Speakers at the 1919 Convention

  <>A photograph was taken of 46 Bible Students who were speakers at the 1919 Cedar Point Ohio convention. Some were directors of the Society and others were Pilgrims. This picture (below) was used in the Governing Body update number 8 for 2023 to show how many Bible Students were now choosing to be clean shaven. With grateful thanks to Bernhard, here is the photograph, then a key to the personnel in the photograph. Only a very few are unnamed.

     You may need to click on the image in some devices to see the photograph in full.

Key to personnel            

01                Salter, Walter Frederick

02                Robinson, Frederick Homer

03                Van Amburgh, William Edwin

04                Rutherford, Joseph Franklin

05                Wise, Charles Augustus

06                Sexton, Ernest David

07                Fisher, George Herbert

08                Woodworth, Clayton James Sr.

09                DeCecca, Giovanni

10                Baker, William Arthur

11                Hersee, William Matson

12                Boyd, (unknown)

13                Bowin, Martin Otto

14                Thorn, Walter John

15                Barker, Thomas E.

16                Robie, Rodney Lyman

17                Herr, Maurice L.

18                Thornton, T. H.

19                Sullivan, Ora Lee

20                Boyd, Benjamin H.

21                (unknown).

22                Graham, Alexander M.

23                Adam, Donald

24                Spring, W. H.

25                (unknown)

26                Rice, Vincent C.

27                Gillespie, John A.

28                Toole, Daniel

29                Pottie, P. D.

30                Barber, Richard Harvey

31                Zink, Louie F.

32                (unknown)

33                (unknown)

34                (unknown)

35                Pickering, W. H.

36                Kendall, George Samuel

37                Howlett, Matthew Arnold

38                Bauerlein, John Adam

39                Morton, H. Sydney

40                Edwardes, James Campbell

41                Coward, Evander Joel

42                (unknwn)

43                Riemer, Hugo Henry

44                Whelpton, Ernest

45                (unknown)

46                Eshleman, Jacob A.

Translation Help

 I cannot decipher the old script on this. Can you read the name?

 

Watchtower Museums.

 

Just a reminder. Never presume the Society has something, and never think, "Why would they want that?" Always ask, either through your congregation secretary or directly to Watchtower Society, 1 Kings Drive, Tuxedo Park, NY 10987. 

A. D. Jones and the Knickerbocker Bank

 I need some help with this. I'm pressed for time, but I need a good, clear image of this banknote. It's signed by Jones, and I want to use it as an illustration on volume three. Likely places are the Smithsonian. They have a huge money collection. The American Numismatic Society might have it. The Library of Congress, perhaps. Any of the New York City and State historical societies. So, can you help?

Some browsers will require you to click the image to see it entire. 

Martin of Braga c. 520–580 CE

 Your thoughtful comments welcome.

bishop of Saint Martin

to the polemic bishop

on the correction of the peasants

 

To the most blessed and most desirous of my brothers in Christ, Bishop Polemius, Bishop Martinus.

[1]

I have received the letter of your holy charity, in which you write to me that for the chastisement of the peasants, who are still held back by the ancient superstition of the pagans and pay more reverence to demons than to God, I should direct to you some of the origin of idols and their crimes, or a few of the many things written to you. But since it is necessary from the beginning of the world to extend to them even a little knowledge of reason, as if for a taste, it was necessary for me to touch upon the vast forest of past times and their actions in the language of abbreviated, thin accounts, and to prepare food for the peasants in the language of the peasants. Thus, then, with the help of God, will be the beginning of your preaching:

[2]

We desire, dearest children, to announce to you in the name of the Lord what you have either not heard at all, or, having heard, perhaps you have forgotten. We therefore ask your charity to listen more attentively to what is said for your salvation. It is indeed a long order directed by the divine scriptures, but in order that you may retain even a little of it in memory, we recommend to you a few of the several.

