Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Needed
I've put out a call for things like this before with little success, but I'm repeating it anyway. I need opposition material, magazine articles, booklets, etc. published in the Russell era or just after. I located two on my own and purchased them as originals, but I'm just as happy with scans. There are a number of these in British libraries. I have no access. If you live in the UK, you could be of great help tracking them down.
I have an eye surgery coming up. Second in a series, and I hope the last. But I continue to work on vol 2. Those who are proof reading should be aware of the March target date.
Be aware that my wife's health is deteriorating. So If I am out of contact, that is why.
I am building a university's collection of Bible Student and Witness publications. If you live in the USA and wish to donate something, leave a comment below.
I have an eye surgery coming up. Second in a series, and I hope the last. But I continue to work on vol 2. Those who are proof reading should be aware of the March target date.
Be aware that my wife's health is deteriorating. So If I am out of contact, that is why.
I am building a university's collection of Bible Student and Witness publications. If you live in the USA and wish to donate something, leave a comment below.
Monday, December 9, 2019
A letter to one's father
In July 1918 Malcolm Rutherford wrote a long letter to his father, Joseph F Rutherford, who was then incarcerated in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. The letter was published in full in the St Paul Enterprise paper for December 10, 1918.
Friday, November 29, 2019
Photodrama films
(reprinted)
Those who love the Photodrama of Creation will
recognize these frames from the end of the sequence on the flood, with the
tinted sequence of the ark that ends with the rainbow appearing.
After the footage was meticulously copied frame by
frame, the key nitrate stock in private hands was donated to the George Eastman
museum as they have the professional facilities for its preservation.
Also the following document has come to light from
the time which details the order and contents of all the slides and moving
pictures from the production.
Interestingly it is dated November 17, 1914, and
stresses that this revised schedule should be followed “implicitly.” Although
the Photodrama started life as a three parter for a very short time, it had been
shown in four parts for most of 1914. The extra part was not so much adding
extra material as making each performance of a more manageable length for audiences
of the day. But one wonders what changes were deemed necessary by November of
that year.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Away
I'll be away from my blog until Tuesday, December 3, 2019. If you email me, expect a delay before I can answer.
Friday, November 22, 2019
Some you win... Some you - don't...
This is a brief tale of a search that in some ways led to disappointment. Being based in the UK I was asked if I could find the last resting place of the Edgar family. As well as their speciality of pyramidology three of the Edgars, John, Morton and Minna (two brothers and a sister) also wrote a series of little booklets. One of them by John “Where Are The Dead?” was instrumental in attracting the interest of a young man named Fred Franz before the First World War.
We knew from printed accounts that they were buried
in a family plot in the Eastwood Cemetery, Glasgow. There are two cemeteries of
this name, an Old and a New, but the date of the first interment identified the
site as being in the Old.
Were there memorial headstones? Would there even be a pyramid? That is not as fanciful as it sounds. Here is the grave for Piazzi
Smyth.
And here from a Bible Student publication is a grave
marker in Yeovil, Somerset, for a Bible Student, William Hallett, who died in
1921.
The cemetery records in Glasgow had not been
transcribed, let alone posted on the internet. But I was able to make contact
with a Family History Society in Glasgow and a member very kindly did a search
for me. Almost immediately the burial registers for the family were found.
John bought three adjoining plots and later a fourth
was added, totalling plots numbered A-950-953. Sixteen members of the extended
family were eventually buried here. The last interment was in 1968. Any modern
generations of the family, if they still exist, obviously moved elsewhere.
The next step was a visit to the area and again a
willing volunteer from the area visited the site and took the following
photograph. The graves numbered A-950-953 are both sides of the tree in the
foreground. One wonders what size the tree was when these plots were sold
originally.
There are a few memorials standing, which at least enable
one to fix the correct site, but alas, none for the Edgar family. In UK
cemeteries vandalism and sheep with itchy bottoms have eliminated a lot of memorials,
but it would appear from the photographs that the Edgars never did have a
lasting memorial installed.
Realistically, had there been anything like a
pyramid there, it would have been found and publicised long before now.
So this is a non-story really. But you never know
until you follow everything up what may or may not be discovered.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
This statement from Keith appeared in November 1882
I will appreciate thoughtful comments on this.
A Townman’s Teaching.
Editor Advertiser: In complying with a
request for a synopsis of what I am teaching, I shall necessarily have to be so
brief as to only give some of the principal features; and take the risk of
being misunderstood and misrepresented, though not more so than at present,
perhaps. But I will say first that I do not believe that this earth will be
purified by a literal fire, and all but an insignificant portion of the people
destroyed.
I do believe that the God
is dealing with the race according to a prearranged system, called the purpose
or plan of the ages – Eph. 3:11; Heb. 1:2, 11:3. Rev. Ver. N. Y. margin, and
that there are yet ages to come, during which God will show to the world the
riches of his favor, in kindness toward us, in raising us up to sit with or
reign with Christ – Eph. 2:6, 7.
I believe, in common with
thousands of others, that there are many indubitable evidences that we are now
in the ending of the gospel age, and that the period of transition or lap of
something over thirty years, will be marked by great revolutions, political,
social and religious.
In other words, it is the
“day of the Lord” so often referred to in both old and new testaments, and in
such a way that many have thought and still think there would be a great
conflagration – 2 Pet. 3:10.
