Herald of the Morning

We need to see 1886-1888 if they exist. They may not exist. We're uncertain. Anyone?

We need help with German language translation

Anyone? An article from 1898. Please.

We probably only need this paragraph translated:

Eine ähnliche Sekte, die sich in neuerer Zeit aus Amerika hieher verbreitet und ihre eifrigen Anhänger, z. Th. selbst unter schweizerischen Predigern, besitzt, ist die eines gewissen Charles Russell, dessen Buch «Millennial Dawn» die gleichen, etwas phantastischen Vorstellungen von einer baldigen, oder sogar schon jetzt vorhandenen «Wiederkunft Christi» enthält.
In Wien fand Ende August ein internationaler Al1Katholikenkongress von grossen Dimensionen statt.

Plan of the Ages - UK help, please

We located a copy of the Saalfield & Fitch printing of the Plan of the Ages. I need a clear scan of the title page showing the Saalfield imprint. The book is in the UK. Anyone interested in helping?

UPDATE

The British Library wants £28.75 to make a one page photocopy. That seems excessive for a scan we'd only use as an illustration. If someone in the UK can show up in person, the cost is minimal.

Or, perhaps someone has the Saalfield & Fitch printing of The Plan of the Ages? I've never seen one in person. I just want a clear scan or photocopy of the title page showing the Saalfield imprint. It's not a huge loss if we don't get one. We will have many illustrations. For instance, the chapter tentatively titled "Advertising the Message" will have at least these illustrations:

1. Advertisment by Willson & Bruckner for Millennial Dawn, 1887.
2. Photo of D. W. Whittle
3. Photo of C. H. Smith (Bill Arp)
4. The Arp Tract. (quality is poor; we're looking for better)
5 DeWitt Talmage.
6. L. C. Baker. (articles by him were in ZWT)
7. Mrs. C. B. Lemuels advertisement from 1887.
8. Ad for Plan of the Ages from 1887.
9. Ad for Millenial Dawn from Open Shelf.

On our Wish list are:

1. Photo of Samuel I. Hickey
2. Photo of the editor of the Syracuse, New York, Standard (1887). We don't know his name yet, and this is low priority.
3. Photo of Charles H. Dickinson, a civil war veteran from the mid-west. He lived in various places. He left an important Civil War diary, though it's not relevant to our research. He was an early adherent.
4. Fleming H. Revell.
5. Viola Gilbert, an independent evangelist in New York City in the 1880-1900 period.

Probably we'll not find any of these. But we are looking.

Charles Henry Smith - Bill Arp

Arp Tract

Does anyone have a better copy they can scan for me?

colporteurs

I have the 1903 Colporteur guide, Suggestive Hints to New Colporteurs. We need to see the 1887 edition. As far as I know, it does not exist. But we're hoping it does and that you have it. Can anyone help?

Soul's Awakening.

I remember very well the period of my soul awakening. It was when I was about 15 years of age, and I thought, as I looked at that picture called "Soul's Awakening," that the young person in the picture looked to be about 15, and that gave me the thought that perhaps there were a great many of about that age when they reach thoughtful conditions. There seems to be a great change, you know, in human nature about that time, and it is a splendid time for the forces of spiritual growth to come toward these, and for parents and guardians to have in mind that it is a very favorable time for soul awakening. I do not mean to say that we should delay our endeavor to bring the child to a knowledge of the Lord. Quite to the contrary, from the time the child is born it should always be trained in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We believe the training of the child should begin nine months before it is born, in order that the child may be properly born, in order that the parental mind may have the proper influence on that child. The best opportunity you will have in the whole experience, so that the proper thoughts of justice, and love, and mercy, and kindness, and gentleness, and reverence toward God, may be impressed upon the child mind is prior to its birth. - C. T. Russell, 1913.

herald of the morning

We desperately need to see the April and May 1876 issues of Herald of the Morning. Anyone?

Conely and Stetson

The Wikipedia article on Conley says, "Adventist minister George Stetson lived for a time with the Conleys during a prolonged period of illness until his death." The citation is to "Allegheny City census result of 1879 published in 1880."

This citation is vague. Does anyone know the actual location, name, title or full bibliographic information for the Allegheny City Census?

We found this. It wasn't a "census" but a listing in Thurston's City Directory. The Stetson name is correct. The occupation is not. So we're left with a mystery. The George W. Stetson living with the Conleys is described as a "clk," or clerk. Wouldn't someone that ill be unemployed? Had Stetson's second wife already died? Were the Conleys already operating a faith-healing sanitorium?

william c. mcmillan

also spelled macmillan, one of the first directors of the watch tower society .... any biographical information would help.

