We need ...

First edition of Separate Identity made it to press with typos and such. We need a list of them all. We continue to work on getting an ebook out, though it's 'paused' because of another issue.

There is a possibility that a well-known university press will take on the books. Don't count on it. We have several 'issues' to overcome. One is cost. As it's published now, the cost is moderate. It would increase perhaps by an overwhelming amount. George's book costs about 150.00 USD. We want our book to be read. So we're just 'talking' with nothing at all settled. If you don't hear about this again, assume we couldn't reach an agreement.

But we still need to clean up the book. So read through it; note the typos; send me a list.

Also, if you really want to help, recommend the books to your friends, and leave a review on Amazon, googlebooks and lulu. Reviews are important. Those we have are good, but we don't have many.

Help find this?

The Flaming Sword of March 1898 said:

The Morning Star says that Mr. C. T. Russell, the editor of the Watch Tower, Allegheny, Pa., "is one of the numerous so called Messiahs with which this country is so amply surfeited.” His claims amount to this; he has not yet mustered up sufficient courage to make the claim emphatically; it would interfere with his revenues. He has a hobby, and is riding it for all it is worth, but it is not worth much. His observatory is out of shape the tower is not high enough, and it limits his horizon; its foundation is crumbling, and will no longer bear the huge, cross-eyed telescope which he employs.

We need the original Morning Star article, but we can't even identify the magazine. HELP!

With Jerome's expert help: 

 

Amateur films from the 1940s and 1950s

Rachael suggested that these might make a nice "filler" for the blog, although far too recent for the era being researched. These two films have turned up on YouTube. They come from Britain.

One is a series of amateur films of the witnesses' conventions and preaching work from the 1940s. There is a commentary of sorts from someone who was "there". I wasn't "there" but I knew personally some of those featured. The other is a film of the 1955 international convention at Twickenham. I was definitely "there" - somewhat shorter than I am now - but alas, am not preserved on celluloid on this occasion. For any British readers of this blog of the right age - enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovJEXjla_18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxKVck7Ldck

Roberto's analysis of the Greek Handbills

... with slight English language help from Rachael ...

Ioannis Derziotis

The name of the speaker is Ioannis Derziotis, the lecture is "The Desirable Government."  In the lower part of the bill we have day and month, Sunday October 19, but no year. "A Desirable Government" was a booklet written by Rutherford in 1924 and translated in several  languages. (I have a copy in Italian language dated 1924.) So the day must be Sunday, October 19, 1924. The other possible date is far-off, Sunday October 19 1930.

So the only correct date of the bill can be Sunday, October 19, 1924. 

Nick Konstantopoulos

The name of the speaker is Nick Konstantopoulos, the lecture is “Organization of Satan’s Empire.” In the lower part of the handbill we have day and month, Sunday 25 January, but no date. In the years 1922-1925 there were a series of resolutions at the Bible Students Conventions against Satan and his Empire (See W56 8/1 pp. 467-74). The handbill can be related  to a doctrinal change in progress about Armageddon. In the Watch Tower of July 15, 1925, the leading article entitled “The Remnant” set forth for the first time that Armageddon is not a disorganized “time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation,” or a violent, anarchistic battle between capital and organized labor, but is a universal fight between Jehovah God and the entire organization of Satan the Devil in heaven and on earth.  Note that in those years the “System of things” was called “Empire of Satan”.

Well, the only possible date for this bill is: Sunday, 25 January, 1925 

We need a date for this one too

Can we date this?

Useful purpose ...

Without engagement from blog readers, this site serves no useful purpose. We will no longer publish research for volume 2 here, but will share it with a couple of informed fellow researchers. If you do not comment here, you will not find a place on the mailing list.

This blog will not die. But it won't present the meat of our research, only side issues or requests for research help.

Posting long, complex research is time consuming, sometimes difficult. Those posts are not appreciated, seemingly not wanted. If they were appreciated, we'd get a comment from you. We don't. I'm not wasting my time presenting that kind of material.

Jerome has several articles in preparation that you will find interesting. Watch for them. That kind of article will continue to appear and so will interesting illustrations. The complex material is going away.