The length of the past
ages, and this transition period, is shown by the chronology and time
measurements found in the bible. The frequent misapplication of those
measurements, which have caused many to look for a burning time, does not prove
that there may not be a right application, in harmony with God’s great
application, in harmony with God’s great system of the ages. The fact that they
are in the bible is a sufficient argument for their importance, and that the wise
would understand them in due time. One of the intensely interesting features of
the time, is the Jewish question, which is already attracting the attention of
the civilized world, and, because of being the fulfillment of so large an
amount of prophecy, and at the exact time given, it will be a powerful argument
against the increasing infidelity of our day.
Many who now scoff, will
see the importance of the subject in a few years.
I believe that the
position taken by three general classes of religionists are based on
scriptures, and, though contradictory, as advocated, will be seen to be
beautifully harmonious in time; and it is being shown even now. Many are
learning every year. I refer to Calvinism or election; arminianism or “free
grace” and universalism. While based on scripture, the advocates of each line
of thought must be more or less wrong in their conclusions, because of not
seeing the force of the other two, and not rightly applying. The three classes
of scripture can not be true in one age.
God’s promise and oath in
regard to the development of a Seed, and the work to be done by the Seed, after
development, must be the basis of right application, and consequent harmony.
The promise first appears
as a threat to the serpent, to bruise his head – Gen. 3:15; it was ratified
with Abraham oath, saying: In thy Seed shall all the nations be blesses – Gen.
22:15, 18.
Paul says that Seed is
Christ and those who are Christs chosen in the gospel age – Gal. 3:16, 29.
The elect are represented
as the body of Christ, and called Christ – Rom. 12:4, 5; 1 Cor. 12:12; and they are called the
children of promise – Gal. 4:28, 6, 7, 9.
God has been electing a
few, not to torment nor annihilate the many; but because he will ultimately
justify the nations through faith – Gal. 3:8, Acts 15:14, In his wisdom he
permitted evil for man’s development, and he will bring good out of it – 1 Cor.
1:21.
The Seed, then, means the
“head and body” united, glorified together, as the Christ of Scripture; and God
has chosen this Seed as the mediator between God and men – the nations – to
give them the truth in due time – 1 Tim. 2:4, 6; and to reconcile the world to
himself – 2 Cor. 5:19.
God has sworn by himself
that every knee should bow, and every tongue confess – Is. 45:20, 23. Paul says
every knee and tongue means: those in heaven – angels; those on earth and under
the earth; under ground ones, and they will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father – Phil 2:10, 11. This work of the Seed belongs
to the times of restitution or ages to come – Acts 3:19.
I have tried to state as
briefly as possible, some of the principal lines of thought which I am
teaching; and have given a few of the many passages of scripture which support
them. All who will try to understand them, will see that election, as taught in
the Bible, is true and beautiful; God’s favor is free; and in due time will be
manifested to all his creatures.
B. W. Keith
Monday, November 18, 2019
Becoming more urgent
There are many anti-Russell tracts and booklets in British libraries to which I have no access. My research will benefit from copies. Can you help?
G. Andrae
I need what biographical information there is on a G. Andrae, a physician living in Steglitz, a Borough of Berlin in the 1920s.
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Separate Identity - Review
You can leave a review, hopefully a favorable one, here - https://www.worldcat.org/title/separate-identity-organizational-identity-among-readers-of-zions-watch-tower-1870-1887-vol-1/oclc/935786358&referer=brief_results#reviews
Interesting Article
Not about the era we consider on this blog but interesting. I do not have permission to reproduce it, so I give it to you through a link:
https://www.heraldcourier.com/news/pieces-of-the-past-protests-over-jehovah-s-witnesses-turned/article_6cf74d01-1385-5151-bb72-31790f5b9994.html
https://www.heraldcourier.com/news/pieces-of-the-past-protests-over-jehovah-s-witnesses-turned/article_6cf74d01-1385-5151-bb72-31790f5b9994.html
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Contact Card
(reprinted)
The
above contact card was for Mrs M A Boder. Mary Ann Dunbar (1860-1948) was from
Scots-Irish background and married William F Boder in Allegheny in 1889. They
had one son, William Dunbar Boder (1891-1980).
Mary is
mentioned once in ZWT in the issue for August 15, 1908. She signed a document giving support to “the
vow” as part of the Avalon class (Avalon, Allegheny, Penn.) The document was also signed by W D Boder.
This was not her husband but her son who would be about 17 years old at the
time.
Mary
remained with the IBSA and her funeral announcement in 1948 mentioned Jehovah’s
Witnesses. From the Pittsburgh-Sun Telegraph, March 7,1948, page 33.
I do not
know her son’s subsequent religious history other than that he claimed exemption
on his WW1 Draft card on the grounds of being a member of the International
Bible Students. From a document dated June 5, 1917.
Monday, November 11, 2019
The second Mrs A D Jones
Republished from elsewhere with permission. Trivia perhaps, but fun. I understand that Bruce is carrying on further research on Isabel, so may be able to add to this in due course.
I
know that the second Mrs Albert (Royal) Delmont (Jones) is off the topic of
Watch Tower history, other than perhaps a footnote. However, her assessment of
men which you will find at the end of this article is an interesting comment in
itself. Isabel Mulhall (Delmont) was a fascinating character. Albert obviously
thought so, as newspaper articles of the day describe how he was first smitten just
by her seeing her picture. It was downhill all the way from then on.
Albert
and Isabel were married in 1896 and divorced in 1903. The Washington Post
stated that this was after Albert met “financial reverses.” Isabel briefly went
on the stage, before becoming Mrs Sidmon McHie.
Somewhere around 1906 she was in the news for accusing her chauffeur of
blackmail, a man who was then employed by Mr McHie. Sidmon was a Wall Street operator and
publisher – and millionaire – you could smell the money. At a hurried secret
ceremony they married in 1909. (see The Washington Post, August 1, 1909).
