Meetings at 79 Woodgrange Road

The Religious Life of London, edited by Richard Mudie-Smith and published in 1904 lists the Woodgrange Road congregation under the name "Zion's Watch Tower."

As reported by those attending, the congregation consisted of sixty-eight men, sixty-two women and fourteen children. Given this proportion of children to adults, one might suppose that the congregation tended to be made up of older individuals. I'm not certain that any other conclusion can be drawn from these spare statistics.

The "public hall" located there was King's Hall Cinema. It had a seating capacity of 250.

Comments? Anyone?

Historical Research

My writing partner, Rachael de Vienne, will be a panelist at an online writers' conference. You may find the discussion on accurate historical research interesting. Registration is free. The panel is slanted toward back ground research for fiction, but the principles are the same.

conference details are here:

http://coyotecon.com/

Millennial Dawn Meetings

Meetings were held at 79 Woodgrange Road at the turn of the 20th Century. I don't know if these photos show number 79. Anyone know?

London

We need a good period photo of 79 Woodgrange Road, London. Any photo taken about 1900 or so would do. I understand a pizza place is there now, and I'm not certain that the building there is the same as the one existing about 1900.

Review of The Plan of the Ages

From The Atlantic Monthly, March 1888

Millennial Dawn, vol. i.; the Plan of the Ages. (Zion's Watch Tower. Pittsburgh.) The reader will pause long before the chart which prefaces this wonderful volume, and then, if he likes, can read three hundred and fifty pages of small print, which aim to present the plan of God, as derived from the Bible, with special reference to present labor problems. It is a dreary piece of work.

Research Needs

Research needs:

We need access to the major Pittsburgh newspapers from 1877-79, 1881-3. We especially need to see the Pittsburg Gazette for 1881-2. We need access to microfilms or a volunteer to do careful but guided research.

There was a disturbance in Newark, New Jersey, when Food for Thinking Christians was circulated there. The two newspaper articles we have were published outside of Newark and do not give detail. We need help pinning down the details.

The Watch Tower Tract Society sold donated lands in Florida in the 1880’s on a first come first choice basis. We need a volunteer in Florida willing to trace details of the sales and property transfers. We are especially interested in the name or names of the person who donated the land.

We know the location of two issues of Zion’s Day Star. Photo copy costs approach 45.00 per issue. We simply cannot afford that. If someone wants to pursue this, I will provide them with the locations in exchange for photocopies.

Barbour’s booklet on spiritism, published in the 1880s is on our list. We cannot locate a copy. Anyone?

Arthur Prince Adam’s Bible Theology and other books, issues of The Spirit of the Word other than the first year of issue which we have are on our list.

The heresy trail of A. P. Adams produced a lengthy record. It’s about 800 pages, I’m told. The library that holds this material has declined to photo copy it, and we can’t afford to pay for 800 pages anyway. Anyone?

If you read through the blog you will find other help requests. Almost all of those things are still needed.

We need a photo copy of the title page of von Zech’s translation of Plan of the Ages. Actually, we need a really clear digital image.

Extensive original material related to the early days (1880-1890) work in Liberia is in the Library of Congress and in an Episcopal archive. Anyone?

As you can see, to do the kind of research that would produce a reliable, detailed and well-documented history takes resources we simply do not have. I’m old, sick and poor. Rachael has a family.

A church in West Virginia expelled six of its members in 1886 for Millennial Dawnism. We need help documenting this.

This is just a very small sample of the things we need.

Most of what has been published about Russell and the early days of Zion’s Watch Tower is seriously flawed. Our research to date has led us to believe that the real story has never been told, at least in any sort of accurate and satisfying way. Neither Russell’s friends nor his enemies have it right. It’s time to get the story out. I am aware that at least three others are working on the era. They have anti-watch tower agendas, and from what little of that research I’ve seen, it is obvious that their strong feelings are coloring their approach. I’d like to think that I ‘call a spade a spade.’ If it happened, I will tell you to the best of my ability exactly what happened, who did what, how they did it, and why.

But, I don’t have an agenda. I don’t hate Russell. I don’t worship Russell. Russell had qualities which one might find admirable and he also had qualities that might make you cringe. Do you know any human who differs from this model? The fault with Witness produced material is that it focuses only on Russell. This is a huge mistake. If one presumes that those associated with Zion’s Watch Tower represented “the truth” as it could be known, then one must say that the entire group was the body of Christ. The body of Christ is not epitomized in Russell. He was one member of it, assuming you see him as a true Christian.

If you hate Russell and all he stood for, you still must understand that he did not function in a vacuum. He has supporters and opponents. The voice of neither group should be stilled. A polemicist will present a one-sided story. A historian will let all voices speak, no matter what he feels about the content of their message.

Rachael and I write history. We try to avoid the nonsense, contrived quotations, unfounded assertions and invented events found in most publications about Russell and the Watch Tower. Putting everything under the microscope of close examination of the original sources is time consuming and expensive.

From Jerome

The comment failed to post, and I'm reposting it as a main topic.

Hi Bruce

Posting this on your site rather than backchannel this time.

Sorry to hear that some have been photocopying your Barbour book. I have spread the word and know at least one collector who has bought a copy direct and enjoyed it. There may be a limited appeal, but this publication is unique.

Please don’t be discouraged about any lack of interest in a follow-up on Charles Taze Russell. Fredrick Zydek’s biography, while greatly flawed (shameless plug - see my review further down your blog) has already received seven write-ups on Amazon – so there is a much larger audience for this subject.

You say that if there is interest in your research needs, you’ll post a list. Please do! If readers know what you still need they may just be able to help. If they don’t know, either nothing will happen or you will be sent the same stuff you already have, time and time again.

Sincerely
Jerome

How things stand ...

Our research is moving slowly. Prying material out of the hands of those who own it is very difficult, and there are details we want to present. So we're still working...

Our biography of Nelson Barbour is not selling particularly well. It doesn't help that it is being circulated in photocopy format. This is theft. If you photocopy it and send it to your friends, you deprive us of sales. It's especially irritating to get a phone call from someone who boasts about doing this as if it were a great favor to us.

We're glad you like the book. However, we finance additional research from the sales. You deprive us of income we need to purchase expensive photocopies or to pay interlibrary loan fees. I'm semi-retired. My income is very low. Please ... If your friends want to read it, let them purchase it.

We won’t stop our research, but we may not publish it except on this blog. We're weighing the interest shown in Nelson Barbour: The Millennium's Forgotten Prophet against the probable interest in any follow-up. Frankly, if we don't sell another four hundred copies by years end, it won't be worth the effort to publish a follow up. I hate to sound mercenary, but we do finance research this way. It's expensive. Some libraries have charged us nearly forty dollars for five pages of copy. Think about that.

I work against bad health; Rachael has commitments concerning a new novel. This has been a labor of love. But I cannot justify the time commitment if there is no interest. And at this point interest seems exceptionally low.

Can you help? We need research materials. Some of you have graciously sent it at your own cost. I appreciate that more than I can explain. If there is interest in our research needs, I'll post a list. You can promote the book on Barbour. Tell your friends and encourage them to buy the book. A few of you have done that. Thanks! At the very least, do not make photocopies of it and hand them out to your friends.

I'm discouraged. I haven't quit, but it's hard to keep going.

Restatement of the Rules

Almost everyone who leaves a comment here has been thoughtful and kind. Yet, there are a few who do not seem to understand things I've clearly stated before.

1. I am not interested theological debate. This is a history blog. It exists to promote a clearly stated, accurate history of the early years of Zion's Watch Tower.

2. I do not take phone calls. Yes, my phone number is easy to find. Past association with you does not open an exception. I'm sick, not just a little, but really ill. Phone calls of any sort are stressful DO NOT CALL MY HOUSE.

