H. V. “Minnie” Peterson and Viola Townsend
Minnie
Peterson and Viola Townsend were the first two adherents in St. Paul and
Minneapolis. However, as significant as that is, we know little about either of
them. Minnie was born January 20, 1858, in Germany, immigrating to America in
1883 when she was sixteen. She married William P. Peterson in Wisconsin, and
they immigrated to Minnesota sometime between 1890 and 1894. Her obituary
describes her as, “Having been reared from the earliest childhood by Christian
parents.” She was, said her obituary, a devout Christian, “ever loving to know
more of God’s Word.” We do not know the exact date of her conversion to Watch
Tower faith, but she was an enduring and faithful member of the St. Paul
congregation. Again, from her obituary we have this:
She was a faithful class attendant and a diligent
student of the Word. Although of a quiet retiring disposition, it delighted her
soul to bear witness at every opportunity to the old, old story of Jesus and
His love. She was wholly devoted to spiritual things, and in holding up the
banner of truth and righteousness.[1]
That’s
the entire story as we know it. It is frustratingly brief and just as
frustratingly incomplete. And we know less about Viola Townsend. She is
mentioned in a letter printed in the November 1, 1896, Watch Tower, but
the reference is incidental, adding nothing to our understanding.[2]
Alfred Henry Furley
A. H.
Furley [1865 – 1947] was an English born immigrant, listed as a “laborer” in
the 1895 Minnesota state census. Furley was, as were many, probably most, Watch
Tower adherents, seeking to conform to the Divine Will as expressed in the
Bible. He believed that God led him into “His marvelous light.” He had, he
wrote, the elements of ‘truth’ early in life: The need for a savior; the need
for a Ransom from sin; and the obligation to obey “my dear Heavenly Father.” He
associated with the Salvation Army, but found many religiously divergent voices
among them. “I came across many people with so many different views,” He wrote.
“Here indeed was confusion – Babylon – making it extremely difficult, if not
impossible, for those not in the Truth, to know which were the right views.” He
characterized 1885 to 1893 as years of religious instability: “I was drifting
about in confusion, but gathering the Truth from Scriptures little by little.”[3]
A
Watch Tower colporteur found him sometime in 1893. Leaving the colporteur
unnamed, he described their interaction this way:
There came to me in Duluth, Minn., a colporteur who
asked me, if I did not wish to buy a book. On my inquiring what it contained,
he explained to me some of its contents. I readily saw that it was different
from any other book. Our talk drifted along and one question led to another
until we came to the subject of the soul, he wishing to know how I harmonize my
view with the Scriptures, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life.”
I did not buy the book at that time, but later a tract
was left with me, and I saw that I could get the book on loan, so I sent for it
– it proved to be “The Divine Plan of the Ages.” And it surely was a wonderful
book, making everything so plain, which before had been so full of mystery.
The
tract is unidentifiable, at least by us. And Furley’s narrative leaves the
exact dates of this transaction vague. He was isolated from others “of like
precious faith,” and in 1903 inserted an ad into the personals section of The
Duluth, Minnesota, Evening Herald, seeking others “interested in Zion’s
Watch Tower and Millennium Dawn Series.” We do not know the result, and the
remainder of Furley’s story is illusive.
Arthur Cumberland
Cumberland
was an immigrant, born in England December 9 1826. The 1900 United States
census dated his immigration to 1833. Various census records list his
occupation as teacher and farmer, not an unusual combination in that era,
especially on the frontier. His obituary reported that “he came into the truth
in 1882” while he was living in Mantorville, a very small village. It does not
give particulars but the date suggests he read Food for Thinking Christians
and was convinced by it. He started reading and saving Watch Tower
publications, finally accumulating “a full set of Towers bound and complete
from the first issue up to date.” [1916] He became a serious Bible reader. His
obituary said: “He was one of the best read brothers in the Scripture we ever
met. If we gave him a part of a quotation, he would give it to us in full and
tell you where to find it.” The obituary reported him as an earnest worker, the
mainstay of the Rochester, Minnesota class. His last few years were spent in
Canada, also working to further the Watch Tower message. Of his children, two
of his daughters were also Watch Tower adherents. He died August 27, 1916,
still an adherent.
[1] Details from the 1900 US Census and Mrs. Minnie Peterson
[Obituary], The St. Paul, Minnesota, New Era Enterprise, April 27, 1926.
[2] Encouraging Words from Faithful Workers, Zion’s
Watch Tower, November 1, 1896, page 264. [Not in Reprints.]
[3] Furley to editor of The St. Paul, Minnesota,
Enterprise, January 29, 1918.
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