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Thursday, April 7, 2016

What happens when you help

CrimsonRose gave us links to newspaper articles. This led to a re-write of part of the chapter entitled "Out of Babylon."



Called by His Name

Two issues attached to the earliest congregations and small fellowships: Their self- identity, and how outsiders identified them. Russell and many of his earliest associates came from traditions that rejected any name but Christian or some version of a Bible-based name.[1] They saw sectarianism as of the Devil. That left them nameless. Augustus Bergner told The New York Sun that he belonged “to a company of Christians who have no common name. We are not Second Adventists, and we are not the ‘Holiness’ or ‘Higher Life’ sect.”[2]
Maria Russell said that most if not all early fellowships met in homes. She spoke of the true church as “scattered all over the world, many of them standing alone, and some in little companies, often numbering only two or three, and meeting from house to house.”[3]  When Frank Draper, an early-days evangelist spoke at Glens Falls, New York, it was in the home of W. H. Gildersleeve, who was willing to invite the public into his home.[4] Somewhat later the Glens Falls meetings moved to the home of Mrs. C. W. Long, but within two years they returned to the Gildersleve home on Birch Avenue.[5] H. Samson, for a while a Watch Tower evangelist, seldom spoke in a public facility. A newspaper noted that “most of his meetings … have been held in the parlor of some member of the church.”[6] There are many other examples of home-churches, but most of that history is more suitable for the third book in this series.
Individual congregations experimented with names. Most of the congregational names that have come down to us are from outside the period we cover in these two volumes, but we should note some examples. The congregation in St. Louis, Missouri, styled itself “Seekers After Truth.”[7] The newly-formed congregation at Salem, Oregon, called itself “The Church of the Living God,” a Biblical phrase. They met in the Women’s Christian Temperance Hall.[8] Believers in Akron, Ohio, organized regular meetings in late 1902. A representative told a reporter that they “may be called Dawn Students, or members of the Church of the Living God.” Their meetings were held in the homes of members.[9] The Watch Tower congregation in Grants Pass, Oregon, also used the name.[10] The Cedar Rapids congregation used it too, as did the congregation in Saratoga, New York. W. Hope Hay, a Watch Tower representative, used it as well.[11] In Cortland, New York, they called themselves the “Church of the Living God and Church of the Little Flock.” Occasionally, gatherings were described as “a meeting of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.”[12] Though Church of the Living God was appealing because it is derived from scripture, it was also used by a politically radical Black church, and Watch Tower congregations distanced themselves from the name.

[illustration]
Advertisement: Scranton Tribune¸ July 26, 1902.
           
Church of the Little Flock designated the congregation in Cortland, New York. When R. E. Streeter spoke there in December 1902, it was on the well used topics of “The Coming Kingdom,” and “Restitution of all Things.” An advertisement for his sermons used the Little Flock designator. He spoke in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union hall, and the congregation was still meeting there in 1904 and still using the name. Work of the North Carolina evangelists, many of whom were former clergy, bore fruit, and a small congregation formed in Nicolas County near Elizabeth City. The local paper reported: A new religious sect has been started in the wilds of Nicholas county. [sic] The New sect is called the “New Lights.” The sect is said to have arisen from the influence of Rev. Russell, of Allegheny City, where he conducts a newspaper called Zion’s Watch Tower. The members of the New Light sect profess to believe there is no hell.”[13] The New Light name was reused in West Virginia.

illustration here

As noted, when the Scranton, Pennsylvania, congregation was formed they used the name The Watch Tower Bible Class.[14] When Russell spoke there, the press release used adjective laden phrasing: “Readers and students of the ‘Millennial Dawn’ series and all others who are interest in the subject of the pre-millennial advent.” When the Richmond, Indiana, congregation was organized by J. G. Wright, a Watch Tower “pilgrim,” it was called The Millennial Dawn Society.[15] A meeting-time announcement for the Richmond, Virginia, congregation called them Believers in the Dawning Millennium. They met Sundays in Marshal Hall on East Broad Street.[16] The announcement did not capitalize as we have, and the name seems more of a description of belief than a title. Using some form of “Millennial Dawn” in advertisements resulted in some calling them “Millennial Dawners.”[17] In Elmira, New York, they were the Millennial Dawn Bible Class.[18] In Flushing, New York, they were “the Millennial Dawn Society.”[19] In December 1900, Russell spoke to the congregation in Washington, D. C. The newspaper ad described them as “Millennial Dawn and Zion’s Watch Tower friends.”

illustration
The Washington, D.C., Evening Times, December 1, 1900.


When a Watch Tower convention was held in Philadelphia in June 1900, they described themselves as Believers in the Atonement through the Blood of Christ.[20] A convention held in Denver, Colorado, in 1903 was of “Believers in the Second Coming.”[21] When Russell addressed a convention in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1898, they were simply called the “Believers.” The abbreviation “Believers” was used again the next year in Boston.[22]

illustration
The Courtland, New York, Standard
November 29, 1902.

