The St. Paul and New Era Enterprise

     This is the story of one of the key resources for researching Watch Tower history in the last years of Pastor Russell and the first few years of Judge Rutherford’s presidency. It is not the history of doctrine and belief – that is well established in the various publications of the Society over the years – but the day by day history of the actual Bible Students, over a more than ten year period.

     The resource is a newspaper called originally the St. Paul Enterprise (and later The New Era Enterprise). For convenience we will normally just call it the Enterprise in this article. It ran from 1910 until around 1928, but the period from 1914 to 1922 was the most productive for Watch Tower history. It disappeared from general view for many years, but a local history association in St. Paul put surviving copies on microfilm and this has made it more accessible for those interested.

The background

     The Enterprise started life as a local secular newspaper for the St. Paul area in Minnesota in 1910. It was the brainchild of William Lincoln Abbott (1868-1917).

     Abbott came from a newspaper family, and had a long-standing printing business in St. Paul. The paper covered local news and local politics and was similar to hundreds of different small news outlets that came and went throughout America.

     The Bible Students were anxious to get CTR’s sermons into as many papers as possible, and a Bible Student syndicate was created to do this. Sample sermons were sent unsolicited to papers, with an offer to provide them on a regular basis without charge. By 1913 there were reported to be over two thousand newspapers handling this material.

     When a sample sermon on the subject of Armageddon landed on the Enterprise desk in late 1912 it was in the middle of a local political campaign. Abbott was campaigning for Woodrow Wilson and the Democratic Party at the time. A rival candidate, former president Theodore Roosevelt for the Progressive Party had the slogan “We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord.” Abbott mistakenly assumed CTR’s copy was a political swipe at Roosevelt and it was swept up and printed without him even reading it.

From the Enterprise for Friday, 1 November 1912

     The error was soon noted, not least by “a number of clergymen” who protested its inclusion.

     The story was told a number of times. The cutting below comes from the Enterprise for November 21, 1916, as part of the Memorial number for CTR who had died three weeks before, when they reprinted that first sermon on Armageddon.

     As indicated in the above report, it was time to enter stage left, one Charles L. Dick (1876-1946).  Dick was a member of the local class of the International Bible Students and he asked for the sermons to be included on a regular basis in the Enterprise.

     The businessman in Abbott set Dick a challenge.  Get the Enterprise a hundred more subscribers and he would run the sermons for a year. Dick immediately got to work.

     From a later account in the November 10, 1917, paper, written by W H Bradford:

     Returning to these events back in November 1912, the paper on November 22 (and for several issues thereafter) carried the following notice:

     Although there were clergy objections, the correspondence columns were soon filled with Bible Students enthusing about the sermons. As an example, the December 27, 1912, issue carried long letters from two local Bible Students, W H Bradford and L J Lundgren.

     Both men would later serve as editors of the paper.

     The result was that the sermons appeared each week, and also news of Bible Student activities. What cemented the relationship and ultimately set the Enterprise apart from hundreds of similar broadsheets was that gradually the owner/editor William Abbott became interested in the Bible Student message. Going back to the November 21, 1916, account quoted earlier, it said of Abbott:

     William Abbott was baptised into the faith in October 1915.

     One might imagine that Abbott’s conversion and the paper’s change of focus would be welcomed by many, and no doubt it was. However, there were problems from two sources.

     First, there were those who had seen their secular paper taken over by Bible Students.

     In the July 25, 1916, paper, Abbott wrote:

     Then there were Bible Students who were concerned about the influence the Enterprise might have as a rival to The Watch Tower, with Abbott’s “newly converted” status. In the same July 25, 1916, article, he tried to reassure them:

     The seeds for future problems after CTR died just three months later are clearly seen in Abbott’s comments here.

     The paper constantly tried to reassure its readers that it was not in competition with The Watch Tower; its pages were for sermons from accepted sources, and testimonies and news of general interest to Bible Students.

     A letter from CTR dated May 22, 1913, gave tacit support and was reprinted more than once, signed “Your well-wisher.”  A letter from the Pastor Russell lecture bureau dated 24 November 24, 1914, was reproduced in the paper for December 11, 1914:

     By 1915 it was admitted that the paper could no longer survive without Bible Student subscribers and there were several campaigns, aided by some pilgrims, to gain more readers. (See for example Abbott’s article about the Chicago City Temple in the February 26, 1915, issue). The die was cast. There was no turning back.

What was on the menu?

     The Enterprise particularly scored as a beacon for scattered believers who had no regular class to associate with. As well as reviews of conventions and selected sermons, a key feature was the correspondence columns. Voices of the People. What Our Readers Say was rebranded for a while as The Weekly Testimony and Fellowship page.

