"Well we expected to get arrested": the hounding of widows, mothers, wives and daughters in 1918 America

Guest post by Gary

Previous studies involving the response of early Bible Students to militarism in World War One have usually concentrated efforts on the leading figures of the movement or those who forged a path as conscientious objectors. In both instances the protagonists have been male. However, recent work by Jay Beaman, a sociologist with an interest in ‘Christian Pacifism’ from the Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon, reveals that female Bible Students in the United States played a significant role in promoting a theology which became increasingly unwelcome when the country joined the war. Drawing on his extensive database, Beaman noted that “what was surprising, besides the ability to gather notes on 1,890 persons of the IBSA faith, was the large number of women in the data, and the specific nature of the conflict with the larger society which had placed them in significant peril.” 

Using this data, and in response to the recent suggestion by historian Zoe Knox, this article makes a start in enabling these lesser known “voices of ordinary Bible Students who suffered as a consequence of their anti-war convictions” be heard. Their comments are often brief, consisting of those repeatedly followed by Government agents investigating their activities and consequently working to their own agenda.  But their experiences speak loud and clear.

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In early April 1918 a Mr Evans entered the Estate Agents office of Cynthia Belle Scott, a 47-year old of Seattle, Washington.  He said he needed a five roomed accommodation to house his family.  While Scott searched for the details, we can imagine him glancing at a headline in a newspaper he holds and expressing some concern at the war and state of the World, perhaps questioning 'where it all is leading to?' As she finds the details he requests, she agrees that these are indeed "'perilous times' just as the Bible foretold" before going on to highlight some good aspect of the house chosen.  At this point, Evans appears to lose interest in the house and asks her what she meant when she said these things were foretold?  Evans listens intently to her reply and occasionally interjects enquiring whether she thinks the war being fought in Europe is wrong, and how she feels about those fighting in it? How does she view President Woodrow Wilson?  What does she think about Patriotism and what will be the fate of America if the Kingdom she predicts comes about?

After the discussion Scott offers a time to show Mr Evans the house but he politely declines.  Despite his seeming interest, Evans never intended to purchase a house but visited with an ulterior motive.  Evans was one of the hundreds of patriotic men and women who had volunteered to police fellow citizens suspected of having pro-German tendencies and who therefore might be considered a threat to national security. He had started to investigate Scott following a tip-off from a local lay preacher named D.H.Mothern. Mothern had reported a conversation he alleged to have had with Scott a few weeks earlier in which, he believed, Scott made seditious statements indicative of her pacifist and pro-German sympathies.  At the time Mothern warned Scott that "you will be liable to get arrested for saying those things", to which Scott surprisingly replied, "Well we expect to get arrested."(1)

Scott's expectation wasn't realised. Unlike Emma Martin, mentioned in an earlier article, she did not get arrested. However, elsewhere throughout the States at this time, other women of like mind and heart and of all ages faced similar challenges. One source alone lists 36 named female adherents involved in incidents. Of these, 7 faced vigilante mob action, 11 experienced house raids and 15 were arrested, of which 10 were imprisoned, the earliest known to have been a Mrs C.L. Knowles, from Bogosha, Oklahoma. (2)  This list also included Fay R. Smith, from Marshfield, Oregon, who as a result of a complaint by two Presbyterians was jailed for twenty-four days and, as a result, lost her employment. 

Female Bible Students - Harmless or Lethal?

A different story, but also illustrating the effects of prejudice, involved Madeline Clausen, a young daughter working at the French Battery and Carbon Company at Madison, Wisconsin.  Given the alternative to buy a war bond or quit, she chose the latter and subsequently aroused suspicion and investigation, along with her family, for her decision. (3) Being interrogated concerning their beliefs and religious literature by self-appointed citizens with well-intended patriotic sympathies was unpleasant enough, but it pales into insignificance compared to the experience of others who faced not only government agents but also local vigilante groups excited by and working in league with such individuals. Accounts from the period of women being hounded and run out of town occurred in a number of locations.  For instance, at Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, on 30 April 1918 Minna B. Franke was mobbed and compelled to close out a $10,000 stock in one day and leave town. (4) At Fontanelle, Iowa, Etta Van Wagenen was forcibly driven out of town, (5) while at Bandon, Oregon, Edith R. Smith was run out of town with her son Walter, who was in naval uniform at the time having returned home on furlough. (6)

“Distributing Promiscuously”