3. Some significant research material has come to me through the mail as the kind gift of interested parties. Rachael and I truly appreciate this. Do NOT use this as an occasion to send your tracts, invitations to your net-radio show, or any other bits of propaganda. I already know what you think. I have seen much of this material already. Most of it is boring, poorly produced, inaccurate, illogical and forthrightly stupid. A case in point is a circular letter sent to me recently. It is authored by a man in Oregon who objects to Witness shunning practice. The letter has logic faults and tells more by what is omitted than what is included. I've heard and read all the arguments. I'm not interested in receiving any of this material. So thank-you to those who have fostered our research. But to those who merely wish to propagandize, this is a polite "go away."

4. We do not have any sort of anti-Watchtower ax to grind. This is history, not polemic. So don't expect us to join your crusade.

Listen, everyone, when I say I'm sick and don't want to handle side issues, I'm telling you the blunt truth. Let's be kind here. Also, do not call my house expecting me to put you in touch with Rachael de Vienne. To answer a recent question (via phone, of course), no, she isn't my daughter. I have two lovely daughters. Neither of them writes. The one that shares Rachael's first name is sixteen in a few weeks. Sorry, but no. And no, I won't give you her address. She has a family and life of her own. If she wanted you to have her address, it would be on her blog.

Bits ...

Nelson Barbour’s last trip remains a puzzle. He traveled to Washington State in the company of Nancy W. Fuller. Nancy W. Fuller was born Nancy Woodward. She was born in New York about 1822 and married Joseph D. Fuller, a farmer from Schoharie, November 17, 1841.

Other than a record of land donation for a school, I know nothing further about Joseph D. Fuller. I do not know when Nancy met Nelson Barbour. By 1905 she was living in his apartment complex. I don’t know when she moved in the to Unique Flats complex. I’m working on that. Nancy returned his body to New York.

Nelson spent his last two months at “the residence of Mrs. J. E. Moore” in Tacoma, Washington. This modest house still stands, though it has been enlarged and updated.

update:

Nancy W. Fuller died in Rochester in 1926, leaving an estate worth "several thousand dollars." She first appears as a resident of Barbour's appartment complex in the 1903 Rochester Directory.

I'd like ...

... an explanation for the harassment my co-writer is experiencing, apparently from people who I would in normal circumstances call "brother" or "sister."

If you do not like our book, you may say so in a blog comment. All I ask is that you explain yourself. Give me your reasons for hating our book. In the mean time, leave Rachael alone. She did nothing to hurt you or the religion we share. I had the final say as to what went into our book. If you have an issue with it, direct your comments to me.

Having a ... let's say "well-known" mailing address does not free you to harass, pursue, or otherwise bother anyone. Stop it now! This is the one and only time I'll ask politely.

I've removed the "well-known" address because I do not want to imply that the harassment is in any way "official," planned, intended by people I otherwise respect or approved by them.

Guest Post - Review of Charles Taze Russell – His Life and Times – The Man, the Millennium and the Message

A few weeks ago I sent you details of the new biography of Pastor Russell written by Fredrick Zydek, available on Amazon. Having finished reading it, I have written a critical review which I am sending to you to do with as you wish – which may well be to ignore it completely.

You may have felt, on learning that a full biography was out there, that this would devalue your current project. Since Zydek’s book is so full of inaccuracies, I don’t believe that is the case at all. A history needs to have the detail, backed up by references wherever possible – well illustrated by your Nelson Barbour book.

A correspondent in New York who I put onto your Barbour book has emailed me how much he enjoyed it, filling in many gaps. I look forward to your detailed analysis of how he and CTR came together and ultimately parted in your current project.

Sincerely

Jerome

Charles Taze Russell – His Life and Times – The Man, the Millennium and the Message
by Frederick Zydek
A Critical Review

Fredrick Zydek is a good writer who produces very readable prose. His book fills an important historical gap. Although of a different religious persuasion (Zydek is Catholic) this is a very sympathetic portrayal of Charles Taze Russell (hereinafter abbreviated to CTR), with a real respect for what he achieved. It is not hagiography, as one might expect from some sources, nor virulent criticism as one might expect from others. It puts Russell into the context of the times, showing contemporary events alongside his activities.

Unfortunately, there are a number of reservations over accuracy when it comes to the detail. Perhaps the best parts of the book and certainly most accurate, since contemporary data is more readily available, are the last few chapters. These paint a graphic picture of CTR’s last years, where he literally wore himself out with tours and lectures to proclaim what the author calls “his unique and controversial interpretations of the biblical narratives”.

However, for CTR’s earlier years, a big problem with the book is that the writer has relied heavily on anecdotal evidence to fill out the story. Had the book been proofread by more people who have an interest in the subject, a number of errors could have been avoided. For instance the book starts with a well-written account of the coffin ships that brought poor Irish immigrants to America. It is assumed that Charles Tays Russell (CTR’s uncle and the first to make the journey from Ireland to America) travelled this way and arrived in 1838 (page 3). The only problem with this is that when Charles Tays died, he was sufficiently well-known in Pittsburgh to have an obituary in the Pittsburgh Post on December 27th 1875 which reads (in part): He was a native of Ireland and came to New York in 1822. He took his early lessons in active business from A.T. Stewart in New York.

Zydek’s account of the family life of his younger brother Joseph Lytel (CTR’s father) suggests that they did well, whereas there is evidence from Joseph’s wife’s will that he had a serious business failure in 1855. Anna Eliza left the sale of some land in her will to help pay off Joseph’s debts. While it is true that CTR’s siblings, apart from Margaret, all died young, Zydek says they were buried in the Rosemont cemetery (p.7). That is incorrect. While CTR was buried in the Rosemont cemetery in 1916, the rest of his original family, siblings Thomas, Lucinda and Joseph Jr. were all buried in the Allegheny cemetery. (Perhaps the most famous internment here is the songwriter Stephen Foster). In the same Russell family plot were eventually buried mother Anna Eliza, the original Charles Tays, and finally father Joseph Lytel. Some of the gravestones have been rediscovered and raised in recent years. (Check out the Allegheny cemetery, Section 7, Lot 17, grave 1. On their cemetery website you will find eight Russells in total buried here).

The chronology for much of the 1870s is wrong. The book has Russell in touch with Nelson Barbour in 1873 (p. 41) – it was several years later they met. He suggests 1875 as the date for the booklet ‘Object and Manner of Our Lord’s Return’ (p.46) - most now agree that should be 1877. It is assumed that Russell replaced Jonas Wendell in the small Bible study group in Allegheny (p.41), but Wendell moved on to Edenboro in 1870 and was replaced for a short while by George Stetson. Zydek only mentions Stetson as one of the editors of ‘Bible Examiner’ (p.36 footnote) – which he wasn’t – that was George Storrs alone. As reported in Advent Christian Church newspapers as well as ‘Zion’s Watch Tower’, CTR conducted Stetson’s funeral service in 1879. And there is no mention at all of William H Conley, the first president of the Watch Tower Society, in whose home the Russells celebrated the Memorial in the first two years of ‘Zion’s Watch Tower’, and who like Joseph Lytel Russell corresponded with George Storrs in the mid-1870s (see Storrs’ ‘Bible Examiner’ November and December 1875).

There are similar problems with chronology for the 1880s. Zydek has Russell producing ‘Old Theology Quarterly’ tracts in 1880 (p.73) before ‘The Divine Plan of the Ages’ was published in 1886. In fact, this tract series started in 1889. It is surmised that the Russell’s “adopted daughter” Rose Ball came to live with them when she was 15 in 1888 (p.101) – in fact Rose Ball Henninges’ death certificate shows she died on November 22nd 1950 aged 81. So either the age or the year is wrong – or both. (CTR gave one year, Maria in court gave another). She obviously was not born in 1875 as the book states on page 45.

Travelling into the 90s, there are further problems with chronology. We are told that Rose Ball marries Ernest Henninges in 1890 (p.101 footnote and p.114), and a cosy picture is painted of the married couples all sharing Christmas dinner together in 1892 (p.130). However, Rose Ball Henninges’ death certificate says she married when aged 25, so would still be single in 1892. CTR is described as taking the Chicago ‘Mission Friend’ to court over the “jellyfish” allegations while he and Maria were still together in the early 1890s (p.146). In fact, the jellyfish accusation did not get publicity until the court hearing of 1906, and the ‘Mission Friend’ caught a legal cold by repeating it after then.