[3]

When God had made heaven and earth in the beginning, in that heavenly abode he made spiritual creatures, that is, angels, who stood before him and praised him. One of whom, who had become the first archangel of all, seeing himself shining in such glory, did not give honor to God his creator, but said he was like him; and for this pride he was thrown down with the other numerous angels who agreed with him from that heavenly seat in that air which is under heaven. and he who had previously been an archangel, having lost the light of his glory, became a dark and terrible devil. In the same way, those other angels who had agreed with him were cast out of heaven with him and, having lost their splendor, became demons. But the rest of the angels who were subject to God continue in the glory of their brightness in the presence of the Lord; and they themselves are called holy angels. For those who, with their prince Satan, were cast down because of their pride, are called fugitive angels and demons.

[4]

After this angelic fall it pleased God to form man from the clay of the earth, whom he placed in paradise; and he told him that if he had kept the commandment of the Lord, he would succeed without death in that heavenly place, whence those fugitive angels had fallen; but if he had transgressed the commandment of God, he would die death Seeing therefore that the devil had therefore become man, that he might succeed in the kingdom of God in his place, from whence he fell, he was led by envy to urge man to transgress the commandments of God. For this offense man was thrown from paradise into exile in this world, where he suffered many hardships and pains.

[5]

Now the first man was called Adam, and his woman whom God created from his own flesh was called Eve. From these two men sprang every race of men. Those who, forgetting their creator, the god, committed many crimes and provoked the god to anger. For this reason God sent a flood and destroyed them all, except one righteous man, named Noah, whom he reserved with his sons for the restoration of the human race. From the first man, Adam, until the flood, two thousand two hundred and forty-two years passed.

[6]

After the flood, the human race was again recovered by the three sons of Noah, who were saved with their wives. And when the growing population began to fill the world, men again forgetting God, the creator of the world, began to worship the creatures, forsaking the creator. Some worshiped the sun, others the moon or the stars, others fire, others deep water or fountains of water, believing that all these things were not made by God for the use of men, but that they themselves arose from God.

[7]

Then the devil, or his servants, the demons, who were cast down from heaven, seeing ignorant men, released by God their creator, wandering among the creatures, began to show themselves to them in different forms, and to speak with them, and to expect from them, as on high mountains and in leafy forests they offered sacrifices to him and worshiped him as a god, imposing on him the names of wicked men who had spent their lives in all crimes and crimes, so that another would say that he was Jupiter, who had been a sorcerer and incestuous in so many adulteries that he married his sister, who was called Juno , he corrupted his daughters Minerva and Venus, and disgraced his nieces and all his relatives. But another demon called himself Mars, who was the author of quarrels and discord. Then another demon chose to call himself Mercury, who was the cunning inventor of all theft and fraud; to whom men, eager as if to the god of gain, pass by at the cross-roads, throw stones and heaps of rocks as a sacrifice. Another demon also ascribed to himself the name of Saturn, who, living in all cruelty, even devoured his own children at birth. Another demon also confided herself to be Venus, who was a harlot. She was not only a prostitute with innumerable adulterers, but also with her father Jupiter and her brother Mars.

[8]

Behold, what were these lost men like at that time, whom the ignorant countrymen honored most wretchedly by their inventions, whose names the devils therefore attributed to themselves, that they might worship them as if they were gods, and offer sacrifices to them, and imitate their deeds, whose names they invoked. The demons also persuaded them to make temples for them and to place there images or statues of wicked men and to set up altars for them, on which they would pour out for them the blood not only of animals but also of men. In addition to these, many demons from among those who have been expelled from heaven preside over the sea, or rivers, or springs, or forests, whom likewise men, ignorant of God, worship as if they were gods, and sacrifice to them. And indeed they call Neptune in the sea, Lamias in the rivers, Nymphs in the fountains, Dianas in the woods, all of which are evil demons and wicked spirits, who harm and harass unbelieving men, who do not know how to defend themselves with the sign of the cross. However, they do not harm without God's permission, because God is angry with them and do not believe with all their heart in the faith of Christ, but they are so doubtful that they name the very names of demons every day, and call the day Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturn, which have no they made the day, but they were the worst and most wicked men in the Greek nation.