As can be imagined, if possession of literature connected to the faith of these women was cause for concern, when some started to proselytise and share this literature, alarms bells started ringing.  One incident, amusing in part, involved a report of two young women "distributing promiscuously copies of the Kingdom News" in Fort Worth, Texas.  Government agents had gone to question them only to find that by the time they arrived the suspects had cunningly left the area using a Ford automobile.  The matter was reported to the local Police Chief.  Several police cars were hurriedly dispatched, presumably with sirens blaring, in chase of the women.  The vehicle was intercepted, and the suspects apprehended and taken to the police office. Upon investigation by Police Chief Porter the women were found to be to Lela F. Woodward and Irene Hertzog.  The Police Chief naturally insisted on knowing who had told them to do such a thing in Fort Worth and noted that "these ladies are very smart and attempted to evade guilt by making the statement that the Lord had told them to distribute these papers." Needing to be seen to be firm, he reported that "I reprimanded them very severely in a gentlemanly manner."  In this way, what might otherwise have been seen by some as a couple of housewives on an afternoon jaunt chatting with a few neighbours somehow became the subject of a sinister plot, danger and criminal melodrama. (7)

Offering the Pastor's Studies in the Scriptures books

A "very old lady ... not at all vicious"

Another who attracted considerable attention from the authorities was a 76-year-old widow named Sarah Story, apparently a native of Missouri but spending considerable time in Monroe, Louisiana in March 1918.  While here she would chat with local people about the Bible and distribute The Finished Mystery and other IBSA literature with anybody suitably interested.  These books were left with those willing to pay for the cost of publication.  However, Story also generously left the book with any who were interested but unable to pay due to financial hardship. Apprehended on 4 March 1918 the congenial Story explained clearly her opinion that she "could not see any wrong or harm whatsoever in the circulation of this book" and consequently she saw no reason, including the threat of arrest and imprisonment, why she should stop her ministry.  In a scene reminiscent of Miss Marple, confusion reigned as her gentle but assured disposition disarmed the local authorities who seemed unable or unwilling to deal with this out-of-towner who they must have hoped would soon leave them undisturbed. In time she is assumed to have returned to Missouri. But her case rumbled on until March 1919 when the authorities decided that it was unlikely that any jury would ever possibly convict her in a court of law.  The decision not to take further legal action concluded that she was a "very old lady ... not at all vicious" but "a little abnormal in her religious belief."  In fact, she shared the same belief as many other females victimised and intimidated across the United States during this period.  In terms of disposition she was peaceable like others.  Why then let her off?  By this time the war had ended it wouldn't look good to press charges against such a gentle soul who reminded so many of their favourite Auntie. (8)  Having a slightly whacky, but aged, relative was excusable; after all, did not 'Uncle Sam' himself fit just such an image? (9)  It was thought better to simply label Story as well meaning, though somewhat dotty.

Fending off the “'beast of the field' upon whom the wrath of God would surely be visited”

Although lacking the gentle disposition of Story, another aged, but equally resilient, Bible Student was Lula Jackson of Fort Worth, Texas. Her home was visited twice by Sheriff Rodgers to demand surrender of Bible study textbooks. But she apparently rose to the challenge calling him a religious persecutor and “'beast of the field' upon whom the wrath of God would surely be visited” and while she admitted having a copy of The Finished Mystery, she said that “it was her religion and that she defied the whole United States to take it from her." The Sheriff may not have been quite so determined and decided that, in view of the fact she was so old and frail, it was best not to arrest her. (10)

Gertrude Antonette Woodcock Seibert’s attachment to the Bible Students was well known.   An entry from the Woman’s Who’s Who of America says she was an active member of the IBSA and credits her for writing the Daily Heavenly Manna for the Household of Faith, a Bible Student publication offering daily texts on Scriptural themes and various poem books supported by her art works. Seibert was under investigation by a Federal Agent on 10 May 1918 who resided in the same hotel as her in New York to track her movements. He called her “one of the leaders of the above Society,” a term that - had she known it - would have amused her. Bible Students didn’t tend to think in terms of rank and even if some did, she held no presumption to being such and, indeed as the Woman’s Who’s Who of America account stated, she was “opposed to suffrage on scriptural grounds.” (11)

 

Gertrude Seibert from a 1915 Daily Heavenly Manna entry

But what caused females of all backgrounds and ages to be the focus of such vigilant and even vigilante attention from individuals who in normal circumstances might be considered as paragons of virtue?  Each of these women held one faith in common.  In earlier days the name Millennial Dawnists became common, while critics labelled them 'Russellites' after Charles Taze Russell, the leading figure in the movement. (12) By 1910 they identified themselves as members of the International Bible Students Association, a name they retained until 1931 when they took on the name more familiar to most, Jehovah's Witnesses. (13) Central to Bible Student thinking was the teaching of the Kingdom of God which would bring untold blessings to mankind after a period of considerable distress culminating in the battle of Armageddon.  The thought comes across in the Lord's Prayer which includes reference to "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."  However, the idea finds its roots in Old Testament where Daniel speaks of a time when God would set up a Kingdom that would never be brought to ruin and that would destroy man made governments which have always ultimately disappointed. (Daniel 2:44) The Bible explains these have always fallen short because “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” successfully. (Jeremiah 10:23). (14) For an authority to hear such words expressed concerning some unexpressed time far off probably isn't unduly worrying, especially when it has no reason to expect its own tenure in government to last beyond the next election. However, based on his understanding of chronology and scripture, since as far back as 1876 Russell had been highlighting the year 1914 (15) as significant, so much so that no Bible Student was surprised when the gunshots of Sarajevo led to World War One. It mattered not to the American government whether Russell's understanding was right or wrong, but at a time when they were mobilising every available citizen to support their "war for righteousness," any political, philosophical or religious elements that taught otherwise were an annoyance they could have done without.