            In Albany, New York, Believers in the Restitution met in Fredrick J. Clapham’s home at 288 First Street. Earlier, at least one meeting was held in a “Bro. Fletcher’s home.”[23] Elsewhere the name Millennial Dawn Readers was used.[24] In Omaha, Nebraska, a newspaper called them Believers, without saying what they believed.[25] When a one-day convention featuring C. T. Russell and C. A. Owen, “the local minister,” was announced for Indianapolis, Indiana, they use a long descriptor instead of a pithy name, calling themselves “believers on the lines of Millennial dawn [sic], and of the ransom of the whole human race by the blood of Jesus Christ.”[26]
            The Cincinnati, Ohio, congregation advertised meetings as The Church of Believers. In 1891 they met at 170 Walnut Street, Room 8, for “instruction and fellowship.”[27] In late 1891, J. B. Adamson held weekly meetings there. Russell reported that Adamson had circulated “about 4000 Millennial Dawns,” adding that Adamson and wife “have done and are doing a good work –gathering ripe wheat and witnessing to others. Sunday Meetings held by Brother A. help to water the good word of present truth which he scatters during the week by circulating MILLENNIAL DAWN.”[28] By May 1892 the Cincinnati Believers were meeting at 227 Main Street, and inviting people to “free lectures on present truths, in accord with the Bible, explained by Millennial Dawn.” The Believer’s advertisement said that “these lectures show the grand harmony of our Creator’s plan of the ages, the high calling and the restitution of all.”[29]
            Adamson found interest in a “Dr. A _____.”[30] While we can’t identify him more specifically, he testified to others in the Cincinnati medical community. An advertisement in the December 27, 1894, Enquirer placed by a W. Val Stark read: “I should like to meet a young man familiar with the ‘Millennial Dawns’ who desires to actively further their notice on the churches.”[31] Stark gave his address as 44 West 9th Street, the address of the Cincinnati Sanitarium, a private hospital treating insanity and addiction. Despite a fairly large circulation of Millennial Dawn volumes, the congregation remained small. Thirty-seven were present for the annual communion celebration; eleven of these were newly interested.[32]
            At Los Angeles, California, in 1899 they advertised themselves as The Gospel Church (Millennial Dawn). By 1902 they were using Millennial Dawn Readers, and in 1903 they were Millennial Dawn Friends. There are several examples of Russell suggesting that they were The Christians. For instance, when he spoke for an extended period on Boston Commons in 1897, The Cato, New York, Citizen described him as “the leader of a new sect called simply ‘The Christians.’”[33] An invitation for a Watch Tower meeting late in 1901, described it as “a convention of believers in the great redemption sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”[34] When the Flint, Michigan, congregation listed itself in the newspaper church directory it was as “Zion’s Watchtower People.”[35] In Warfdale, England, they called themselves The Church of Christ. The London Daily News said they were more commonly known as “Millennial Dawn.”[36]

illustration
The Los Angeles Herald, December 31, 1899.


illustration
The Los Angeles Herald, July 4, 1902.

illustration
The Los Angeles Herald, May 10, 1903

illustration
The Los Angeles Herald, November 8, 1903

            Outsiders were pressed to find descriptors. When Sam Williams, one of the organizers of the Huston, Texas, congregation preached there in 1903, The Huston Daily Post described the movement as “those of Mr. Williams’ faith,” attaching no other name. Earlier The Post described it as Millennial Dawn faith.[37] The 1912 Morrison and Fourmy Directory of Houston listed them as Millennial Dawn Church. This difficulty continued for some years.




illustrations
Convention Ribbon - 1899 and Convention Program - 1898.

illustration
Indianapolis News, February 20, 1897




Identity confusion followed Watch Tower publications and evangelists. A Watch Tower evangelist speaking at Poole’s Hall in Indianapolis, Indiana, included in the newspaper announcement that his meeting was not “Catholic Apostolic.” Another example comes from a period somewhat later than we consider in this book. At the request of a Mrs. A. Axtell, The Perry, New York, Record ran a brief article correcting rumors about a “Millennial Dawn” meeting held in a private home:

Will you kindly give space in your paper for the correction of the rumor to the effect that the meetings recently held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A. Axtell, were in the interest of Mormon belief?

And let it be known, that instead they were Bible instructions along the line taught by “The Millennial Dawn Series.”

