Maria 2 - The Twain One (Mrs. Russell's Spicy Book)

In 1906, shortly before her suit for legal separation against her husband was heard, Maria Russell published a 100 page book on women’s rights.  It was called The Twain One, and was based on the scripture in Mark 10 v.8 (KJV) “and the twain shall be one flesh.”

CTR believed that it was differences of view on women’s rights that ultimately divided them, after more than a decade of happy marriage. It was obviously a subject Maria felt strongly about and she wrote in the book’s forward: “At the request of many friends who desire to see these thoughts before the public, and especially before Christians in general, the writer consents to their publication, although such was not the original intention.”

In view of this, one might question what the original intention was, since Maria did more than just consent, she published the book direct from her home address at 607 Birmingham Avenue, Avalon, Pittsburgh.

There were several reviews in the Pittsburgh newspapers. The first was in the Pittsburgh Press for 31 March 1906. Hidden away on page 11 it was a short and complementary review mainly quoting from the preface. Consequently it reads like Maria’s own press release, concluding: “The book, with so fine a purpose behind it, will doubtless find a good sale. The price is $1.”

Another review appeared the next month in the Pittsburgh Post for 14 April 1906, this time found on page 7:

This review stated that “it shows much research and has merit” although with the caveat “we would expressly forbear from commending or disapproving the positions taken” and “it is evident that some ulterior meaning haunts the positions assumed.” The book was now advertised as being sold at Pittsburgh book stores.

A brief review also appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for 11 June 1906, page 5:

This simplified Maria’s argument down to: “Man is required to obey God, servants are required to obey their masters, children their parents, but the wife need not obey her husband because “the twain are one.””

These small paragraphs tucked away inside the newspapers did not give the work a great amount of publicity; a casual reader could easily have missed all of them. However, that was all to change with a lengthy article in The Pittsburgh Leader. And this is the subject of this article.

The Pittsburgh Leader for Saturday, 13 October 1906 carried an announcement about a special feature in the magazine section of the Sunday paper out the next day, Sunday 14 October 1906.

It announced that Maria’s book – characterized as a “Spicy Essay” was going to be reviewed by “a Minister.”

That it was going to be a critical review was made clear by the heading in the Sunday paper.

The actual review ran to not far short of three thousand words. A complete transcript of the review is provided below, but first, who was “the Minister?”

The answer came out in a hearing in 1907 when Maria’s alimony was discussed. From the typed transcript of Russell vs. Russell (April 1907) on pages 244-250, CTR was asked directly if he was responsible for it? The answer was both a Yes and a No.

CTR had bought a copy of Maria’s book simply by sending one dollar to her address. Later a reporter named Cope had called on him and “asked my opinion about the book.”

He elaborated on page 245-246 of the hearing: “The reporter called on me, mentioned his subject and wished me to give him pointers, and I told him I preferred not to do so, but after the usual manner of reporters he was very insistent amd urged me to give him some pointers; I told him I had no wish to say anything against my wife in any sense of the word; he said, “Well, you can give me some pointers.” I said, “I do not mind to give you a few pointers,” and he said, “Well, I have to go out, and if you will just jot down a few of those points, I will be very much obliged.” So I jotted down a few points, and I presume he incorporated them in that article.”

CTR had been out of the city when the Leader was published and had not, in fact, seen the article “before this hour” when it was put to him at the hearing. His comment on reading it then and there was that the reporter – not him – “had put in a good many of the caustic features of it.”

The “caustic features” might include the introductory preamble before the article actually gets to the review by “a Minister.” Here, Maria’s complaint is summarised: married women’s advancement in the church and business has been greatly curtailed by “too frequent maternity.” Putting it bluntly, “greedy and sinful men” keep getting them pregnant.

Maria through her counsel accused CTR of being paid for the interview – flatly denied – of buying up copies of the paper to circulate – also flatly denied – and Maria when questioned directly accused CTR of interfering with the book’s sale. How he did this was not specified, but Maria noted that only 300 copies had so far sold. In reality, on the basis that all publicity is good publicity, the Leader article and review probably revived sales considerably for a short while. But as with most things, it soon became yesterday’s news.

