Watch Tower History

The full text of the Feb. 1881 Watch Tower Tract Society organizational document and a photo of the signatures and pledged amounts. To apply...

Our membership list broke today and we lost two members. One I was able to resend an invitation to; the other, "Joshua Himes", nee...

A heretofor missing issue of Midnight Cry and Herald of the Morning. To apply for access see the instructions below.

New material on Jonas Wendell. to read it apply for access as noted below.

For access to our invitation only blog, see below. The new post is a transcription of an interview of C. T. Russell published in an Ohio new...

Everything that matters will start appearing on the private blog. If you have an interest in our research, follow the instructions in the pr...

Amy Reytar of the United States National Archives for locating and sending copies of original documents re: J. B. Adamson and his wife. Yipe...

The new blog has been partially formatted. There are no posts yet. We're still distracted by research, but we're moving updates and ...

From the front end sheet of his copy of Day Dawn. Courtesy of Frank Marotta. The book is currently on ebay, and Frank kindly made this scan ...

The Allegheny Church, listed not as a Second Adventist Congregation but as a One Faith Congregation. Do you have any idea how much this alt...

Intersting things in Restitution. I've just started reading it. Russell promises an article on the Great Pyramid. If it was written, it ...

to Jan Stilson of the Church of God - General Conference for extensive biolgraphical information on Hiram Vaughn Reed and for putting us on ...

For one of his early preaching tours, Russell used the general topic "things pretaining to God's kingdom." This was a borrowin...

Rachael passed on bits of her research to me this afternoon. Conley met Simpson no later than December 1885 in Pittsburgh. This is, we would...

We need to see: The kingdom of God: or, The reign of Christ on earth, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. To which is added, "What is t...

I know he's trying to sell it, so that mitigates some of the flattery. But this is fun: Nelson Barbour: The Millennium's Forgotten ...

Our thanks go to Dr. David Miano for his kind assistance in acquiring four rare tracts for us. Help like this is priceless.

Thanks to the efforts of Dr. R. Phillip Stone we now have the record of Bowman's M. E. Church trial. People such as Dr. Stone who take a...

Supported financially by Conley.

Faith cures and their meaning were an issue among Watch Tower subscribers in the 1880's and into the 1890's. The issue divided Watch...

Russell, Barbour, Paton, Adams all attended these conferences in 1877 and 1878.

Garr was one of the Elders of The Church of the First Born, the Watch Tower congregation in Louisville, Kentucky. George W. Jackson was res...

A small journal published in Illinois, probably Chicago. Any information would help. We believe this paper was published by J. B. Adamson. I...

Benjamin Allan Garr, MD. born in Louisville Ky about 1852/3. Married to an Addie last name unknown. He is named as an Elder in the Church of...

We would very much like to see a four page tract published by Barbour in 1871. Its title is: Alarming State of the World: Can Ye discern the...

Undated photo - Alton Bay Camp Meeting Camp Ground Police Russell and Barbour were at the Alton Bay Camp Meeting, an Advent Christian Asso...

This church was founded in 1877 in Blythedale, Maryland. One of the early Watch Tower evangelists was minister there for a period. We have a...

1. Bible Examiner 1872-3. 2. World's Hope. We have several years, but we need many more. What do you have? 3. Zion's Day Star / Day ...

I'm moving this to a main post because I think it deserves more open discussion. (It's fun, thanks.) And I'm posting it here bec...

Arthur Adams was pastor of the Avenue Methodist Church in Beverly when he first met Russell and Barbour

A brother and his wife took part of their valuable time to make photocopies for us. We could never have accessed this material on our own. T...

This Ad appeared in US newspapers in 1907/8

I've moved this from the comment section to here. Anonymous said... I am a different anonymous than the previous comment, but I agree wi...

offered financial help. We usually turn that down. But if you wish to help, the Library of Congress has an issue of Jones' Day Star. We...

A fairly recent screed against Russell says: "Charles Tase [sic] Russell and his brother, as late as when we was in his early twenties,...

Remember to avoid the footnote links. They take you off page. This is what we have. Can you help us elaborate? Anyone? The work ...

I'm rewriting the conclusion to our chapter on the early missionary work in China to accomodate new information. I could use some help w...

I’m working on a chapter detailing the months from January 1876 to August 1876. Most of this has been on the blog in one form or another, an...

In answer to a question in the comments on an earlier post: There is very little else in the way of direct testimony that bears on this peri...

I received the following email. I'm soliciting your help answering it: Bruce: I am looking at the cemetery records for the Russell famil...

In 1877 Russell preached in the Boston area. He generated significant comment over his opposition to Hell-fire doctrine. We only have one so...

Updated: We really need to see the 1872 Bible Examiners. We simply cannot afford the photocopy charge from the lone source. Do any of you ha...

You said: I found the Church of God notice. It is in the Advent Christian Times:3/21/71 p. 2283/28/71 p. 243 4/3/71 p. 2514/11/71 p.259 John...

born about 1835. Perhaps once a methodist. One of the founding congregants of the Westfield MA Second Adventist church; later its pastor. Re...