Further, as a correction to one other rumor, let it be suggested that all lovers of the truth read carefully, with an open Bible, Vol. V of “Millennial Dawn,” before coming to hastily to the conclusion that the author does not worship the Lord Jesus Christ.[38]

In 1909 someone asked Russell: “By what name would you suggest that the local classes advertise their meetings, so as to avoid the confusion of a multiplicity of titles, such as: “Millennial Dawn,” “Believers in the Atonement,” “Believers in the Precious Blood,” “Bible Students,” etc.” Russell’s answer is illuminating:

It is a difficult matter to know how to advertise, not for ourselves, but difficult to keep from being misunderstood by the people. “Church of God”; “Church of the Living God”; “Church of Christ.” Any of those names would suit us very well, and we would have no objections to them, but we find that there are various denominations who have appropriated those titles, not that we think they have a right to apply them to themselves, but we would like to live in peace. It is a difficult matter to decide, and each class will have to do that for themselves.[39]

In his view they were to body of Christ, and while true sheep may be found within other churches, the various denominations were not of the Body of Christ. They were false religions. In the earliest period, Watch Tower evangelists never identified themselves with a church. They presented themselves as connected to Zion’s Watch Tower or to the Tower Publishing Company. Or they lectured without suggesting any affiliation, mentioning only the location of their speech. As congregations were formed, an organizational name became more pressing. James A. West, once a Methodist clergyman, lectured in Brooklyn, delivering the first of an eight part series on “the plan of the ages.” A reporter asked him the name of the new church. There was none:

A new church, which puts forth the claim of being The Church, was opened yesterday afternoon in Co-operative hall, Howard avenue and Madison street, up on the fourth floor, in a comfortably and rather prettily appointed lodge room. The minister was James A. West, who was once, it is understood, a Methodist minister in the West. He had an audience of probably sixty people. His discourse was the first of eight lectures on “God’s Plan of the Ages,” taking into consideration the “Millennial Dawn.” A large chart back of the platform depicted the different ages of the world, the birth of the world, its growth, the flood age, the present age, etc. Mr. West makes a decided claim for undenominationalism, saying there is but one head of a church, who is Christ. All churches are wrong in maintaining their different grades and conditions of doctrine, and in this way Mr. West claims for his followers that they are the church.[40]

            Russell continued to iterate this concept, and we find it expressed in a September 1901, lecture at Rochester, New York:

We are not a denomination, not a sect. I don’t know how many belong to our church. It is a church where no names are written. Our church consists of those who believe in Jesus Christ as Redeemer and make a full consecration to Him. We are trying to find them. All of our effort is to find who are His. We are not in any list of churches or sects. The true church has never been known by a name. We are satisfied to be known unto the Lord.[41]


[1]               This is true of Russell for the decade he associated with Age-to-Come believers.
[2]               Churchgoers Astonished: The New York Sun, August 15, 1881.
[3]               M. F. Russell: Discipline in the Church, Zion’s Watch Tower, July 1887, page 4.
[4]               Extracts from the Bible, The Glens Falls, New York, Morning Star¸ November 11, 1897. According to the 1870 Census, William H. Gildersleeve was born in New York about 1842, or according to the 1892 New York State Census he was born near 1837. [Census record birth dates often conflict.] He seems to have been related to H. H. Gildersleeve, a cigar manufacturer in Glens Falls. In April 1884, a devastating fire broke out in rental space in a building he owned. [New York Times, April 29, 1884.] A newspaper article [Glens Falls Morning Star¸ January 22, 1895] notes him as prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
[5]               Untitled notices, The Glens Falls, New York, Morning Star, June 26, 1899 and October 21, 1901.
[6]               Untitled notice, The Washington, D. C., Evening Star, August 18, 1900.
[7]               Hypnotism Thinks Boy’s Father, The Cincinnati Enquirer, May 17, 1907.
[8]               All Are Welcome to Attend, Salem, Oregon, Daily Capital Journal, November 2, 1900.
[9]               Dawn Students, a New Religious Sect, In Akron, The Akron, Ohio, Daily Democrat, January 17, 1902.
[10]             Free Lecture, The Grants Pass, Oregon, Rogue River Courier, March 17, 1904. The announcement was inserted by J. O. Sandberg. His first name may have been John. We are uncertain at this time.
[11]             Untitled notice: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Evening Gazette, March 20, 1901. Untitled notice: The Ithaca, New York, Saratogan¸ January 18, 1902.
[12]             Untitled announcements, The Utica, New York, Press, March 21 and 28, 1902.
[13]             The Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Falcon, Oct. 12, 1888.
[14]             Hessler was born about 1848. The 1880 Census tells us that he was widowed. He subsequently remarried. He was a cabinet maker, and later a contractor. Advertisements for his remodeling and cabinet and flooring business appear in the Scranton Tribune [eg. October 7, 1898, and June 5, 1899 issues].
[15]             End of the World in 1914, The Brazil, Indiana, Weekly Democrat, October 17, 1912.
[16]             The Millennium, The Richmond, Virginia, Times, June 7, 1902.
[17]             Sermon by Pastor Russell, The Bolivar, New York, Breeze, March 11, 1915.
[18]             Millennial Dawn Bible Class, The Elmira, New York, Evening Telegram¸ April 14, 1906.
[19]             Consigned to a Private Hospital, The Cincinnati, Ohio, Enquirer, June 13, 1904.
[20]             Believers in Atonement Services, The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Inquirer¸ June 18, 1900. This name was used for several conventions. Another example is, also from Philadelphia, is mentioned in The Fort Wayne, Indiana, Sentinal, December 30, 1902.
[21]             Millennium in Sight, The Brooklyn, New York, Daily Eagle, July 12, 1903.
[22]             “Believer in Session,” The Omaha, Nebraska, Daily Bee, October 3, 1898; National Believers’ Convention, The Duluth, Minnesota, Labor World, Deccember 23, 1899.
[23]             His Second Coming, The Albany, New York, Evening Journal, May 28, 1900. Various New York State Census records tell us Clapham was born in England between 1833 and 1834. He was a shoemaker. We do not know to what degree Clapham was interested in the Watch Tower message. A newspaper report from 1906 noted that he faithfully attended the Tabernacle Baptist Church “every Sunday but one in seven years.” [Albany Evening Journal, June 11, 1906.] We cannot identify Fletcher.
[24]             Notice, The Minneapolis, Minnesota, Journal, February 18, 1905.
[25]             Untitled notice, The Omaha, Nebraska, Daily Bee, August 23, 1899.
[26]             Millennial Dawn, The Indianapolis, Indiana, Journal, July 13, 1902.
[27]             Advertisement, The Cincinnati, Ohio, Enquirer, November 1, 1891.
[28]             C. T. Russell: Harvest Laborers: Pray for Them, Zion’s Watch Tower, February 15, 1892, page 50.
[29]             See announcement in the May 4, 1892, Cincinnati Enquirer.
[30]             See Adamson’s letter to Russell in Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, February 1891, page 30. [Not in Reprints.]
[31]             Advertisement, The Cincinnati, Ohio, Enquirer, December 27, 1894.
[32]             Letter from E. F. R. to Russell appended to: The Memorial Supper Celebrated, Zion’s Watch Tower, May 15, 1902, page 157. [Omitted from Reprints.]
[33]             Continuous Sermon, The Cato Citizen, August 28, 1897.
[34]             Not Known by Name, Rochester, New York, Democrat and Chronicle¸ September 30, 1901.
[35]             Among the Churches, The Flint, Michigan, Daily Journal¸March 28, 1903
[36]             See the March 7, 1906, issue.
[37]             Untitled notice, The Huston, Texas, Daily Post, May 29, 1901; Evangelist Sam Williams, February 22, 1903.
[38]             The Rumor Untrue, The Perry, New York, Record, July 12, 1900.
[39]             L. W. Jones [editor]: What Pastor Russell Said: His Answers to Hundreds of Questions, Chicago, 1917, pages 7-8.
[40]             The Brooklyn New York, Daily Eagle, November 20, 1893.
[41]             Not Known by Name, Rochester, New York, Democrat and Chronicle, September 30, 1901.