Maria had further writings to publish but stated that she did not have the resources to do so. Later in life when she obviously had the means to publish, time had moved on and her views had changed from the general Bible Student position; hence it never happened. (For details, see the article below,a Maria – the Later Years).

 So here follows the complete text of “Mrs. Russell’s Spicy Book is Criticized.”

 

(Transcript)

Pittsburgh Leader

Sunday Morning October 14th, 1906

Special Magazine Section

 

MRS. RUSSELL'S SPICY BOOK IS CRITICIZED

"The Twain One" Reviewed by a Local Minister, Who Finds Fault With the Premises and Conclusions                          

(Box on page by article)

MRS. RUSSELL'S SPICY GEMS

"True happiness, in any human relationship, is incompatible with ignoble ideas both of tyranny and of servility."

"Paternal and filial love must respond to each other."

"Any subserviency to fellow man is a secondary consideration. We ought to obey God rather than man and this is manifestly right so we must oppose men when they are wrong."

"The duty of submission to those in leading positions in the church we regard not in the light of unquestioning childish or servile obedience, but simply as a matter of respectful deference."

"The servant is not in duty bound to please his master in all things except within the limit of his contract."

"Obedience of children to parents is expected by God, but for any tyrannical use of this parental authority to gratify a pride of power in the dominant parties will be punished by God. The command of obedience does not apply to children after they come to maturity."

"The Scriptures do not teach domestic slavery."

"Adam found in woman a companion capable of sharing all his joys.

"Nothing in the Scriptures indicates that woman was in the least inferior to man."

"God created man and woman with equal rights."

"Woman has become the weaker vessel through sinful man."

"He (man) often, selfishly taking advantage of the situation rules over her (woman) instead of treating her as an heir."

Quotations from Mrs. Russell's book, "Twain One."

 

(Text of editorial comment followed by review)

Marie Frances Russell, the wife of the celebrated Pastor Charles T. Russell, the North Side preacher, with congregations all over the world, has written a book which is of the "woman's rights" order. Those who have analyzed the work are of the opinion that Mrs. Russell has undertaken to sustain her position in applying for a divorce from bed and board and demanding alimony from her husband.

"The Twain One" is the title, and the green cloth cover binds all sorts of biblical quotations to sustain the contention of the author that a woman was created equal with man, with the same rights, and instead of being servile to man, woman was expected to be an heir of the land with him and share all his joys and returns from the soil. She launches into a tirade against sinful man and takes the stand that the decline of woman in influence and wealth is absolutely due to sinful and greedy man who, taking advantage of woman, has domineered over her to such an extent that woman is generations off her sphere.

Too frequent maternity, due of course to greedy and sinful man, has also prevented  from associating with others in the world so that she could progress mentally as rapidly as man. Instead, she has been compelled to stay in the house, raise children and, while man is recuperating in the fields and associating with his neighbors, "gathering strength the while," poor woman is debarred from what is divinely hers and sinful man is rubbing it in on her at a great rate. The time, apparently, is ripe for a change of all this, and woman should step into the church, business and even at home to demand what has been given her by God and "held out," to use the parlance of the day, by greedy, sinful, domineering man.

A review of the book by a minister follows:

"The title of this little volume would seem to imply a treatise respecting the oneness of union and mutual adaptability of the sexes to each other so as to produce the greatest amount of harmony or union. However, the writer does not, in our judgment, seem to approach the subject from this standpoint, but rather the reverse u 'the twain two.' The motif appears to be to disprove any special headship of the husband and hence to establish a double headship in every family. The thought of the writer seems to be the one that is now so common amongst so-called 'new women.' viz., that in the divine order men and women were by nature, and by grace intended to be onan absolute equality, mentally and physically, but that women, for centuries oppressed by men, have gradually grown weaker and weaker both in mind and in body until today that writer reluctantly admits men are stronger both mentally and physically. That we may do the writer no injustice on this point we quote:

"'They (Adam and Eve) stood on a par in God's estimation of his handiwork. It is manifest that God created them with equal rights when he gave the dominion of earth to them both originally' (p. 31.). 'Dr. H. S. Drayton tells us that while woman's brain is smaller than man's it is larger in proportion to the total weight of the body, and is more finely organized, so that in his opinion honors are about even.' (p. 37.)