     People’s testimonies and also obituaries provide us today with a remarkable insight into the past, taking us back to the very early days of the Bible Student movement. As just one example, although actually in another part of the paper, the 1922 Cedar Point, Ohio, convention review, included an interview with a Thomas Hickey. Thomas had been part of CTR’s original Bible Study group back in Pittsburgh in the 1870’s.

     The letters and contributions came from not just far-flung parts of America, but other countries too. Frederick Lardent became British correspondent and agent for the paper. Collectors of motto cards will know his name well. The international readership made the local title St. Paul Enterprise an anachronism and from December 1919 it became The New Era Enterprise for the rest of its history.

     CTR was attacked frequently on both a personal and theological level in the religious press of the day, and the Enterprise took it upon itself to jump to his defense. A special 8 page issue published on November 6, 1914, is of particular value and was reprinted. It prompted the Lecture Bureau’s response above.

     Other special issues included a very detailed funeral report for CTR. Abbott attended the funeral, and was asked not to report any details before The Watch Tower did. He had differences with certain long-time Bible Students and wrote a series of very candid letters back to his wife in St. Paul. She promptly published them in the Enterprise which came out before The Watch Tower. Abbott’s funeral letters covered all manner of details not found elsewhere, including Maria Russell in the funeral procession.

     Further notable issues included the serialisation of the Rutherford-Troy debate, the reports from the various Cedar Point conventions, and a detailed reporting on the arrest and subsequent sentencing of JFR and his seven companions in 1918. During those difficult times the paper chose its words very carefully, but kept readers informed right through to their release and the charges being finally dropped. While The Watch Tower gave readers articles on “the message” and “the signs of the times,” for actual NEWS of what was going on - this is where the Enterprise scored. And for historians, it is where it scores today.

     We could add reports on conscientious objectors, past conversations with people like Benjamin Wilson of the Diaglott, advertisements for dubious health remedies, “situations wanted” and selling off old magazines and films. Various extra publications were advertised in spite of cautions expressed, particularly after CTR’s death. These included Frederick Lardent’s Comforted of God and Call of the Bride, W H Bradford’s The Rich Young Man whom Jesus Loved, Horace E Hollister’s Cryptology of the Kingdom, ‘Dorcas’ The Faith, and perhaps most well known, The School of the Prophets, a manual for public speaking written by J C Lardent (brother of Fred) and C E Stewart (then editor of the paper).

     A letter has survived from the Enterprise editor to the Library of Congress to get The School of the Prophets copyrighted.

Courtesy of the Robert R. collection

     From 1917, the defections from the IBSA were sometimes covered, but the paper’s stance was firmly on the Watch Tower Society’s side, and urged its readers to vote in their recommendations as Society directors. J A Bohnet in particular took it on himself to attack and debate with the breakaway Standfast movement, which seems to have exercised Enterprise minds considerably at the time. The Standfasters were mentioned in passing in JFR’s resolution announcing the new name “Jehovah’s Witnesses” in 1931 although by that time they had basically disintegrated.

     Bohnet was always an entertaining contributor. He wrote about everything from how to clean wallpaper, to promoting a cancer cure mentioned in earlier Watch Tower magazines, to fanciful theories about the Garden of Eden – maybe Enoch was ensconced there and would throw an apple at any plane flying over that part of Armenia…

     Others contributors included Albert Franz, who had a regular column at one point. He was an older brother of Frederick Franz, a later Society president.

Changing times

     The first editor was the paper’s founder, William Abbott. On occasion he was assisted by local Bible Student, William Henry Bradford (b. 1872). Bradford stepped in as acting editor for a number of weeks during 1915 and wrote extensively for the paper.

     But in early 1917, quite unexpectedly, William Abbott died. His funeral was conducted by Charles Dick. His widow, Laura Mary (May), who was always billed as Mrs W L Abbott (1874-1950), continued the paper, and in the circumstances made a very good job of it. But then, starting in February 1918, the paper gained a new editor, Charles Edwin (Ed) Stewart (1873-1949). May Abbott was to remain as proprietor of the paper until September 1921 when she sold the printing business to a neighboring printer. Stewart inherited the mailing list and some equipment to continue the work. His tenure produced a period of stability for the paper with clear goals and limits, which lasted nearly four years.

     From the June 27, 1921, issue, the business heading had Stewart as editor and J L Albright as business manager. When L J Lundgren replaced Stewart in December 1922, Albright continued in that role.

     Ed Stewart had gained some previous newspaper experience as a press agent during the 1913 transcontinental tour with CTR. He had also written letters and articles for the Enterprise, and was quite well-known before being invited to take the post.

     His abilities and also his loyalty to the Watch Tower Society had been noted. Not only did it get him the job at the Enterprise, but his continued record as editor was responsible for him moving on at the end of 1922. He was invited by the Watch Tower Society’s president, J F Rutherford, to come to Brooklyn to assist Clayton J Woodworth with The Golden Age magazine that had started in 1919.