We need a good scan of his picture from his book The Second Coming of Christ: Or the Impending Approach of “The Restitution of all Things”. ...

I am trying to find an article by Storrs in the Bible Examiner on Baptism. I've missplaced my note on it. Anyone know where it is? Found...

We have worked on J. J. Bender's identity for about four years. We belive that he is Joseph J. Bender, a traveling agent or salesman, wh...

We're still struggling to discover Adamson's first name. He was in business in Ohio in the late 1870's and perhaps as late as 18...

Zion's Temple, 261 Fulton Street, Brooklyn ... in operaton late 1880's early 1890's. Anything at all would help.

We need to see 1886-1888 if they exist. They may not exist. We're uncertain. Anyone?

Anyone? An article from 1898. Please. We probably only need this paragraph translated: Eine ähnliche Sekte, die sich in neuerer Zeit aus Ame...

We located a copy of the Saalfield & Fitch printing of the Plan of the Ages. I need a clear scan of the title page showing the Saalfield...

Does anyone have a better copy they can scan for me?

I have the 1903 Colporteur guide, Suggestive Hints to New Colporteurs. We need to see the 1887 edition. As far as I know, it does not exist....

Soul's Awakening. I remember very well the period of my soul awakening. It was when I was about 15 years of age, and I thought, as I lo...

We desperately need to see the April and May 1876 issues of Herald of the Morning. Anyone?

The Wikipedia article on Conley says, "Adventist minister George Stetson lived for a time with the Conleys during a prolonged period of...

also spelled macmillan, one of the first directors of the watch tower society .... any biographical information would help.

A song book sold through Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society into the 1890's. I'm afraid my copy is really ratty, but I'm happy...

We need proof that he practiced medicine in Ohio. Anyone have a contemporary reference? We need to see the Stetson-Thew letters. Anyone bot...

There was at least one believer in Guildford, England, in 1886. We can find no clue as to his name or any other details. Anyone out there ha...

We've been getting lots of helpful comments and private emails. This is great. Keep it up. Some things what would help us include: 1. If...

margaret russell said: “Later, about 1877, after attending a series of services held by my brother, a prominent Pittsburgh physician remarke...

... was expelled from the Methodist church in the summer of 1871. This was detailed in The World's Crisis. Anyone know the exact issue? ...

footnote in object and manner of our lord's return: Another brother, also of the M. E. church, and for several years a professor in one ...

This Indiana paper reviewed Object and Manner of Our Lord's Return.

We’re puzzling things through. Rachael is writing first rough draft of a chapter dealing with the Allegheny Bible Class between 1871 and 187...

In the June 1882 Watch Tower Russell announced that “Bros. Leigh and Spears have started on a trip down the Ohio river in a small boat belon...

A shill for a book keeps trying to post on this blog. They do not read this blog, only an earlier post revewing a book by Fredrick Zydek ent...

Starting at Rochester, New York, and ending a Louisville, Kentucky, what would have been the probable train rout in 1877? What would have be...

After Food for Thinking Christians was published a Church of God clergyman challenged Russell to debate throught he pages of the Dispatch.

Omnibus Leaving 6th Street Bridge on the Allegheny Side - 1876.

Russell in his study. Originally in Overland Monthly. Courtesy of a friend of this blog.

Photo courtesy a friend of this blog.

Photo courtesy of a friend of this blog.

I have an extra copy. It's clean looking outside, but the hinges are cracked. The cover is still attached and a bit of glue would fix th...

Major Daniel Webster Whittle blocked the Plan of the Ages from the Revel bookstore and wholesale lists.

It occurs to me that some of my blog readers don't understand that the real history of Zion's Watch Tower has never really been told...

We need a really clear digital scan of the photo of John H. Brown found in the 1908 Convention Report. Anyone?

While there may be exceptions, especially if the review comes from a regular contributor or a regular blog reader, I will not review books, ...

Joseph Moffitt of Newcastle on Tyne republished his 1884 Watch Tower article as a pamphlet. Does any one have, or can you find: Ransom and T...

from an 1886 Watch Tower article: Another similar effort to hand-truck Christian people into the great Omnibus of Spiritism, is a little pap...

Anyone with an ancestry.com account? Lived in Albany, New York in 1900. Meetings were held in his house? Data? Anyone?

I no longer have an ancestry.com account. If you have one, please send me the material on S. O. Blunden found there, including the city dire...

We've finally located some of the 1877 Pittsburgh newspapers we want to examine. The library that has them is willing to lend the microf...

Messenger boys such as this one distributed Food for Thinking Christians

S. T. Tackabury is listed in the ohio obituary index on acestry.com. Anyone have a membership? Can you email me the information? Or post it ...

It seems that all i'm posting lately is requests for help. Here is another: We need the exact details of a Advent and Sabbath Advocate a...

Myers is mentioned only by last name in Zion's Watch Tower. We need to see a booklet he wrote in the 1880's entitled "The Atone...

To answer an emailed question: This site contains more material than appears on the front page. Use the “older posts” button on the bottom o...