In the Watch Tower magazine from December 1888,
we find a letter written by J. A. Weimar to C. T. Russell. Weimar lived in
Connecticut, and as a minister in the German Baptist congregation he was
interested in Russell’s book The Plan of
Ages, which he received in
July 1888 in English and German. After he had studied it, he was convienced it
was the truth, and he converted.
Dr. James
Augustus Weimar was an Osteopathic physician. He told Russell that he was a
German immigrant and that he studied theology in Meriden. The Watch Tower of April 25, 1894, says that
his wife’s name was Elizabeth K. Using these small clues we discover that J. A.
Weimar is Jacob (Jakob) August Weimar, born in October 7, 1855, in
Unterheinriet (Neckarkreis), Würtemberg, Germany. He was the son of Jacob
Andreas Weimar (b. 1815) and Friedriecke Eckstein. They had 4 children, two
sons and two daughters. His grandparents were Andreas Weimar (Nov. 30, 1780 - Nov.
9, 1828) and Amona Sommer, and his great grandparents were Gottlieb Weimar and
Anna Maria Lang.
Jacob August emigrated to the United States in 1870, anglisizing
his name to James Augustus. He met Elizabeth (Born May 1868, in Pennsylvania) whom
he married in 1883, when she was fifteen. In October 1885, Lilly, their first
child, was born, and their second daughter, Marie (Mamie), was born in June
1887. They lived in Maryland until 1888.
He became a zealous evangelist. In 1889, S. D. Rogers sent
Russell a report about Weimar‘s work in Detroit (Letter to Russell, WT
June 1889). A letter from Weimar
appeared in the same issue:
Your lines came duly to hand. I rejoice to know that
you are praying the dear Lord's blessing upon me and all. Through the favor of
God I am getting along pretty well in the blessed harvest work. Though my feet
through the day get sore from walking so much, yet in the morning they are
generally restored. I think by and by it will be better as I work myself in. I
am determined to endure. My heart's desire is to esteem all things a loss, on
account of the excellency of the knowledge of the Anointed Jesus, my Lord. And
with my whole being I do desire to press along the line towards the prize of
the high calling. My sales for the first ten days run as follows: --22, 24, 19,
18, 29, 24, 18, 18, 31, 30, total 233.
Commenting on his letter, Russell explained:
Our readers will remember Bro. Weimar as the one who
left a Baptist pulpit in Meriden, Conn., recently; going forth to preach the ‘good
tidings’ without human hindrance and to a larger congregation, delivering
sixteen sermons at a time, by the selling of DAWN VOL. I. His first experience,
here related, is remarkably good. We know that his every sacrifice and self-denial
for the truth's sake will be amply rewarded by our great Master, both with present
joys and future glories.
In October 1889, John B. Adamson wrote of Weimar: “His
family are among the things to be left behind, but when we see how he loves
them, his sacrifice, as seen in his long absence from them, is sweet to God.”
Additional letters from him appear In the Watch Tower, giving us insight into his thinking: For example, he wrote:
“As this is a day of rest, I have a little leisure to write. I must let you
know that the words of the Holy Scriptures (1 Pet. 4:1-7) which you proclaimed
on the first Lord's day of this month [Sept.] are still stimulating me for the
service of the Anointed…”
In autumn 1891, Weimar came to Pittsburgh and visited
Russell in the Bible House. Weimar conducted the meeting (Watch Tower November 1891). During the troubled year 1894 when Bryan,
Rogers, von Zech, Adamson and others rebelled against Russell, Weimar stayed
loyal to him, as many letters in April show. Weimar is last mentioned in the
1894 Annual Report (Watch Tower, Dec 15,
1894):
Brother M. L. McPhail only has been giving all of his
time to this work, and he alone has all of his expenses paid out of the Tract
Society's fund, the other laborers in this branch of the service, Brothers
Antoszewski, Austin, Bell, Blundin, Bohnet, Draper, Merrill, Murphy, Owen,
Page, Ransom, Richards, Thorn, Webb, Weber, Weimar, West, Williams, Wise
and Witter, being traveling salesmen, colporteurs or business men whose
expenses are met by their business or otherwise and who delight to give an
evening or a Sunday, as they can arrange it, in serving the Lord's
flock--pointing to the green pastures and the still waters and feeding and
rejoicing with the sheep.
Russell saw that Weimar was loyal, zealous, and well-educated
man. When (in January 5, 1895) John B. Adamson was removed as a Watch Tower
Society director, Russell replaced him with James A. Weimar. He served only one
year, resigning January 4, 1896, and Ernest C. Henninges succeeded him. What
was the reason? Normally no one was replaced, except at death, like William
MacMillan and H. Weber, or he split from Russell, like Mann, Smith.
One reason might be that he dabbled in Spiritism. In 1897
Weimar wrote a book, which he released in August 1898, entitled The Mysteries and Revelations of Spiritism
and Mediumship and Its Kindred Subjects Viewed in the Light of the Bible and
Personal Investigation (Press of the Journal Company, Fort Wayne, Indiana).
Weimar planned to translate it into German too. Interestingly, he used the name
“Jehovah,” and he used Benjamin Wilson’s Diaglott. It shows that he had significant
biblical knowledge, and he was familiar with Greek and Hebrew words. But why
did he write it? He said in the foreword:
I undertook this laborious work not for my own
information merely, but especially for the sake of others, who are exposed to
the dangers herein mentioned, and who therefore need a helping hand. In view of
this, as much as my study and ability allow, I devoted my time more fully for
this purpose; attending séances, private gatherings, public meetings, in
different cities and places where the various theories of Spiritism,
Mediumship, and kindred subjects were seen put in practice.
He no longer focused on evangelism, but he wanted help the
demon-possessed. To this end, he exposed himself
to demonic influences.
He
contacted another religious community “The Koreshan Unity,” a utopian commun formed
by Cyrus Teed, who took the name "Koresh", the original Persian of
his name Cyrus. The Koreshans followed Teed's beliefs, called Koreshanity. The
Koreshan Unity started in the 1870s in New York, where after experiencing a
late-night religious vision in his laboratory, Teed first preached his beliefs.
During what he called his “illumination,” he saw a beautiful woman who revealed
to him a series of “universal truths” which formed the principles of Koreshan
belief.
Weimar joined them; the exact date
is unknown. His wife Elizabeth decided to divorce him. The Fort Wayne Gazette, (April
20, 1898, Page 3) said: “In the circuit court a divorce was granted yesterday
to the defendant in the case of Elizabeth Weimar and James A. Weimar. The suit
was brought by the wife on the ground that he had joined a religious organization
believed that matrimony is a sin.” Interesting is that Weimar’s daughter Mamie
stayed with him and also lived in the community.
Mamie (Maria) Weimar
James Augustus Weimar died October 22, 1919, in Florida
and was buried on October 23. He was buried at the Koreshan Unity Cemetery
(Estero, Lee, Florida), Horseshoe Bend on the River, lot 6 – Corkscrew Rd.