Facebook

The Facebook issue never goes away. Facebook is not a secure and safe site. You compromise us and yourself when you link to this blog. DO NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG VIA FACEBOOK. SHOW SOME RESPECT. STOP IT.

Facebook compromises your privacy. It is paternalistic, intrusive and dictatorial. DO NOT BRING IT HERE.

The point of it ...

We post some of our current project here for comments. Hopefully, the comments are educated and informed, though often that's an unreasonable expectation. However, it takes little time for our readers to say whether they liked or hated or were confused by what we post. It hardly seems worth while posting extensive bits of work if it goes unread and unacknowledged.

I don't foresee us continuing the practice. Our readers seem to like fluff history rather than meaty stuff. 

Our research is almost totally self-funded from the sale of our book or out of our own pockets. You can help by recommending our books and by leaving reviews on Amazon, Google Books, and Lulu.

Rutherford Speech - Uncertain Date

Mike C. identified this as an Ink Blotter from the 1923 NYC convention.

Thanks Mike.

Basil Stephanoff and the work in European Turkey

Rough draft, temporary post. This will change. Don't rely on it. It's preliminary. Usual rules. You may make a copy for yourself. Do not circulate it. Use this information cuatiously, knowing it will change in final form.

updated:

European Turkey

            The map of Europe as it was in 1880 hardly resembles that of today. Much of Eastern Europe was controlled by an oppressive Turkish government whose representatives robbed, raped and murdered Christians. Regional nationalism embroiled western governments. And at first autonomy and then independence came to that area. Jehovah’s Witnesses: Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, a nominally anonymous Watch Tower publication, reported that, “During the late 1880’s, Basil Stephanoff had preached in Macedonia, in what was then European Turkey. Although some had seemed to show interest, certain ones who professed to be brothers made false reports, leading to his imprisonment.”[1]

            This is all drawn from two letters appearing in Zion’s Watch Tower. The real story is far more colorful and certainly more complex – and in places very hard to follow. Born in May 1862, in Macedonia,[2] then ruled by Turkey, we encounter him first in the June 1888, Watch Tower. Writing to Russell, he reported on his mission work in Macedonia:

remainder of this post has been deleted

My German is very poor

But here is what I get out of the post below. Please refine this if you can:

A letter from Macedonia. –

Several years ago, Basil Stephanoff, a citizen of Macedonia in the European Turkey, came to this country to learn English and to learn the religion and the laws and statutes of our country. He visited Elkhart and spent some time here. He visited the various communities and preached in several places. Afterwards, he returned to his home. We publish a letter we recently received from him, which will no doubt interest our readers.

Monastir, Macedonia, European Turkey,

January 31, 1888.

Beloved brother in Christ:

I thank you for your kindness in regularly sending me the "Herald of Truth.” It offers much that is interesting. It contains articles full of encouragement and truth. The Lord bless your faith and life’s work.  

Our work is progressing well. In the near future, I intend to support one or two [???Onlyborn???] and four other American missionaries. We trust in God for all our needs. Even though I've already been through fiery trials, so far the Lord hasn’t left us. God’s grace is sufficient and the cross is my protection and fortress.

Last Sunday morning (29 Jan) I preached from Acts 17 about the "unknown God". About two hundred listeners gathered under my roof. The subject was principally about God, nature, and the Bible. In the evening the missionary accompanying me discussed GAL. 3. 18. The people were very interested. God be praised that the truth which was once proclaimed by the Saints in the dear old Macedonia again will be preached! I hope that yours are all healthy. I am glad to know that your work is thriving. Could you send me a copy of your new book 'Martyrs Mirror' (MärtyrerSpiegel)?... Continue to send me the "Herald." We intend to publish soon a tract explaining our beliefs, but we don't know if the Turkish Government will give us permission to do so.