Winnowed Hymns

A song book sold through Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society into the 1890's. I'm afraid my copy is really ratty, but I'm happy to have one.

George Stetson

We need proof that he practiced medicine in Ohio. Anyone have a contemporary reference?

We need to see the Stetson-Thew letters. Anyone bother to send for those? Are you willing to make copies for us?

Really hard stuff ...

There was at least one believer in Guildford, England, in 1886. We can find no clue as to his name or any other details. Anyone out there have a clue?

One of our blog readers pointed us to the Russell v. Russell, Appellant, Transcript of Record for the 1907 hearing. Russell speaks of donated Florida lands, something we are researching. The details as he gives them in 1907 do not match the details found in the 1884 and 1885 Watch Tower. And he seems to point to more than one sale of donated property. Can anyone help clarify this? You will find this testimony on page 47 of the transcript. We really would benefit from having more data on the Florida land donations.

Also, I've had a few emails asking about copies of the transcript. The 1907/8 Transcript is 286 pages long and my copy is faint. We've been discussing retyping it and publishing it and the courts decision as a book. It wouldn't be cheap, I'm afraid. And retyping would be very time consuming. Is there enough interest out there?

We also have a copy of the defendant's paper book and some other legal material related to the Russell's marital problems. These present even greater problems with reproduction. However, if there is a significant interest, we will consider publishing this.

How best to help ...

We've been getting lots of helpful comments and private emails. This is great. Keep it up.

Some things what would help us include:

1. If you have a reference, please be as specific as possible. For instance: "Bible Examiner, March 1875" is superior to "Bible Examiner sometime in the 1870's."

2. If you're telling us something you remember reading, tell us if you're not certain as to source. Memories can be faulty.

3. Guesses don't help very much. This doesn't mean we're not open to your speculation. Our guesses lead us down some fruitful research trails, and yours do too. But tell us the reasoning behind your "guess." This will help.

4. The more detail the better. "Russell wrote to Storrs" is much less helpful than "Russell wrote to Stores three times that I know of in 1874. You can find the letters in Bible Examiner of this date, that date and the other date."

6. No observation is too insignificant. Yes, we may already know what you're posting, but we may not know it. Every researcher has his blind spots. Your thoughts are important. Even wrong conclusions are sometimes helpful because they make us think, "Well, that's not right, and here is why."

7. Be willing to stretch beyond what you think you know. Most of Russell's early history has taken on the character of myth. Some long-held beliefs about early Watch Tower history have roots in reality but are not good history. Think beyond what you know. Look more widely. That's what we do, and, if you want to help, you should do that too.

8. We try to avoid pointing to motives unless one of the persons we research tells us either directly or indirectly through things they wrote what their motive was. Unless you can provide us with a quotation that indicates a motive for something, we can't use a comment that assumes motivations. We're trying to be even handed, even if we may personally disagree with the conclusions of some of the people we are profiling. Frankly, some of these guys were as disreputable as can be. A. D. Jones comes to mind, but there were others too. If it matters to the story, we'll give the details. If it does not matter and the character is incidental to the history, we probably won't. And we won't report mere speculation, even if we agree with it, if it bears on anyone's character. For instance, we believe there is enough evidence to suspect two of Russell's early associates of having an affair. We cannot offer proof that meets any sort of evidentiary standard. So we won't include our suspicions. Both these individuals are important enough to the story that IF we stumble on proof, we will say so.

Negative evidence will not meet the standard of proof. We asked for a copy of some private papers we know exist. The person who owns them refused, suggesting that they would show her ancestor in a "bad light." Fine. We have no idea what she meant by "bad light." This is negative evidence. We wont use it.

Continue to help and post. We appreciate all of the comments and suggestions, even the vague ones. They all make us think, and they all contribute to our daily exchange of ideas.

A thank you is due to everyone who's posted a comment lately. Consider it given.

Tentative ID

margaret russell said: “Later, about 1877, after attending a series of services held by my brother, a prominent Pittsburgh physician remarked concerning him, ‘I should not be much surprised if he should prove to be the youthful David who will yet slay with his pebble of Truth the great ecclesiastical goliath.’"

We have tentativly identified this man as Charles Wesley Buvinger, MD, a civil war veteran, and a sometime associate of George Storrs. Anyone out there who can firm up this ID or help reject it?

George D. Clowes, Sr.