Isabel
thereafter went by the name of either Isabel M McHie or Isabel D McHie, and one
assumes the D stood for Delmont. She must have had financial assets of her own
or been given some by Sidmon, because in 1919 she and her husband made wills
leaving the other partner as main beneficiary. This became complicated when
they separated acrimoniously in 1925. In 1926 an agreement was forged where Sidmon
would give her certain assets and also pay her an allowance of a thousand
dollars a month for as long as she lived. But there was a condition. The sixth
covenant of the document said: “It is agreed that the parties shall live apart
and separate and shall not annoy or molest each other.”
Salmon
stopped paying the allowance in 1932 claiming in subsequent legal proceedings
that Isabel had indeed continued to annoy and molest him. He divorced her in
1936 on the grounds of HER “cruel and inhuman treatment.” (See Fifth Avenue
Bank of New York v. Hammond Realty Co., Court of Appeals for Seventh Circuit,
October 30, 1942).
Isabel
made the newspapers quite regularly. One occasion she was locked in the brig of
a steamship for causing a disturbance. (According to the Milwaukee Sentinel for
December 20, 1942, she tried to sue the Cunard Steamship Line for $100,000 over
the incident, but the company successfully proved she had been – quote -“obstreperous”).
When choirboys practiced at a church opposite her she played Caruso records at
full blast! (The same citation from Milwaukee Sentinel). A ruckus at a
Baltimore hotel resulted in her being committed to an asylum but she escaped when
a Brooklyn clergyman (or someone dressed as one) came to visit with a heavily
veiled woman, who exchanged places with her. (This of course is if the Brooklyn
Standard Union paper for May 13, 1931 is to be believed.)
In
1935 she made the news again when she was “taken from a train” after throwing
large sums of money out of it. From the New York Evening Post for March 22,
1935.
Isabel
died in 1939 at the age of 63, after an exciting if not exactly happy life. She
had been living at the home of her mother, Susan Mulhall, and her final resting
place was at the Fresh Pond Crematory and Columbarium, Queen County, New York.
You can check this out on Find a Grave.
Her
paranoia was indicated by her will, which provided substantial funds for an
autopsy and investigation in case she had been poisoned.
Then
the fun started again. Who would inherit her sizeable fortune? Her father, who
had deserted the family nearly 60 years before, suddenly reappeared to make a
claim. The Milwaukee Sentinel for December 17, 1942 managed to snap a tender
moment on the court steps between her parents.
A
younger person called a protégé, also made a claim. And ex-husband Sidmon, who
was still alive, made a claim. And the squabble went on until 1943, when
finally her wishes were granted. (See Bingham Press, February 15, 1943). So
where did the rump of her fortune go? It was left to a dog’s home that trained
guide dogs for the blind.
And
here is the punch line. Maybe it was the absent father, maybe it was the two
husbands (both old enough to be her father, and including of course our own ADJ)
– but she planned a sculptured bust of herself in her own memory, headed by the
words which also adorned her stationery. It was a quote originally attributed
to Mme de Sevigne (1626-1696):
THE
MORE I SEE OF MEN, THE MORE I ADMIRE DOGS!
Monday, November 4, 2019
A. D. Jones, yet again
While in St. Louis Jones was employed by Arthur R. Jones & Co. I suspect a family relationship. Jones & Co. were seen as disreputable in St. Louis. Can we prove a family relationship? Here is what I know about A. R. Jones:
Arthur Russell Jones was the son of Bushrod W. and Lydia (Stickney)
Jones. He was born in Vinton, Iowa, Jan. S, 1865. He had a high school
education, advanced education in those years. In 1889 he married Edith
Forrester.
In 1883 Arthur moved to Chicago finding employment with the Chicago
and North Western Railway as a traveling live-stock agent. In 1889 he became assistant
general manager of Street’s Western Stable Car Line; then found employment with
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway as general freight agent. He returned
to Chicago in 1896, establishing Arthur R. Jones &
Co. dealing in “commercial paper,” short-term
unsecured promissory notes, until 1897, in stock and bond brokerage from 1897
to 1902, in commercial paper again, 1902-1905. In
1905 he organized the Mercantile Credit Co.,
Friday, November 1, 2019
The third Mrs A D Jones
(rewritten and revised from a few years back - for those who enjoy the trivia as well as the scholarly stuff)
Albert
Delmont Jones (now calling himself Albert Royal Delmont) married Bambina Maude
Scott on September 29, 1904. He was around 50 years old at the time and (if the
1920 census is to be believed) she was 21. A 1922 newspaper has a claim that her first husband was a Cincinnati millionaire. Cincinnati was certainly
one of ADJ’s past locations. (Interview question: “Tell me, Bambie, what was it
about this 50 year old millionaire that first attracted you to him?”) Bambina
liked the name Delmont and kept it through several subsequent marriages,
including John Hopper and Cassius Wood. In 1922 she was last heard of (under
the Delmont name) planning to marry a Lawrence Johnson.
In
the newspapers she is sometimes Bambina Maud Delmont and sometimes Maud Bambina
Delmont and Maud sometimes has an E on the end, and sometimes not. But the
“Delmont” is consistent.
Bambina
liked getting married, but didn’t always finish the paperwork for her divorces
and was subsequently charged with bigamy on one occasion.
In
the 1920 census returns she was running her own shop in Los Angeles selling and
fitting corsets.
Bambina’s
claim to fame (or infamy) is her part in the Roscoe Arbuckle scandal. Fatty
Arbuckle was a silent film comedian who was huge (in more than one way) in his
day. He is probably remembered in film circles today as the man who gave Buster
Keaton his start in the movies.