     The details are revealed in a letter Woodworth wrote to Stewart, dated December 25, 1922.

Courtesy of the Robert R. collection

     The remainder of the letter was designed to set Stewart’s mind at rest about coming to Bethel, and the dangers of pride in the editorial departments. Robison’s story (the man Stewart replaced) is told here:

https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-watchtower-and-universalism-almont.html

Woodworth ended his letter:

     It is noted in the letter that Woodworth, Rutherford and Stewart all met up at the 1922 Cedar Point convention. The Enterprise covered it extensively and Stewart made a very good impression. It is also noted that “the boy” might go with him. This would be his son Ned, who would have been about eighteen years old at the time. (Full name: Clifford Edwin Stewart, 1906-1982). However, Ned’s life story sent to the Watch Tower Society in 1951 omits any mention of him going with his father.

     Charles Stewart (Ed) appeared as assistant editor in The Golden Age from the February 4, 1923 issue. Then, after over a year on The Golden Age, he received the following letter (reproduced from his son’s 1951 history.

     March 19, 1924

     Mr C E Stewart, Office

     “The Editorial Committee at a meeting last evening unanimously elected you as a member of that committee to fill the vacancy. We hope that you will be pleased to accept the place, believing it is a favor from the Lord to be one of the editors of THE WATCH TOWER."

     Stewart’s name first appeared as part of the editorial committee in The Watch Tower for April 15, 1924, replacing that of George Fisher. However, in 1926 he re-located back to the St. Paul area, most likely to care for family responsibilities. It is noted in his son’s 1951 memoir that he (the son) became “seriously ill” in that year, and took several years to recover. Back home, Charles Stewart appeared in the Enterprise as a pilgrim and convention speaker and remained a dedicated Jehovah’s Witness until his death in 1949.

Decline and Fall

      As the 1920s progressed, the importance of the Enterprise declined. The Golden Age magazine mentioned above took over certain aspects that the Enterprise previously filled. Key writers like Bohnet basically switched to writing for The Golden Age instead. The Watch Tower Society became increasingly cautious about other regular publications, especially as there were several opposition papers in circulation by the mid-1920’s.

     As noted above, once Stewart moved on in 1922, another local Bible Student, Louis J Lundgren (1871-1959) became editor for the Enterprise. It was here that problems between the paper and the Watch Tower Society surfaced. Looking at it today, Lundgren started to publish material that the Society would no longer have touched; such as carrying advertising for the Concordant Bible translation in 1923. But the catalyst was an issue relating to events in 1924, although it did not become public until 1925.

     The story was told by J F Rutherford in The Golden Age magazine for December 2, 1925.

     In the 1920’s JFR gave a series of lectures at large conventions that were widely reported. In August 1924 at Columbus, Ohio, the subject was “Civilization Doomed.”The Enterprise had loudly proclaimed that it would always print Rutherford’s lectures in full but then censored this one considerably. A total eleven paragraphs hit the cutting room floor. What made it worse was that a normal secular paper The Ohio State Journal quite happily printed the lecture in full. Rutherford was obviously not seeing the Enterprise by this time because it was over a year before it was brought to his attention, and he wrote a three page broadside.

     He summed up the background:

     Rutherford then reprinted the eleven missing paragraphs, and noted that the editor of the Enterprise had been soliciting subscriptions for the paper at IBSA conventions on “the pretense of publishing the truth.” It had deliberately deleted material “referring to the Devil’s organization, and that was done for fear of losing worldly support.” He praised the honor and courage of The Ohio State Journal in contrast and concluded:

     As one might expect, such a criticism provoked an immediate response from the Enterprise. But it wasn’t designed to build bridges. In the December 22, 1925, issue Lundgren headed his rejoinder “Peace and Good Will versus Discord and Intolerance.” As he saw it, his was the side of “Peace and Goodwill.” The Golden Age article was a malicious attack using the recognised tools of the adversary. But never mind, because (quote) “THE ENTERPRISE will continue as before with its cheering message of love and with a wholesome smile on every page…”

     A more conciliatory tone was taken in a letter from Albert Franz in the same issue, which attempted to explain how the unfortunate problem had come about. Franz argued that it wasn’t just The Enterprise soliciting for subscriptions at conventions; other papers were doing the same, even though their promises of printing Watch Tower material were hollow. Of course, what singled out the Enterprise in that company was its exclusive claim to represent “the truth.”

     In the next issue, January 5, 1926, the correspondence section was larger than usual and brimming full of testimonials, although no-one mentioned the elephant in the room.

     There was obvious fall-out.