Travelling into the 20th century there are further anomalies. On the Miracle Wheat episode we are told that a Mr Stoner contacted CTR about this cereal in 1904 (page 214). In fact, while Stoner, a farmer, discovered what he called “Miracle Wheat” in 1904 – he did not meet CTR or communicate with him until nearly a decade later. The author seems to assume that his readers know all about the episode with the briefest of references on page 338. For any who don’t know the story, Stoner dubbed his wheat “miracle” in 1904. CTR’s journal published a newspaper report on the wheat in 1908 when it was already an old story, with a short editorial comment. In 1911 two Bible students offered it for sale with proceeds going to the Watch Tower Society. The Brooklyn Eagle published a satirical cartoon about CTR and Miracle Wheat on the front page of its Saturday, September 23rd 1911 edition. CTR sued for libel. The case came to court in January 1913 and CTR lost.

Still in the early 20th century we are told that Maria Russell brought suit for legal separation on the grounds of CTR’s adultery (p.224) – in fact, her council S G Porter specifically stated that adultery was not claimed. Maria was asked the question point blank “You don’t mean that your husband was guilty of adultery?” Maria’s answer “No” (court record April 26, 1906, Maria F Russell vs. Charles T Russell p.10). The author has obviously not read the actual transcript.

The J N Patten whose passing was noted in CTR’s journal on September 15, 1906 (p.233) was not J H Paton, who wrote Day Dawn. The latter John H Paton (not George as Zydek sometimes calls him) was still publishing his “World’s Hope” journal at this time, and lived until 1922. And if Nelson Barbour could be said to have published “Washed in His Blood” in 1907 (p. 246) he did so posthumously. Barbour died in August 1905 and left money for his congregation to publish this final work. And while Frederick Franz (a later president of the Watchtower Society) was attracted to Russell’s message by the booklet “Where Are the Dead” (p.352) – this was not a booklet by CTR but one written by Dr John Edgar of Glasgow (see Franz’ life story in Watchtower May 1st 1987).

A lot of the Zydek’s material comes from secondary sources. So a quote from Nelson Barbour comes, not from Barbour’s journal but from A H McMillan’s paraphrase of it in his book ‘Faith on the March’ (pp.58-60). The author has obviously not consulted Barbour’s original journals, even though they are now generally accessible. As noted above, neither has he consulted the transcripts of the court hearings over Maria Russell’s “divorce from bed and board” – his limited quotes come from secondary sources like Barbara Harrison (p.267) or the Brooklyn Eagle (p.306). These selective quotes have an agenda, and consulting the complete transcript would have given a fuller picture. For example, did the author know that Maria did not just mention Rose Ball when accusing her husband? (Rose was in Australia at the time and therefore unavailable for comment – and even though she was later a major player in the New Covenant Schism never did comment unfavourably on CTR’s conduct). Maria’s testimony also suggested misconduct when CTR locked himself in a servant girl’s room (transcript p. 14). This time the girl in question, Emily Sheersly, was still living in Pittsburgh so was called to testify by CTR’s counsel (transcript p.178-79). Emily insisted she had no memory of any doors locked or any improper action on the part of CTR. Never. Maria’s counsel did not bother to cross-examine.

In the bigger picture, it is fair to say that most of Zydek’s questionable details affect only incidentals to the main story. However, once a few details are found inaccurate, it does create unease as to how much other anecdotal evidence used to flesh out the story may be unreliable. Perhaps one example that sticks in this writer’s mind - I was fascinated to learn that Rose Ball’s brother, Charlie, who according to court testimony died shortly after joining the Bible House family, rose to become Vice-President of the Society in 1893 (p.134). That might of course be correct. But proof anybody?

It is a shame because the book is well written and tells a story that deserves to be told. As noted at the start, its latter chapters are particularly good. It is certainly sympathetic towards its subject. But it really needs a second edition. Or perhaps we need another book to be both objective and thorough.

Freind Barbour's Will

Most of the Barbour family used the name Barber. The will is probated under that spelling. The will names "Nelson Barber and the children of David Barber Deceased, whose names or places of residence cannot after diligent inquiry be ascertained." The will was probated February 22, 1851. Our best guess is that he was still living in the Rochester/Dansville area in 1851.

The will and some other matter related to Friend Barber/Barbour was sent to us by a Babour descendant. Thanks Alice!

A Revision

Additional research into Nelson Barbour's childhood shows that he is not the son of Friend Barbour (also spelled Barber), but the grandson. This is established by an article appearing in the Syracuse, New York, Post of January 16, 1909. A photo of his half-uncle accompanies the article, but it is not reporduceable.

Friend Barbour had sixteen children. Which of these was Nelson's parent remains unknown.

Anti-Watchtower Tract. Liberia 1887

Finding things the hard way.

When many willing hands help locate a document:

Dear B. W. Schulz:

Prior to 1985 the Archives of the Episcopal Church was managed by the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church. Since that time the Archives has been incorporated separately and has been called simply the Archives of the Episcopal Church. You can find information on the Archives and its holding at http://www.episcopalarchives.org/. The document for which you search should be located there. See the correspondence below.

Sincerely,

Bob ****

Bob,

I confess that I do not know this document.

I have done some research in the matter. BPL does have a Jocelyn Murray’s abridgement of David A Shank’s Prophet Harris, the ‘Black Elijah’ of West Africa , 1994, the source of the original inquiry. In its list of abbreviations, it states ECHS stands for Episcopal Church Historical Society. Consequently, ECHS Archives would mean Episcopal Church Historical Society Archives. Unlike most of the repositories listed in the abbreviations section, the location for ECHS is not given.

In the Shank’s preface on p. xiv, however, it states, “The research service of Joyce L. White provided many of the sources in the Episcopal Church Historical Society’s archives in Austin , Texas .” That tells me the repository sought for "A Letter to the Churches, Cape Palmas , 28 July 1888, in ECHS archives" is the Archives of the Episcopal Church, Austin, and I have copied them on this email to allow them to commence their reference assistance.

It is possible the difficulty at the commencement of this chain of inquiry was bred by Google Books. Portions of Shank’s Prophet Harris is available through that tool, including some pages that have ECHS Archives in the footnote. The pages available on Google Books, however, do not include either the list of abbreviations or the preface to allow someone to track down the repository. Once again, one needs to have the printed volume in hand! By the way J. Robert Wright would have encountered difficulty addressing this question, as the GTS copy of Prophet Harris is unavailable in offsite storage.

Regards,

Julia



*****, Archivist
Bishop Payne Library
Virginia Theological Seminary

From: Bob ***
Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 9:44 AM
To: ***, Julia
Subject: FW: question

Julia:

Does this document sound familiar to you?

Bob

From: Susan ***
Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 11:55 PM
To: **
Subject: Fwd: question



Dear Robert,

I sent this to Bob Wright and he suggested the request was more suitable for you to answer. So, I am forwarding it to you at his suggestion. I hope you can be of assistance to Mr. Schulz.

Thank you,

Susan

Begin forwarded message:



From: Bruce Schulz
Date: December 8, 2009 4:24:42 PM CST
To: administrator@hsec.us

Subject: question

My writing partner and I are researching Samuel W. Seton, at one time a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Liberia . He founded his own church in 1887, and Bishop Furguson and others sent out a four page tract or letter to denounce the new religion which had Russellite leanings.

Shank and Murray cite this letter in their book on "prophet Harris" as "A Letter to the Churches, Cape Palmas , 28 July 1888, in ECHS archives."

Is this something you have? We can't identify ECHS archives based on the few photo copied pages we posses. Can you guide us? If this is your archive, please tell me how we can obtain a photocopy of this letter/tract. We would be interested in any additional material you have pertaining to Seton and his associates, especially material that shows what the Episcopal Church response was.

We're writing a follow-up to a recently published history of the Barbourite movement of the late 19th Century.