[9]

But God Almighty, when He made the heavens and the earth, He then created light, which, through the distinction of God's works, has been turned seven times. For first God made light, which was called day; secondly, the firmament of heaven was made; thirdly, the land is divided by the sea; in the fourth, the sun, the moon, and the stars were made; on the fifth quadrupeds and birds and birds; the sixth man was fashioned; and on the seventh day, when he had completed all his world and his ornaments, the god called rest. The one light, therefore, which was first made in the works of God, by the distinction of the works of God, having passed seven times, is called a week. What kind of madness is it, then, that a man baptized in the faith of Christ, does not worship the Sunday on which Christ rose, and says that he worships Jupiter, and Mercury, and Friday, and Saturn, which have no day, but were adulterers, and magicians, and wicked men, and who died evilly in the province his own! But, as we have said, under the guise of these names veneration and honor are offered to demons by foolish men.

[10]

In the same way, this error creeps in on the ignorant and rustic, so that they think that January is the beginning of the year, which is absolutely false. For, as the Holy Scripture says, 8 Cal. The beginning of the first year was made in April at the very equinox. For it is read thus: And God divided between light and darkness . But every right division has equality, as in 8 Cal. April has as many hours in the day as in the night. And therefore it is false that the calendar of January is the beginning of the year.

[11]

Now, what is to be said about that most foolish mistake with pain, because they observe the days of moths and mice, and if it is true that a Christian man worships mice and moths instead of God? If, by way of protection, a cup or an ark is not brought to them, or bread or cloth, they will by no means spare what they have found for the holidays presented to them. But without reason the miserable man himself makes these prefigurations, so that, as if at the beginning of the year he is satisfied and happy with everything, so it may happen to him throughout the whole year. All these observations of the pagans are elaborated by the inventions of demons. But woe to that man who has not had the mercy of God and has not been given by him the fullness of bread and the security of life! Behold, you make these vain superstitions either secretly or openly, and never cease from these sacrifices to demons. And why do they not guarantee you that you are always satisfied and secure and happy? Why, when the god is angry, do not vain sacrifices protect you from locusts, mice, and many other tribulations, which an angry god sends you?

[12]

Do you not clearly understand that the demons are lying to you in these observations of yours which you hold in vain, and in the omens which you attend to, they often play tricks on you? For as the wisest Solomon says: divination and omens are vain ; and the more a man fears them, the more his heart is deceived. Do not give your heart to them, because they have offended many . Behold, the Holy Scripture says this, and it is most certainly so, because for so long unhappy men persuade demons with the voices of birds, until they lose the faith of Christ through frivolous and vain things, and they themselves fall unexpectedly into the destruction of their own death. God did not command man to know the future, but that, always living in fear of him, he should seek from him the guidance and help of his life. It is only for God to know before anything happens, but men play with vain demons with different arguments, until they lead them to offend God and drag their souls with them into hell, as they did from the beginning through their envy, lest man should enter the kingdom of heaven, from which they were cast out.

[13]