     Shortly afterwards long-time business manager Albright disappeared from the paper, although Lundgren continued as editor. Regular contributors like Franz also disappeared, for a while at least. Then in June 1926 the bi-weekly paper was reduced to a monthly.  It appeared that the writing was on the wall.

     There was a certain recovery in 1927. Lundgren departed early in the year, to be replaced as editor by another St. Paul Bible Student, Albert F Lawrence (b. c.1894). Research reveals that Albert F was May Abbott’s brother, and was connected to the same printing business his brother-in-law William L Abbott started. Albert Franz started to reappear in the Enterprise, notably in an article on the pagan origin of Christmas in the December 1927 issue. J A Bohnet, while still concentrating on The Golden Age and writing letters to The Watch Tower, also came back briefly to correct information on Pastor Russell’s history and then to write his own father’s obituary in May 1927. And in August 1927 Judge Rutherford’s convention lecture “Freedom for the Peoples” was printed – uncensored one assumes - with or without permission.

     The last issue of 1927, December, was an eight page special, reprinting a 1926 Bible Student debate. It also announced that a steady increase in subscriptions meant they could go to a semi-monthly paper from mid-January 1928, with no increase in subscription costs.

     It all looked good, but it wasn’t to last. With a more secular content than before, the Enterprise soldiered on until the issue for May 1, 1928, and then disappeared. The Minnesota Historical Society’s micofilmed collection gives no clue as to what happened then. Some library records suggest it may have existed until 1930, but they are in error. The epitaph to the Enterprise was fittingly written by former editor C E Stewart (now back in the St. Paul area) and appeared just over a year after the final known issue of the paper in The Golden Age for July 10, 1929.

     As Stewart said: Rest in Peace.

Currently on Ebay

 ... for more money than I have ...

Help, please ...

 

I need to find issues of Rossmoyne , Ohio, "Bible School Teacher," published in the 1890s. There is a claim that it was associated with Zion's Watch Tower. I'm inclined to doubt that, but I won't know until I see a few copies. Can you help?

S.P. Davey

 

     We are grateful to Liam C. for providing the scans below from The Bijou magazine, the Junior Class magazine of the Ohio Weslyan University for 1907, which gives some information about S P Davey, along with his academic history up until that time.

 

     Davey (full name: Devasahayam) is of interest to us because he helped in starting the work of the Bible Student movement in India. The 1977 IBSA Yearbook gives the following details:

In 1905, S. P. Davey, a science student who had gone to America, met Charles Taze Russell, the Watch Tower Society’s first president. After spending some time with him in Bible study, Davey returned to his native Madras Province that very year to open up the Kingdom work. Preaching among his fellow Tamil-speaking people, he eventually established some forty Bible study groups in and around Nagercoil, at the extreme southern tip of the Indian peninsula.

     Another source states that he translated Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 1, The Divine Plan of the Ages, into Tamil and then Malayalam. 

     Charles Taze Russell visited India as part of his world tour in 1912. The Yearbook account states:

Russell and his party…prepared the ground for future expansion by giving lectures throughout India at the religious city of Benares, the historical city of Lucknow, and at Trivandrum, Kottarakara, Nagercoil, Puram and Vizagapatam, as well as the commercial seaports of Calcutta and Bombay.

Upon Russell’s arrival at Trivandrum from Madras, S. P. Davey greeted Russell at the railway station and garlanded him in typical Indian style. The British government representative, known as the Political Resident, received Brother Russell hospitably and invited him to stay at the Residency. He arranged for the Society’s first president to speak at the city’s Victoria Jubilee Town Hall. Russell also spoke at a nearby village called Nyarakad, where Davey lived. Afterward the name of the village was changed to Russellpuram, meaning The Place of Russell, and so it is called to this day.

         CTR’s visit to Russellpuram was reviewed in the 1912 convention report, which also carried a photograph of the two men together.

 

     Davey founded a school in Russellpuram, which still exists. His photograph, alongside that of CTR still hangs in the principal’s office.

     After the change in administration, Davey did not remain in fellowship with the IBSA. He died in 1939 and was buried close to the school he founded.

A Rational Voice

 Almost without exception Russell era opposition material was full of ad hominem and lying misrepresentation. An exception was this editorial comment found in the September 1904 Herald of Gospel Liberty. 

The Brooklyn Eagle gets it wrong again...

From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle for Sunday, June 23, 1918.

     

     A prominent enemy of the Bible Student movement, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper had this top of the page feature in June, 1918. Modern analysis would describe this somewhere between “a tad premature” and “spectacularly wrong.”

Alton Bay Camp Meeting: 1876

 

Henry on the Parlor Wall

     

A while ago this blog had a debate on a framed picture on the parlor wall in the Bible House. It was eventually established that it was a photograph of Henry Weber.

     https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2021/09/henry-weber.html

     Careful image manipulation allowed the viewer to see the photograph face on, and the picture is now part of the history display in the Warwick world headquarters.