In his first book, The Divine Plan of the Ages, published in 1886, Russell reminded believers that neither Jesus nor the apostles interfered with earthly rulers in any way. "On the contrary, they taught the Church to submit to these powers, even though they often suffered under their abuse of power. They taught the Church to obey the laws, and to respect those in authority because of their office, even if they were not personally worthy of esteem; to pay their appointed taxes, and, except where they conflicted with God's laws (Acts 4:19; 5:29), to offer no resistance to any established law. (Rom. 13:1-7; Matt. 22:21) The Lord Jesus and the apostles and the early Church were all law-abiding, though they were separate from, and took no share in, the governments of this world." (16) As a result, Russell explained that those “who aspire to office in the coming Kingdom of God, should neither covet the honors and the emoluments of office in the kingdoms of this world, nor should they oppose these powers. They are fellow citizens and heirs of the heavenly kingdom (Eph. 2:19), and as such should claim only such rights and privileges under the kingdoms of this world as are accorded to aliens." (17) Considering themselves as aliens and temporary residents in this world, the Bible Students 'otherworldliness' enabled them to give their entire attention and effort to preaching the Kingdom of God. "If this is faithfully done, there will be no time, nor disposition to dabble in the politics of present governments. The Lord had no time for it; the apostles had no time for it; nor have any of the saints who are following their example." (18)

In addition to the avoidance of politics, female Bible Students held to the New Testament understanding of male headship and consequently held no aspirations of holding oversight in the Bible Classes that swiftly arose from Russell's teachings.  However, this is not to say that they served little purpose within the Bible Student movement.  Zion’s Watch Tower of 1881 held the headline "Wanted, 1,000 preachers" and invited committed readers, male and female, to serve as Colporteurs devoting their time to the harvest message at a time when "the opportunity for seeking the prize of the high calling to joint heirship with Christ ... is soon to end." (19) It seems unlikely that Russell's target was quickly met, since many male adherents had business responsibilities and sometimes large families to provide for which kept them busy no matter how zealous they were for their newly acquired faith.  However, female readers of Zion's Watch Tower, especially those middle class, single and without dependent children, had more time, opportunity and often greater zeal than their male counterparts.  Consequently, whereas the nominal churches gave little opportunity for female preaching, the Watch Tower message gave them free reign to express their faith publicly.  Further the non-political emphasis of the Bible Student message kept them focused on religious themes while other capable women of the time were minded toward temperance, prohibition, female suffrage and emancipation.

Female colporteur using a Dawn Mobile

Women who choose the path advocated by Russell, such as Emma Martin, gained a tremendous sense of purpose and satisfaction in their life since in their preaching they considered themselves as serving as "ambassadors for Christ" himself. (20)  Indeed, such a ministry, they believed, was preparing them for their future employment as kings and priests in Christ's heavenly Kingdom. (21) Watch Tower articles were quick to stress that zeal spent in such public ministry was not cause for a Christian to boast, and that none could ever earn their salvation through works, since this was only possible as a result of God's undeserved kindness through Christ. (22) Yet, at the same time it seemed only natural that as spirit begotten Christians these individuals would not want to hide their light under a bushel, but rather would unselfishly share with others the grace they had received.

Consequently, acceptance of Bible Student teachings placed all believers on the margins of American Society. (23)  This was not a difficult place to be before the war, and even during the years 1914 to March 1917 when President Wilson had exhorted Americans to display political neutrality "in word and deed."  But when the nation moved to become an avid war participant from April 1917 onward, this changed everything.  Suddenly, to be on the fringe of American society placed members in an extremely uncomfortable position: one in which they could barely be tolerated. Exempt from this vulnerability, perhaps, was the 48-year-old Colporteur Emma Martin, who had lost in death both her child in 1910 and her husband in 1916.  There seemed little further she could lose through keeping quiet about her faith and, from her perspective, everything she could gain.  For the vast majority, however, life in America, especially in Spring 1918, proved quite an ordeal.  Yet, delicate though it was, their theology had already prepared Bible Students for just such an eventuality, as we shall see.  It was for precisely for this reason that Cynthia Scott had said, "well we expect to be arrested."