Best regards,


B. W. Schulz

Work in Liberia

Food for Thinking Christians reached Liberia by 1884. By 1885 there was a small group and by 1888 they had formally organized a congregation. Many of the earliest adherents came out of the Protestant Epicopal Church and included some of the most prominent members. The work was strongly opposed by Bishiop Samuel Furgeson who organized an inter-faith conference to deal with what he saw as a flood of Millennial Dawnism.

More from Hymns of Millennial Dawn

Song 27: Originally titled "Children of the Heavenly King," but retitled Always Rejoicing. Written by John Cennick in 1742. Listen to it here:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/cofthehk.htm

Song 28: Said to be by Frances Ridley Havergal a prolific female hymnalist. Biography is here: http://www.hymnary.org/person/Havergal_FR

Song 29: Originally titled The Morning Cometh, but retitled Dawning Day. By Isaac B. Woodbury. Brief bio here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_B._Woodbury

Song 30: Originally titled Christ is Coming, but retitled Christ is Come! Original by John Ross MacDuff. Hymns of Millennial Dawn alters the first verse from "Christ is coming" to "Christ is Come." In a bit of plagerism, the song is attributed to Jessie G. Herr, a Bible Student. Listen to it here:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/h/christic.htm

Song 31: Originally titled Christ the Lord is Risen Today, but retitled Christ's Resurrection. Original by Charles Wesley in the late 1700s. Some reworking in Hymns of Millennial Dawn. Listen to it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWMe4afA2c8&feature=related

More from Hymns of Millennial Dawn

Song 23, Original title was Blessed be the Tie that Binds but retitled Christian Fellowship. Listen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0aUfGRDhCg&feature=related

Song 24, Original Title Blow Ye the Trumpet, Blow but retitled The Year of Jubilee. By Charles Wesley, 1750. Listen here:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/l/blowblow.htm

Song 25, Original Title: Bride of the Lamb Awake! but retitled Hope's Consumation. By Edward Denny, 1837. Listen here:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/o/botlawaw.htm

Song 26, Original Title: By Thy Birth and By Thy Tears but retitled Saviour, Help Us. By Robert Grant,1815. Listen here:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/t/btbabttr.htm

Back ... Sorta

I'm up and arround in a limited way. We're still resolving some personal issues, but my computer should be back and healthy sometime this week.

Things you may enjoy:

Hymns of Millennial Dawn, Song 2: Remember Me. Written by James Montgomery and first published in 1825. Listen to it here:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/c/accordtt.htm

Hymns of Millennial Dawn Song 5: Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed? Isaac Watts. Listen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LrSwbHM5WI&feature=related

Song 6, A Little Flock is by Horatius Bonar and appeared in Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1866.

Song 8, Originally titled All for Jesus, All for Jesus. Listen to it here:

http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/444

Song 10, Originally titled "All Hail the Poer of Jesus' Name," Words by E. Perronet. First published in 1779. Listen here:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/h/ahtpojn.htm

Song 11. Listen here:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/l/allpeopl.htm

Update

Bruce is doing some better. Unfortunately, uncle Bruce and aunt Shirley have continuing problems. Their car died. Bruce's computer crashed, and we lost all the chapters for the new book.

Fortunately almost all of that is saved as hard copy or is posted on this blog. It will take time to recover what was lost. A chapter on the events of 1881 is lost and will have to be recreated. Two other chapters are permanetly gone. This is a major blow to our research. We're both discouraged. Of these one will be easy to rewrite; the other will be very difficult to recreate because it was based on material we could not copy, only read on site. There are files of notes that have disappeared as well. There is no hope of recovery; so we'll repeat the very difficult research.

Our focus is on getting aunty and uncle back on their feet and functioning. We're trying to turn some of their small assets to cash. [This is NOT a request for money.] They need a servicable car, and there are about 140.00 in repairs to their computer.

Our thanks to those who expressed sympathy.

Pittsburgh and Allegheny City - 1874

Answering a recent email ...

I'm answering a private email in a public forum. I've deleted personal references but retained most of the body of the email. The questions have been asked privately by several. Consider this my answer to all:

I've ordered your book and am looking forward to receiving it ... I guess your next book is about Russell's early days?

Thanks. I hope you enjoy it; more, I hope you find it informative. And yes, the next book is about Zion’s Watch Tower’s early days, Russell’s youth included, and will take us up to about 1887.

I've read your comments at your blog, complaining among other things of the difficulties you have to access some source material. It is frustrating to read about "a mass of material sitting in file cabinets in an archive “in the east” that few people will ever see." I'm very intrigued; could you tell me what exactly you wanted to know? What do they fear to disclose?

There is no explanation for paranoid behavior. With the exception of the Vatican, every major and many minor religious movements maintain archives to which they give public access. Only the totally paranoid or someone uncertain of their faith would fear disclosure. I cannot answer for any organization that approaches their religion this way.

What do I want to know? The facts. All of them. I expect a scholarly approach to history. I want to see sources and standard footnotes.

I'm with you, I just want to know the true historical facts whatever they are. Although on the other hand I think I understand the position of those people "in the east". There are lots and lots of enemies throwing bites like piranhas even with very very little evidence to support them, or none at all. If the brothers have any information that could be easily interpreted or manipulated in a negative way or that could be difficult to explain, that will be used against us.

You’ve made a presumption as to whom I meant that may not be correct.

And the problem is not that a couple of opposers repeat that information in their websites or visit forums to have debates, the problem is that any negative bit that can be said against us will be used to try and ban us in certain countries of the world, or to give us bad publicity which makes unbeliever husbands or fathers feel justified to put pressure on our sisters or brothers, or to win children custody cases, for example.

No sensible person should fear debate. Debate is healthy and often leads to new discoveries. If one believes their religion God directed and God protected, there should be nothing to hide. Humans do stupid things. Even faithful people do stupid things. Moses did. Jonah did. The Apostles did. Some of their stupidity made it into the divine record. It provides object lessons and guidance to us. It does not undermine the authority of God or the fact of his intervention in human affairs.

My faith would remain exactly the same if I discover that Russell mocked a blind old man when he was 20, if you know what I mean, but it could entail a lot of problems for other brothers. So I'm not sure which is the most prudent position here.

If we’re dealing specifically with Watchtower Society practice, I suggest we’re mature enough to give scholars the same kind of access that Advent Christians do or that Seventh Day Adventists do. Either we have an honorable past or we do not. Hiding aspects of it only makes us look paranoid and afraid.

However, I'd love to know all that historical information, so I dare to ask you to let me know more about it. Thanks

Help with this would be appreciated ...

We're researching Caleb Crandell. The only place he is mentioned in connection with Watch Tower history is in a Yearbook article. We lack details, and we're unhappy with the state of our research. Here is the rough draft. If you can add details, please do so.

Rough Draft

The 1979 Yearbook says that Caleb Crandell of Crandell Corners, Ontario, was contacted by colporteurs in the late 1880’s. The Yearbook’s account says: “He accepted Bible literature and entertained the visitors in his home .... No study group was formed there at the time, but we know that Caleb made at least one trip to hear C. T. Russell speak at Massey Hall in Toronto.”[i] None of this is verifiable from issues of Zion’s Watch Tower, and one presumes that it is the product of an interview with family members. Family memories can be inaccurate, and the date assigned to his introduction to Zion’s Watch Tower may be too early. The known colporteur activity in Ontario dates from the early 1890’s.[ii]

Caleb was born July14, 1830, in Reach Township, Ontario, and died January 8, Jan 1907. He was the fourth son of Reuben and Catherine Crandell, the first white settlers in the Reach Township. The 1881 Census lists him as farmer, but “in reality he was a prosperous land owner having inherited much of the original land purchased by his father Reuben. He lived in an impressive house which still stands.”[iii]

A brief biography of him says: “One of Port Perry's oldest residents at the time of his death, he was the most extensive property holder in the town. He had been retired for about 40 years when he passed away, and had lived in one of the most commodious homes in the town. Caleb Crandell was for many years a member of the village council, and was always an enterprising and respected citizen. He was one of the Charter Members of Warriner Lodge, No. 74, Independent Order of Oddfellows.”[iv]

He was active in local politics, and when Port Perry, Ontario, was incorporated as a village in 1871 he was chosen as one of the counselors.[v] He had one adopted daughter, Nettie or Nellie Crandell .