We need a good English translation of this

Ein Brief aus Macedonien. – Vor mehreren Jahren kam Basil Stephanoff, ein Eingeborner von Macedonien im europäischen Theile der Türkei, nach diesem Lande, um die englische Sprache zu erlernen und mit der Religion und den Gesetzen und Ordnungen unseres Landes bekannt zu werden. Er besuchte Elkhart und hielt sich einige Zeit hier auf. Er besuchte die verschiedenen Gemeinden und predigte an mehreren Stellen. Nachher kehrte er wieder nach seiner Heimath zurück. Wir veröffentlichen hier einen Brief, den wir neulich von ihm erhalten, welcher unsere Leser ohne Zweifel interessieren wird.

M on a stir, Macedonien, europäische )
Türkei, 31. Januar 1888.

Geliebter Bruder in Christo:

Ich danke dir für deine Güte, daß du mir den „Herold der Wahrheit“ regelmäßig zusendest. Er bietet mir viel Interessantes dar. Er enthält Artikel voller Aufmunterung und Wahrheit. Der Herr segne dich in deinem Glaubens- und Liebeswerke. Unser Werk hat guten Fortgang. Ich habe vier andere Missionare aus Amerika bei mir und gedenke in Bälde einen oder zwei Eingeborne zu unterstützen. Wir vertrauen auf Gott für alle unsere Bedürfniffe. Bisher hat uns der Herr nicht verlaffen, obwohl ich schon feurige Prüfungen durchgemacht habe. Die Gnade Gottes ist genügend und das Kreuz ein Schutz- und Bergungsort für mich.

Letzten Sonntagmorgen (29. Jan.) predigte ich über Apftg. 17 von dem „unbekannten Gott“. Es hatten sich circa zweihundert Zuhörer unter meinem Dach versammelt. Der Gegenstand war hauptsächlich von Gott, der Natur und der Bibel. Abends redete der mich begleitende Missionar über Gal. 3. 18. Das Volk war sehr interessiert. Gottlob, daß nun wieder die Wahrheit, die einst den Heiligen im lieben alten Macedonien verkündigt wurde, nun wieder vorgetragen wird! Ich hoffe, daß die Deinigen alle gesund sind. Es freut mich zu erfahren, daß euer Werk so gutes Gedeihen hat. Könntest du mir ein Exemplar eures neuen Buches “Martyrs Mirror” (MärtyrerSpiegel) zuschicken ?..... Schicke mir den „Herold“ noch ferner zu. Wir gedenken bald ein Blatt nach unserem Glauben zu veröffentlichen, doch wissen wir noch nicht, ob die türkische Regierung uns Erlaubniß dazu geben wird. Mit herzlicher Liebe und Gruß verbleibe ich euer

Bajil Stephan off.

David D. Paterson

We do not have details yet, but believe he associated with Barbour up to 1878. If you have the pdf files of the Herald of the Morning for the early years, will you please read through them for any reference to D. D. Paterson.

Basil Stephanoff again.

We now know that Stephanoff was in America in 1885. We do not know how or when he got there? Anyone?

We need a volunteer to ...

transcribe the article entitled Mrs. Gilbert's Mission found here
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1889-02-24/ed-1/seq-3.pdf

From the Comment Trail

A brief mention of Viola Gilbert from a chapter on the book Plan of the Ages:

Bill Arp’s endorsement was used to promote the book to other editors.

Charles Henry Smith, Writing as Bill Arp, Reviewed

The Plan of the Ages for the Atlanta Constitution

[Photo]

A Viola Gilbert, the widow of a wealthy New Yorker,[1] used it to approach The Brooklyn Eagle. Her success was limited, however. The paper only printed a single sentence: “Viola Gilbert, New York, announces “Millennial Dawn, the Plan of the Ages,” which is vouched for by no less a journalistic authority than “Bill Arp.”[2] Following her February 1888 endorsement of Millennial Dawn, she organized a meeting at Cooper Union. The New York Daily Tribune reported:

Mrs. Viola Gilbert spoke in the large meeting-room at Cooper Union yesterday on “The Plan of the Ages,” and explained by means of charts her ideas of the restitution of man to his original normal spiritual condition. Mrs. Gilbert is a slender woman, with a head that an artist would long to paint. She has mobile, refined and delicate features, while she speaks with an emotion that tends to carry conviction. The fall of man she interpreted for mankind’s good, as because of it man is to be restored, not only to the plane from which Adam fell, but it is to be elevated to a spiritual and finally a divine plane. The evangelistic services conducted by Mrs. Gilbert are made interesting from the delicacy, grace and tact with which she conducts them The millennium exists around man now, she holds, and all that he needs to realize it is to place himself in harmony with the Divine mind. This will result in physical as well as spiritual health.[3]

