored by Bernhard and reproduced with permission.

     Most readers will be familiar with the name Jonas Wendell. CTR recounted how his interaction with him helped re-establish his faith in the Bible.

     Wendell was an evangelist for the Advent Christian Church and aspects of his history have been covered before on this blog, particularly in

https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-trials-of-jonas.html

     Jonas’ evangelising work in Pittsburgh was spread over several years. CTR was a young man, still a teenager by today’s nomenclature, when he started on his religious journey after contact with Wendell.

     It was written up by CTR on at least two occasions.

     First, in the supplement issued with the first issue of Zion’s Watch Tower sent TO THE READERS OF THE HERALD OF THE MORNING and dated June 1879:

“I have been a Bible student since I first had my attention called to the second coming of our Lord, by Jonas Wendell, a Second Advent Preacher, about 1869, who was then preaching the burning of the world as being due in 1873. But though he first awakened my interest on the subject, I was not a convert, either to the time he suggested nor to the events he predicted.”

     Years later, he expanded on this in the booklet A Conspiracy Exposed and Harvest Siftings (1894), page 95 (Special edition of Zion’s Watch Tower for 25 April 1894):

“Among other theories, I stumbled upon Adventism. Seemingly by accident, one evening I dropped into a dusty, dingy hall, where I had heard religious services were held, to see if the handful who met there had anything more sensible to offer than the creeds of the great churches.

There, for the first time, I heard something of the views of Second Adventists from the preacher, Mr. Jonas Wendell, long since deceased. Though his Scripture exposition was not entirely clear, and though it was very far from what we now rejoice in, it was sufficient, under God, to re-establish my wavering faith in the divine inspiration of the Bible, and to   show that the records of the apostles and prophets are indissolubly linked. What I heard sent me to my Bible to study with more zeal and care than ever before.”

     So CTR believed that it was “seemingly by accident” that, about 1869, he dropped into a meeting that Jonas was conducting.

     While we don’t know exactly when this happened, there were lots of opportunities for this to happen starting in 1869, and several of these received some publicity. And there would be others in Pittsburgh and Allegheny who would make a conscious choice to visit due to the level of promotion Jonas and others achieved.

     Let’s examine what we know about Jonas’ activities in Pittsburgh.

     The first known mention of Jonas in Pittsburgh in available records is a speaking assignment on Friday, 1 January 1869. Below is from The World’s Crisis for 23 December 1868.

     Events moved quickly. Six weeks later, Jonas was writing to The World’s Crisis with the results of his preaching campaign. The letter was dated 10 February, although not published by the paper until 17 March 1869. Starting with just six interested persons, there were now over thirty in attendance, and regular meetings were to be started.

     The full letter gives an example of one of Jonas’ main strategies. He challenged a local minister to a debate on conditional immortality. The Methodist minister accepted but then backed out.

     The regular meetings were advertised in the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette for a number of weeks, and after a couple of one-off locations, settled down on Sunday, 14 February at Quincy Hall.  This was the former Soldiers’ League Room and Library, on Leacock Street, just around the corner from Federal Street in Allegheny. It was hired out to various groups, both religious and political, and became a “go-to” venue for groups without their own dedicated meeting place. The ACC was still using this venue for meetings over ten years later.

     In the example reproduced below from the Gazette for 20 March 1869, the meetings were not just on Sunday, but also on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings.

     These notices ran from January through to the end of March. Subjects Wendell covered included:

The certainty of Christ’s coming
The necessity of Christ’s coming
The time of Christ’s coming
New Birth
Rich Man and Lazarus
The Eighth of Daniel
Prophecy
The Church waiting
Evidence of Discipleship
The Christian Hope True Worship of God

Our near proximity to the end

The Eighth of Daniel and our near proximity to the end

 

     Most advertisements ended with a short slogan. These included “Seats free and no collection” – a phrase used to very good effect by CTR himself in time to come – and “An opportunity for asking questions on the subjects will be allowed.” The latter would no doubt be a huge selling point for anyone with an enquiring mind like CTR’s.

