The Woodworths were not alone. Others represented
pre-existing interest in Scranton. Among them was D. M. Hessler. We know little
about Daniel Milburn Hessler. (1860-1917) He was a prominent citizen, owning a
laundry business in Scranton with branches in New Jersey, Indiana and
Pennsylvania. He appears once in the Watch Tower through a letter to
Russell in February 1891, and he named a son born that year Charles Russell
Hessler. Commenting on a new cover design for Zion’s Watch Tower, 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.[1]
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.
[1] Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch
Tower, February 1891, page 29.
[2] U.S. Patents numbers 263,290 and 752,551.
[3] Scranton Wochenblatt, February 25, 1909.
[4] The Scranton, Pennsylvania, Truth, January 12,
1911.
[5] The Scranton, Pennsylvania, Truth¸ June 7, 1905.
D. M. Hessler's son Charles Russell served at Bethel in the 1940s and is mentioned in the 1943 Yearbook. Can anyone help us connect with Hessler relations who are still Jehovah's Witnesses?
8 comments:
Charles Russell Hessler's death certificate from 1947 states that his occupation was as a minister for the Watch Tower Society.
If Charles Russell Hessler was a minister for the Watch Tower Society when he died, maybe one of his parents grew up him in that faith, and probably was his father Daniel Milburn Hessler.
Any relationship between Daniel Milburn Hessler and George Hessler?
See also W98 08/01 page 20. Charles Russell Hessler was a travelling overseer.
The 1880 census shows that Daniel Hessler and George Hessler were brothers.
Surely you know this:
Year books of JWs lists C.R. Hessler as an "ordained minister" from 1938 to 1948.
Greetings, this is a really good quote about the cross-and-crown emblem being called “an appropriate and beautiful design.”
Years later, reflecting on the 1928 Convention held in Detroit, Michigan, Grant Suiter recalled: “At the assembly the cross-and-crown emblems were shown to be not only unnecessary but objectionable.” So from 1891 to 1928 the cross-and-crown went from “appropriate and beautiful” to “unnecessary and objectionable.” However, in order to corroborate Suiter’s recollection, I downloaded The Messenger 1928 convention report to find any references to the cross-and-crown pins, but I cannot. However, the significance of the Great Pyramid was also removed in this convention—so maybe that stole the show. Has anyone looked into this, when in the 1928 convention the cross-and-crown emblem was criticized? I’d like to have more than Grant Suiter’s reminiscence.
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