... was expelled from the Methodist church in the summer of 1871. This was detailed in The World's Crisis. Anyone know the exact issue? DO you have it? can you give us the text of the article?

Any Ideas - - -

footnote in object and manner of our lord's return:


Another brother, also of the M. E. church, and for several years a professor in one of their principal colleges, being convenient to me, I called his attention to the above. After examining the text critically, he endorsed the above rendering, remarking that it was very peculiar; then happening to glance at the 46th verse of Matt. 24 he called my attention to the fact that the word there translated cometh is elthou , and signifies after He has come . Read verses 45 and 46 with this thought in mind. Is it possible that there will be faithful servants giving meat in due season after the Lord has come? It is so stated, and at that same time the evil servant will not be aware of His presence, (verse 50).

Who was this "brother ... of the M E. Church ... a professor"?

Restitution

This Indiana paper reviewed Object and Manner of Our Lord's Return.

help ...

We’re puzzling things through. Rachael is writing first rough draft of a chapter dealing with the Allegheny Bible Class between 1871 and 1876. There is more detail than usually presented, but there are some chronological issues. Russell points to 1871 as the date the class was established, though in one place he seems to say 1872. I’m continuing to work on the first year of Russell and Barbour’s joint ministry.

Russell and his brethren spent most of 1872 considering the ransom doctrine. This seems to have been prompted by articles appearing first in The Herald of Life and later in The Bible Examiner. Our money is exhausted, and we can’t afford copies of the Bible Examiner for 1872. Anyone want to be exceptionally nice and make copies for us? We can’t reimburse you at all.

Issues with these chapters are:

1. How many people were in the founding group? Can we say from original, not secondary, sources?

2. The first issue examined by this group was the doctrine of Probation. They adopted George Storrs’ views. We have articles by Storrs from a slightly later date. Anyone have something by Storrs on Probation and Second Probation published in 1870-1872?

3. Can we list specific writers who influenced this group? Thus far we have Henry Dunn, George Storrs, George Stetson, Joseph Seiss, various Adventist publications. Russell mentions “others.” Thus far we’ve only established one name other than those listed above. I’m sure there are more. Russell’s words suggest there are.

4. The preface to the Watch Tower reprint volumes says Russell was elected pastor of this group in 1876. We consider that a secondary source because it did not come from Russell’s own pen. Can we prove this statement from another source?

5. Restitution magazine reviewed Object and Manner of Our Lord’s Return. Anyone have that issue?

Can you add to this ...

In the June 1882 Watch Tower Russell announced that “Bros. Leigh and Spears have started on a trip down the Ohio river in a small boat belonging to the latter. They purpose (D.V.) to visit all the river towns between here and Cincinnati or St. Louis, spending about a week at each. This will require all summer or longer.” The purpose of this trip was to circulate Food for Thinking Christians.
Identifying Leigh and Spears is difficult. The primary identifier is that they sailed from “here” or Pittsburgh. This suggests that they were residents of either Allegheny or Pittsburgh. The only Leighs in the city directories include an S. M. Leigh, a teacher at The House of Refuge, a home for juvenile offenders. Unfortunately, this is a “Miss S. M. Leigh,” thus not qualifying as “brother” Leigh.[1] A later directory lists a William Leigh, a waiter.[2] The 1880 Directory lists a Valentine Leigh, a laborer. Other directories list a Samuel Leigh, a glass molder, and an E. C. Leigh, a student living on Federal Street. It is impossible to point to any one of these as the “Brother Leigh” of Russell’s article.
We fare no better with “Brother Spears.” The 1880/81 Directory lists a number of people with the last name “Spear” but only one with the name “Spears,” and thereby we might make the connection. James Spears was a glass cutter, living on Carson Street. It may be no more than coincidence that Samuel Leigh and James Spears worked in the same industry, but I am inclined to believe these are the two we seek. There isn’t enough evidence to say with surety. James Spears drops out of the directories no long after, either moving away of dieing. As much as one wishes for more detail, it seems not to exist.
[1] 1873 Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny City, G. H. Thurston, page 323; 1873/4 Directory, page 43.
[2] 1878 Directory, page 373.

Sigh ...

A shill for a book keeps trying to post on this blog. They do not read this blog, only an earlier post revewing a book by Fredrick Zydek entitled Charles Taze Russell – His Life and Times – The Man, the Millennium and the Message. I've already posted my reply where he will see it, and I'm posting it here for all to see:

Time for a restatement of the rules:

IF you want me to review a book, you must send me a copy at your expense. I will decline all posts advertising a book that I have not seen. You want to shill for a book, that's your business. You want me to review it, mail me a copy.