"As proof of an acknowledged feminine inferiority of strength, mentally and physically, the author says: 'Woman's natural office of motherhood and home duties connected with it, the training of children, etc., which, under perfect conditions, as originally designed, could have brought only happiness and joy, instead under the conditions induced by sin, brought sorrow and the gradual physical weakening or decline The too frequent maternity often imposed upon her, regardless of proper conditions, has undermined the health of women generation after generation, while man, whose natural occupation has been more in the fields and in subduing the elements of nature, has gathered from nature more of its invigorating force and thus woman has become, by far, the weaker vessel.' (p. 36.) 'Thus the natural tendency of sin has been, not only to render woman a weaker vessel, but also to bring her under the power of her husband.' (p. 41.) Whatever the author may otherwise be she is evidently not a logician, as shown by the above quotations: for while she argues that the sexes are equal and should stand on a par every way she, in the different quotations, claims that women have become by far the weaker vessel – hence logically no longer on a par with males.

"But still more illogical is the proposition above quoted that women have become 'by far the weaker vessel' gradually for centuries as a result of the recognition of the headship of men. Would not even a novice in logic recognize the fact that such a claim is an absurdity; because every girl babe must receive of the strength, the virility of the father as every boy babe must partake of the weaknesses of his mother. If males begat males and females begat females we would could understand how the one sex could, in centuries, oppress and degrade the other; knowing that this is not the case, but that on the contrary nature equalizes and harmonizes the strength and weakness of both parents in the children, it follows that the author has failed to grasp her subject. She may not be aware, either, that in Europe for centuries women have labored in the fields and thus have employed the very conditions which she says has made the males superior in mental and physical strength.

"Far be it from the writer to inveigh against women or to deny women their properand opportunities.  We are even willing to concede, that in times past, under barbaric and semi-civilized conditions, women had not by any means the liberties and opportunities they should have had; but are not the same things true of the other sex? Have not the majority of men in the past been the merest serfs or slaves? Are we not to remember that only within the past century has Europe given to the males universal suffrage? Indeed, this boon of the family was not given to the English males until within a decade, and in Russia suffrage has only been granted to the males this very year under restrictions, somewhat similar to those which prevail in Germany, which give those not property owners a decidedly less voice in than others? Are we not to remember that free school education in Europe is only the matter of the past decade? What we should notice in this connection is that just in proportion as the males have gotten free from serfdom and ignorance in the very same proportion have the females of the same lands risen to civilization and education. These points appear to us to be too frequently overlooked by those studying or discussing so called women's rights.

"It is a fact that the twain are one by divine arrangement and by their creation. The sexes are so adapted the one to the·other that injury to either signifies proportionate loss to both. Hence the safe and sane of both sexes are practically agreed that the Almighty did not design the sexes to be exactly equal, either mentally or physically, but better far than this did design an adaptation between them, the one for the other, reprsented in the expression ‘a manly man and a womanly woman.’ We feel sure that the observance of this lasw of nature brings more joy than any amount of disputation or endeavor to prove that there is no difference between the sexes. Very few women would care to marry or expect to be happy with an effeminate man, and very few men would desire to marry or expect to be happy with a masculine wife.

“The author lays great stress upon the fact that women do not receive proper rescognition in the churches – evidently believing that no sex distinction should be recognised in the ministry. Although the consensus of opinion among Christian people for centuries has been that the special ministrations of religion should be in the hands of males, this apparently has no influence whatever with our author. She carefully culls every reference to women in the Old and New Testaments and makes the most of these to support her contention, but either innocently or intentionally omits all notice of the fact that Jesus Christ appointed no female apostles – the twelve were male and the subsequent seventy sent out were men; not was this because there were no women interested at this time, nor, as is seemingly hinted, the women of that day were so much more illiterate than the men. On the contrary, we have the apostolic statement to the effect that they were fishermen and tax-gatherers from the humbler walk of life and that, too, it was distinctly stated by the public in general that they were ignorant and unlearned men. (Acts IV:13). If ignorant an unlearned men could be qualified and used by the Christ as his representatives, could not the ignorant and unlearned women have been equally qualified for His service had He so designed. But on the contrary, have we not the information that some of the believing women of the time were of the higher class, styled “honorable women” – women of station, wealth and probably of education also.” See Luke VIII:3, Acts &VII:4-12. The same is true of the course pursued by the apostles. We have no record that they ever ordained women as elders in any of the churches they organized. Nevertheless they, both Jesus – and the apostles, were prompt to recognize, appreciate and utilize the womanly talents and qualities of the believers of that time, as we believe all Christian ministers are disposed to do to this day.