For which reason also, when God saw the wretched men so deceived by the devil and his evil angels that, forgetting their creator, they worshiped demons instead of God, he sent his son, that is, wisdom and his word, to bring them back to the worship of the true God from the error of the devil . And because the divinity of the Son of God could not be seen by men, he took human flesh from the womb of the virgin Mary, conceived not by the marriage of a man, but by the Holy Spirit. Born therefore in human flesh, the Son of God, an invisible God hidden within, but a visible man outside, preached to men: he taught them, leaving idols and evil works, to get out of the power of the devil and to return to the worship of their Creator. After teaching, he wanted to die for the human race. He suffered death willingly, not unwillingly; He was crucified by the Jews under the judge Pilate Pontius, who was born in the province of Pontus and presided over the province of Syria at that time. He was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb. on the third day he rose alive from the dead, and for forty days he conversed with his twelve disciples, and, in order to show that his true flesh had risen, he ate after the resurrection in front of his disciples. After forty days had passed, he commanded his disciples to announce to all the nations the resurrection of the Son of God, and to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit for the remission of sins, and to teach those who had been baptized to depart from evil works, that is, from idols, from murders. from theft, from perjury, from fornication, and what they would not do to others they would not do to themselves. And after he had commanded these things, in the sight of the disciples himself, he ascended into heaven, and there sits at the right hand of the Father, and from there he will come at the end of this world with the very flesh which he took up with him into the heavens.

[14]

But when the end of that world comes, all the nations and every man who traces his origin from those first men, that is, from Adam and Eve, will all rise again, both good and evil; and all will come before the judgment of Christ, and then those who have been faithful and good in their lives will be separated from the bad and will enter the kingdom of God with the holy angels, and their souls will be with their flesh in eternal rest, never to die again, where there will no longer be anyone for them neither toil nor pain, neither sadness, nor hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor cold, neither darkness nor night, but always happy, full, in light, in glory, they will be like the angels of God, because they have already deserved to enter into that place from where the devil came. He fell with the angels who agreed with him. All those who have been faithful to God will remain there for eternity. For those who have been unbelieving, or have not been baptized, or certainly, if they have been baptized, after their baptism have returned again to idols and murders or adulteries, or to perjury and other evils, and have died without repentance, all who are found to be such are damned with the devil and together with all the demons whom they worshiped and whose works they did, and are sent into eternal fire with their flesh in hell, where that unquenchable fire lives forever, and that flesh, now recovered from the resurrection, is tormented eternally. He longs to die again, that he may not feel the punishments, but he is not permitted to die, that he may endure eternal torments. Behold, the law speaks this, the prophets speak this, the gospel of Christ says this, the apostle says this, all holy scripture testifies to this; which we have simply told you, or a few of the many. It is yours from now on, dearest children, to remember what has been said by us, and either by doing well to hope for a future rest in the kingdom of God, or (which is far from it!) to wait for a future eternal fire in hell by doing evil. For both eternal life and eternal death are placed at the discretion of man. Each one will have what he chose for himself.

[15]

You therefore, the faithful, who in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit have come to Christ's baptism, consider what kind of covenant you have made with God in baptism itself. For when each of you gave your name to the fountains, for example, Peter or John or any other name, you were asked by the priest: "How are you called?" Either you answered, if you were already able to answer, or at least he who made faith for you, who received you from the fountain, and said, for example: "It is called John." And the priest asked: "John, do you deny the devil and his angels, his cults and idols, his thefts and frauds, his fornications and drunkenness, and all his evil works?" And you answered: "Abandonment." After this renunciation of the devil, you were asked again by the priest: "Do you believe in God the Father Almighty?" You answered: "I believe." "And in Jesus Christ, his only son, our God and Lord, who was born of the Holy Spirit from the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified and buried, descended into hell, rose alive from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, from thence shall He come to judge the living and the dead? Do you believe?" And you answered: "I believe." And you were asked again: "Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the forgiveness of all sins, the resurrection of the flesh, and eternal life?" And you answered: "I believe." Behold, then, consider what kind of covenant you made with God in baptism. You have promised to renounce the devil and his angels and all his evil works, and you have confessed that you believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and that you hope for the resurrection of the flesh and eternal life at the end of the world.