The Crandell family was not a happy one. They disputed over money, property and other issues. Law suits followed, and one of the brothers accused Caleb of causing his arrest to prevent him from testifying in lawsuit over debt and property. The issues are vague and plagued the courts for several years. It is impossible to comment on the merit of much of it, including the accusation that Caleb bribed a magistrate to have his brother Benjamin arrested. All of this precedes his introduction to Watch Tower theology by at least a decade and may be irrelevant. It is simply impossible to say because they sole source for his history within the movement is a Yearbook article which cites no sources.[vi]

[i] 1979 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, page 79.
[ii] Extracts of Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, September 1890, page 8. Letter from S. Webb to Maria Francis Russell: “We expect Bro. Z. to-morrow on his way to Ontario to being the colporteur work.” (not in reprints.)
[iii] Crandell Street: How it Got it’s Name, retrieved from http://www.scugogheritage.com/focuson/pdf_files/2009-09-23to34.pdf October 2009.
[iv] Port Perry/Scugog Township Heritage Gallery: http://www.scugogheritage.com/misc/pioneers.htm
[v] Farewll, J. F.: Ontario County: A Short Sketch of Its Settlement, Physical Features and Resources, Ontario, 1907, page 84.
[vi] George F. Harmon and Christopher Robinson: Reports of Cases Decided in the Court of Common Pleas of Upper Canada, Toronto, 1880, Volume 30, pages 497-515.

Shameless Plug ...

Nelson Barbour: The Millennium's Forgotten Prophet can be purchased here:

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/nelson-barbour-the-millenniums-forgotten-prophet/7645313

The S. S. Centennial in Dry Dock

Charles Strand was Captain of the S.S. Centennial.

See the chapter below

Foreign Language Fields within the United States

A request for a German language tract “setting forth the glad tidings” was sent to Russell in late 1882 and it appears in the December Watch Tower. Russell called for “a German brother with the necessary ability” to translate the October 1882 issue, a missionary issue, into that language. He also remarked that “a Swedish translation is also much called for. … Here is a place in the harvest field for someone.”[1]

Financial problems delayed the work in both languages. Russell explained:

As will be seen below, the Fund is in debt over $2,500, and of course no further work can be undertaken by the Fund until this debt is paid. We regret this exceedingly, and partly because in our last issue we held out a hope to some, who have long desired it, that we would soon issue the October Tower in German and in Swedish.

A plan suggested to us is the only way out of the difficulty which we can see. It is this: We can start two sub-funds, one for the German and the other for the Swedish papers, and those desirous of contributing specially to these can thus do so. A Swedish brother has already sent $8.50 for the latter, and a German sister $3 for the former fund. When either of these funds shall amount to $200, we will commence to print and go as far as we can. Meantime we will, by the assistance of brethren, have translations prepared.[2]

Contributions to the Swedish and German Tract funds came slowly. This isn’t surprising considering the difficult financial condition of most recent immigrants. In June 1883 Russell reported: “Our regular Tract Fund is still behind and the special Swedish Tract Fund, started some time since, has not flourished thus far and contains less than thirty dollars. It would require about three hundred dollars to issue a proper edition. Our Master is rich -- he owns the cattle upon a thousand hills, as well as the hills themselves, and all the gold and silver are His. If he deems the work necessary he will make the necessary provision. The German Fund has made even less progress, but as the interest in that direction is less we shall for the present be most interested in the Swedes.”[3]

The first significant work among Scandinavians is noted in 1883 with the publication of a letter from a Charles Seagrin, a native of Sweden. There almost no record of Charles Seagrin. Even his name is a puzzle, since it appears to be Anglicized. It may be that his birth name was Carl Sjögren. An individual of that name was born about 1859 in Hellstad Östergötland Län, Sweden and emigrated to the United States. He departed Göteborg on April 15, 1880, bound for New York.[4] There appear to be two or three all of the same name who arrived within months of each other. It is pure conjecture that any of these are the Carl Seagrin mentioned in Zion’s Watch Tower. Of these, the most likely are a man who left Sweden in 1879 bound for Chicago and one who left in 1873 bound for Cleveland.

Seagrin entered the work in late December 1882 or January 1883, “some six months” before he wrote to Russell. He saw a conflict between usual religious doctrine and practice and what he believed the Bible to teach. “Some time ago,” he explained, “finding my Bible teaching one thing and sectarianism quite another, I determined to go out as a lay Evangelist to preach the truth as nearly as I could understand it, among my own countrymen, the Swedes, and in my own language.”

His introduction to Watch Tower theology was by means of Food for Thinking Christians. While in Iowa someone brought him a copy and asked his opinion of it. He tried to explain away its teachings but became convinced instead:

I spent a whole evening trying to explain away its teachings, and afterwards retired to spend much of the night in thinking over the subject. The next morning I got the "Food" and my Bible, and began in earnest to compare the two to see if these things were really true-- after careful study of the Bible I came gradually to see the beauty of this real glad tidings.

I began in my preaching to introduce the teachings; yet to avoid reproach and secure the favor of men, I was tempted to limit or explain away these glorious Bible truths. Once on a text involving Restitution I had begun to explain it in the old manner, but the Spirit cut me off; I then thought to avoid saying anything to the point, but God did not forsake his Jonah-like servant. I saw at once the evil of so doing, and conquering the tempter, I did plainly preach "the restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy Prophets since the world began." I have never since compromised with error.

I find many who will listen for hours with close attention. Some reject the truth, but many hear with joy. Some that I thought slow to receive it were only trying the foundations thoroughly, and some of these are becoming its most firm and able defenders, many of these humble teachers with their Bibles in hand, are able to overthrow the wise and learned preachers of traditions. For nearly a year I have preached this truth with more or less fullness as I gradually came to a knowledge of it.

I have suffered much reproach and some trials and persecution for the truth's sake, but never since the time mentioned have I faltered or mixed truth with error to make it palatable to formal Christians. I find some infidels who, hearing the truth, are beginning to think the Bible is true, and some have accepted the truth and are telling the good news to others, showing that the Bible is reasonable when understood.

During the time that I have preached this truth some two hundred Swedes have received it and are rejoicing in it and telling it to others.[5]

Seagrin asked that translations into Swedish progress as rapidly as possible. Of Seagrin himself, nothing more is heard. There is no indication that he persisted as a Watch Tower evangelist, and his association appears short-lived.

It is difficult to read motivations into one hundred year old correspondence, and even more difficult to find clues to personality in a single letter. However, at the risk of falling into the trap of psychoanalyzing the dead, Seagrin’s letter impresses me as the writing of a less than stable but zealous preacher. More documentation is needed, and I would be happy to revise this opinion if it is ever forthcoming.

When publishing Seagrin’s letter, Russell explain that the Swedish Tract Fund had not prospered. The fund contained less than thirty dollars, he said, far less was needed “to issue a proper edition.”[6]

Still, the Swedish tract work came to fruition first. In October 1883 The Watch Tower requested the names and addresses of “of all the moral and religious Swedes and Norwegians you can gather; for samples of the Swedish paper.”[7] When a list was compiled, Russell announced the publication of twenty thousand copies of a sample issue of The Watch Tower in Swedish:

The Swedish tract fund reached such a sum as to justify the publishing of a sample copy of the Tower in the Swedish language, to be used as a tract, among the Swedish and Norwegian Christians, here and in Sweden. The notice in our last issue, that we were ready for lists of addresses of religious Swedes and Norwegians, brought to us many responses, and we will be mailing sample copies to the same, about the time you receive this paper. Whether there will be in the future, a regular edition of the Tower in Swedish, will depend upon the interest awakened amongst that people by these sample copies and upon the supply of needful means for the additional expense involved.[8]

Exact details of the first Swedish Watch Tower are lacking. It was issued irregularly. In February 1884, Russell reported that requests for the paper continued to arrive in his office, but said he couldn’t publish it regularly “until about 1,500 subscribers are pledged.” He reported that they had “plenty of sample copies … so continue to send for them.”[9]