     The question was raised as to which volume of Millennial Dawn Henry was holding. It can now be acknowledged that the suggestion in the linked article was wrong. A recent visitor to Warwick took a much clearer photograph, which clearly shows it to be volume 2, The Time is at Hand.

     This means that the photograph might date from earlier than was thought before. Volume 2 was published in 1889 and Volume 3 was issued in 1891. Of course, Henry could just have been holding his favorite volume rather than the latest volume published. It is difficult to gauge a person’s age in those days, particularly a man with a large beard, and people often did look older in that era. What we do know for certain is that Henry’s association with Watch Tower went back to the early 1880s, and he became a director of the Watch Tower Society on April 11, 1892 when he was in his late 50s. He became Vice President of the Society on January 6, 1894, and remained in that position until his death in 1904.

     He was obviously very close to CTR, who conducted his funeral service, for his photograph to be on the wall in the Bible House parlor.

Talk Outline

 I need a scan or photocopy of the talk outline connected to this handbill. Anyone?

Baptist Missionary Review, India

 I do not have time to pursue this. If you want to further my research see what additional information you can find. Better yet, if you can turn your research into the Watch Tower's early presence in India into a footnoted article, I'll consider it. 

Articles should be Times New Roman, one inch margins, NO WHITE BACK GROUND. Single spaced, fully justified. Footnote format for books is:

Author, Title in Italics, Publisher, place of publication, date, page number.

For articles it is:

Author if known, Article Title, Publication Full Name in Italics, date, page.

I'm very ill and do not have time or inclination to reformat submitted articles. 

November 1912

April 1912

September 1912

Photo Drama Invitation in Britain.

 Brother S. in Australia found this article in Acton, (London) Gazette of October 30, 1914. Notice the reference to a Photo Drama invitation. Certainly upset this Baptist clergyman, but I need, NEED to see it. Do you have one? Will you please scan or photograph it for me? A scan is preferable. Anyone?

Way past the era we consider here, but interesting

 Neutrality as published by Watchtower London. 

It's on ebay, and I'd love to have it but can't afford it. Enjoy the photos.

Worthwhile

 

I notice the price has been lowered on this. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/jehovahs-witnesses-9781350190894/

Paton as a Poet

 

     Inside the cover of a copy of Moses and Christ by John H Paton was found the above dedication. The photograph is, alas, poor quality, but transcribed it reads:

     To Mary Miller

     From John H Paton

     A Birthday Token

     March 18^th, 1901

     Mary, if you’ll love the Saviour,

     And obey him every day –

     Run the heavenly race with patience,

     You’ll be happy all the way.

 

     All together now…

 

     Although we have the birthday date, without a year of birth and a location it is difficult to trace the right Mary Miller. There have been an awful lot of them.

From The Bible Champion, February 1922

 Usual lies and distortions. Your detailed observations will be helpful.

The Bible Champion

February 1922 

Russellism - Editorial by Frank J. Boyer

THIS cult has in its makeup considerable modernism but not enough to prevent its having a classification of its own. It is a compound of some truth with much error. The man who stands at the head of this cult is the late Charles Taze Russell, author, lecturer and minister. He gave himself the title, Pastor Russell. He had a remarkable career and a large following. The articles in his “Watch Tower,” a semi-monthly publication, were written almost exclusively by himself and are said to have had a circulation of seventy-five thousand in New York and Brooklyn alone, and were published in five different languages. It is claimed that his pamphlets and books had more than fifteen million readers. There were published of his book entitled “About Hell,” nearly three million copies and nearly five million of his “Divine Plan of the Ages.” Other of his writings are said to have been translated into thirty-five different languages. His sermons were handled by a newspaper syndicate that controls two thousand newspapers with a circulation among another fifteen million readers. His words therefore had a larger circulation every week than those of any other living man in this or any other country, in this or any other age. He was an independent worker, a free lance as we should say, and his announced purpose was to reach not only Protestants, but Catholics, Jews and Free-Thinkers; in fact, all classes. His nominal salary was eleven dollars per month. His work was carried on financially by voluntary contributions from personal friends and from those who believed or were pleased with his teaching. He never allowed himself a vacation and left no estate when death ended his laborious career. He died away from home, on a railway train, October 31, 1916, at sixty-four years of age, while on a lecture tour through our Southern and Western States. Such were the life work and death of Pastor Russell. 