[16]

Behold, what kind of warning and confession is held by God! And how come some of you, who renounced the devil and his angels and his cultures and his evil works, just return to the devil's cultures again? For to set fire to rocks and to trees and to fountains and by paths, what is else but the culture of the devil? To observe divinations and auguries and the days of idols, what else is it but the culture of the devil? To observe the Vulcans and the Kalends, to decorate the tables, and lay the laurels, and to observe the feet, and to pour grain and wine in the hearth upon the trunk, and to cast bread into the spring, what else but the culture of the devil? For women to name Minerva in their cloths, and to observe Friday as the day of marriage, and to attend to the day on which she goes out on the road, is this anything else but the culture of the devil? Enchanting herbs to do evil and invoking the names of demons by incantation, what else is the culture of the devil? And many other things that take a long time to say. Behold, you do all these things after renouncing the devil, after baptism, and, returning to the culture of demons and the evil works of idols, you have crossed your faith and broken the covenant you made with God. You have given up the sign of the cross, which you received in baptism, and other signs of the devil, by birds and sneezes, and by many other things attended to you. Why does the augury not harm me or any righteous Christian? For where the sign of the cross has preceded, there is no sign of the devil. Why does it hurt you? Because you despise the sign of the cross, and fear that which you set as a sign for yourselves. Similarly, you let go of the holy incantation, that is the symbol that you received in baptism, which is I believe in God the Father Almighty , and the Sunday prayer, that is our Father who art in heaven , and you hold diabolical incantations and songs. Whoever, therefore, despising the sign of the cross of Christ, looks at other signs, has lost the sign of the cross which he received in baptism. Similarly, he who holds other charms found by magicians and evildoers, has lost the charm of the holy symbol and of the Lord's prayer, which he received in faith in Christ, and has inculcated faith in Christ, because God and the devil cannot be worshiped at the same time.

[17]

If, therefore, my beloved children, you have recognized all these things that we have said, if anyone realizes that after receiving baptism he has done these things and broken the faith of Christ, he will not despair of himself, nor say in his heart: "Because I have done so many evils after baptism, perhaps God will not forgive my sins my." Do not doubt the mercy of God. Only make a covenant with God in your heart, that you will no longer worship the cults of demons, nor worship anything other than the God of heaven, nor commit murder, nor commit adultery or fornication, nor commit theft, nor destroy. And when you have promised God this with all your heart, and you will not commit these sins any more, trust in God's forgiveness, because thus says God through the prophetic scripture: On whatever day the unjust has forgotten his iniquities and done justice, and I will forget all his iniquities . God therefore waits for the repentance of the sinner. But this repentance is true, so that a man no longer does the evils he has done, but asks for forgiveness for past sins, and for the future he is careful not to return to them again, but rather, on the contrary, performs good works, so as to give alms to the hungry poor, to refresh the weary guest. and whatever he wishes to be done to him by another, he must do to another, and what he does not wish to be done to him, he must not do to another, because in this word the commandments of God are fulfilled.

[18]

We beseech you therefore, dearest brothers and children, that these precepts, which God deigns to give you through us humble and little ones, keep in memory and think how you can save your souls, so that you do not only deal with this present life and the transitory benefits of this world, but remember that which in the symbol you promised to believe, that is, the resurrection of the flesh and eternal life. If, therefore, you have believed and continue to believe that there will be a resurrection of the flesh and eternal life in the kingdom of heaven among the angels of God, as we have already told you above, then think as much as you can about this, and not always about the miseries of this world. Prepare your way in good works. Frequent to pray to God in the church or through the holy places. Do not despise Sunday, which is therefore called Sunday, because the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, rose from the dead in him, but worship it with reverence. Do not do servile work, that is, field, meadow, vineyard, or any other heavy work, on Sunday, except so much as it pertains to the necessity of restoring the body for cooling food and the necessity of a long journey. And in nearby places it is permissible to make a way on Sunday, not for bad occasions, but rather for good ones, that is, either to walk to holy places, or to visit a brother or friend, or to console the sick, or to bring advice or help to someone in trouble for a good cause. In this way, then, it is proper for a Christian man to honor Sunday. For it is quite unjust and disgraceful that those who are pagans and do not know the Christian faith, worshiping the idols of demons, worship the day of Jupiter or any other demon and abstain from work, when certainly no day was created or possessed by demons. And we, who worship the true God and believe that the Son of God rose from the dead, the day of his resurrection, that is Sunday, we have not come at all! Do not, therefore, do wrong to the resurrection of the Lord, but honor it and worship it with reverence because of our hope which we have in it. For just as our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is our head, rose from the dead on the third day, so we, who are his members, hope to rise again in our flesh at the end of the age, so that each one may either have eternal rest or eternal punishment. as he did in his body in this world, so let him receive.