---

[1]               Viola Gilbert’s name does not appear in Zion’s Watch Tower, and little is known about her. A letter from her to the editor of The New York Times appears in the April 13, 1899, issue. She signed herself as “Viola Gilbert, Evangelist.” The letter was a comment on wife-beating as endorsed by a judge in St. Louis. She published at least one tract against Christian Science after having “studied with” Mary Baker Eddy. The Christian Science Church denied the claim that she had studied with Eddy. (Letter to “Mul,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 26, 1901.) She did not continue her association with Zion’s Watch Tower, but remained independent until 1902 when she re-joined Plymouth Church, New York City. (The New York Sun, May 5, 1902)

                Gilbert rejected inherent immortality doctrine. In 1890 she preached at Zion’s Temple on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, often on topics familiar to Second Adventists and Age-to-Come believers. Gilbert was noted for standing on the street representing her pet causes by holding a tall cross festooned with purple streamers. A reporter for the New York Sun wrote: “Her refined appearance and her tall cross with its purple streamers and urgent message attracted the attention of even the least observant of the throngs of shippers hurrying by.” (See the October 6, 1901, issue.) By 1891 she was involved with the Progressive Party and a delegate to the Pennsylvania Yearly Meeting of Progressive Friends. She is quoted in the report as saying: “I have worked in the missionary field a long time, have pointed out the way to Christ to many different persons, but they can't live on faith. The condition of affairs is constantly growing worse. I see before us a great revolution. The rich are growing richer and the poor poorer. Faith and works must go together.” – Report, page 72.

[2]               Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 5, 1888. Untitled paragraph.

[3]               Explaining the “Divine Plan of the Ages,” The New York Daily Tribune, March 16, 1888.

Street Evangelist who circulated Plan of the Ages in New York City 1886

We need a volunteer

... to transcribe the article about the Children of Zion found here http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/viewer/?file=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%252023%2FPhiladelphia%2520PA%2520Inquirer%2FPhiladelphia%2520PA%2520Inquirer%25201881%2FPhiladelphia%2520PA%2520Inquirer%25201881%2520-%25201310.pdf&highlightsFile=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2Fhighlighter%2Fhits%2F29323b19334f08c4309eab842728dffe#page=1

Into word format text. Anyone? We need it quickly as possible.

done. thanks.

Really Important

Basil Stephanoff gets short mention in Proclaimers. He was active in Macedonia (European Turkey) and Bulgaria in the late 1880s. He was imprisoned because (he claimed) false testimony at the hands of false brethren. He escaped to America, settling in Michigan. He was still a Watch Tower adherent in 1894, but drifted away by 1903 when we find him involved with the Masons and on his way back to Macedonia to fight against the Turks. A religious journal calls him a General in the Macedonian resistance. 

We need a more solid biography. Anything, no matter how minor, will help.

Update:

We don't often find photos of the characters who play their part in Watch Tower history, but ... Here is Basil Stephanoff ...

  
Another newspaper picture of  Stephanoff

 

Email about a history journal article

Besides me (Y. Dyuo), Ambassador and former minister of foreign affairs Liberia, Christopher Minikon, read the article. He is a historian and used to teach Liberian history in Liberia and abroad. Upon reading, we found that the article was incredibly informative and detailed.

Ambassador Minikon read and said "From what I know off hand, things seem accurate and fair. While giving incredible insight into matters that usually aren't talked about."

Attention Korea Telecom Visitors

한국인들은 여기 환영 하지 않습니다.

hangug-indeul-eun yeogi hwan-yeong haji anhseubnida.

For puzzled English readers, this is an invitation to the 

Korean

spammers to get lost in a distant forest. 

Do You Know?

I think ...