By October 1884, Russell found interest among Swedish immigrants gratifying. He reported that “thousands of papers in English and Swedish are printed and sent forth continually. We mention this that you may know that you have a supply to draw from so long as the Master shall supply the funds. Order as many ‘sample copies for distribution,’ as you think you can use to advantage in preaching the ‘glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.’”[10]

The work entered Sweden through the irregular publication of the Swedish language Watch Tower. In October 1884, a Swedish immigrant woman wrote to Russell asking for three copies of each issue so they could forward them “to Sweden, to some persons whom I know for sure are thinking Christians and Bible students.”[11]

By January 1885, Russell could report that they had published “four numbers of the same size as the English Tower, containing selected articles—translations from English numbers.” He said there were about eight hundred interested Swedish immigrants interested in the work, but “the number of … would not justify … the regular publication of the Tower in that language.”[12]

An urgent request for “some Swedish brother, whose heart is filled with the love of the truth and with a desire to serve it, who … has no family; one who has a good Swedish education and a fair understanding of the English language” appeared in Zion’s Watch Tower in January 1886. One presumes this was to fill the need for continued translation and evangelization among Swedish speakers in the United States.[13]

As with the British and American fields, most missionary activity was informal, a point Russell makes frequently. His view of the work was that every child of God would use every opportunity to speak the Good News. The letters he selected for publication often reflect this. For instance in the September 1886 Watch Tower, he wrote: “The Lord wanted to gather some saints in Sweden, and he raised up some earnest Swedes in this country, who by private letters and translations communicate the good tidings to other Swedish saints.”[14]

Those efforts produced fruitage. None of the names of those in Sweden who expressed interest in the 1880’s survive as far as I can tell. Yet, Russell mentioned letters of interest from Sweden[15] One such letter signed only as M. N. O. appears in the February 1887 issue of The Watch Tower.

While Russell intended the Swedish material to address the needs of Norwegian immigrants too, it failed to do so. What ever led him to that idea, a letter from Charles A. Strand, [16] a Norwegian resident in New Orleans disabused him of it: “I believe that the Norwegians are a still more religiously inclined people than the Swedes in general. In short, I believe the truth would meet with a still better reception among them. You will probably question: ‘Do not the Swedish publications meet the demand of the Norwegians also?’ I answer, ‘No; the two languages differ so much that the Swedish number of the Tower is almost of no use to the Norwegians, and will hardly be read by any of them.’ There is also a little prejudice existing between the two nations. I pray God to open a way to have it published in Norwegian. The ‘Food’ and the ‘Tabernacle’ would, I know, be a great blessing to the saints in Norway.”[17] Russell’s reply was that translation into Norwegian should be done as soon as possible, but it would be some years before Norwegian publications were available.

Never-the-less the Watch Tower message reached Norway through letters from interested Norwegian-Americans. Strand wrote again, saying: “The ‘Plan of Redemption’ has met with a joyful reception in my Norway home. I heard from my father a week ago. He sends his thanks and warm greetings to you all. He says that it is not entirely new to him, having discerned from the Word the outlines of the plan; but he rejoices now ... in being more fully able to see the plan clearly, being aided by my translations from the Watch Tower and Food, together with long letters that I write. ... Others besides himself are also getting interested, to whom these translations and letters are read, as the epistles of old, to different little congregations.”[18]

It is impossible to tell what fruitage was born by Strand’s letters to Norway. Those responsible for the history of the work in Norway appearing in the 1977 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses quote from Strand’s first letter without attributing it to him, and reference none of his subsequent letters. This is regrettable, since it appears that the work in Norway was begun through them.[19]

Data conflicts create uncertainty, but the basics of Charles A.[*] Strand’s life are known. Strand was born in Norway in September 1852.[20] Census returns give him conflicting immigration dates, 1861 and 1880. The 1880 date is an obvious error. He was in New Orleans in 1879 and married to Annette, maiden name unknown.

Though not verifiable at this time, there is some indication that Strand saw Civil War service as a boy aboard the USS Pittsburgh, a stern wheel Mississippi River gunboat. The 1880 Census tells us he was a “mate” He worked on tugboats for a while too. In early 1886 he wrote to Russell, reassuring him of his continued interest: “I have not had a chance to do much work in the vineyard of late, as I am working on board a tugboat. The Lord has given me the two men – two brothers – I am working with. They are Italians by birth, and are very earnestly interested in the glad tidings, although raised in the Church of Rome.”[21]

Later that year he wrote more about his work with tracts and circulating The Plan of the Ages. He expressed his interest in the Lord’s poor, saying that his wife Annette looked after that part of their work:

Inclosed [sic] please find P.O. Order for ten dollars, for which please renew my subscription for the Watch Tower (three copies), and send another copy of Millennial Dawn. What is over use where most needed. The money I send I received in answer to prayer. I have been desirious to send my subscription and something for the Lord’s work, but somehow was not able to spare it out of my wages. Yesterday I asked the Lord to help me get it. Today my employer handed me twenty dollars as a present, which seems to me a direct answer to my prayer

I have been since asking the Lord to make plain his will to me regarding it, which I believe to be this, to give ten dollars for clothing and feeding of the spiritual man, the other ten I give to my wife for her part of the work, namely, supplying the physical necessities of the Lord’s poor around us.[22]

By 1886 he had his captain’s papers.[23] His letters to Zion’s Watch Tower taper off in the 1890’s, though not from lack of interest. Though still seeing New Orleans as his home port, he was in the Seattle-Alaska-San Francisco trade by 1900, first as captain of the Santa Ana, then as captain of the aging Centennial. He captained the Centennial through dramatic events during the Russo-Japanese war. The 1910 Census still lists him as an active steamship captain.

Strand organized the first New Orleans congregation affiliated with Zion’s Watch Tower and introduced the magazine’s message to Norway. He actively evangelized, especially among Norwegians until going to sea in the Pacific Coast trade. His name appears for the last time in Zion’s Watch Tower in the July 15, 1908 issue.[24] Much of his history with Zion’s Watch Tower is best told in another context, and we will save further details for a more appropriate place. Charles Strand died in New Orleans in 1914.[25]

German Language Immigrants

The first interest noted among German speaking immigrants is found in the December 1882 issue of Zion’s Watch Tower. Apparently in response to the November issue, a special missionary issue with a printing of 200,000 copies, Russell noted that “one German brother” sent one hundred dollars to support the work. The same issue contained a letter from Bern, Pennsylvania, requesting a German language tract.[26]

Plans for sample or missionary issues of Zion’s Watch Tower in both Swedish and German did not materialize as hoped. Russell started the tract funds for each language in January 1883. The German fund grew very slowly. When presenting Charles Seagrin’s letter about his work among Swedish immigrants, Russell remarked that “The German Fund has made even less progress, but as the interest in that direction is less we shall for the present be most interested in the Swedes.”[27]

In August 1883, Russell printed a letter from a young German immigrant then living in Omaha: “I have a perfect knowledge of the German language, and I am meditating upon what I could do. When the German people are won, they are faithful. I am assured there will be a way opened to them by our divine Lord somehow.”[28]

Even though no German language publications were forthcoming, small German speaking groups existed. In November of that year Russell, citing Amos 8:11, suggested that the German brethren were suffering from spiritual famine. “We shall give some special attention to the German Fund,” he wrote. “It will be remembered that this fund was started some time ago and then permitted to rest until the Swedish Tract-paper should be issued. Now we are ready, so far as in us lies to preach the glad tidings to our German brethren and sisters also. The German Fund contains about $25. When it grows to about $300, we shall begin to make a start, in this direction.”[29]

The German fund continued to languish for the next two years. In January 1885 it contained only $126.54, about a third of the Swedish tract fund. “We published nothing in German,” Russell explained, “the fund being insufficient for even a start, but, growing gradually, it may be of use some day; meanwhile, we have obtained the addresses of some, able and willing to assist, by translating, when we are ready.”[30]

Russell’s accounting of the German tract fund drew at least one contribution from a German speaker who had been reached with Food for Thinking Christians. He sent a contribution to be used to address what ever need Russell felt most urgent, and he expressed himself as ready to preach the message:

How I long to have all the back numbers of the Tower. Is there no way of procuring them? Any price! I am preparing to work among my (German) countrymen, and would like to have them on that account.