But what led to Emma Martin being convicted of sedition while individuals like Cynthia Scott and Sarah Story remained free?  As has been said, sedition - like beauty - often appears to belong in the 'eye of the beholder.'  As is common at times of national crisis, the authorities thought it necessary to make an example of some members of society so as to intimidate and discourage others, while individuals found it useful to prove their Americanism by stigmatising those less committed. The incident involving Martin gave those seeking to find it precisely the opportunity they wanted.  No investigation as to the motive of those reporting Martin's activities was deemed necessary. Unlike Story, Martin was in her late forties and not 76 years old.  While no more determined, perhaps her disposition was deemed belligerent by those in authority, unlike the sweet, but dotty, Story.  In the case of Scott, her investigation did not involve The Finished Mystery book and reached a very different conclusion than was the case with Martin. In compiling his report, Evans also visited and listened to Scott's accuser, Mothern, for over an hour, in fact.  Evan's explained that Mothern was employed as a day watchman at the Meecham-Babcock Shipbuilding Company.  "He is obliged to sit in one place out at the end of a dock, where he commands a good view of the yards and his entire time is spent brooding and suspecting everybody that appears on the horizon. ... He is still labouring under a lot of Stone Age ideas ... and he attempts to enlighten the people.  His main argument over and over was that" people who believed as Scott did "were absolutely wrong because they did not believe as he did ..." (24)

Evans stated that Mothern "was not reporting Mrs Scott for her alleged remarks, which he could not prove, as much as he was attempting to get her under the limelight" for holding the belief she had.  Evans summed up his findings by saying that he found Mrs Scott "very broad minded and entirely in accord with the Government except that their faith could not kill; but would suffer death if called upon to do so. They are being persecuted by people who know nothing of Pastor Russell's work."  Interestingly, Evans went beyond his brief in simply investigating Scott and concluded that he believed that "this entire opposition to the belief of the I.B.S.A. is the direct work of the clergy of Orthodox churches." (25) A similar conclusion was reached in Ray Abram's classic Preachers Present Arms. (26)  It continues to be the explanation of Jehovah’s Witnesses to this day.

References: 

(1) IBSA MID-FBI data file 170884

(2) The Golden Age, issue 29 September 1920, 712-717. There can be little doubt that the list included some of the most notorious incidents of IBSA prejudice experienced.  Even so, when compared with Government records now available from World War One involving wholesale spying and investigation of individuals from the group it becomes apparent that, at the time, the IBSA knowledge of such surveillance was limited and that the The Golden Age list represents no more than a snapshot of what was going on.  Indeed, it seems apparent that rather than exaggeration, the faith has under-estimated the extent of its unpopularity during this period and recorded merely the tip of the iceberg.

(3) IBSA MID-FBI data file 204882.My thanks are due to Jay Beaman for drawing attention to these valuable files and his remarkable work.

(4) The Golden Age, issue 29 September 1920, 713 

(5) Ibid, 715

(6) Ibid

(7) IBSA Old German Files (OGF), FBI 63296, 1-999, 253

(8) Sources for Story’s account include the National Civil Liberties booklet entitled War Time Prosecutions and Mob Violence, 23, IBSA NARA DC RG60 #114 and various local and national newspapers.

(9) See Christopher Capozzola’s description of James Montgomery Flagg’s iconic image of American government in Uncle Sam Wants You – World War 1 and the Making of the Modern American Citizen, 4-5

(10) FBI OGF 63296, 2nd File, 953

(11) Woman’s Who’s Who of America for 1914-1915. WWI US FBI OGF. Jay Beaman records ID 92625

(12) Jehovah’s Witnesses - Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom (1993), 150

(13) Ibid,151. The name was adopted by resolution at the Columbus International convention on 26 July 1931.

(14) All scriptural quotes are from the King James Version.

(15) Per the article by Russell in October issue of Bible Examiner.

(16) The Divine Plan of the Ages, 266

(17) Ibid

(18) Ibid, 267-268

(19) Zion’s Watch Tower, April 1881, 7 [Reprints, 214]

(20) Quote from 2 Corinthians 5:20

(21) Revelation 5:10, Galatians 3:28

(22) See, for instance, Zion’s Watch Tower November 1884 article entitled ‘Faith and Works.’ 5, Reprints, 688

(23) This is a development of the idea expressed on pages 93 & 94 in Gerhard Besier’s keynote lecture at the 2016 Glasgow conference Faith and the First World War,entitled ‘Harmonizing Conflicting Demands and Emotions – Christian Believers During the First World War’. Besier based his comments on Bible Students in World War One Germany. The idea is also implicit in the title of Emily Baran’s study of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Soviet Union, entitled Dissent on the Margins: How Soviet Jehovah’s Witnesses Defied Communism and Lived to Preach About It.

(24) IBSA MID-FBI data file 170884

(25) Ibid

(26) Preachers Present Arms, 183-184