We hope to be pardoned for this rather extended notice of Pastor Russell; it is prompted in part by the fact that the author has had for him a measure of personal sympathy growing out of a similarity in an early religious experience. It was an eclipse of faith by reason of unwise religious teaching. This was followed in both his case and in that of the author by an era of downright skepticism. But later upon a re-examination of Bible revelation our paths diverged. In the author's case orthodoxy became sane and solidly scientific and philosophical, while Pastor Russell's teachings became such that we have been led to enumerate some of them as being among the most unorthodox and dangerous theories of the present day. His views have some features of attractiveness that made them popular. He advocated the worship of Jehovah and believed the Bible to be a divine book. His mistakes grew out of his faulty and unscholarly methods of interpretation. His opinion as to the Lord Jesus Christ was altogether unorthodox. He taught that Christ before His advent and while on earth was human. His body did not rise from the grave but may have turned into gas. Russellism denies the deity, incarnation, resurrection, ascension and intercession of Christ. Pastor Russell had nothing to say of the mission and work of the Holy Spirit. His teaching as to the future of the sinner is equally unorthodox. Some of the wicked dead will be raised and “made perfect and innocent like Adam before he fell; other sinners will have a second chance”; “the more wicked men have been in this life the more likely they will be, through the experience of sin, to be saved by the gospel of a second chance”; “those who accept the second chance will have life everlasting”; “those who do not want to live forever will have the privilege of being asphyxiated in a lake of fire”; the finally impenitent, that is, the incorrigible, are “extinguished at death and annihilated sometime hereafter.” 

In Rutherford's biographical sketch is the following quotation from Pastor Russell: “A God who would use his power to create human beings whom he foreknew and predestinated to be eternally tormented could be neither wise, just, nor loving.” 

Another one of his officials writes that “Pastor Russell was a most strenuous opponent of the hell of eternal torment. According to his creed, whatever hell there may be will pass away and there will be an end of all pain, death and sorrow, in case of both saint and sinner.” 

Pastor Russell taught that man has a soul, or rather is a soul, but is not immortal. He taught that the death of the body carries along with it the death of the soul unless released through a “ransom price” provided by Christ's atonement, and that man in order to be saved by the ransom price must be consecrated to God and His service. Pastor Russell taught that there would be a millennial reign of Christ for a thousand years and that some time during those years all men, saints and sinners, will be awakened from sleep to a conscious life. Sinners then will have a second probation, or a second chance to reform.

During several years of his early ministry Pastor Russell predicted with great assurance that the millennial reign of Christ would begin during the autumn of 1874; that was forty-seven years ago. He was self-consistent in this, that he kept on preaching that Christ began his millennial reign in that year. But one may well wonder if Pastor Russell were to witness the conditions now existing the unholy strife, the selfish ambition, with honesty, purity, sanctity and religion laughed at and ignored by multitudes, with a pall of perplexity, strife and misery settling down over the whole world-yes, one may well wonder if witnessing these conditions Pastor Russell would still claim that the millennium had come and that Satan is chained. 

It is not altogether easy accurately to characterize Russellism. We are sure, however, that it is unphilosophical, unscientific, unscriptural, and a perversion of New Testament theology. It has been represented as a combination of Unitarianism, Universalism, Restorationism, Second Probationism. Swedenborgianism and Annihilationism. 

Pastor Russell was accustomed to denounce foreign missions. Also the creeds of every orthodox church, and all clergymen who did not agree with him. In this respect he was one of the most uncharitable of men. 

“Tell me what a man thinks and I will tell you what he will do,” is a maxim based upon general observation which finds a sad illustration in Pastor Russell. Shadows, two or three of them, rest upon his memory. He falsely represented himself as a competent Bible student and exegete, but it was shown in the Brooklyn Eagle suit, December 9, 1912, that he had no knowledge of Hebrew, or of Greek, or of Latin; that he never had taken a course in philosophy or in systematic theology, and never had graduated from any high school of learning; that he never passed an examination before any ecclesiastical body and never was ordained to the ministry. Nor is this the worst of it. In 1879 he married Miss Marie F. Ackley, spoken of as a most estimable woman, who divorced him a few years ago on the ground of cruelty and of having wrong relations with other women. In court, improprieties were proved between Pastor Russell and Miss Rose Ball. On one occasion his wife found him locked in a room with a servant girl named Emily Matthews. These facts and others of a financial character were published in the Brooklyn Eagle, also in a pamphlet by the Rev. J. I. Ross, of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It also was charged by the Brooklyn Eagle that Pastor Russell, by misrepresentations, had been defrauding his wife out of her dower. These charges were so damaging that he was urged by his friends to bring suit against both the Eagle and Mr. Ross. He did so, but in both instances the courts decided against him. The case as to the paying of alimony he fought for five years, appealing it twice. On the third trial he not only lost his case but the alimony was increased and all costs levied upon him. Under oath he made these confessions: “I am a jelly fish. I float around here and there; I touch this one and that one, and if she responds I take her to myself, and if not I float on to others.” Such is the man who had an immense following and who taught his people that there is no hell, no demons and no punishment for sinners. It is nothing strange that such a man should, disbelieve in the doctrine of hell and demons. How can his success be accounted for? is a question very naturally asked. No great difficulty is in the way of finding an answer, which is this: Pastor Russell had more than ordinary natural ability; he was a most energetic worker and was immensely conceited. Let such a man be boldfaced, pretending to know· 