“The author of the “Twain One” certainly displays the craftiness of an expert attorney supporting an unjust case when she attempts to so interpret the words of the apostles respecting the deference or submission of the wife as the weaker vessel to the husband as the head of the family. With an attorney’s skill she arranges three different texts in order, placing first, one, the phraseology of which she could construe favorably, and then proceeds to apply the misfit interpretation to the others. For instance the following:

"'Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord." #Col 3:13 'Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church; and He is the savior (preserver, caretaker) of the body. Therefore, as the Church is subject unto Christ so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.' #Eph 5:22-24

"Again she quotes, 'Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands.'#lPe 3:1

"The veriest tyro in scriptural exegesis would surely be astonished at the cleverness of the misinterpretation of the first of these texts. The apostle says 'as it is fit in the Lord,' by this evidently meaning that women in the Christian church were to be submissive to their husbands as were the Jewish women, and not to consider that because they were now 'in the Lord' they were exempted from the proper responsibilities of wives. 'As it is fit' then evidently means, as it is proper, as it is right for those in the Lord to do. But our authoress gives a twist to the entire matter in these words. 'We must bear in mind this limitation of fitness. ' (P. 53). She proceeds to ring the changes of these words fit and fitness twelve times in her endeavor to nullify the force of the above quoted Scriptures by implying that the wives are to submit themselves to their own husbands not 'as it is fit' but rather as the wives may deem fit.

"Surely no sound mind could understand the apostolic injunctions above quoted to signify that wives were to be so submissive to their husbands that they would murder or steal or do other unlawful things. Fortunately, the average men andwomen have little difficulty in comprehending the scriptural advice on this subject, vis: that love should cement the marriage tie, that in the union the twain will be one, that the head of the united pair is the husband, whose delight as well as responsibility would be to look well after the interests, mental and physical, of his wife ready, if need be, to lay down his life for her protection. Fortunately, too, the majority of women appreciate just such headship as the apostles here indicate and these are the happy couples who best represent the "Twain One," and happy are the children who have parents thus mated in harmony with natural law and scriptural injunction.

"The advocates of 'women's rights' seem assuredly to be persons in whom the milk of human kindness have   soured sometimes through ambition and sometimes through fallacious reasoning! For instance they often tell us that the great colleges are for the men, that the women have no such opportunities for education. They tell us that the legislatures and courts are bound upon the grinding of woman into the dust, into the mire, and that it is necessary for women to step forth from the battles of motherhood and the home to battle for female suffrage and other rights.

"Fortunately for the world, the majority of the sex reason more soundly than this. Through education or by observation they learn that their husbands and fathers in the legislatures have framed most equitable laws in their interest, for their protection and safeguard, and that the courts are always more lenient toward women than toward men, and that they fare far better at the hands of a male jury than they would if tried before a jury of their own sex, and that the public schools and high schools are as open to the females as to the males, and that a proportionately larger number of the females than of the males are afforded high school opportunities and normal school privileges. They learn, also, that there is abundant provision for their sex in the female seminaries and colleges and that these, almost without exception, have been established and endowed by the opposite sex. We conclude that the majority of the sensible thinkers agree respecting the solidarity of the race – and that in the family and home the husband and wife are not to be twain, but one, and that in the responsibility for the family's care both human and divine law are right in holding the male to be the responsible head and caretaker.

"That the author is not ashamed of her work is evidenced by the fact that her name appears in the same six times."