Also, insulting me over a review someone else wrote will get all of your future comments deleted.

1. I did not write the review, but I fully agreed with the review as written.

2. I cannot take your word for anything sight unseen.

3. Questioning my 'integrity' will not make me accept your post.

4. Post under your own name, and not an assumed one, if you wish to advertise your book.

5. The review stands as written. I will not delete it.

6. You want me to review a book, mail it to me at your expense.

And finally ... I'm tolerant of many views and opinions. I'm not tolerant of rank stupidity.

Additional note:

I write young adult fiction using a pen name. Good reviews are always nice, and I get my share. Bad reviews are a fact of life. If you can't live with a bad review, you shouldn't be writing.

The publishing industry is a small world. Word gets around. Authors talk to their friends, publishers talk to their friends, agents talk to their friends. And they all talk to readers. Being self-published doesn't make you immune to the consequences of your stupidity.

Any experienced agent or author will tell you it's a bad idea to insult someone you wish to read and review your book.

The real question of integrity rests in your insulting remarks. A man of integrity would not engage in ad hominem attacks to get his way.

You may think using AOL gives you web anonymity, but it does not. You used the same "name" to shill for this book elsewhere. It won't work here.

Want to play detective ...

Starting at Rochester, New York, and ending a Louisville, Kentucky, what would have been the probable train rout in 1877? What would have been the stops? Anyone?

also ... Russell and Barbour were in Louisville in February, March or April 1877. Certainly it was no later than that. Any really ambitious person in the Louisville KY area willing to consult microfilms of old newspapers?

Dispatch Building - 1876

After Food for Thinking Christians was published a Church of God clergyman challenged Russell to debate throught he pages of the Dispatch.

Sixth Street Bridge

Omnibus Leaving 6th Street Bridge on the Allegheny Side - 1876.

C. T. Russell

Russell in his study. Originally in Overland Monthly.

Courtesy of a friend of this blog.

John H. Paton - Later in Life

Photo courtesy a friend of this blog.

John H. Paton and Family

Photo courtesy of a friend of this blog.

Seiss's Miracle in Stone

I have an extra copy. It's clean looking outside, but the hinges are cracked. The cover is still attached and a bit of glue would fix the problem. The text block is nice and clean. It needs a good home.

Make me an offer. Expect $3.50 media rate shipping and tracking.

D. W. Whittle

Major Daniel Webster Whittle blocked the Plan of the Ages from the Revel bookstore and wholesale lists.

A thought ...

It occurs to me that some of my blog readers don't understand that the real history of Zion's Watch Tower has never really been told. I don't mean to diminish the work of others. I benefit from previous research. Some of them are certainly better, more readable writers than I am. The Proclaimers book comes to mind.

But most histories of the era are brief. They're dependant on one Watch Tower article and very little else. So histories that limit themselves to that source and a few other incidentals do not really tell the story. Personalities are left out. You never read about Tavender, Moffitt, or others whose names appear. You never hear what they did to further the work or why they did it. Rachael and I want to tell as much of the complete story as possible.

If you omit significant details, you change the story. What you tell becomes a kind of mythos and not history at all. Oh, it can be historically accurate. But it is incomplete, and it changes one's focus as a result. It's like describing the back side of a retreating horse without ever telling what the front side looked like or was doing.

J. H. Brown

We need a really clear digital scan of the photo of John H. Brown found in the 1908 Convention Report. Anyone?

Blog Policy

While there may be exceptions, especially if the review comes from a regular contributor or a regular blog reader, I will not review books, announce their publication, revision or otherwise publicize them unless you provide me with a copy.

If you want me to mention your book or a friend's book or a book you simply want to recomend, you must send me a copy at your expense.

Old Quaker Shirt Store Partnership

Asking for the moon ...

Joseph Moffitt of Newcastle on Tyne republished his 1884 Watch Tower article as a pamphlet. Does any one have, or can you find:

Ransom and Testimony will they become co extensive By Joseph Moffitt, 29 Close Newcastle on Tyne, 1885

from an 1886 Watch Tower article:

Another similar effort to hand-truck Christian people into the
great Omnibus of Spiritism, is a little paper published on the
Pacific Coast, which goes under various names, one of the most
popular of which is the "Father's Love." This journal selects
from other papers some good, simple articles as a sugar coating,
which with its title, we doubt not often entraps for a time at least
God's hungry children, only to feed them on no ransom, and
dispensational evolution, and to introduce to them out and out
spiritist publications.