[19]

Behold, we, under the testimony of God and the holy angels who hear us, just speaking, we discharge our debt to your charity, and we have lent you the Lord's money, as we have commanded. It is your duty to think carefully and take care how each one will represent what he has received to the coming lord with interest on the day of judgment. And we pray for the mercy of the Lord himself, that he may keep you from all evil, and make you worthy companions of his holy angels in his kingdom, by the excellency of him who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

 

Herald of the Morning, April 1881

 Barbour's comment on A. D. Jones. This is totally puzzling; do we at all know where Barbour got this idea? AND do we have a better image of this page?

Jones and Littell

 A. D. Jones stores started as Jones and Littell. Who is the Littell of this partnership?

No issue remains. See below:

Criss G.

 Way back in the day, 2008 I think, you sent me a copy of a past-in that A.D. Jones stuck inside the copies of Millennial Dawn he sold through the Day Star. Will you please resend it.

Bruce

Check in

 Many of our old-time readers have disappeared from the scene. I know some have died. But leave a comment below if you're alive and well.

Albert and Carrie Jones

 New Jersey birth records tell us that the Jones had a still born daughter. Date of birth is June 5, 1884. Do we know more? 

Their divorce record tells us they had three living children in 1889. I only know the name of one, Ella L. Can we find the names of the other two?

Carrie's full name, according to New York records is: Caroline Maria Bown

Translation Help, Please

 For another project. I cannot read this handwriting. Can you translate it to English. Your help is appreciated.

A Photodrama Advert

 

This would be a modern News Service / Public Relations dream. A full page from The Waco Tribune for May 27, 1914.

Pasadena Photo Drama

Photodrama advertising in Pasadena, California, uncertain date but post 1914. Colorized by Leroy. I’ve checked what digitalized California newspapers I could find but found nothing helpful. I cannot date this photo to the exact year. Perhaps you can lead us to it. If so we’ll all appreciate your work My apologies to Jerome for ruining his remarks as they originally appeared. I inadvertently deleted them and was unable to restore them.

Joseph up a Ladder

 

     It is always nice to see snapshots of well known people, not posing but caught in some action. This little article is about a casual snapshot of Joseph F Rutherford (Judge Rutherford) perched on top of a ladder. It was taken at the 1924 Columbus, Ohio, convention.

     The quality is not very good, but below is the complete picture as found in a photo album belonging to someone who was there.

     The photographer had written in the book:

     The book belonged to Lillian C. M. Engelhardt. Her name is written on the cover.

     Another photo in the book shows Lillian behind a nice “IBSA” and “Millions” display on the back of a car.

     A further photo in the book shows Lillian with a young man, and the picture caption reads “Us.” However, on the reverse of the photo are two names – H. W. Carpenter and Lillian’s.

     How could Lillian and H.W. be “Us?” A check on Ancestry shows they were both single at that 1924 convention. Nevertheless, they viewed themselves as an “item” and were subsequently married on November 6, 1926. Their marriage certificate shows they were married by a minister of the International Bible Students Association.

     Herbert M Carpenter (1896-1977) and Lillian Caroline M Engelhardt (1902-1999) were to have one daughter, Rose Joy Carpenter, born in 1929. Trade directories show them having a clothes cleaning (laundry) business in Houston, Texas. They have an entry on the Find a Grave site.