(End of transcript)

Maria 3 - Maria Russell - The Later Years

 Maria Frances Ackley married CTR in March 1879.  She left the family address in 1897, and in 1903 started legal proceedings to formalize the separation. It was granted in 1906 and a later hearing in 1907 settled the alimony. This article reviews what happened to Maria later up to her death in 1938.

After sharing a house in Cedar Avenue, Pittsburgh, with her sister Emma, Maria went to live in the Pittsburgh suburb of Avalon. She was there in 1907 because her 1907 book The Twain One was sold from an Avalon address. She is there in the 1910 census, living alone. She was still there in 1917 when a Bible student named ‘Sister Wilson’ called on her in what is described as “the regular Pastoral service.” The account was written up rather vaguely in the St Paul Enterprise for 20 February 1917, where Maria states she was not present when a Pittsburgh minister attacked her late husband from the pulpit as had been reported. The letter was headed “The Charge Not True” and the letter was sent in by J A Bohnet.

The point was made in the letter that “Sister Russell…professes full faith in the ransom, in the high calling, restitution, chronology and the Studies in the Scriptures in general.”

The letter also states that “Sister Wilson says she greatly enjoyed the visit and was invited to come again.” Maria also stated that she had much to do with the production of the first three volumes.

Whether Sister Wilson made another visit is not recorded.

While Maria was living in Avalon, her sister Emma gained a post at Bethany College in West Virginia. This was an educational establishment founded by Alexaander Campbell linked to the Restoration movement (Disciples of Christ). It had been a co-educational college since the 1880s. The details are given below as part of her newspaper obituary.

Maria was still living in Avalon and Emma was still at Bethany in July 1921 when their brother Lemuel was murdered and they were both mentioned as family. A disgruntled policeman shot Lemuel in a courtroom. See: https://jeromehistory.blogspot.com/2019/01/lemuel.html

When Emma retired, the two sisters finally moved to Florida at the end of 1922 and bought a house together. From the Tampa Bay Times for 24 December 1922:

According to Emma’s last will and testament dated 13 September 1926 the two sisters owned the house between them; they each had “a one-half undivided interest” in the property.

When Emma died first, her will left her share to Maria with a lifetime interest, but with the understanding that daughter Mabel, or if necessary her heirs would eventually inherit.

Emma died in early 1929. From the Tampa Bay Times for 6 February 1929:

This noted that her position at Bethany College had been former dean of women. A similar report in the Tampa Bay Tribune added that she’d held this position for eight years prior to her retirement. A telephone enquiry several decades ago suggested she had been “Matron of Phillips Hall” at the college which may be a more accurate description.

The 1930 census shows that Maria continued living in the house on her own.

There are several small references to her in the local papers – she leaves the area for a number of weeks to escape the excessive heat, she visits relatives in Chicago (her late brother Lemuel’s family), she tries unsuccessfully to get the taxes on the property reduced – etc. She doesn’t appear to have been much involved in local events, but that may just be because of her age. However, she still retains an interest in theological matters. One example is found in a letter she wrote in 1931. It is from the Tampa Bay Times for 29 July 1931, page 4.

Under the heading Open Forum and with the usual disclaimers, letters to the editor were invited.

Maria responded:

Editor The Times:

  If you can find space in your Open Forum I would like by this means to suggest a thought that present events have brought forcibly to my attention. It is that the present world-wide financial depression may really be viewed as a blessing in disguise however hard it strikes us both corporately and individually.

  It has compelled a sudden halt in human affairs, and both nations and individuals are forced to consider, to study, and to mend their ways. The eternal principles of truth and righteousness are put to the fore, and good men, providentially exalted to positions of power and influence, are pleading with the world, both as nations and as individuals, to repent and to do the works mete for repentance.

  Well, they are doing it. Praise the Lord! Our honored president points out and leads the way, and lo, the heart of the nations is yielding. Truly there is cause for rejoincing as nation after nation responds – in humility and in mercy toward one another. Financial prosperity could never have wrought this miracle, but “when the judgments of the Lord are abroad in the earth the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” – Isa. 26:9.