     Although Wendell moved his ministry elsewhere after the end of March, the effects remained. The Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette for 12 May 1869 carried a letter from someone who claimed to be a minister and who hid behind the pseudonym ANIMA. The issue was conditional immortality.

     The letter is reproduced below.

A local man, John A Best, immediately fired back in the Gazette for 13 May.

     Best’s address identifies him from trade directories as a Pittsburgh grocer. His challenge involving money was a familiar one, and as far as conditionalists were concerned, without risk. There was no apparent follow-up dialog in the newspaper.

     Jonas was back in Pittsburgh in 1870.

     A series of advertised meetings at Quincy Hall is found in the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette and The Pittsburgh Commercial, all featuring Jonas. They start in March and run through to the end of May 1870, although there may have been missed weeks when he was back home in Edinboro. The first advertisement gives some details of his message for 1870. From the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette for 12 February 1870:  

     It may be noted that there were to be three meetings on the Sunday, and then they would continue “during the week.”

     A similar notice appeared in The Pittsburgh Commercial of the same date.

     Some days later in the Gazette, Jonas laid down his usual challenge to debate the subject of conditional immortality. Someone writing on his behalf provided the invitation. From the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette for 23 February 1870:

 

     There was a delay of about two weeks, and then someone took Jonas up on his challenge. From the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette for 8 March 1870:

     Bacon was the pastor of the Pittsburgh Universalist Church. Jonas shot back immediately. From the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette for 9 March 1870:

 

     The local man, John Best, sent a notice to The World’s Crisis for the larger ACC fellowship who might travel into Allegheny to hear the debate. From the Crisis for 9 March 1870

     It was typical of the time that the discussion was to “continue for one week, or longer if thought best.”

     It is a shame that no record seems to exist of how this 1870 debate went. These types of meetings were widely advertised and served as a means of attracting a diverse audience to the ACC message. At some point, these would include George Darby Clowes, a Methodist preacher who would eventually become the group’s “under-shepherd” (and whose obituary was in Zion’s Watch Tower for March 1889) and William and Sarah Conley, who were called “Brother and Sister” in the fellowship as early as 1871 (see The World’s Crisis for 3 January 1872). Conley would later become the first President of Zion’s Watch Tower Society.

     Jonas continued preaching through April and May 1870, and his regular notices in The Pittsburgh Commercial carried the homily: “Come and we will try and do you good.” An advertisement in the Pittsburgh Gazette for 30 April 1870 noted that, as well as Elder Wendell, “Elder Himes of Michigan would ‘preach the Word’” at Quincy Hall on 1 May. We assume this was either Joshua V Himes, then editor of the Advent Christian Times, or his son, William L Himes.

     Jonas then appears to have been elsewhere after May, but the Quincy Hall meetings continued. There is an advertisement for services now conducted by John T Ongley in the Crisis for 7 December 1870, related to preaching in January 1871.

     In March 1871, the group temporarily moved from Quincy Hall to a new location, and the same John T Ongley sent out an invitation to Jonas Wendell to visit. From the Advent Christian Times for 28 March 1871:

     Wendell obviously responded at some point, because the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette has him back in April, and also later in the year, in November, and on both occasions back in Quincy Hall. According to the Gazette for 4 November 1871, Quincy Hall was “their church,” and the meetings started on the Sunday would continue into the evening during the week.

     At the end of 1871 Wendell moved on, to be replaced in Pittsburgh by George Stetson. CTR was to speak highly of Stetson and was ultimately asked to conduct his funeral in 1879. The changeover can be seen in several issues of the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette and its Quincy Hall advertisements in late 1871.

     The last reference to mention Wendell on his own at Quincy Hall was the Gazette for 4 November 1871. Then the next week, he and Stetson shared the platform.

     Then, in the paper for 9 December 1871, it is just Dr Stetson.