Arbuckle
was savaged by the media when he was suddenly arrested and accused of rape and
murder after a 1921 party in San Francisco. The victim was a small part actress
named Virginia Rappe. The charge was subsequently reduced to manslaughter.
Arbuckle went through two hung juries before being cleared at a third trial
where the jury were out for all of six minutes, using five of them to write a
statement making a formal apology to him for the injustice he had suffered.
There
was little doubt that Virginia Rappe’s death was preventable. Health problems
exacerbated by a series of abortions made her fragile, and she didn’t get
prompt or proper care when she was taken ill. But the lurid accusations against
Arbuckle all originated with Rappe’s companion who crashed the party, namely
Bambina Maud Delmont. While Wikipedia cannot be called the most accurate of
sources, it does quite a nice line in character assassination: “Delmont had a
long criminal record with multiple convictions for racketeering, bigamy, fraud and extortion, and allegedly was making a living by luring men into compromising positions and
capturing them in photographs, to be used as evidence in divorce
proceedings.” The Weekly World News in
1961 veered into alliteration by accusing her of being a “Tinseltown tart.” Her
unsubstantiated testimony at the original hearing got Arbuckle indicted, but
then the prosecution deliberately kept her far away from all the actual trials,
because her obvious inability to tell truth from fiction would have immediately
sunk their case.
So
this was the third Mrs ADJ.
When
you consider ADJ’s history after his “fall from grace,” it would appear that
some people just seem made for each other.
Albeit
briefly.
Addenda
For those who love trivia and conspiracy links,
Arbuckle’s own third wife was Addie Oakely Dukes McPhail, the former wife of
Lindsay Matthew McPhail, who was the son of Matthew Lindsay McPhail who had
helped lead the New Covenant breakaway from the Society in 1909. You really
couldn’t make this stuff up.
(With grateful thanks to Miquel for originally providing
the McPhail connection)
Thursday, October 31, 2019
A. D. Jones' Good Deeds
In 1884 Jones, newly wealthy, founded a charity called Day Star Universal Relief Fund.
I have insufficient documentation. If you can find more, send it on, please.
I have insufficient documentation. If you can find more, send it on, please.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Comments
Blog readers will get out of this blog what they put into it. Lack of comments means fewer blog posts. If you do not provide us with reason to share our research, we will have declining reason to post. We do have lives beyond this blog.
Stage Struck
Albert Royal Delmont Jones' soon to be second ex-wife went on the stage in 1903.
So did his third ex-wife in 1922.
Monday, October 28, 2019
Friday, October 25, 2019
Other things
Some of our regular readers know that Rachael wrote a YA novel some years ago. Two or three of you read it. It's not at all related to our history project, so this may not interest you. But we plan on republishing her book with a new cover and with added illustrations.
This will happen later next year, after Separate Identity is published.
This will happen later next year, after Separate Identity is published.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
A. D. Jones again
I can trace him to NYC in 1877 and believe he was there maybe as early as 1876 or even 1875, but cannot prove that. I do not have time to follow up. Can you find any trace of him in New York City from say 1874 to mid 1878?
Also, can we find a help wanted ad in the NYC papers placed by Russell?
Also, can we find a help wanted ad in the NYC papers placed by Russell?
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
A visitor
A visitor to the grave of Joseph Lytle Russell in the
Allegheny Cemetery. From Watch Tower of Allegheny Historical Tour book by James
S Holmes (available through Amazon). Picture reproduced with kind permission of the author.
I personally did this tour with the author in 2014.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Can you untangle this?
I sent this email to "Jerome," but anyone can help. I wish Ton was still alive. He'd untangle this ... But, alas, he is not ...
Delmont Jones, his daughter and which Jones this Delmont is
https://books.google.com/books?id=y0MWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA337&dq=%22delmont+jones%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj6weje27DlAhWQJTQIHYT6CY8Q6AEwAXoECC0QAg#v=onepage&q=%22delmont%20jones%22&f=false
see page 337.
There are several hints, but no proof, that the Jones were related to the owners of Jones and McLaughlin Steel in W. Va. W. I. Mann worked for them for a while. My best efforts have not untangled this mess. Can you?
Bruce
Jerome reminded me that we have a genealogy prepared by Ton. Herewith the solution:
Delmont Jones, his daughter and which Jones this Delmont is
https://books.google.com/books?id=y0MWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA337&dq=%22delmont+jones%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj6weje27DlAhWQJTQIHYT6CY8Q6AEwAXoECC0QAg#v=onepage&q=%22delmont%20jones%22&f=false
see page 337.
There are several hints, but no proof, that the Jones were related to the owners of Jones and McLaughlin Steel in W. Va. W. I. Mann worked for them for a while. My best efforts have not untangled this mess. Can you?
Bruce
Jerome reminded me that we have a genealogy prepared by Ton. Herewith the solution:
Delmont Jones, born Pennsylvania on 3 Aug 1803, died Pittsburgh, PA on 30 Dec 1878, married on
2 Apr 1826, (they had two twins)
with Mary Ann
Carr Jones, daughter of Edward Carr and Elizabeth
Eliza Sanders, born London, England on
16 Jun 1802, died on 2 Mar 1875.
From this marriage:
6. Jemima Jones,
born on 12 Dec 1835.
We still need to know if there was a relationship between 'our' Jones and Jones and McLaughlin Steel.
Friday, October 18, 2019
What's in a name?
by Jerome
Interest in the bad boy of Watch Tower history
“Albert Delmont Jones” caused me to have a look again at newspaper accounts of
his exploits, and also his changes of name throughout his history, a cross
between Icarus and Hogarth’s The Rake’s Progress.