the revelations of the Bible better than almost any one else, and let him assure those who know they are sinners that they have nothing to fear in the future, that there is no hell, and that ultimately there will be even for incorrigible sinners nothing worse than a wished for non-existence-let a man of some intellectual ability preach with the utmost assurance such views and he will have a following, at least for a time, that will outdistance that of the average orthodox preacher. Such teachings as these suit unbelievers, and so rich sinners became Pastor Russell's chief financial supporters. 

All things considered, therefore, it need occasion no surprise that Pastor Russell met with remarkable success, such as it was; and one discovers also why he abandoned orthodoxy and was left to believe a lie.

But on the other hand, if he had believed what the Bible clearly teaches, and had acted up to that belief, his achievements in some respects would have been, none the less, the good he would have done might have been vastly greater, and there would have been no such clouds as those that will forever rest upon his name and reputation. It is clear, therefore, that he must be classed among the most unsafe, if not among the most unworthy, of religious teachers. 

The impression, however, should not be left that Russellism died with the death of its founder. There is still a following; the leading representative at the present time is Judge J. F. Rutherford, who is president of “The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society,” that was founded by Pastor Russell. In recent lectures given before large audiences the Judge faithfully affirms the teachings of his predecessor. 

At a recent meeting in Boston held in the National Theatre that was filled to its utmost capacity the judge, while speaking of the end of the world, made this Russellian prediction: 

“It can now be positively announced that millions living on earth will never die. Because the world has ended, the old order is rapidly passing and the new order is coming in. As 1914 is a date definitely fixed (a prediction as to the world war), so is 1925 another date definitely fixed. The world having ended and the reconstruction being due to begin in 1925, without doubt there are millions now living on earth who will still be living then. The time is coming when the old man will be restored to youth, bald heads will disappear, and all the imperfections of mankind will vanish. When that time comes we won't need doctors; undertakers will have to hunt for another job and drug stores will have no further use. The population will be used to beautify the earth. The Lord will put the whole human race to work, but there won't be any labor unions, or any profiteers, or any clergymen. The whole human race will be lifted up from sickness, sorrow, and death, to the day of youth.” 

Russellism will continue to have a following so long as men dislike those doctrines of Bible Christianity that have any thing to say about hell and demons, and so long as they seek in some way to escape the responsibilities of a selfish and sinful life. And Russellism will continue to have its advocates even after Judge Rutherford shall have followed Pastor Russell into the unexplored and invisible world to which all are hastening and where the truth will be known. 

What conclusion, therefore, can be reached other than this: If the teachings of Pastor Russell, whose name is beclouded, are true, then those of Christ-”the Adorable One”-are false; and if Christ's teachings are true, then those of Pastor Russell are false. And if his teachings are false then an astonishing and overwhelming disappointment on the day of judgment when the books are opened, must await those who have been led astray by this cult called Russellism.

The Ross Libel trial

Guest post

From: LULU BOOKSTORE

Search term: THE ROSS LIBEL TRIAL

Published 2023

Charles Taze Russell sued John Jacob Ross for criminal libel in 1913 after Ross published a pamphlet full of personal attacks on him. Picked up by opponents of Russell’s work, the trial has been frankly misused by them, especially since the transcript went missing many decades ago. A fairly recent discovery of part of the transcript allows us to examine what actually happened. Although Russell did not succeed in his action against Ross on a legal technicality, the evidence clearly shows later critics have misued the case to attack him. Relying on secondary sources, and skewed and biased sources at that, does not generally lend itself to fairness and accuracy. Those who repeat past accusations without checking for themselves, and who resort to ad hominem attacks should take note. Although I doubt they will.

The 1901 Petition

 In 1901 Zion's Watch Tower adherents circulated a petition seeking redress for the U.S. Postmaster's denial of Second Class mailing privileges. The Watch Tower wasn't his only target, and at least one other newspaper that suffered the same abuse advised its readers to sign the Watch Tower petition.

I need a clear scan of the petition. 

Anyone?

Judge Rutherford's Grave

    

 While this is way outside the general time frame for this blog, a couple of interesting pictures have come to hand, and this is probably the best platform on which to share them, with permission.

     CTR was buried at the Society’s own cemetery plot in United Cemeteries, Ross Township, Pittsburgh, in 1916. The 1919 convention report stated that a grave plot had also been put aside on site for J F Rutherford for when the time came.