  And this reminds me of the Lord’s typical course with guilty Nineveh. He sent his prophet, Jonah, to anounce that within three days the city would be destroyed, because the wrath of God was upon it. But Nineveh repented quickly, suddenly; and God also repented ad mercy stayed the hand of justice. It looks to me like a parallel case here on a very large – a world-wide scale. Consider: Notwithstanding the terrible experiences of the World war and its bitter aftermath, the interval since the armistice has been spent largely in hasty and feverish peparation for another conflict, which all know must be more terrible and ruinously destructive. No nation wants it, but anger, suspicion and fear impel them all to arm for defense from inevitable danger. (“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come” – “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”) But just as the nations stand today – armed to the teeth with every weapon of destruction that advanced science can invent, and trembling for fear of what seems inevitable in the nearing future, God has interposed in mercy and let the financial crisis come with all of its forebodings of world-wide disaster. Then, just in the nick of time He puts in the heart and mind of our noble president a plan for relief, conditioned upon observance of the principles of righteousness and mercy. Mr Hoover proved a ready instruments – wise, patient, resourceful, conservative, righteous, merciful alike to friend or foe. And lo, the nations and peoples almost everywhere respond, and the principles of righteousness and forbearance are everywhere coming to the fore.

  Judgment indeed must be laid to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies (is doing it) and waters of truth shall overflow the hiding places of error and sin.

  Well, the world is breathing easier – with now hope and courage, and further deeply significant developments, at the arms conference, etc., will soon claim our attention. It is a time of prayer that those in authority may have wisdom and divine guidance, and that the evil forces may be restrained. A titanic confliect is on surely. But see Zeph, 2:1-3: “Before the decree brings forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness, it may be yer shall be hid in he day of the Lord’s anger.”

MRS. M.F. RUSSELL

E 516 Fourteenth avenue north, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Maria’s views were now quite distant from the Bible Student movement. She was optimistic about the future, believing that the financial downturn in the world in the early 1930s was really going to work out the will of God.

Although, as noted above, she was living on her own after Emma’s death, Maria did try to get some company. This was shown in the advertisement below from the Tampa Bay Times for 13 May 1932. She described herself as a “refined, elderly widow.”

But in the 1935 Florida State census she is still living alone.

As her health failed with advancing years, it appears that Emma’s daughter, Mabel Packard, and her family took responsibility for her. Her obituary notice in the paper spoke of her niece, Mrs Richard Packard “of this city.” When Maria died in 1938, her last will and testament dated 4 April 1936 showed Mabel Packard inheriting the house in full. There were also a number of monetary gifts to various nieces and nephews ranging from $100 to $700. Maria had also loaned Mabel $1400 and that debt was now cancelled.

This all indicates that Maria was economically secure at the end of her life. As for the house – it last came on the market in the early 2020s and was then valued at over one millon dollars.

The Ackley sisters, Maria and Emma, both had concerns about money during their lives, but ultimately they were quite comfortable financially.

Swanee River

 Most articles on this history blog have a very direct connection with Watch Tower history and pre-history. But others have a more tenuous link. This is one of the latter.

Stephen Foster (1826-1864) is sometimes called “the father of American popular music.” He wrote over 200 songs, some of which are still performed today. Many suggest the music of the southern states, and were performed by minstrel groups, although apparently Foster only ever visited the south once in his life. Camptown Races, My Old Kentucky Home, Beautiful Dreamer, and Swanee (Suwannee) River (Old Folks at Home) are among his titles. The latter became the state song of Florida in 1935.

When he died in 1864 he was buried in the Allegheny cemetery, as were a good number of his family. Most readers here will know that CTR’s parents, siblings and other relatives were also buried in a family plot in this cemetery.

The Tampa Bay Times carried an interview with Mabel Packard in its issue of 24 January 1960.

Mabel Packard was the daughter of Joseph Lytle Russell, CTR’s father, through his second wife, Emma Ackley. So she was CTR’s half-sister. She was born in 1881 and when about 15, Stephen Foster’s brother, Morriston Foster (1823-1904) was a next door neighbor. From him she got the information that one of Stephen’s most famous songs that starts “Way down upon the Swanee River” was originally called something else – “the Pee Dee River.”  “Swanee” sounded a lot better and the name stuck.

