Amon Hipsher and Lorenzo Jackson Baldwin
Amon Hipsher was a resident of
Ames, Story County, Iowa. Born in Pennsylvania about 1820, he was a successful
and wealthy farmer.[1] Hipsher was active in
Church of God (One Faith) conferences. He was elected conference president in
December 1874.[2] At a subsequent conference
someone objected to him being placed in sole charge of future arrangements,
describing the arrangement as Hipsher acting as a “little pope.” This seems to
have been an objection only to the arrangement, not a comment on his
personality. He declined re-election for the next year at the December 1875
conference. By 1884 the conference was renamed The Christian Conference of
Iowa, and Hipsher was elected vice president.[3]
We know little of his religious
background prior to 1874 beyond the fact that he subscribed to The Heretic
Detector, an anti-Universalist magazine published in Middleburg, Ohio.[4] He
lived in areas reached by Stetson and his closest associates, and there is an
obvious connection on that level. He was one of the first readers of Zion’s
Watch Tower, and in the March 1881 issue Russell addressed a question sent
in by him, writing, “Bro. A. Hipsher, for answer to your question: see ‘Unpardonable
Sin,’ page 3.”
It appears that Russell wrote his
article on unpardonable sin specifically to answer Hipsher’s questions. His
approach was interesting [continue]
Lorenzo Jackson Baldwin was another
Iowa resident. He was born March 2, 1823, in Vermont and died in Madison County
Iowa. He was a small-time farmer in the Mackenburgh, Iowa ,
area. In 1883 he wrote to S. A Chaplin, editor of The Restitution,
seeking “a boy between 15 and 20 years old” to live with them for “two or three
years.” He promised “to send him to school winters and pay wages for eight or
nine months in the years.” Baldwin and his wife specifically asked for “a
reader of The Restitution and a believer in the gospel of the kingdom.”[5]
Baldwin was also active among One Faith believers in Iowa.
We find him attending a One Faith conference in September 1875 with an Elder
Baldwin, apparently a relative.[6] We
find him noted in the same questions and answers article in which we met
Hipsher. He apparently asked a flood of questions. Russell’s response was:
“Bro. J. Baldwin: It would require the entire space of Z.W.T. for a year or
more to answer all your questions in full. We commend to you the reading of all
the tracts 3 or 4 times; then read ‘day
dawn.’ You need not expect to obtain all the truth on so great and grand
a subject at one swallow, it is a continuous eating. You must seek. ‘He that
seeketh findeth.’ ‘Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord.’ (Hos.
6:3.)”[7]
Based on Russell’s recommendation of Bible Students Tracts number one and two,
we believe that Baldwin’s questions centered on issues of “second probation”
and the reason for and manner of Christ’s return. These were issues that would
have raised questions among Russell’s One Faith readers.
It is evident that some considerable interest came from Ohio
and Iowa which were strongly Age
to Come and had been one of the focus points of Barbour and Russell’s early
ministry.
[1] The 1860 Census returns for Story County, Iowa, say his
real estate was worth five thousand dollars and his personal property worth
five hundred dollars.
[2] Conference Report, The Restitution, January 6,
1875.
[3] “Little Pope”: Report of the Conference Held Near
Alden, Iowa, The Restitution, July 25, 1875. Declines Nomination: Iowa, The
Restitution¸ December 20, 1875. Vice President: Iowa Conference Report, The
Restitution, October 15, 1884.
[4] His subscription is noted in the November 1840 issue.
[5] Mr and Mrs. L. J. Baldwin to Editor Restitution, The
Restitution, October 24, 1883.
[6] Mrs. M. V. Duggar: Iowa Conference, The Restitution,
September 22, 1875.
[7] C. T. Russell: Questions of Correspondents, Zion’s
Watch Tower, March 1881, page 8.
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