That you misunderstood my previous post. We have no intention of abbreviating anything. The issue is format. And to a lesser extent timing. So, restated: We can issue a volume 2 roughly the size of volume 1. It would cost approximately the same as vol 1 does. Volume 3 would come later.

Or we can finish our current outline; that's about seven more chapters. It will be a bigger book. It would cost more. We're uncertain how much more, but more than I would willingly pay.

We have no intention, either way, of abbreviating our research. Does this alter your opinion?

Pyramid Film

So ....

We've looked over the accumulating pile of manuscript pages and have decisions to make. The point of our work is to preserve a detailed history of the Watch Tower movement's earliest years. Detail is important to our story. We hope that others, based on our honest, detailed narrative, will be able to tell a more abbreviated story that is accurate and faithful to the underlying documents.

Our initial goal was a single volume history. We did not anticipate a two volume work, mostly because we did not appreciate the depth of the available record. When we saw that we had a complete single volume with more to go, we published volume one of Separate Identity. Academic acceptance has been slow coming, but increasingly we get good reviews and favorable mentions in the work of others. ... And we plod on with volume two.

Except, looking over the manuscript pile [it's really in a three-ring binder], we conclude that volume two will be massively large and too expensive to buy - or we will have a volume three before we're done. I'd like your reaction.

We are within four chapters of having a 'finished' volume 2. They are some of the hardest to research and write, but we can change focus and write them next. The plan was to write two chapters on the divisions of 1881-1882 next. Those chapters would fall into a third volume. What we have left for a completed volume two are chapters on Starting and Promoting Zion's Watch Tower; Continued Controversy with Barbour et. al. [Much more here than you may think.]; Promoting a Public Ministry; Approach to 1881.

So ... What do you think. We need your input and fairly quickly.

Newspaper Ad for J. C. Sunderlin's Photography 1888

ONCE AGAIN ...

Please do not link to this blog through Facebook, tumblr or pinerest. Twitter is okay. WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET YOUR ATTENTION? NO FACEBOOK LINKS, NO COPYING TO PINTEREST. Show some respect, please.

Kinemo Films again

Recently on this blog, there have been two articles on the 1922 issued Kinemo films, all of which present the beliefs of the Bible Students at that time, and feature J F Rutherford - albeit fleetingly - in some of the footage. For those who would like to see the films they are now on YouTube, courtesy of Brian, who who has painstakingly re-photographed every frame and made them available again after all these years.

Imperial Valley

https://youtu.be/-zIClU8TQtM

                                             

The Great Pyramid

https://youtu.be/S2snV8SyQVU

Palestine       

https://youtu.be/onCebb9bg6Q

If any new readers want background information on these films which were marketed with the approval of the Watch Tower Society with a write-up in The Golden Age magazine, please punch in Kinemo in the Search box of this blog.

We need a flat scan of this. Anyone have it?

Anti-Millennial Dawn Tract - Liberia 1888

Temporary Post

Bruce said to post this partially written material. We hope for helpful comments, though I personally don't expect any. ... If we found this difficult going, most of our readers will find it unfamiliar ground too. But 'hope springs eternal.'

Usual rules. You may copy for your own use. Do not share it. It will go away in a few days. Do not rely on it as is. It will change. It is unfinished research. Because something appears on the Internet does not mean it's accurate. That's true of our research as well. Expect corrections in the final product. Enjoy; comment!

Liberia

           A letter from Harper, Cape Palmas, Liberia, appeared in the June 1884, issue of Zion’s Watch Tower. Dated April 29^th, it was from a one-time Episcopal clergyman who had received a copy of Food for Thinking Christians:

DEAR BROTHER: – Having accidentally met with the little pamphlet published by you, entitled “Food for Thinking Christians,” and having carefully read it more than once, I am deeply interested in it, believing I get through it a clearer and more correct knowledge of the teaching of God's holy word than I ever had before. I am constrained to avail myself of your very liberal offer, and ask you to send to my address some copies for distribution among some of my friends and neighbors, who I think will make a judicious and profitable use of them. I should be also very thankful for a few of the tracts, entitled “The Tabernacle and Its Teachings.” Wishing you abundant success in your efforts for the good of mankind, I beg to remain, with assurance of high esteem, yours very respectfully,