     Their subsequent history is unknown. It may be that, although Joy later married, the direct family line died out. This could explain how, sadly, their photographic record ended up with strangers on eBay.

     But it does provide us with a nice little candid shot of JFR on top of a ladder!

Health emergency.

 We have a health emergency. It looks as if I will need to sell my 1896 Zion's Watch Tower bound volume. It lacks the songbook issue, but is otherwise complete. The original biding is ratty and there is an old repair or two. If you're interested, make me an offer over 1750 dollars. 

Herald of Gospel Liberty 1904

 Your observations welcome:

Herald of Gospel Liberty – December 15, 1904, page 790. 

Private Interpretation.

By Rev. S. B. Bloomfield. 

There appeared in the HERALD an account of a division, into two parties, of a certain church in Indiana, over the teachings of two certain ministers, one of the Christians, the other a Holiness minister. Setting forth in the decision of the judge is the fact (if it be a fact), that every member of the church has the right to interpret the Bible for himself and to believe, teach and practice the doctrine, taught in the Scripture, according to his own belief of their meaning; Christian character being the test of Christian fellowship, Christ, the only recognized head and master of said church. Brethren, do you or do you not stand by these principles. Has a brother the right to teach and preach the Bible, and to expound the same as he may understand it? Say Yes, and No. Yes, if he is being led by the Holy Spirit into all truth, he has; and No, if he has not been so led. But did not the brethren of Paul's time find some that had not even heard that there was a Holy Spirit, and they were taken and taught more perfectly? And is not that the proper way? God’s people are one, and the one spirit holy; and it should teach them not that which we conceive to be proper, but try them by the word and the Spirit in the spirit of a sound mind. We must first believe, understand, that the Jehovah, the creator of the universe, whose only son, (begotten son) was Jesus Christ, and we by him, and by whom all things were made, and "without him was not anything made,” this same personage is the author of our Bible, that it is his word. Second, that salvation, deliverance, is from that which was lost (all was lost in Adam) and that it is by grace, favor that we are granted life on any plane,) but by the favor of Jehovah through Christ. Says the apostle. We have grace upon grace; called to have shares with Jesus; immortality, hence, we are to seek immortality. That death is destruction, and not life in torment; "God is a God of love." Paul in first Cor. says, "If we in this life only have hope, we are of all men most miserable." Why? Because Satan is the prince of this world, and has the power of death, but Christ will destroy him, and open the grave in the resurrection. The great atonement sacrifice is Christ , head and body ; we are his body, and bring up that of the suffering of Christ, for the sins of the world, in this our day, atonement day, which is from Christ's first advent in the flesh till his second as a quickening spirit, the first fruits of the spirit.  

We are now in the harvest of this age of this age Christ is chief reaper, and is present as such though invisible, and his kingdom is now in process of organization, which will in a very short time overturn all the nations of earth, destroy evil, bind Satan and rule the earth, as its rightful Prince, fill the earth with life, beauty and glory, for God says "I will give you beauty for ashes." These brethren, are some of my conclusions, drawn from that old Bible, having been a minister of the word for fifty years, and first a member of the Miami Christian Conference, ordained in said conference, when I. N. Walter was its president, at Carysville, Ohio, yet I have been in the state for years, and have not so much as been asked by any of its ministers to give an address or preach a sermon.

 Maybe the reason lies in the fact, that I am a student of C. F. Russell. [sic] His works, the Millennial Dawn series of helps to Bible study, which help to the understanding of the Word, I consider superior to any other. And so with the tracts; I consider Russell, Hastings, Miles Grant, Couch on the Prophets, the deep thinkers of our day; not but what there are others, but that these stand out in bold relief as minds led by the spirit of God; if this be true, brethren, remember that the church stands for the principles first named; then why your treatment of brethren who may see different? 

Eaton, Ohio.

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.