For Watch Tower history we know him as Albert
Delmont Jones. The names “Albert” “Delmont” and “Jones” are used for a number
of people in various partial permutations, including his grandfather, his
father, his brother, and also one of his sons who died young. So it is easy to
follow the wrong trail. He started the paper Zion’s Day Star in late 1881,
which soon became just The Day Star. By the end of the 1880s, ADJ was in
trouble both in business and matrimony and his wife Cassie divorced him on the
grounds of infidelity.
In the 1890s he reinvented himself in St Louis as a
businessman extraordinaire. He dropped the common name “Jones,” added the name
“Royal” and with a flourish became Albert Royal Delmont. A blind pool
investment scheme (basically where investors invest “blind” without knowing
where their money is going – not the wisest of moves) had gone sour and there
was a court case. What it does is tie the different names of Albert together. From the St Louis Post-Dispatch, 20 July 1896.
So here in July 1896 we have the Albert Royal Delmont “blind pool” case, and there is lots of complicated material in several
newspapers of the day for those who want to get a headache. Of interest to us
is that one of the witnesses (and possible co-conspirator) is Wiliam J H Bown,
who is billed as Delmont’s brother-in-law. ADJ’s ex-wife Cassie was originally
Cassie Bown. So here we can link Albert Delmont Jones with Albert Royal
Delmont.
It was interesting that William Bown is called
ADJ’s brother-in-law because ADJ had married again by this time, to a young
Society beauty half his age, Isabel Agnes Mulhall. The couple moved to Chicago
and ADJ tried again, this time linked to a company called Albert R Jones and
Co., commission merchants. (The name Delmont was dropped this time.) A R Jones and Co. were expelled from the
Chicago Board of Trade according to the newspaper cutting below. From the St Louis Dispatch, 22 January 1902.
Prior to this ADJ had tried his hand at publishing
again. The 1900 Chicago census has him down as Albert Delmont and occupation as
editor. For a long time we didn’t know what he edited after the long defunct
Day Star. We now know his new venture was called American Progress. It is not
known how long it lasted as no copies appear extant. From the Norton County News (Kansas), 23 March 1900.
It was only a matter of time before the marriage of
ADJ and Isabel hit the buffers. Albert’s money went, and so did she. The
newspaper cutting below written in popularist style has the inference that
Albert’s manly charm was not the mainstay of their relationship. From the Saint Paul Globe, 15 September 1903.
He is still Albert Royal Delmont at this point.
By the end of his life the name “Royal” was to go
the same way as “Jones” and he was simply listed on his death certificate as Albert
Delmont.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
HELP!
This is from the Cincinnati, Ohio, Catholic Telegraph of Nov 24, 1881. The image is poor. I can't read it. Can you. A clear transcription would be helpful.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Separate Identity 2
As it stands now, almost finished, it has 597 pages. There are 149 illustrations, including many photographs that haven't seen the light of day in over a century. Among the photos are those whose names will be familiar and those who have never been profiled in a history of the Watch Tower. I haven't counted the footnotes. They are plentiful, and those interested should be able to follow our research trail.
As with the first volume, this book is very detailed, though it does not exhaust the subjects covered. I hope others will follow the trails outlined in this book.
While much needs to be done, we are at the end of the trail. I'm still looking at a March release date, though that is subject to change.
As with the first volume, this book is very detailed, though it does not exhaust the subjects covered. I hope others will follow the trails outlined in this book.
While much needs to be done, we are at the end of the trail. I'm still looking at a March release date, though that is subject to change.
A. D. Jones
From The Guardian [London, England] June 10, 1882:
Zion's
Day Star, a journal published at New York in the interests of the Millennium,
makes the following editorial requests: “We suggest that you read carefully, -at
least twice, most of the articles, and especially those on chronology and the Prophetic
Time. Without this our readers can scarcely get the connections, and unless
these are seen the force of the argument cannot be appreciated.” This advice,
though perhaps salutary, and even needful, is not very complimentary to the
lucidity of the writers or to the intelligence of the readers.
A. D. Jones and related ...
This appeared in the Christadelphia Advocate of January 1889 in response to an argument over the proper name for believers. [Depending on your browser, you may have to click on the image to see it entire.] While it is interesting to see the writer class the Watch Tower with other Age to Come groups, my problem in identifying the periodical "Good News." Can you help?
Thursday, October 10, 2019
I'd love to have this as an original but
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1800-BENJAMIN-FARNHAM-Dissertation-on-the-PROPHECIES-Revelations-MILLENNIALISM-/282729421444
Way too expensive for me.
However, there is this:
https://books.google.com/books?id=VLJCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR1&lpg=PR1&dq=benjamin+farnham+prophecies&source=bl&ots=YzOmpXvam_&sig=ACfU3U1_Ha4uFT44Ha6e0c_r65IrAlxJ-g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj96-Pb3JLlAhVHsZ4KHTmyBroQ6AEwCHoECDAQAg#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20farnham%20prophecies&f=false
Way too expensive for me.
However, there is this:
https://books.google.com/books?id=VLJCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR1&lpg=PR1&dq=benjamin+farnham+prophecies&source=bl&ots=YzOmpXvam_&sig=ACfU3U1_Ha4uFT44Ha6e0c_r65IrAlxJ-g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj96-Pb3JLlAhVHsZ4KHTmyBroQ6AEwCHoECDAQAg#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20farnham%20prophecies&f=false
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
First Chapter
For COMMENT. Usual rules. You may take a copy for yourself. Rough drafts will change. Never rely on a rough draft. Not ready for proof reading. Delay that for later. But comments are helpful, even on a draft this raw.