            Later comments reveal this to be from Samuel W. Seton. Seton was a native Grebo born in Maryland County, Liberia. His exact birth date is unknown though it was sometime in the 1830s. His original name was Samuel Tobe Kade. He was educated at Protestant Episcopal mission schools and given the surname Seton at his baptism. Early in life he was “a seaman and a warrior,” but he turned to religion in the 1860s, serving first as a catechist. He and Samuel D. Ferguson were ordained Episcopal deacons in 1865.[1] Their relationship is part of this story, and we meet Ferguson again. Seton was ordained a priest in 1868. In the early 1870s he journeyed inland, preaching to unconverted natives.[2]

            As a native-born Liberian, Seton was despised by the Americo-Liberians, American-born or the descendants of American-born blacks who ruled the country. Jane Martin’s excellent biographical treatment of Seton notes that no Americo-Liberian ever asked an educated Grebo tribe member to dinner, “not even Rev. Seton.” Seton sought a return to tribal sovereignty, co-founding in 1873 the Grebo Confederacy, an attempt to unite the Grebo and reassert tribal soverignty. He opposed central government authority and some claimed he “was on the battlefield during armed conflict with the government” in 1875. Seton denied participating in the fighting, but he was a Grebo peace negotiator in 1876

the remainder of this post was deleted.

Another puzzle ...

We need a basic biography for Felix R. Bunot, teacher at Hoffman Station, Liberia in the 1870s.

Correction: His name is Felix R. Brunot.

MORE KINEMO

A previous article has shown frames from the two Kinemo films on Palestine and Egypt. The third film sold with the kit was Imperial Valley, a documentary about transforming part of California into paradise-like conditions. It was thought that J F Rutherford did not appear in this film as it was not part of his foreign travels in 1920-21. However, a close examination of what survives of this film shows one shot that appears to be him.

Now if only someone can find the film of the 1922 Cedar Point, Ohio, convention that was marketed by another company as compatible with the Kinemo system, that would be a real find. However, when Kinemo owners were all trying to sell on their kits up to the mid-1920s in newspapers like The New Era Enterprise, it was only the three original films, alas, on offer.

Another puzzle to solve

We have tentatively identified the people mentioned here. Can you do better?

He sought reinstatement in 1882, but this was denied. He reactivated his appeal in 1885, and this  appeal was still pending when he resigned from the Episcopal Church. Russell sent Seton regular literature shipments, including back issues of Zion’s Watch Tower. One of these was the September 1884 issue. It persuaded Seton and his closest associates to withdraw from the Protestant Episcopal Church. He wrote to Russell, describing the event: “I am glad to inform you that we, viz: Hon. J. T. G. [Joseph T. Gibson], the superintendent of our county, C. T. B. [Perhaps C. T. Bruno], George H. C. [Perhaps George H. Coleman], and myself – met at Brother G.'s residence on the first inst., and duly recognized ourselves as part of the Church of Christ, after reading the article ‘The Ecclesia,’ published in Z.W.T. of Sept. 1884.”[1] Though only these four are mentioned, there were ten adherents in total all derived from Seton’s congregation and all of them Watch Tower subscribers. They called their new congregation the African Evangelical Church of Christ.[2]

---

[1]               Extracts from Interesting Letters, Zion’s Watch Tower, February 1888, page 8.

[2]               M. A. Noll and C. Nystrom: Clouds of Witnesses: Christian Voices from Africa and Asia, IVP Books, Illinois, 2011, page 71.  View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, December 1887, page 1.

Can you help solve this puzzle?

            We’re seldom introduced to other Liberian interest. Seton’s letter takes us to the name of another reading and circulating Watch Tower material: “A recent letter from Bro. C. J. George to me, in reference to the Church of Christ, ... says: ‘When you communicate to America you will not fail to remind Bro. Russell of the interest that is being awakened at L___, and also to send me a few more of his tracts (assorted), missionary envelopes, and a copy of the Emphatic Diaglott.’”