- View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, July 1886, page 4.

Does anyone KNOW anything about the magazine Father's Love to which Russell refers?

HELP!

Fredrick Clapham

Anyone with an ancestry.com account? Lived in Albany, New York in 1900. Meetings were held in his house? Data? Anyone?

Simon O. Blunden

I no longer have an ancestry.com account. If you have one, please send me the material on S. O. Blunden found there, including the city directory information. Blunden was born in Ireland in the 1840s and died just past 1910. Anyone?

A bit of good news ...

We've finally located some of the 1877 Pittsburgh newspapers we want to examine. The library that has them is willing to lend the microfilms. This is good. No guarantee we'll find what we're looking for in either of these newspapers. We know only that it was in one of the Pittsburgh papers in 1877.

District Messenger Boy - London

Messenger boys such as this one distributed Food for Thinking Christians

Tackabury

S. T. Tackabury is listed in the ohio obituary index on acestry.com. Anyone have a membership? Can you email me the information? Or post it here?

Tackabury was born about 1832 and died in 1888.

Needs

It seems that all i'm posting lately is requests for help. Here is another:

We need the exact details of a Advent and Sabbath Advocate article on parousia that appeard in 1881 or 1882. It is mentioned on page 348 of Watch Tower reprints.

Any contemporary comment by the press, a magazine or anyone about the circulation of Food for Thinking Christians would be helpful. Anyone?

A "brother McGranor" is mentioned in the reprints on page 291. Anyone have an exact name? Who was this?

George M. Myers

Myers is mentioned only by last name in Zion's Watch Tower. We need to see a booklet he wrote in the 1880's entitled "The Atonement." It's mentioned in The Bible Advocate, December 15, 1908, 103-04.

We havent' found a copy. Anyone?

Boston; the rules; old posts; and stuff

To answer an emailed question: This site contains more material than appears on the front page. Use the “older posts” button on the bottom of the page.

Rachael continues to work on the early publishing ministry. I’m still probing the months Russell and Barbour spent traveling and preaching. There is a mass of documentary evidence to which we have no access. The problem is the amount of the material exceeds what the archive is willing to photocopy. It runs to about eight hundred pages, I’m told. I cannot afford to travel to Boston, and I certainly can’t afford to pay for 800 pages of photocopy at the through the mail rates. They are letter size pages, but probably could be reduced to photocopy as two to a page. All this material relates to Arthur Prince Adams and represents his defense during the “trial” that removed him as a Methodist minister.

If you live anywhere near Boston and wish to help, let me know either through an email or post. I am not happy with the limited material we have for this era, but I’m treading new research ground. I don’t think anyone has really followed this trail before. If they have, they haven’t published their findings.

We have good solid biographical material on most of the really significant Barbourites within the time of Russell’s association. But we lack key detail on some events. We have only one of the semi-monthly issues of Herald of the Morning. The missing issues obviously contain material we should see. Anyone know where they are?

Important material is in the 1877 Pittsburgh newspapers. The library that owns the microfilms does not share them via interlibrary loan. I’m too poor to travel and too sick.

I don’t question your beliefs on this blog. Readers take both sides of the issue when it comes to Russell. Your beliefs are not my business. Every one who behaves is welcome. I need to repeat that if you post stupid comments, they won’t make it to the blog. If you have comments or questions on facts or merely wish to say you appreciate the blog, those are always welcome.

This is hard work. I’m not sure some of our readers know just how difficult, expensive and time consuming finding the facts is. In this past week we’ve purchased something like six books, 400 pages of photocopy and written eight letters or emails to various university libraries or private archives. It takes valuable time to digest what we find and follow up on leads and hints.

Four hundred pages may not seem like much. But when a library asks an initial fee of thirty-five dollars and then charges by the page, it becomes a significant investment. I have to calculate how much I can afford on a mostly fixed income.

There’s a book out there now, used, ratty and fifty dollars plus postage. The man selling it hasn’t a clue what he has. He’s priced it solely on the basis that he has the only one for sale. I want to read this book. More, I want to own it. There simply is no way for me to spend the money. It will have to wait.

Then there are the things that seem to be gone for good: Barbour’s spiritism booklet; Adam’s Bible Harmony; issues of various magazines, many of which most Witness researchers have never heard of or read.