We need ...



We need a good scan of Paton's The Great Revelation. Anyone?

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Temporary post

Items Bruce is selling on ebay that you may not have seen. I'm posting them here so you can copy what you want for your personal archive. Not everyone interested in Watch Tower history can or wants to pay for historic material. Enjoy.


Front and Back of 1940 National Convention Handbill

Front and Back Page
1908-1909 Advertising Handbill


Oversized Printers' Proof Awake!

William C. MacMillan

Early Watch Tower director, druggist in Latrobe, PA. Bernard uncovered these:

Before 1883, he was a partner with his father Matthew. Afterwards sole proprietor.

Monday, April 4, 2016

J F Rutherford's date of birth


A question was asked on the CTR Passport post about the color of J F Rutherford's eyes. JFR's passport applications have survived for 1910, 1913, 1920 and 1923. They all state that his eye color was "dark", but "dark what?" is not specified. But in making the search, I found his 1920 passport application of interest. It contained a document signed by his 77 year old mother to give his true date of birth, since births had not been officially registered at the time. The recognized date comes from the family Bible.




Friday, April 1, 2016

The Weber probate documents ...


are found on familysearch.org.

Page from estate inventory ...

No ... I don't

I don't have a facebook account. I'm not comfortable with facebook. You lose your privacy if you use it. I am not comfortable with links to this blog from facebook accounts. But thanks for asking.

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Another temp post of later material. You are free to copy


images removed.

These are from a latter period ...

Bruce is selling these, and some of you might want to save the images for your files. This is a temporary post, just so you can copy and save these. Not everyone will want to pay 'big bucks' for Watchtower ephemera, and we're posting these for the friends of this blog.


Images removed. Alas, temporary does not mean forever.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Storrs Era Tract


The Vow - Silk Ribbon - 1908

Bruce has this listed on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/222068963337?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Monday, March 28, 2016

Passport application


CTR's passport application for 1903 states that he is 5 foot 10.5 inches tall (generally reduced to 5.10 in subsequent applications), and that his hair color is grey-brown. The form is witnessed by A.E. Williamson.



Thursday, March 24, 2016

Did this happen?

One of Russell's obituaries says he had Food for Thinking Christians circulated in Canada by a messenger boy service. We can't find anything contemporary to the event that suggests this is so. Can you?

