A recent post (September 21) reviewed the photograph of Henry Weber, who was a Society director for nearly 12 years and who died in 1904.
At least one of his
children stayed with the Society. His daughter, Diana, lived to be 93, and her
funeral notice from the Cumberland Evening Times of 3 April 1971 made the point
that she was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Guest post by Gary
First produced in July 1879 as Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of
Christ’s Presence, on January 1, 1909, the magazine’s title was changed
to The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence. But why was
this?
Popular religious ideas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century featured the thought, still held by many today, that the Jews who had become dispersed throughout the nations would eventually return to the Holy Land under the slogan of “Zionism.” Indeed, Pastor Russell shared such a belief which is apparent in his writings and perhaps reflected in the name originally chosen for the magazine he published. But it was not until the 1930s that Jehovah’s Witnesses adjusted their perspective from the natural nation of Israel to “Spiritual Israel.”(2) So why was it that reference to Zion was dropped from the name of the magazine as early as 1909?
The answer is provided in the magazine’s last issue of 1908 which explains that some members of the public were wrongly assuming the magazine was related to John Alexander Dowie, who in 1900 had founded the city of Zion, Illinois, 40 miles north of Chicago. To quote:
“With the New Year we expect to drop the word "Zion's" in the title of our Journal, because many of the friends inform us that the word is objectionable, having been so much used by Mr. Dowie and his followers. They report that our Journal is frequently cast aside under the supposition that it is published under Dowie's auspices, or in some manner affiliated with Zion City, which he founded. The new name, THE WATCH TOWER, is the one by which the Journal is usually mentioned.”(3)
So who was Dowie and why did Russell see need to distance from him? Dowie was a Scottish-Australian immigrant who, like Russell, believed in an end-times restoration of true worship. Unlike Russell, Dowie believed this restoration necessitated a return to apostolic gifts including faith healing. In contrast, Russell believed that “the necessity for miracles as introductions to the Gospel message is no longer manifest” and that, consequently, “We are inclined to look with suspicion upon miraculous healings of the present time, whether done by Mormons or by Christian Scientists or by Christian Alliance people or by Mr Dowie and his followers or others.”(4)
A charismatic figure, Dowie had settled in Chicago and in 1893 gained considerable attention at the World’s Fair. He launched his own publishing house, Zion Publishing, and started a weekly newsletter, Leaves of Healing which ran until 1909. Between 1894 and 1901 Dowie founded the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church which is said to have attracted some 6,000 adherents by the start of the twentieth century, some of whom were keen to invest money in Dowie’s new city, founded in 1901, and its Zion Bank which, of course, was controlled by Dowie. In 1899, Dowie claimed to be "God's Messenger" and, by 1901, was considered by followers to be Elijah the Restorer.
Dowie taught adherents to abstain from tobacco, alcohol, pork, doctors, medicines and “apostate churches.”
Additionally he welcomed African-Americans into his new city which had
only one church. All seemed to be going well with this utopian city,
but as it grew in size and prosperity, Dowie adopted an increasingly lavish
lifestyle, building himself a 25-room mansion and adorning himself in ornate
ecclesiastical robes modeled after those worn by Aaron, the high priest of
Israel.
Unsurprisingly perhaps, Dowie proved spiritually and financially untrustworthy as the entire structure of Zion soon fell into debt, and eventually crashed with Dowie becoming unable to handle his affairs. By 1905, he had suffered a stroke and left Zion to recuperate. While absent he was deposed from his business affairs and religious leadership by a colleague whose investigators claimed huge amounts of money were unaccounted for. A splinter group rejected the new leadership and left Zion with some embracing the budding Pentecostal movement. Meanwhile Dowie attempted to recover his authority through litigation, but ultimately retired and accepted an allowance, which was paid until his death in 1907.
Evidently therefore, the deletion of the word “Zion’s” shifted focus
away from a disreputable competitor, as Russell was keen to distance his
magazine from even the slightest semblance of Dowie. In so doing,
the magazine could “focus attention more clearly on its objective” as Herald
of Christ’s Presence.
References:
(1) Jehovah’s Witnesses - Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom p.724
(2) In discussing Jeremiah 31:31-34, for instance, the book Jehovah, published by Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1934, stated conclusively: “The new covenant has nothing to do with the natural descendants of Israel and with mankind in general, but . . . is limited to spiritual Israel.”
(3) Zion’s Watch Tower December 1908, p.372, R4294. Another concern, at the time, was that African churches and papers used the word ‘Zion’ extensively, which led some to inquire whether the magazine was written for black people when, in fact, the Watch Tower aimed for a multiracial audience.
(4) Zion’s Watch Tower January 1904 p.14, Reprints p. 3301.
(5) For further reading on Dowie, see From Sect to Cult to Sect: The Christian Catholic Church in Zion, Ph.D dissertation by Warren Jay Beaman, Iowa State University, 1990.