This week I wrote to a group notorious for not sharing its research, and I asked for the moon. I’ve tried to appeal to them on the basis that what is said about the issue is wrong and harmful. They’d do better by putting the raw material in the hands of someone who will consider it fairly. I don’t expect an answer anytime within the next few months. They’re notoriously slow to answer requests like that. But, surprisingly, they do sometimes provide help. We’ll see.

The way we handle that in the current research is to simply say in text or footnote that such-and-such a library or archive owns the material and declined to make it available. It’s time some of these institutions be exposed to their own policies.

Years ago I did extensive research for someone else’s book. I had a great working relationship with the Library of Congress. That was back in the late 1980s and early 1990’s. The people that were helpful have all retired. The current crop of Library of Congress employees leaves me frustrated. They can’t read the text of an email, only skimming what I write and answering with comments that do not match my question. It’s become an unfriendly, difficult resource, unless you are in Washington, D. C. In contrast, The American Antiquarian Society is superior, friendly, helpful. The Library of Congress should take lessons from them. Boston University seems to hate outside scholars. Rochester Public Library is helpful and the staff I’ve contacted are superior. You can see it’s a very mixed experience.

Some of these institutions and societies seem to delight in withholding material from professionals – or anyone else. My worst experience was with a staffer at the Wyoming State Library who refused to fill an interlibrary loan request because it was critical of her religion, or so she thought. The material was from 100 years in the past. This is insane.

I’m wandering from my topic. Old men do that. Sorry. We need immediate help with the material in Boston. Anyone?

William Lee Stroud

Stroud was editor of Eusebia: A Montly Journal for Bible STudents, published in Oakland, California in the 1880's and 90's. He was Born 15 Jan 1833 in New York and Died 23 Aug 1911. I no longer have access to ancestry.com. If any of you do, will you please provide me with a good copy of the two photos and other information found there.

Plan of the Ages - Saalfield & Fitch edition

Advertisement in the back of another Saalfield publication.

Publishers' Weekly

In 1892 the religious publishing house Saalfield & Fitch published an edition of The Plan of the Ages. It was advertised in Publishers Weekly (February 20, 1892) and in the after-matter in some of their other publications, but without connecting it to Zion's Watch Tower. A notice in Review of Reviews of the Saalfield edition gives Russell's name as author. There are adds and notices in scattered magazines, including the Febuary 13, 1892, issue of The Critic.

Does anyone have this edition? Have you seen it? Do you know of anyone who has it?

Anyone in Boston

A significant archive related to A. P. Adams is in Boston. We need a volunteer interested enough in Watch Tower history to consult it, make photo copies, and share them with us. This would be a labor of love. What little research funds we have left have been committed to something else.

Anyone?

We urgently need to see ...

The Kingdom of God; The Covenant with David and David's Seed, by G. M. Myers - 1885 - 16 pages

Controversial on the Nature of Man: A correspondence, G. M. Myers and J. M. Henry - 1885 - 48 pages

The Millenarian, published by Myers, established in 1882, circulation in 1885 said to be 2000 published at Lanark, Illinois

Anyone know the locations? Have copies?

A. D. Jones

Albert D. Jones’ embezzlement of funds is discussed elsewhere on this blog. Thanks to research by Rachael de Vienne, we know more about the back ground.

Jones’ investment in the Knickerbocker Bank went up in smoke. Other transactions reduced him to near poverty. A judgment against him for $7,044.00 was entered in January 1892, in favor of George F. Whipple on notes made in 1886 and 1887. [The New York Sun, January 19, 1892]

An article in the New York Tribune, February 12, 1892, shows that he had secured an investment with his furniture. His belongings were subsequently sold for six thousand dollars, a considerable sum in those days. He had mishandled the investments of Jane Crossley, the widow of a prominent carpet dealer.

UPDATE

In December 1889 many of Jones’ creditors took him to court and won judgments. The total of the December judgments approached $40,000.00. The record is found in the December 28, 1889 issue of The Real Estate Record and Guide.

Help? Anyone?

In 1900 William C. Couch of the Disciples of Christ debated a brother Whitaker. The debate was printed, but we can't find a copy. Anyone? Any details? Brother Whitaker's initials may have been "I. P." The debate is mentioned in Thomas N. Thrasher's Encyclopedia of Religious Debates, volume 1, but no details are given. ANYONE?

We Need to See This ...

With the January/February 1882 issue of Zion's Watch Tower, Russell sent as a supplement a combined pamphlet that included both Tabernacle Teachings and Food for Thinking Christians. We would like to see the title page. Anyone have this? If you do, a scan of the title page would be helpful.