     However, Pittsburgh soon faded into the background in major Society events. By the time JFR died in January 1942, he was spending his time between the Brooklyn N.Y. headquarters, the Staten Island radio station, WBBR, and Beth-Sarim in San Diego, California. He died at Beth-Sarim.

     He’d wanted to be buried on the Beth-Sarim property, but that was not to be. The full story can be checked in Consolation magazine for May 27, 1942.

     Ultimately he was buried in the Society’s graveyard adjacent to WBBR on Staten Island, New York. The WBBR property, which included dwellings and a small farm as well as the radio transmitter, adjoined the historic Woodrow Road Methodist Church. This had a variety of graveyards surrounding it, some pre-dating the church.

     Hayden Covington, in an interview shortly before he died, described how he, along with William and Bonnie Heath, traveled across the United States by train to bring the coffin to New York.

     The brief graveside funeral was conducted by Nathan Knorr and was reported in the press:

Source of cutting unknown

     The same news story was reproduced in a number of papers including The Carlisle Sentinel (Pennsylvania) for April 27, 1942, and The Los Angeles Times for April 26, 1942. These added an extra section before the last paragraph in the press release above.

“Today’s services were brief. The body was taken in a hearse from a funeral home to the cemetery without cortege. At the cemetery entrance a small group of followers was waiting. They carried the casket from the hearse to the grave.”

     The policy at the time was to have no grave markers at all on this site, which had been in use at least since 1932 when Robert J. Martin, a Society director and Factory Overseer, died. This remained the case for JFR. Because of this the place did not receive many visitors. However, that changed slightly in 1950.

     In 1950 the Society held the Theocracy Increase Assembly in New York over July 30 – August 6. During that time a series of photographs was issued – possibly as part of a photobook. They appear to have been produced by a private company, from this information stamped on the back of one of them.

     Over the assembly period visitors were offered tours of the Brooklyn factory and Bethel Home, as well as the WBBR radio station property with the Society’s cemetery adjacent. The photo series included various assembly scenes, and a visit to Kingdom Farm (where Gilead School was then housed). Many of the scenes look like they may have come from official sources.

     However, a visit to J F Rutherford’s grave was included and the “snapshot” nature of the picture suggests this was very unofficial.

     Since the whole point about the cemetery was that there were no markers for anyone, we have to accept that these visitors were at the right spot.

     Perhaps based on that photograph and the positioning of the tree, at least one visitor to the 1950 assembly had his own photograph taken at the same location.

     The WBBR property was sold in the late 1950s, and the cemetery was last used in the mid-1960s. To replace it, a new cemetery was created at Wallkill. What was called The Watchtower Farms Cemetery had a new policy to provide small grave markers with just the name and dates of the deceased.

     In 2015 a visitor took this picture of the Woodrow Road site.

     It is interesting to note that of the eight who went to jail together in 1918, six of them (in reality all those who remained in fellowship) continued to work together as one and were ultimately buried together at this location.

     With grateful thanks to Tom S., Chris G., Kris M. and Vincent B. for the images.

Addenda

     When this material was first published elsewhere, a question was raised about the six buried together in the Bethel plot in Woodrow Road. Robert J Martin was buried there in 1932 - see Awake February 22, 1952. Although Find a Grave states that MacMillan and DeCecca were buried at Wallkill, this is incorrect. The WT 1966 10/1 plainly shows that MacMillan was buried at Woodrow Road, and DeCecca died a few months before him. Apart from these two names, all those whose dates of death are listed for Wallkill in the Find a Grave index only date from the 1970s onward.

From the Australia Branch Museum

 Courtesy of Raymond S.

Bible Students in France

      

     Historian Laurie Larvent recently sent the graphics below to Bruce, and we thank him for his interest. They relate to his grandfather Élie Larvent (1882-1954). Larvent was a French Bible Student who met CTR several times when he visited France, in 1909, 1911 and 1912. The card is a response from CTR to the Memorial report Larvent sent in for 1916.

     Also supplied is a photograph of CTR’s visit to the Denain ecclesia on August 6, 1912. Circled in the picture is CTR and probably members of the Larvent family.

     

     Larvent would not stay with the Watch Tower Society but founded a French subsidiary of the LHMM. His grandson Laurie Larvent wrote the forward for the recent book by Bernard Blandre La préhistoire des témoins de Jehovah (2023) as well as a thesis on the LHMM and a biography of Élie Larvent.

Addenda 

Grateful thanks to Bernhard who sent along these photos of Larvent, two portraits and one with his family.

Volunteer?

 I need someone in the Washington, D. C. area willing to visit the Library of Congress and photograph some items. Not likely I'll find anyone, but maybe. You?