Now is the time to comment. This comes down tomorrow.
Now is the time to comment. This comes down tomorrow.
Note: If you have skipped
the Introductory Essays, please return to them and read them. Doing so will put
the remainder of this volume in context.
1. Foundation
Russell
wrote a flurry of letters to counter Barbour’s speculations. And having decided
to start a new paper to give a voice to their established doctrine, he sought regular
contributors.[1] We have profiled all of these
but Albert Jones in volume one of this work. Jones came from a fairly well-off
family and was a ‘clerk’ in one of Russell’s stores. Instead of being a mere
clothing salesman, he seems to have had accounting and management
responsibilities. We find him not much later opening a thriving clothing store
of his own and pursuing other business interests.
the rest of this post has been removed.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Misc.
I owe several answers to their emails. Be patient, please. I'm experiencing work overload.
Do we know if P. S. L. Johnson's private papers still exist? Can you help locating them?
Some were interested in the Sermon Ledger Book. I now know that these were kept by Maria Russell, and that it is indeed in her handwriting. I also know that they formed the basis of some Watch Tower articles. Interesting, huh?
We've asked before, but do you have or can you locate personal letters by any Watch Tower adherent in any period. They do not have to seem 'historical' in nature. I would like scans, photocopies or,if you wish to part with them, originals.
Things that may seem irrelevant often provide clues to things that are.
We need a scan or photocopy of a single issue of a periodical held in the Harvard library. I have a mass of hospital and doctor's bills. If you want to pursue this in my behalf, email me, and I will send you details.
Mrs. Russell wrote many letters to subscribers and others, especially to women who sent in questions or comments. I need to see any of these that still exist.
I have some health issues now. But I am still working on chapter 1, the one unfinished chapter to volume 2.
Do we know if P. S. L. Johnson's private papers still exist? Can you help locating them?
Some were interested in the Sermon Ledger Book. I now know that these were kept by Maria Russell, and that it is indeed in her handwriting. I also know that they formed the basis of some Watch Tower articles. Interesting, huh?
We've asked before, but do you have or can you locate personal letters by any Watch Tower adherent in any period. They do not have to seem 'historical' in nature. I would like scans, photocopies or,if you wish to part with them, originals.
Things that may seem irrelevant often provide clues to things that are.
We need a scan or photocopy of a single issue of a periodical held in the Harvard library. I have a mass of hospital and doctor's bills. If you want to pursue this in my behalf, email me, and I will send you details.
Mrs. Russell wrote many letters to subscribers and others, especially to women who sent in questions or comments. I need to see any of these that still exist.
I have some health issues now. But I am still working on chapter 1, the one unfinished chapter to volume 2.
Saturday, October 5, 2019
The Russells and the Allegheny Cemetery
(reprinted)
by Jerome
Allegheny cemetery entrance (for the Russell family
plot)
Plan of graves in the Russell family plot, Section
7, Lot 17
Owner: James G Russell. Size of
lot: 300 (square feet).
Back row: 1. Mary Russell, 2.
Charles T Russell, 3. James G Russell, 4. Sarah A Russell,
Front row: 5. Joseph L Russell, 6.
Ann E Russell, 7. Joseph L Russell Jr., 8. Lucinda H Russell, 9. Thomas B
Russell
This
undated plan from the Allegheny cemetery records was drawn up after the last
burial took place in 1897. The same document listed the names as above, and
also gave the interment numbers and dates of burial.
You
will note that for some reason this gives no details for grave number nine, but
elsewhere in the document we find this was for interment number 4778, name: Thomas
B Russell; date 8/11/55.
As
will be seen from the dates and in the following article the numbering is not
the order of burials. The graves were started from the right hand side of the
plot and then worked across to the left side in two rows. The actual order of
interments was:
4.
Sarah A Russell 1846
3.
James G Russell 1847
9.
Thomas B Russell 1855
8.
Lucinda H Russell 1858
7.
Joseph L Russell Jr. 1860
6.
Ann E Russell 1861
2.
Charles T Russell 1875
1.
Mary Russell 1886
5.
Joseph L Russell 1897
But
first, some background to the Allegheny cemetery.
As
cities in America grew in the 19th century, the problem of burying
the dead became an issue, involving both public health and space. Town and city
graveyards tended to be small, sectarian, and full. The rural cemetery or
garden cemetery was a solution. It was designed to be a landscaped region that
allowed the public to have parkland outside the city area, while also allowing
the families of the rich to indulge in eye-catching memorial architecture. The latter
seemed to work on the principle that, while you may not be able to take it with
you, at least you could show the huddled masses you’d once had it! It also took
the burial of the dead outside of church control.
The
first rural cemetery in America was founded near Boston in 1831. Quickly others
followed, including the one where most of CTR’s immediate family are buried, in
Allegheny. The Allegheny model was chartered in 1844, and the grounds
(originally one hundred acres of farmland) were dedicated to their new use on
September 20, 1845. Other tracts of surrounding land were later purchased, so
that a 1910 guide describes the cemetery as having grown to a little over 273
acres, divided into 39 sections.
Modern
publications give a figure of around 300 acres, divided into 48 sections with
fifteen miles of roadways. The area is carefully landscaped with well
established trees, and is a haven for wildlife. Over 132,000 are buried there.
Perhaps the most famous resident is Stephen Foster, the nineteenth century
composer.