     This links up with a letter Stetson wrote, as published in the Advent Christian Times for 27 August 1872, where he said it was “now ten months since I was called and came to Pittsburg, Pa. to labor.”

     Wendell wrote up these events himself in a letter to The World’s Crisis for 27 December 1871 (letter dated 6 December):

     Wendell and Stetson were close friends and had often worked together. They both shared Edinboro as a home base at times.

     Wendell’s letter commented on issues the Pittsburgh group faced, and stated his intention to be back with them in early 1872. It also commented on George Clowes being invited to serve as under-shepherd.

     A year later, in November 1872, Clowes’ position was firmed up when he was ordained to the ministry of the Advent Christian Church. Wendell came back to Pittsburgh to participate in the event. The Advent Christian Times Editorial Gleanings for 17 December 1872 noted that:

“Br. G.D. Clowes was ordained to the work of the ministry by Elders Wendell and E. McCullock last month. Bro. Clowes is a man that is highly esteemed, and respected, and has been a local preacher in the M.E. church, for a number of years. We think he will be an efficient labourer in the cause of truth.”

    The previous week (Advent Christian Times for 4 December 1872) noted that this was at the invitation of George Stetson.

     Clowes would continue to conduct Advent Christian Church meetings at least until the end of 1879, by which time CTR’s separate ministry and Zion’s Watch Tower magazine was active. Although Clowes was not cited by CTR as a special influence, and ZWT never mentioned his meetings, he did get a short obituary in Zion’s Watch Tower. In the issue for March 1889, CTR responded to a letter from his father, J L Russell:

    "On Jan'y 25th our dear Brother Clowes, with whom some of our readers were acquainted, having heard him preach the word of truth at various points near Pittsburgh, passed away full of triumphant faith and glorious hope."

     Returning to Wendell and his participation in Clowes’ ordination, after that November 1872 visit to Pittsburgh he appears to have gone back home to Edinboro. Around the same time or shortly thereafter, Stetson did the same. When Jonas planned to go on further travels in 1873, Stetson accepted the pastorate of the Edinboro church, starting on 1 May 1873. (Letter from Jonas Wendell in World’s Crisis for 23 April 1873). But then unexpectedly Jonas died after an accident in the August. Stetson conducted the funeral service (Letter from Stetson in the Crisis for 20 August 1873). Following on from that, Stetson was to remain as pastor of the Edinboro church for the last six years of his life.

     Jonas Wendell had been a frequent visitor to Pittsburgh over the four year period 1869-1872. His first meeting with CTR obviously made an impression on the latter, as was freely acknowledged, and the same was true for the ministry of his successor, George Stetson. As to how often Wendell and CTR met up and discussed their diverging paths thereafter, we can only speculate.

Thanks and things

 I have been unable to thank someone who donated to my research. The return link on paypal does not work for me. So this is my thanks.

Research help is, of course, voluntary. My thanks to those who devote time to it, either posting here or sending helpful emails. I don't expect anyone to contribute help. As I said, help is voluntary. A recent email suggested I should follow their suggestions more closely. That doesn't work for me. I guide my own path. If you do not like that, don't contribute. 

A reminder: I do not allow controversial comments. You have trouble with Russellism in any of its descendant forms, take it up directly with them. 

Link Family History

Ida Stover Eisehower's mother was Elizabeth Juda Link (1822-1867). Her ancestry is found on familysearch.org. Some of her ancestors were Lutheran. Key to my current research is detailing that. 

Can you do that?

Elizabeth Link Stover

Note the date.

Your analysis? 

By Maria Russell, 1902

Her complaints and letters from C. T. Russell. 

1913 public lectures

LECTURE 1

The leaflet

The newspaper advertisement from the Springfield Daily Republican for 3 May 1913.

The location at the Court Square Theater (photograph from 1956)

Edward W Brenneisen (1874-1956) was later involved in the publication of ANGELS AND WOMEN.

LECTURE 2

The leaflet

The newspaper advertisement from Minneapolis Journal for 11 July 1913. 