            C. J. George’s identity is uncertain. There are two possibilities. Christopher J. George was a mission school teacher at Cape Palmas about 1885, and thus someone Seton would have known. He was educated in mission schools in Sierra Leone, but served in various ways the Protestant Episcopal Church in Liberia. However, Seton’s letter suggests that C. J. George was resident outside of Liberia. Charles Joseph George was a native trader in Lagos, Nigeria and a member of the Legislative Counsel. He connects to Seton through Blythe.[1] The “L____” of Seton’s letter may be Lagos, Nigeria. When Seton wrote in 1890, George was a member of the legislative council and in contact with Blythe. We lack sufficient documentation to make a positive identification.

---

[1]       At Cape Palmas: Annual Report of the Board of Missions for the Fiscal Year, Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 1885, page 97. Legislative council: R. W. July: The Origin of Modern African Thought, Africa World Press, Trenton, New Jersey, 2004 edition, page 230.

Update of sorts.

We've contacted the archive that has the Seton letters and other material relevant to the Watch Tower presence in Liberia in the 1880s, requesting access to a total of eleven documents. Typically this archive takes several weeks to reply.

We've asked for material written by the principals. These include Bishop Ferguson who appears unfavorably in a Watch Tower article; Seton whose name is sometimes misspelled by Russell as Seaton; Gibson who is mentioned in the Yearbook history of Liberia; and several others.

Additionally, several relevant items are in the Library of Congress. We haven't contacted them yet. I'll keep you posted. When Mr. Schulz worked on a history project prior to 1993, the Library of Congress provided enthusiastic help. This cooperative attitude has faded.

We have a partially written subheading considering this history, but its contents are taken from secondary sources. We question the accuracy of some of these. We want the original documents, believing that they will enlarge the story. We hope that they will replace fable with an accurate story in the same manner that the Randle letters did for the story we tell about the China missions.

We need a good photo of Seton. He used the Anglicized name Samuel W. Seton. His Gebo [tribal] name was Tobe Kade, and he was sometimes called by nicknames. 

We need to raise some funds

We need to raise some funds (don't know how much yet) to buy scans of S. W. Seton's letters from the Library of Congress. We want his resignation letter from the Protestant Episcopal Church of Liberia and all of his letters circulating Watch Tower publications.

Just so you know

As his health allows, Bruce maintains a low level email exchange with some. His .edu email is down for upgrades. Don't expect to hear from him for about a week.

A bit more on James Augustus Weimar

In Bernard’s recent article on James Augustus Weimar it is noted that Wiemar (a Society director for a short time) ceased association with the Bible Students and joined the Koreshian movement.

One Cyrus Teed renamed himself Koresh and as a Messiah-like figure formed a New Jerusalem community in Estero, Florida. The historical remains of this are now a national park. He had some unusual ideas including that the earth is hollow and humans live inside it with the sun like a giant battery in the middle. (One wonders if Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the Tarzan books, got his idea for his Pellucidar series from reading Koresh.)

Teed/Koresh died in 1908, as a result of injuries sustained in a fight between his commune and outsiders. Having claimed he would be raised to heaven, his followers kept vigil over his body until the public health people stepped in. His tomb was destroyed in a hurricane in 1910 and his coffin washed out to sea and lost. Words like bizarre come to mind.

Weimer’s connection was not just as an observer. The Koreshians published a magazine, The Flaming Sword, which ran until 1949. As the next three pictures show, in this volume from 1914 Weimar was part of their editorial committee and also translator of their works into German.

 If I have deciphered his theology correctly, one of their beliefs was that hell was sort of something inside a person. This allowed for a gentle swipe at Pastor Russell. From the same 1914 volume:

There is no author given for the article in question. However, an article carrying Weimar’s name in this same volume shows that as one of the inner circle he practiced celibacy. As Bernard’s article noted, his wife divorced him in 1898.

At some point Weimar published a book entitled “The Divine and Biblical Credentials of Dr. Cyrus R. Teed (Koresh)”. Modern reprints have the title “Koreshanity, the New Age Religion”.

All in all, one gets the impression that CTR was probably quite relieved when Weimar parted company with the Watch Tower Society.