Although
the cemetery location was chosen to be well outside the metropolis, inevitably the
city encroached around it and then way beyond it. Today it is a very useful
green space with some forestry, as well as a cemetery, in the middle of an
urban area. It is located in the Lawrenceville neighbourhood of Pittsburgh,
bounded by Bloomfield, Garfield and Stanton Heights. Its official address is
4734 Butler Street.
The
original prospectus allowed for the purchase of individual graves or family
plots. The prevailing sizes of the latter were 150, 225, 300, or 500 square
feet each. A 150 square foot lot was for six graves, using wooden rough boxes
only, a 225 foot lot was for eight interments and a 300 foot one for ten
burials.
So
finally we come to the Russell family.
We
know that Charles Tays Russell (CTR’s uncle with variant spelling for the middle
name) came to Allegheny and founded a business in 1831, assuming his obituary
is accurate. He joined the Third Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, on 22 January
1834.
Other
family members gravitated to the same area. His older brother James G Russell was
in the New York area in the early 1830s, but is listed in the 1840 Pittsburgh
area census. James Russell’s plans on moving to the Pittsburgh area included
his extended family also staying there. Forever. Literally. He purchased a 300
square foot sized family plot in the brand new Allegheny cemetery, designed for
ten interments. As it worked out, only nine family members would eventually use
the site. The family plot is Section 7, Plot 17. Here is how it looks today.
There are eight stones for a total nine graves, all laid flat on the ground.
Back row: Mary (no marker),
Charles, James, Sarah
Front row: Joseph, Ann, Joseph Jr,
Lucinda, Thomas
The
first two interments were Sarah Russell in December 1846, followed a year later
by James himself in December 1847.
There
is a document in general circulation called the Relatives of Charles Taze
Russell, originally produced by Robert Speel, a Russell descendant through
Joseph Lytle Russell and his second wife Emma Ackley. This work could be called
a labor of love, produced in the pre-internet age, and seems to draw a lot of
early information from the Allegheny registers and the details found in Charles
Tays Russell’s last will and testament. But there is one significent error in
it. It lists Sarah Russell as the sister of James Russell, who bought the
family plot. However, Sarah was not his sister, but his wife. This is not clear
on the burial registers which give no details of familial relationships, but
below is the small headstone that still survives for Sarah.
Sarah, wife of Jas. G Russell, died Dec 14, 1846.
This
makes a lot of sense. James would purchase the family plot because first: he
was the oldest in the family, and second: because his wife Sarah was dying or
had died. James was born ten years ahead of Charles Tays Russell and seventeen
years ahead of Joseph Lytle. As the oldest and to our knowledge the first-born,
he would normally have taken the lead. However, he was to die comparitively
young and hence disappears from the narrative before our CTR was even born.
Sarah
Russell was originally Sarah Ann Risk from Faun, Ireland. Her father was an
excise officer in the old country. She married James in the early 1830s and they
reportedly lived first at Elmwood Hill, New York. Her sister, Margaret Risk
married James’ brother Alexander. Alexander is outside the scope of this
article in that his life in America was spent in New York and New Jersey.
However, since his picture has survived and I have permission to reproduce it,
here it is:
Alexander Grier Russell, an older brother of Joseph
Lytle Russell.
Returning
to the Allegheny cemetery, as indicated above it started with around a hundred
acres of land and has grown to about three times that size today. But initially
the take-up was small. In the first year, 1845, from the start in September to
the end of the year there were only eight burials in total.
In
1846 there were only 29 new interments. These included Sarah Russell. One must
assume that James had the pick of many potential family plots; his choice then being
dictated partly by cost, but also by situation and outlook. However, total interments were 67 that year,
because there were also 38 re-burials. It was common in the early days to remove
bodies from city cemeteries at the request of relatives, who wanted a more
congenial final resting place for their whole family.
So
by the end of 1846, a grand total of 75 burials or re-burials had taken place
at the cemetery. Sarah died of consumption in the December; her burial
registration number is 73.
Almost
exactly one year later, in December 1847, James died. His burial registration
number is 264. He was laid to rest next to Sarah in the top row of two on the
plot, the one furthest from the roadway. James died of paralysis, so one
assumes he suffered a fatal stroke at the age of 51. Here is the small stone grave marker for
James.
James G Russell.
So
that made it two down, and eight places left to go in the family plot (only seven
of which were eventually taken up).
By
the time James died Joseph Lytle (sometimes spelled Lytel) Russell was living
in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Daily Post newspaper started a regular column in
1843 listing the names of all those who needed to collect mail from the
Pittsburgh post office. In the issue for Monday, October 16, 1843 (repeated in
the following two daily issues) we find both Joseph L Russell and James
Russell.
A
month later in the issue for Saturday, November 18, 1843, we find the other
brother, Charles T Russell, also being asked to collect his mail.
Joseph
joined the same church as his brother Charles Tays, the Third Presbyterian,
Pittsburgh, on March 7, 1845. And it was his branch of the family who would use
the site next. The Allegheny Cemetery charter laid down strict legal provisions
for inheritance of family plots – first to children (James and Sarah did not have
any) then to parents (assumed to be long dead in the old country), and then to brothers
and sisters.
In
common with many in those unhealthy times, Joseph and his wife Ann Eliza were
to lose three of their five children quite early on. Thomas, pictured on the
left in the January 1, 1912 WT photograph was the first – he died of whooping
cough and was buried in a row nearest the roadway in front of James and Sarah’s
graves.
Thomas and Charles
The
cemetery record states he died in August 1855 at the age of five years and
three months. While not something to pursue here, it should be noted that the
1850 census returns suggest Thomas was born around January of 1850. That would
make him five years and eight months when he died. It’s possible that the
crabby handwriting and fading ink of the era caused someone at some point to
confuse a three and an eight.