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

We need

We need solid biographical details on this person:

 In 1889, the same year Flewwelling first learned the truth, a well-meaning man threw a magazine onto a Canadian’s bunk at a typically Western horse sales yard in Fargo, North Dakota. “Here, Mais,” said the man. “This is something that will interest you!” Leslie Mais was there to sell a herd of horses raised at his homestead in Fort Qu’Appelle, Northwest Territories (now Saskatchewan). A member of the Church of England, he was an avid Bible reader and talked to others about what he read in the Scriptures. No wonder the man tossed that magazine onto his bunk! Well, Mais read through that Watch Tower, promptly became a subscriber and continued reading that journal until his death in 1924.

As we have it:



 Leslie Valentine Brodin Mais

            L. V. Mais was, according to census and obituary reports, born in Clifton, Gloucester, England, February 14, 1869.[1] He immigrated to Canada in 1888, and with a partner raised horses and Galloway cattle at Fort Qu’Appelle in the Western Territories. (Now in Saskatchewan) He signed his names as L. V. Brody Mais on his breed-book reports. As often happened with Watch Tower adherents, his religion continued to be reported as Church of England long after he left it. Our only record of Mais’ connection to The Watch Tower is a brief mention in the 1979 Yearbook:

In 1889, ... a well-meaning man threw a magazine onto a Canadian’s bunk at a typically Western horse sales yard in Fargo, North Dakota. “Here, Mais,” said the man. “This is something that will interest you!” Leslie Mais was there to sell a herd of horses raised at his homestead in Fort Qu’Appelle, Northwest Territories (now Saskatchewan). A member of the Church of England, he was an avid Bible reader and talked to others about what he read in the Scriptures. No wonder the man tossed that magazine onto his bunk! Well, Mais read through that Watch Tower, promptly became a subscriber and continued reading that journal until his death in 1924. [page 80]


[1]               1911 Canadian Census gives the date 1867. Obituary gives the date noted above.
 

Temporary Post: Work in Canada - Introduction

Usual rules. You may copy for personal use. Do not share off the blog. I don't now why we post what no-one reads, but here it is:




In all the Earth: Canada

            There was interest in Canada during the Barbourite era. The first verifiable interest in Canada is found in the September 1878, Herald of the Morning. Alexander Hamilton Clark of Stouffville, Ontario, wrote to Barbour. Clark (October 13, 1831 – January 20, 1904) was an American-born immigrant and is described on his headstone as a “U. S. Pensioner.” His pension was the result of wounds received while enlisted with the 187th New York Infantry during the Civil War.[1] Clark moved to Islington not long after writing to Barbour. Dated August 11, 1878, his letter praised The Herald. It “gave me much light and pleasure to read,” he said. “I can now see the beautiful harmony in the Scripture as never before.” He asked for a copy of Russell’s Object and Manner of Our Lord’s Return.

A. H. Clark

            Clark presents us with a confused religious picture. The 1881 Canadian Census lists his religion as Adventist. The 1891 Census lists him as a Congregationalist, and in 1901 and in his death record he’s described as a Methodist. We do not know if this represents changing religious belief or census taker’s confusion.
            A letter signed L. Kerr was also printed in the September 1878, Herald of the Morning. We cannot positively identify this person. They wrote in the second person: “We cannot in any way do without the paper. It is the only message of the spirit of truth.” This may mean that Kerr wrote for his or her family. We don’t know. Kerr ended the letter with a plea for a meeting: “We are alone here, without any meeting. If you come to Canada, let us know before hand.” A G. E. Pickell from Ontario sent money for tracts or a subscription in late September the same year.
            Some from Canada attended the Worchester Conference in 1872.[2] Russell’s booklet Object and Manner of Our Lord’s Return saw circulation in Canada. A profile of his work done when he died said: “Many students of the Bible throughout the United States and Canada responded to the information derived from that book, and his correspondence became voluminous.”[3] It is likely that Canadians were on the original Watch Tower subscription list. Russell didn’t send special representatives to Canada to circulate Food for Thinking Christians, so there must have been sufficient pre-existing interest upon which he could rely. While tracing interest among Canadians during the 1880s is difficult, there are hints of it. In October 1883, Paton included a notice in his magazine that he couldn’t use Canadian postage for subscription payments.[4] Since most of Paton’s readership also subscribed to Zion’s Watch Tower, this notice presupposes Canadian interest. Among the regions sending representatives to the Memorial Convention in 1889, Russell noted “some from far off Manitoba.”[5] But there is no record of the missionary work that developed interest there.
            Almost the only non-Watch Tower reference to preaching in Canada is Lesslie’s letter to The Rainbow. Though we quote from it in the previous chapter it is important enough in this context to present it again:

There seems among the believers in the second coming and reign of Christ upon the earth, a strong tendency to return to what appears to be the simplicity of believers in the Apostolic age. I send you a number of one of their papers published in Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S., giving indication of this, but embracing some views not clearly taught in the 

the remainder of this post has been deleted.