The location at the Schubert Theater, Minneapolis

Charles E Heard (1874-1956) was later involved in the formation of the Standfast Movement.

At the top of my research list.

 

William Daniel Stover was Ida Eisenhower's brother, the first born of Simon Peter Stover and Elizabeth Juda Link. He was born 3 October 1849, Mount Sidney, Augusta, Virginia.. He died 19 April 1899, Topeka, Kansas. He married Anna Ammon, born Virginia c. 1851. 

Family records generated long after his death identify him as a United Brethren minister. 

Was he a Brethren minister?

Can we find more details?

Does he appear in the Brethren magazine?

Abilene weekly Reflector (Abilene, Kan.), February 13, 1902

 Can we prove or disprove this was a Bible Student lecture?

Research assistance

Let's start with this: I need these papers, but I'm burdened with bills and can't afford them

. Perhaps you can https://www.cvpjournals.com/product/cabinet-no-3-the-prophet-of-cripple-creek

I need extensive biographies of the following:

Clara Witt, Mrs. Emma Holland, Mrs. Mary Thayer, Mr. L. D. Tolliver, James Thayer (a dentist, son of Mary Thayer). They were Watch Tower adherents living in Abilene, Kansas. 

Were any of these members of the United Brethren Church (also called River Brethren)?

I'm plagued with respiratory issues. The medication for that adds to my old age issues. Any help will be deeply appreciated.

The Naturalization of Joseph

(Expanded from material previously published in the article: https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2017/12/three-weddings-but-no-funeral-this-time_24.html

     Most books that mention the Russell family indicate that CTR’s father, Joseph Lytle Russell, came to the United States from Ireland in 1845. The source is his obituary in several Pittsburgh papers from 1897, which state that he reached America “about 1845.” From this, some have assumed that he and Ann Eliza came as a married couple and settled in Pittsburgh.

     The main problem with obituaries is that the person who could verify the information is unavailable to do so. We now know that both of the above assumptions are incorrect. We have reasonable proof that Joseph was in Pittsburgh as early as 1843, and Ann Eliza was still single in Pittsburgh in early 1849.

     A key document that led to a search for further evidence, as more material appeared online, was Joseph’s naturalization document. Around 40 years ago, when a member of the British Society of Genealogists, this writer spent some time in their library in London, trying to find when Joseph came to America. A reference there that I have not seen online since sent me to contact the Prothonotary’s Office in Pittsburgh. This is where Joseph would have renounced allegiance to the old country and sworn allegiance to the United States. They finally sent me a not very clear copy of the document. As received, it is reproduced below.

     Due to the marvels of AI, and the opportunity to dig further, it has now been possible to reconstruct this document into a more readable form. Apart from the name of the official who handled the matter, which appears to be a wild guess from an illegible signature, we can be reasonably certain that the rest of the form is accurate. It will appear in a forthcoming book, but is here reproduced for any who want to read it and copy it.

     Depending on your device, you may need to click on it to see it all, or even download and print it out on standard-sized paper.

    

The key point is that when Joseph said the oath on 26 October 1848, he was swearing that he had been living in America for at least five years. That would take us back to 1843. It is also noticed that his character witness was one W Glendining. William Glendining was a partner with Joseph’s brother, Charles Tays Russell, in a flour and produce business. The partnership was dissolved in 1860.

     Armed with the date 1843 and the increasing number of newspapers scanned and searchable, it was possible to find Joseph L Russell in the Pittsburgh Daily Post. Letters were waiting for him at the post office. Also that year, his two brothers, James and Charles Tays, had their names recorded in the same listings. So the three brothers were together in Pittsburgh in 1843.

     The same listings from the same newspaper included A E Birney in 1848 and Miss A E Birney in early 1849. So she and Joseph met in Pittsburgh, maybe as a result of Presbyterian Church socials, and were married in 1849. Their first child, Thomas, was born in May 1850. CTR followed in 1852.

     For more documentation and graphics, please see the earlier referenced article above.