The glorious truth which since a year ago shone on my heart through the “Food,” becomes brighter and brighter. I had the “Food” three years in my possession, but never found time nor opportunity to read it, but always saved it. Last winter I got poor and lean and all creeds and dogmas seemed to leave me. I searched and found “Food.” No book ever took me like that. I forgot meals and all. I could not sleep for joy. O, the blessedness I have enjoyed since then. God is still revealing more and more to me by the Tower and Scriptures. Diaglott and Young's Concordance are great helps to me. I would like this glorious truth to be spread among my people. I find much opposition with some, but some take it readily. I am still in the Methodist Church (German), but preach and talk in private and openly of the glorious truth. What will become of me the Lord knows--I expect to be thrown out. I would much like to see you personally and talk to you about plans which I have. If any way possible, I will see you.[31]

Russell wanted to have the October 1882 issue of Zion’s Watch Tower translated into German for use as a missionary tract. This never happened.[32]

In March 1885 The Watch Tower printed a letter from a German speaker who was preparing to work among his countrymen. Neither a name nor a location is attached to the letter so there are no clues to this person’s identity. They were still associated with a German Methodist church but said they “preach and talk in private and openly of the glorious truth.” They expected to be expelled from that church and wanted to meet Russell and discuss their plans for German language evangelism.[33]

The message reached Otto Ulrich Karl von Zech, an Evangelical Lutheran Clergyman,[34] in November 1885. Von Zech was born in 1845 to Karl and Berta Franziska Louise von Zech and was “a member of a landed family from Thuringia who immigrated to the United States to escape military service in 1865.”[35] He became a German Evangelical Lutheran pastor, apparently after immigrating.

Zech was the pastor of Saint Paul’s Congregation Evangelical Lutheran Church in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, founding the congregation in 1871 with twenty members. He returned again as its pastor in 1883, serving in that capacity through 1884 when he moved to Allegheny.

He received the Watch Tower message through a gift subscription. In late 1884 or early 1885 Russell started sending the magazine to all the clergymen in Allegheny, and von Zech was included in the list. He regularly discarded it until the November 1885 issue, “to which his attention was called providentially,” caught his interest.

Russell issued Zech’s statement to his former church which was published as a special eight page booklet and sent out as a supplement to the December 1886, Zion’s Watch Tower. It was entitled Erklärung: Warum der Unterzeichnete seine Verbindung mit der ev. Luth. Kirche, Respective mit der Synode von Ohio und seiner Gemeinde lösen musste, nebst Angabe einiger Gründe.

His open letter explained his new doctrinal stand and opened with the statement that he felt explanations were owed to his former associates in the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio. It was a scriptural due, he said, in the light of 2 Peter 3:15. A note at the end of his Explanation directed readers to Zion’s Watch Tower, giving the 101 Federal Street address.

The record of his troubles drew some sympathy from Watch Tower readers. A brief letter from a sister in Texas asked Russell to “please present the enclosed amount, $5.00 in the name of our dear Lord and Master, to our brother, Otto Von Zech, who has left all to follow Him.”[36]

Von Zech assumed responsibility for the German language work, preparing several issues of Zion’s Watch Tower for use among German speakers, and the first issue was ready by January 1886:

We take pleasure in announcing to our German friends, that we have commenced a German edition of the Tower, the first number of which goes forth this month. It will be a monthly, of eight pages, smaller than the English edition: price, 25 cents per year. The Lord seemed to set before us an open door in this direction, and to the extent of our ability we go forward to enter it by starting this paper. You also have a privilege in connection with this work. It is for you to scatter sample copies, and to awaken an interest in it among earnest German Christians. Do your part well, and while you pray, labor also and sacrifice in the spread of the “glad tidings.” Send in subscriptions and orders for sample copies at once.[37]

The April 1886 issue encouraged their use: “We have now issued several numbers of our German edition, composed in the main of translations from the English edition, by Bro. Von Zech. We want to get it into the hands of all the truthseeking Germans possible. You can thus help in ‘bearing up’ and ‘washing’ and making ‘ready’ the members of the body among these. Will you do it? Order all the sample copies you can use judiciously--Free. Those who are canvassing with sample packets of ‘Food’ and Tower should have samples of the German with them for such.”[38]

With the August 1886 Watch Tower, Russell urged his readers to send in the names of those who “might have a hearing ear for the truth, for samples of English, German or Swedish Towers.”[39] The German language version of The Watch Tower edited by von Zech never had a large circulation, reaching only about six hundred by 1894, and some of those were English language readers who subscribed to help forward the work.[40]

When Millennial Dawn: The Plan of the Ages was released, von Zech translated it as well. A notice that he was “now engaged in translating it” appears in the August 1886 issue of The Watch Tower, but his translation wasn’t released until 1888 as Millennium Tages-Anbruch: Der Plan der Zeitalter. He also prepared and published his own material. A letter printed in the February 1886 Tower suggests as much when it thanks him for two printed sermons he sent to the writer. No copies are known to exist.[41]

Enough German language interest followed von Zech out of the Lutheran Church that at least by August 1886 meetings were held in the G.A.R. hall over the Third National Bank at 101 Federal Street in Allegheny City. The German group met at 1:30, followed by two English language meetings.[42]





[*] The Watch Tower consistently gives him the middle initial ‘A.’ A newspaper reference gives ‘F’ as his middle initial. The Watch Tower errs enough on names to make this uncertain. Handwriting was as indecipherable in the 19th Century as it can be today.

Endnotes:

[1] View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, December 1882, reprints page 415.
[2] Watch Tower Tract Fund, Zion’s Watch Tower, January 1883, page 2.
[3] View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, June 1883, page 1.
[4] Swedish Emigration Records, 1783-1951, found at ancestry.com
[5] Brother Seagrin’s Letter, Zion’s Watch Tower, June 1883, page 1.
[6] View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, June 1883, page 1.
[7] See untitled announcement on page 1 of that issue.
[8] View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, November 1883, page 1.
[9] Requests, Zion’s Watch Tower, February 1884, page 1.
[10] View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, October 1884, page 1.
[11] Extracts from Interesting Letters,. Zion’s Watch Tower, November 1884, page 2.
[12] Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society, Zion’s Watch Tower, January 1885, page 1.
[13] Untitled announcement, Zion’s Watch Tower, January 1886 page 8.
[14] Seed Time and Harvest, Zion’s Watch Tower, September 1886, page 6.
[15] Answers to Your Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, February 1887, page 7.
[16] Letter from Charles Strand to C. T. Russell found in Encouraging Words from Earnest Workers, Zion’s Watch Tower, August 1, 1892, page 237. Strand was born in Norway about 1853. The 1880 census incorrectly has him born in Louisiana. That’s corrected in later census reports. He was a mate on a steam ship in 1880. Later he worked on tug boats.
[17] Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, January 1885, page 1.
[18] Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, September 1885, page 2. Not in reprints.
[19] 1977 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Watch Tower Society, Brooklyn, New York, page 194.
[20] United States Census for 1900: New Orleans Ward Three, New Orleans, Louisiana, National Archives Roll T623-571, page 20B, Enumeration District: 27.
[21] Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, April 1886, page 2. Not in reprints.
[22] Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, February 1887, page 8. Not in reprints.
[23] Soards” Directory of New Orleans, 1886, page 757.
[24] Many More Advice They Have Taken the Vow, Zion’s Watch Tower, July 15, 1908, page 219. Not in reprints. Pacific Coast service: Captain of the Santa Ana Finds a Deep-Sea Mine off the Nome Beach, The San Francisco Call, October 10, 1901; Steamer Oregon is Safe at Nome, The San Francisco Call, July 1, 1902; Two Kinds of Dredging, The San Francisco Call, September 20, 1902. Russo-Japanese War: May Have Been Captured, The San Francisco Call, July 30, 1905; Saved by the Fog, The San Francisco Call, August 30, 1905; Fog and Nerve Saved Vessel, The Pensacola, Florida, Journal, August 30, 1905.
[25] New Orleans, Louisiana, Death Records Index: 1804-1949.
[26] View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, December 1882, page 2.
[27] View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, June 1883, page 1.
[28] Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, August 1883, page 3.
[29] View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, November 1883, page 1.
[30] Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society, Zion’s Watch Tower, January 1885, page 1.
[31] Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, March 1885, page 1.
[32] Watch Tower Tract Fund, Zion’s Watch Tower, January 1883, page 2.
[33] Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, March 1885, page 1.
[34] Von Zech was born December 4, 1845 in Kleinballhausen, Kingdom of Saxony. He immigrated to the United States, settling in Pennsylvania. He died March 5, 1908, in Philadelphia.
[35] Charles H. Lippy and Peter W. Williams: Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience, 1988, page 630.
[36] Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, January 1886, page 2.
[37] The Tower in German, Zion’s Watch Tower, January 1886, page 1.
[38] The German Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, April 1886, page 1. Not in reprints.
[39] Untitled Announcement on page 1 of that issue. Not in reprints.
[40] O Give Thanks Unto the Lord, for He is Good, Zion’s Watch Tower, June 11, 1894, special issue, page 165.
[41] The Trial of our Faith Necessary, Zion’s Watch Tower, February 1886, page 7.
[42] Pittsburgh Church Meetings, Zion’s Watch Tower, August 1886, page 8. Not in reprints.