To answer Jerome's question:



            Sometime before 1885, Brookman found comfortable association with Age-to-Come believers and Millinnarians. He sent a letter of greetings and well-wishes to a meeting of the Association for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge held in late September 1885. Their name was derived from an older, well-known British tract society, and it appears that it was meant to ride on the coattails of the better-known society. (The Watch Tower Society also borrowed the name for use on the ‘mailing tracts’ in 1919.)
            The Association was an Age-to-Come publishing house connected to The Restitution which printed a report of their meeting. G. Y. Young was president and H. V. Reed, The Restitution’s editor, was vice president. We’ve met them earlier in this history. And there were others met earlier in this work interested in the Association. H. L. Hastings, J. P. Weethee, S. A. Chaplin, L. C. Thomas, and Benjamin Wilson all appear in the report. And most interestingly, B. Ackley sent them a letter of greeting.[1]
            Brookman wrote for the Association’s magazine, The Rock: A Quarterly Magazine, containing “original essays, sermons, reviews, and sketches, on the subjects of Conditional Immortality and the Coming and Kingdom of Christ.” Subscription payments (twenty cents per year) were made through The Restitution. The Rock was short-lived, but Brookman maintained his connection to the Association at least to 1888, addressing their annual meeting on the subject, “The Woman’s Seed and the Resurrection.”[2] He addressed a national convention sponsored by The Restitution the same month. S. A. Chaplin, Restitution’s editor at the time, described his speech as “a very able sermon.”[3]
            In September 1889, he and P. G. Bowman, both associating with Russell in this period, addressed a conference sponsored by The Restitution. Brookman’s theme was “The Proper Course of Study for a Young Man to fit him for the Ministry.” Bowman spoke similarly but on the topic “The Thing Most Needed to Make a person a Successful Minister of the Gospel.”[4]


[1]               The Association for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge – Report of the Second Annual Meeting at Brooklyn, N. Y., The Restitution, October 14, 1885.
[2]               Report of the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, The Restitution, November 7, 1888.
[3]               S. A. Chaplin: Editorial Notes, The Restitution, November 31, 1888.
[4]               Programme of Exercises for the Indiana Annual Conference, to be held at Rensselaer, Indiana, Commencing on Thrusday Evening, Sept. 5, 1889, The Restitution, September 4, 1889.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Sunday, March 20, 2016

We need ...



We need solid biographical information about William Peter Flewwelling. (also spelled Flewelling.)



William Peter Flewwelling

            W. P. Flewwelling accepted Watch Tower beliefs at the tail end of the era we’re considering. The 1979 Yearbook history of the work in Canada says:

The light of truth was shining somewhat brightly in eastern Canada when a shaft of such light penetrated the spiritual darkness in western Canada. In 1889, William Flewwelling of Carberry, Manitoba, came into possession of “The Divine Plan of the Ages,” the first volume of C. T. Russell’s Millennial Dawn series (later called Studies in the Scriptures). Convinced that he had found the truth, Flewwelling shared it with others, especially after moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1890. One man who listened with appreciation was Robert Pollock. Soon Bible study classes were being held in the Pollock home. To our knowledge, this was the first of such groups on Canada’s west coast.
In later years, William Flewwelling helped to establish Bible study groups at Asquith (about 20 miles [32 kilometers] west of Saskatoon) and Wadena, Saskatchewan. Later in life (in 1934), he moved to Witchekan, Saskatchewan, and declared the “good news” throughout that part of the province. William died at Chitek Lake in 1945, but many of his relatives continue to carry on the Kingdom-preaching work he began in that area.
Flewwelling (October 6, 1861 – April 15, 1945) was newly married (to Susan Moffet) when read Plan of the Ages.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Photodrama Invitation



Just a brief note

We're still rewriting a chapter about the earliest work in Canada. This is more difficult work than we faced with the chapter on England. (Think hair-pulling and teeth-gritting.) So, there won't be any longer posts for a while.

After we finish that re-write, we revise a chapter about the earliest work in China. We have much more detail for that than we have for Canada, which seems strange to me.

After those projects are done, we turn our notes on Historical Idealism into a chapter. Historical Idealism is the practice of turning history into a mythology. All sides are guilty. Sometimes it is intentional; sometimes it comes from writers failing to fact check.

When that's done we'll review finished chapters.

What's left is:

1. Struggles with opposers: Barbour and Adams to 1882.
2. Struggles with opposers: Anti-Ransom to 1892.
3. Paton's defection.
4. A. D. Jones and W. Conley and others.
5. Approach to 1881.
6. Other lands. (May be folded into another chapter.)
7. In the world but not of it.
8. Roots of WT theology.

So you see we have tonnes of work left. Help is always appreciated.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Frederick Richard Lees


by Jerome

A recent post referred to early readers of George Storrs in the British Isles. One such reader was Frederick Richard Lees, editor of a British paper called The Truth Seeker.

Storrs received a copy of the paper and republished an article signed PATHFINDER in the January and February 1848 issues of Bible Examiner. He sent copies of BE to Britain to reach the editor. Lees wrote back and his response was published in BE for July 1848.