A year or more ago there was a flurry of correspondence on this blog about a picture hanging on the wall of the Bible House parlor. Who was it? Was it perhaps an elderly Joseph Lytle Russell? After some skillful manipulation of the image it was established that it appeared to be Henry Weber, former vice-president of Zion’s Watch Tower Society, holding a copy of Millennial Dawn.
I have only just
noticed that this same photograph – face on – has been in the Society’s
historical exhibition. Earlier today I was watching the 2014 video of the exhibition
that opened in Brooklyn, and there – on the wall – was Henry Weber.
Here is a screen grab from the film.
Below is a close up.
Obviously when visits to
the new exhiition in Warwick are allowed one might be able to get a much clearer
picture, and of course it may be in a different place in the current
exhibition.
Henry was a director of the Society for nearly 12 years. He died in 1904. He was a horticulturist and his company H Weber and Sons, lasted until 1978. The records of the company were ultimately donated to the Smithsonian Institute by a descendant.
When what became World War 1 started J F Rutherford
was in Hamburg, Germany. This wasn’t a problem as America didn’t enter the war
until April 1917. JFR traveled back home and was soon giving the talk “Destiny
of Men and Nations.” Below is a cutting from the Washington Times for November
19, 1914.
He took this same talk to his former home area of
Versailles. Below is an advertisement for the talk on December 2. The year is
not given, but it was likely 1914, which would have been a Wednesday evening.
No newspaper reports have surfaced to confirm the date, but it was most
probably in 1914. This talk was advertised in various places up to the middle
of 1915. It could just possibly have been on December 1915 (which would have
been a Thursday evening) but by December 1916 he would have been in Brooklyn
prior to being elected as president of the Watch Tower Society.
By December 1917 America was in the war, and the
IBSA was in difficulties. JFR’s main talk had also changed subject – slightly.
With grateful thanks to Tom who supplied the last two images.
On May 22, 1921, at the now historic Kismet Temple in Brooklyn, J F Rutherford gave his famous Millions talk. Below is an advertising leaflet.
The Kismet building is still standing and below are two photographs of the exterior.
(The one in color is taken from Wikipedia and dates from 2013)
The leaflet provided some interesting information. JFR had just returned from visiting Palestine and Egypt. There he had been involved in two of the Kinemo films which were eventually given general release in 1922. JFR did a kind of Alfred Hitchcock cameo appearance in both of them.
The leaflet also mentions events the previous year (1920) when the same subject had been presented at the New York Hippodrome, and where the crowds had been so large some could not gain admittance.
Below is a
postcard showing the exterior.
The Hippodrome was
demolished in 1939. The reverse of the postcard
describes its original capacity.
A
photograph exists of the interior during JFR’s”standing room only” lecture.
All photographs and ephemera came from Tom’s collection. With grateful thanks for sharing.
Bruce had his surgery today, the first of two. It went well, but he is experiencing significant pain. He will be away from his blog for some time.
- Anastasia d'isles-Stewart
One of the “joys” of historical research is
deciphering old documents. Forget issues like Latin or ancient languages, just
the vagaries of time on writing materials, coupled with a hit and miss approach
by scanners, can create unwanted puzzles.
To illustrate, below is a document where the puzzle
has been solved, but it still illustrates the problem when, for example, you
don’t have newspaper confirmation of events.
Deciphering the columns, Nelson was 81 when he died.
He was M – i.e. male
He was widowed
Where did the death happen? Do – i.e. ditto from the name Tacoma hgher up the page.
And Nelson died from?
Headstone in Throopville Rural Cemetery, Auburn, New York.
For some reason the Proclaimers book says he died in 1906, but the date as above was 1905.
We have strayed from this blog’s purpose. It is my fault, but I am with this post remedying the problem.
1. This is not a news site. I do not intend it as a forum for current news about Jehovah’s Witnesses or related groups. While I have allowed the posts on the Pyramid monument, doing so has led us away from this blog’s focus which is solely to present well-researched history of the Russell era. I will not allow news features in the future.
2. This is a history site, not a controversialist site. Accordingly, I do not accept links to videos that are polemic in nature. Don’t post any links to a youtube video. If you believe a video adds value to my blog, enquire.
3. Keep your feelings for or against the Watchtower to yourself. They have no place here. If you must express them, post them on a more appropriate site. This blog draws interest from academics, from Witnesses, from former Witnesses and from the merely curious. It is not, however, a place for you to express your pro- or anti-Witness beliefs. We’ve had too much of that lately. I’m not taking down articles or comments that cross that line, but I will not allow them in the future.
4. DO NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG VIA FACEBOOK. EVER
WHAT PYRAMID?
The pyramid was removed very carefully on September 1. These photographs are from September 2. On top of the CTR grave stone is a small piece of granite salvaged from the pyramid site.
For the background as to what led up to this, see the post from August 22.
Usher Instructions was a four page instruction sheet for convention administration in the 1930-40s. I need a good pdf scan of it. Anyone?