Stray thoughts.

Consider this a continuation of my earlier “editorializing.” This is really not an editorial, of course. It’s a series of more or less disjointed thoughts.

Yes, we know there are typos in our Nelson Barbour book. Unfortunately the wrong file was uploaded. Most of them are easily ignored. Please do so. Unless it sells exceptionally well, we are not revising the master print file anytime soon. At this point it is not an easy process.

We have revised our outline for the follow-up book, deciding to include material we intended to omit. We felt that the references needed were not available to us. This situation has changed enough that we can now tell those parts of the story in a connected way. We think we can present enough detail to be more accurate and present a more rational story than that now available. This will add three, maybe four, chapters.

We’ve had long and intense conversations about the meaning of a quotation, more accurately about the writer’s intent. The meaning is clear, I think. The intent is not. (Confusing, huh?) It can be approached in three ways: 1. It’s an outright lie; 2. It’s dissimulation by means of selective ‘truth;’ 3. It’s an attempt to escape sharing someone else’s reputation, but phrased in such an awkward way that the truth of the statement can be questioned.

The problem is unresolved. A good rule of thumb is to attribute the best possible motive to everyone’s statements and acts. In this case my personal opinion is that we’re dealing with a blatant lie. It’s a tough call, and we’re still sorting things out. Rachael doesn’t share my opinion. More research and more conferences are in order.

A stray thought: Being published opens one to the odd in human behavior. When Pixie Warrior, Rachael’s novel, was published, she acquired an online stalker. We’ve both had online marriage proposals, though not as a result of the Barbour biography but as fan mail response to our fiction. I think our mates would object if we said yes. I know my wife of forty years would object – after she finished laughing. Let me tell you: I’m old. I’m fat. I’m balding. I’m sick. I’m cranky. I am married to a woman who’s put up with me for forty years. So, No. Thanks, but no.

I enjoy my privacy.

And ... you might consider some counseling. Just a thought, that – but it’s a good one.

So, now, back to our work in progress: A section that was essentially an orphan, not long enough or detailed enough to be anything but an after thought has now become a chapter in its own right. It’s amazing what following hints and clues will do.

Our thanks to a “volunteer” who wishes to remain anonymous for some recent research! The documents are invaluable to us.

Some views of Watch Tower history have the character of religious myth. They’re firmly believed though lack documentary foundation. It is painful to see long held visions of history give way to what is sometimes a harsher reality.

A recent example comes from an email. In our book on Nelson Barbour we demonstrate that the idea of a two-stage partially invisible parousia predates the 1820’s. We quote Isaac Newton. Yet, the email I received insisted that the idea comes from Irvingites and Plymouth Brethren. Yes, they held these views. They did not originate them. Finding a source that says they did merely means you found a source that is in error. Also, Keith was not the first in America to present those views. We don’t say that; we tell you otherwise. Reread that chapter.

We also received a suggestion that we alter the spelling found in one quotation. That’s unethical. A quotation should preserve the original words.

What will you do when you discover that the idea of a totally invisible parousia in the sense taught by Zion’s Watch Tower isn’t a modern day Revelation of some sort? That idea has a history too. We include endnotes for you. Follow them to the sources. Check for yourself. Emailing one of us to support an exploded claim by someone else won’t change the facts.

We sift through oral traditions passed down as history. Some are worth reporting, even if they are unverifiable. There are two we feel (with reservations) deserve to be taken as factual. We’ve satisfied ourselves, though just short of historical verity, that the Russell’s Federal Street store was called “the old Quaker” store, even if it wasn’t named that. We are inclined to accept a report that Russell’s conversation with an “infidel” took place in a pool hall as probable, though unverifiable. The report fits in with the nature of YMCA and Evangelical Alliance tracting in Allegheny City.

Other oral traditions are just wrong. See our earlier post for an example.

A discussion from the posts - 1876 Centennial and the Russells

This is a comment from an earlier post:

"More on Philadelphia - Russell had a store at the exposition in 1876 in Philadelphia, was likely there several months, met Barbour there. He says in the Watch Tower that he remembered hearing Peyton Bowman preach, an Adventist, in Philadelphia. This possibly occurred in 1876, but possibly before that. Bowman had connections also with Restitutionist Adventists."

The only place we've seen this asserted is in the special history issue of The Herald of Christ's Kingdom published back in 2002. Brian Kutscher wrote:

"After seven years of study, while attending a display for his father’s business at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, Russell’s attention was drawn to a magazine entitled The Herald of the Morning, published by Nelson H. Barbour. He arranged to meet Barbour in Philadelphia and saw merit in Barbour’s interpretation of chronology."

This statement is flawed in several respects. An email from Brian attributed the point about the Russell exhibiting at the Centennial to Carl Hagensick. An email from Carl said, "The information about the Centennial exposition was by word of mouth passed on to me from Br. John Meggison who, as you know, was a pilgrim in Br. Russell’s day. I mentioned it once in conversation to Br. John Reed, Pastor Russell’s personal singer, and he did not disagree."

Oral reports are notoriously wrong. There are numerous lists of exhibitors for the 1876 Centennial Fair. There is no listing for J. L. Russell & Son in any of them we consulted. Many of them are searchable through a database. There simply is no record of the Russells exhibiting.

There is an alternative explanation. Russell says he had business in Philadelphia that fall. That's all he says. The Russells owned property in Philadelphia. Philadelphia was a clothing wholesale market. Either of these is a suitable explanation for Russell's business.

The statement is also in error when it discusses how Russell came upon the Herald of the Morning. Barbour mailed it to him. We have Russell's plain statement to this effect. The paragraph is a combination of a garbled oral tradition and the misstatement made by Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. When we wrote Nelson Barbour: The Millennium's Forgotten Prophet, we allowed in a footnote for the possibility that the Russells may have exhibited at the Centennial. See page 172, end note two. Since then we have searched catalogues of exhibitors to no avail. This is an example of a few facts being garbled and transmuted into a new story. This is not sound history.

Prove me wrong. I'd be happy to use this. It's colorful and interesting. However, our research leads us to reject this story as unfounded. The simpler explanation given by Russell stands. He had business. Period.

Oh, a mystery ...

Anyone pin this down to C. T. Russell?

The Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, Saturday, 17 Sep 1881, p. 14
Advent Christian Church, No. 91 South Green street.
Elder Russell will preach in the morning.

Benjamin W. Keith

Keith is in these two photos. We haven't identified which of these people he is yet. That may not be possible. But ... he is in these photos.

GAR gatherings in Dansville, Livingston County, New York