Lees’ periodical ran for several years. It was sometimes called The (Manx) Truth Seeker in a reference to the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. Due to a loophole in British Law mail from the Isle of Man was exempted from paying postal fees at this time, so a number of enterprising publications took advantage of this.

A couple of issues later (BE September 1848), Lees wrote a long letter about the state of conditionalist teaching in the British Isles. This shows that Storrs was already well known in some quarters in Britain. After detailing his own preaching on the subject. Lees wrote:

“In 1846 I began to find that other and influential persons in Britain, had also their thoughts turned to this topic. My friend, JOSEPH BARKER, (now of Wortley, near Leeds,) formerly a celebrated Methodist Minister, but expelled for ‘heresy,’ had republished your ‘Six Sermons’ in a cheap form, and circulated them amongst his friends - ‘The Christian Reformers’ - throughout the North of England.”

The circulation of Six Sermons in Britain obviously created concern in more orthodox circles because John Howard Hinton M.A. wrote the book Athanasia (published London 1849) to combat conditionalist views. Out of its 540 pages, Hinton reportedly devoted 50 of them in an attempted rebuttal of Storrs’ Six Sermons. (According to Hinton's book Six Sermons was published in Newcastle-on-Tyne in the UK in 1844.) Lees sent Storrs a copy of Athanasia and for a number of months over 1849, Storrs’ Bible Examiner dealt point by point with Hinton’s objections, before finally drawing a line under the subject.


Frederick Richard Lees (1815-1897) does not appear to have taken much part in subsequent theological developments. According to census returns, he spent his life as an author, publisher and lecturer, but his specific field was the temperance movement. He died as a “gentleman” leaving an estate of over four and a half thousand GBP.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Not likely we can ...

But we need a firm identity for the man who wrote this letter printed in the 1891 Watch Tower:

England.
DEAR BRO. RUSSELL:--Thanks to you beyond
expression, for the parcel of tracts, the envelopes,
and then the TOWER, in quick succession.
And I trust by a judicious use of them
to disseminate the truth to those who are in
bondage to sectarianism. As to the new appearance
of my old favorite, the TOWER, I did not
know its face, until I opened the cover, which
made my eyes sparkle with joy. How good the
motto--to bear the cross, then wear the crown.
May we be found worthy. Yours in Christian
fellowship, GEO. SHORT.

W. Brookman's Future of the Non-Elect

is available as a free download here:

https://ia600306.us.archive.org/26/items/futureofnonelect00broouoft/futureofnonelect00broouoft.pdf

Monday, March 14, 2016

We need details about these people:



From the Chanute Daily Tribune - the continuing saga of S D Rogers



The Chanute Daily Tribune for January 1, 1904 page 7

As a prequel to the cutting Rachael posted here a few days ago about S D Rogers, this is how his problems seem to have started in Chanute, Kansas, in late 1903. You will not be able to read anything from the above graphic, but below is a transcription of the OCR from two issues of the paper. The title “Rev” Rogers appears to be self-styled, his focus on a “new method” of preaching the gospel carries echoes of his behaviour in Britain in 1893, and he either had a penchant for pretty girls, or was somewhat accident prone. Perhaps the most important detail it adds is that he had come from Vassar, MI.

Starting with the December 31, 1903 issue:

ALLEN WAS WRATHY

City Marshall Pronounces an Artistic Anathema Upon Bogus Minister Who Insults a Girl

Marshall Allen today arrested a nomad who represented himself to be an evangelist with a new method of spreading the gospel.

 The fellow panhandled several men about town for money to aid the cause, among them D H Fisher, landlord of the Oriental Hotel. He afterward made an offensive proposal to one of the young ladies employed at the Oriental and Mr Fisher notified the marshal, who arrested the fellow and took him to the police court. On examination he gave his name as Rogers, and said he belonged to no denomination, but was too broad in his views for any such petty distinctions.

The young lady whom he accosted refused to appear in police court against him because of the unpleasant publicity which the trial of the (?) would cause, and the bogus clergyman was released after a thoroughly artistic lecture by Marshal Allen, who told him what he thought of him in language which, though not altogether choice, was certainly vigorous enough for the occasion.


The next day, Rogers gave his side of the story to the paper. From the January 1, 1904 issue:

VICTIM OF MISTAKE

Rev. Rogers States His Side of Controversy Between Himself and City’s Police Authorities

(First paragraph too scrambled by OCR to transcribe completely)

Rev. Rogers said he was the victim of circumstances. He went to a hotel in the city and secured board and lodging when he first arrived in Chanute. He was assigned to a room in the rear of the building and along in the evening he noticed the efforts of a young lady to gain entrance to a room. He offered his services to the young lady, and helped her open the door. While they were in the hall at work on the­­­­ lock they were seen by a hotel official and the next day Marshall Allen requested Rev.Rogers to accompany him to police court.