Thomas
B Russell had been the firstborn, and was no doubt named after his maternal
uncle, Thomas Birney, who lived in Pittsburgh. He was followed by Charles Taze
Russell in 1852 (both Charles and Taze being an obvious nod to his paternal uncle,
Charles Tays) and then Margaret Russell in 1854. Charles and Margaret survived
to adulthood of course, and were finally buried side by side, but elsewhere.
Then
a young daughter named Lucinda was born (probably a nod towards Thomas Birney’s
sister Lucinda). She died from scrofula (sometimes spelled scrophula), a form
of tuberculosis affecting lymph nodes in the neck, in July 1858 at the age of a
year and a half. Lastly, there was a young son, Joseph Lytle Jr, who died of
croup at the age of six months in April 1860. The family had been living and
working in Philadelphia at this point, but it was still important to the family
to bring the little bodies back to the Allegheny cemetery for burial in the
family plot.
For
the three children, three sad little gravestones survive, but they are very
weathered and the memorial inscriptions on them have all but gone. On the one
reproduced below you can just make out the figures 1857 and 1858, so this would
be the grave marker for Lucinda.
Finally,
after losing her three children, mother Ann Eliza died from consumption in
January 1861. Her funeral took place from the home of her brother, Thomas
Birney, in Pittsburgh. Her will, written just the month before, when she was no
doubt very ill, lists her husband, Joseph Lytle, as “her agent in
Philadelphia.” The notice of death in the Pittsburgh Gazette for January 26,
1861 calls her the wife of Joseph L Russell (of Philadelphia, PA).
Her
grave stone survives, although it is worn in places. It reads:
ANN ELIZA
WIFE OF
JOSEPH L RUSSELL
DIED (indistinct) 1861
IN THE 39 YEAR OF
HER LIFE
There
is an inscription at the bottom – probably taken from a scripture – but
indecipherable today.
After
Ann Eliza’s death, the family plot remained unused for nearly fifteen years.
During this time, CTR and his sister grew to adulthood, and CTR started his
spiritual journey in earnest.
Then,
in 1875, the original Charles Tays died. His life story, such as we know it, is
covered in an earlier article on this blog – The Other Charles T Russell. Charles
Tays died of hepatitis in December 1875 and was buried in the family plot. The
grave was positioned in the top row, next to James and Sarah, whose funerals
had been 30 years before. Charles Tays’ grave stone is quite well preserved.
It reads:
IN MEMORY OF
CHARLES TAYS RUSSELL
A NATIVE OF
COUNTY DONEGAL, IRELAND
DIED
AT PITTSBURGH PA
DEC 28 1875
IN THE 70 YEAR
OF HIS AGE
Eleven
years went by before the next interment. The extended Russell family who
settled in Pittsburgh included an unmarried sister, Mary Jane Russell. Mary had
been housekeeper for her brother, Alexander Russell, in New York after the
death of his wife, but on Alexander’s death in the 1870s she moved to
Pittsburgh to live. Joseph Lytle probably took over managing her care. When
Charles Tays died, he left $3000 in a trust fund for Mary’s support. By 1886
the plan had gone awry and it was necessary to dip heavily into the capital to
care for her. But within a week of the documentation being drawn up, Mary was
dead. She died in September of 1886 and was buried in the top row next to her
brother Charles Tays. No stone was provided.
There
was only one more person who would share this final resting place, CTR’s father,
Joseph Lytle. Joseph had re-married (his second wife being CTR’s wife’s sister)
and they had one child, Mabel, who was to live until 1961. The family moved
from Pittsburgh to Florida, but Joseph Lytle then returned to Pittsburgh shortly
before his death, likely so he could die there. He was buried alongside his
first wife and the three children who had died before them.
Joseph’s
stone reads:
FATHER
JOSEPH L RUSSELL
BORN IN IRELAND
JULY 4 1813
DIED IN ALLEGHENY
DEC 17 1897
The
inscription at the bottom reads: Blessed and holy are all they who have part in
the first resurrection. They shall be Kings and Priests with God.
And
that was it, as far as the Allegheny cemetery plot was concerned; a total of
nine interments out of a possible ten. The years went by, it became forgotten, and
grass encroached over the stones lying flat on the ground; until more recent
times when the plot was rediscovered. The memorial inscriptions for Joseph
Lytle and Charles Tays are in the best condition today, but of course they are
the most recent.
So
why didn’t CTR end up buried here with his family in the one remaining space?
I
have no way of knowing how carefully to scale the chart of graves reproduced
with this article may be, but if accurate, it might appear that squeezing in
another interment could be problematic. Probably more to the point, CTR was
involved in founding a new cemetery.
The
Rosemont, Mount Hope and Evergreen United Cemeteries were founded on land
purchased from what was called the Wiebel farm in 1905. One section in the
Rosemont Cemetery was earmarked for Bible Student use. In his will, written in
1907, CTR directed that he be buried there. By the time of his death in 1916 the
area was simply called United Cemeteries. His sister Margaret (or Margaretta) R
Land was buried next to him in 1934.
But
that needs to be the subject of another article.
Postscript
It
should be noted that elsewhere in the Allegheny cemetery are other relatives of
CTR. His maternal uncle Thomas Birney (from whose home his mother’s funeral was
conducted) was also buried here in 1899. There is a family plot in Section 24,
lot 46. In the same grave (grave 1) as Thomas (1830-1899) is Thomas’ wife Mary
Ann Birney (1832-1906).
The
Birneys had at least five children and two daughters never married. They are
buried in this family plot, Eve Birney (died 1950) and Mary Birney (died 1953).