George Darby Clowes

Posted to supplement the comment trail in earlier post. This is an extract of Separate Identity volume 1:

He [Jonas Wendell] was in Ohio from October 19 to October 26. He was in Pittsburgh on November 5, 1871. He summarized his visit with the Pittsburgh believers thus:

Sunday, Nov. 5th, met with the church in Pittsburgh, Penn., and remained with them about four weeks. We had meetings three times during the week, and three times on Sunday. After I had been there two weeks, Bro. G.W. Stetson of Ohio came to my help, and is to remain till the 17th inst., at which time (if the Lord will) I am to return, and remain with them for a season. The meetings thus far have resulted in great good. The church in Pittsburgh have been like sheep without a shepherd. On the last Sunday I was with them, the church unanimously invited Bro. Clowes to be their under shepherd, to which he consented. Bro. Clowes was until recently a minister of the M.E. church of Pittsburgh. Last summer (as was noticed at the time in the Crisis) he was tried for what they called heresy, and expelled from their conference. God bless Bro. Clowes. He is a true man, one who loves the truth of God more than the praise of men.^[1]

As sparse as this report is, it conveys some key points. The body was disorganized; and if regular meetings were held, there was doctrinal difference and some acrimony. We get that from his “sheep without a shepherd” remark. Being an experienced pastor and new to the congregation, G. D. Clowes was elected pastor. It was a logical choice.

George Darby Clowes and the Allegheny Church

George D. Clowes, Sr. was born April 26, 1818 in Warwickshire, England. He entered the Methodist ministry sometime before the Civil War. In the 1866-1867 Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny Cities he is listed at the Superintendent of the U. S. Arsenal. An earlier edition names him the Assistant Laboratory Superintendent at the Arsenal. [2] He seems to have left that position in 1870 or 1871. It was not uncommon for ministers of small churches to preach part-time or to hold secular employment. This seems to be the case with Clowes. For a short time he is listed as a laborer; the 1875-1876 Directory lists him as “Clowes, Rev. George D.” It does not list a denominational affiliation and he is not found in the list of churches. J. F. Diffenbacher’s Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny Cities. 1882-1883, has him as a “Steel Inspector” and living at 273 Lacock, Allegheny. Diefenbacher’s Directory for 1884-1885 has him living in a rooming house at 66 Federal Street and lists his occupation as “agent,” though we’re not told for whom he acted as an agent. The same directory for the next year lists him as a janitor. He was still living on Federal Street at his death and was thus a near neighbor to the Russells.^[3]

Clowes became pastor of the small Allegheny congregation in November or December 1871. Clowes saw his expulsion from the Methodists for heresy as gift from God. In a letter to George Storrs he wrote: “I deeply regret the spirit manifested by some of our brethren who do not see these precious truths. A few years ago I was cast adrift by those among whom I had labored for a quarter of a century … and often since I have thanked my heavenly Father for Liberty. Precious liberty from the shackles of creeds.”^[4] Clarence Kearney reports it this way: “From Pittsburgh it was reported that ‘The Fourth Street Methodist Episcopal Church was in a ‘perfect ferment’ over Life in Christ.  Expulsion of a member, Mr. Clowes, was sought but this ‘only gave him a splendid opportunity to circulate tracts.’”[5]

Clowes would sympathize with the Watch Tower ministry, preaching similar doctrines and giving the closing invocation at Watch Tower Memorial Convention in 1886. This is not a guarantee that he closely followed Zion’s Watch Tower theology. A Canadian clergyman and an Age-to-Come evangelist both spoke at the meeting, and neither held exactly to Watch Tower doctrine. A positive indication that he accepted Russell’s belief system as it was at the end of 1876 is his withdrawal as pastor of the Church of God congregation. The Russells remained on friendly terms with him until his death, January 25, 1889.^[6]

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[1]           J. Wendell: From Bro. J. Wendell: The World’s Crisis and Second Advent Messenger, December 27, 1871.

[2]           See page 85 in the 1866-67 edition and page 58 in the 1863-64 edition.

[3]           His address is noted in a brief obituary appearing in the January 26, 1889, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dispatch.

[4]           From Eld. G. D. Clowes, Bible Examiner, November 1875, page 61.

[5]           C. J. Kearney: The Advent Christian Story, Advent Christian General Conference, 1968, page 42. We can’t identify a Fourth Street Methodist Church. We think Kearney meant the Liberty Street Methodist Church which was located on Liberty at the corner of Fourth.

[6]           View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, May 1886, page 1, notes that Clowes was an active evangelist in at least some sympathy with Russell. One cannot reach a firm conclusion as to how much of Watch Tower doctrine he accepted. Myers and Brookman, both of whom were present at the same meeting, were independent but sympathetic. Russell worked with others who did not hold to his exact doctrine, sometimes working with those who differed considerably in doctrine. Remainder of this footnote deleted as inaccurate. Explanation will be in vol. 2.

His death was noted in the March 1889, Watch Tower, and Russell praised him: “On January 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. ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the spirit, they shall rest from their labors, but their works follow with them.’”