 “This was the sum and substance of the circumstances which led to this embarrassing affair,” said Rev.Rogers this morning. “I was released because there was no reason whatever for my arrest.”
Mr Rogers’ home is in Vassar, Mich. He is at work on the compiling and publication of a work on the Bible, treating especially of the first chapters of Genesis and the book of Revelations. The work will be issued from the press some time this spring.

Note - one wonders whether his proposed book ever saw the light of day.


Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Don't expect ...

Don't expect anything new for maybe three days or more. We're rewriting a chapter we "finished" some time ago. It's very time consuming. We're totally re-researching everything.

You can help by finding early references (before 1895) to the work in Canada. We need someone to search Canadian newspaper archives. We need names of the earliest Canadian adherents.

!!!

Many views, no comments. We must be boring you silly.

William Brookman



Monday, March 7, 2016

Revisions, Fixes - Temporary post

As usual, you are fee to copy this for your own use. Do not share it off the blog. This is copyrighted material.



In All the Earth: The United Kingdom

The United Kingdom was the target of the first concentrated international missionary activity. It is impossible to gage interest in Britain before the publication of Food for Thinking Christians. Previous to its publication the only letters appearing in Zion’s Watch Tower were doctrinal in nature, and few names and few or no locations were noted.
At least by 1850 there were readers of The Bible Examiner in Scotland; a letter from William Glen Montcrieff a noted Scot Conditionalist appeared in the May 1850 issue. Letters from other British Conditionalists appear in The Bible Examiner too. There had been some notice of the work in The Rainbow. A British clergyman and Barbourite, Elias H. Tuckett, wrote three articles for Rainbow. There may have been some small residual interest from that.[1] Barbour mailed his Coming of the Lord tract to the British journal The Christadelphian, which reviewed it negatively.[2] Later The Rainbow reviewed The Three Words, though somewhat negatively. The book saw a very limited circulation in England.[3] There is also some indication that Paton mailed material to his relatives in Scotland, but this seems to have born no fruitage. Yet, a prominent adherent in Newark, New Jersey, claimed dedicated interest in England and elsewhere. “We have,” he said, “members all over America, England, Australia, I think, and probably in Germany.”[4]

And ... just like that ... this post is gone.

Just for Fun

Can we?

Can we find Henry Weber's immigration record. To USA, 1865.

London Letter, 1889

Can we identify this person?


Sunday, March 6, 2016

A letter ...

A letter from a physician appears in the March 1888, Zion's Watch Tower. It is signed G. P. M. and is from Farrville, Indiana. I can't identify this man. Can you?

Friday, March 4, 2016

Such bad deeds ....



Takes Cash Subscriptions for a Book Not Yet Written.

“Rev.” S. D. Rogers, who was in Chanute last week soliciting subscriptions to a religious book, which he clams he is writing, unexpectedly reappeared here yesterday, says the Chanute Blade. He was in a state of high Indignation and declared that the newspapers would have to be forthcoming with retractions of stores printed about him or he would do all kinds of things to the publishers.

Rogers was fresh from the Humboldt calaboose [ie jail] but he kept this fact carefully guarded as a secret in his own breast. About the middle of the afternoon colonel O. H. Fisher, landlord of the Oriental hotel, and Rogers met by accident in Boschert & Williams' drug store. Rogers made some remark to Colonel Fisher, when the colonel told him something which must have sounded unpleasantly on his ears. “It is my candid opinion,” said Colonel Fisher, “that you never occupied a pulpit in your life. If you are indeed a minister of the gospel you fall far short of my standard of the clergy.”

Colonel Fisher had entertained Rogers at his 'hotel a day or two last week, and while there Rogers addressed an insulting remark to one of the waitresses. Upon leaving Chanute Rogers went to Humboldt, and up to supper time Monday had collected $14 in subscriptions to his forthcoming book. After supper, and when he was in the parlor talking to a couple of ladles, an officer arrested him on the suspicion that he was “grafting” the people of' Humboldt. Rogers was locked up but was released yesterday morning.

It was not 'ascertained whether he paid a fine or was permitted to go scot-free. Rogers, as was told by The Blade yesterday morning, claims that he is writing a book which is explanatory of the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures and which will bear the title, “The Opening of the Books.” He is traveling over the country getting cash subscriptions in advance for the volume. Some say that he got as much as a hundred dollars from Chanute parties.

January 11, 1904
The Hutchinson News from Hutchinson, Kansas · Page 7

S D Rogers




When S D Rogers traveled to Britain on a ship named the Teutonic, he sailed from New York and arrived in Liverpool on 4 October 1893. He called himself Rev. S D Rogers, occupation Minister, and he is listed as single, aged 46. That would give his birth year at around 1847.

That may help weed out some of the wrong S D Rogers out there.


Thursday, March 3, 2016

We need ...

Full biography for S. D. Rogers.

He may have been Samuel D. Rogers, a resident in the late 1890s of  Lodi, Washtenaw County, Michigan. This is a guess only at this point.

We need to prove or disprove this. Find a grave is here: 

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57400182