The house where Mabel was living at the time of the interview was the address for her mother Emma Russell, and also her aunt Maria Frances Russell from 1922 until their deaths. Emma died in 1929 and Maria died in 1938, but according to the newspaper cutting Mabel did not move into the area until 1941. That might be an error. The obituary for Maria in 1938 mentioned a surviving niece, Mrs Richard Packard of "this city." Mabel died aged 80 towards the end of 1961, and is buried in the same family plot as Emma and Maria. From the Tampa Bay Times for 21 November 1961:

Whatever Happened to Lizzie Allen?

 In the May 1880 issue of Zion’s Watch Tower, the list of contributors had a new name, L A Allen. This was Lizzie (Elizabeth) A Allen, and her history is reviewed in Separate Identity volume one, pp. 203-207.

She and her father, Ira, who died in 1881, had been supporters of Nelson Barbour, but when the division occurred she supported CTR. Eventually, she left Zion’s Watch Tower to support John H Paton’s Universalist group and write for his paper The World’s Hope. In 1890 she was the pastor of his Church of the Larger Hope in Buchanan. In the 1890s she wrote for a Universalist paper Manford’s New Monthly Magazine. This dwindled in the latter half of the 1890s and may have coincided with her marriage (see below), or it just may be that she switched to writing for other publications that are yet to be discovered.

The last sighting of her had been in 1907 in the report of her mother’s funeral. We will pick up the story from there.

When Emily Allen died there was a report in the Rochester Democratic and Chronicle for 20 February 1907 which mentioned her surviving family. Lizzie was mentioned as now living in Chicago. Crucially for research, the report also mentioned that one of Lizzie’s sisters was now a Mrs Jessie Henby who resided not far from Chicago.

It appears that Lizzie was to die by drowning the following year in June 1908.

Below is the death certificate for an Elizabeth A Allen, aged 49, who died from drowning on 24 June 1908.

There are quite a number of people named Lizzie Allen in the records to make life difficult, but her parents are listed here as Ira and Emily, which makes this the right person. Lizzie has been married but is using her maiden name, and in fact, we do not know for sure who her husband was. She has one living child.  Her occupation is housekeeper, and that was her temporary employment when visiting Muskegon, Michigan. According to the certificate she died from accidental drowning in Black Lake while bathing, and there was no inquest.

Armed with the certificate it was possible to trace newspaper accounts of what happened. There are two newspaper accounts. In the first she is a woman of mystery – because she was there temporarily on a kind of extended vacation, but no-one really knew who she was. From The Muskegon Chronicle for 25 June 1908:

The accident was described thus: “The woman had stepped into a pit in the sandy beach of the lake where the water was about 10 feet deep and apparently did not know the first thing about swimming or the science of keeping afloat.”

Lizzie presented the paper with several mysteries:

So she had been married about ten years before (around the time her known writings dried up) but the marriage had only lasted about three months, and left her with a young son named Roger who was nine years old. She had continued using her maiden name, and the newspapers do not give her married name. She was known to be an expert in stenography and typing – that was part of the mystery – why was she doing domestic work? She had brought her typewriter with her which suggests active writing. Amongst her possessions were some letters from a mysterious “H.” That mystery remains unsolved.

In the second cutting, after they had been in touch with her family, they now knew a little more. From The Muskegon Chronicle for 27 June 1908:

She is now described as a writer and editor. She was a member of a Chicago social settlement. The settlement movement was an important reform institution in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century providing services and trying to remedy poverty in crowded immigrant neighborhoods of industrial cities. The best known settlement in the United States at the time was Hull House in Chicago. According to one reference work unrelated middle-class men and women often lived co-operatively as “settlers” with the aim of sharing knowledge and culture and implementing “social Christianity.”

The full report shows that her family who had now been contacted included a Mrs A E Henby, which tallies with Lizzie’s named sister at her mother’s funeral the previous year. Jessie Allen (1871-1952) had married Arthur Elias Henby (1874-1936) who became a homeopathic doctor.

The accident was viewed as straightforward – while paddling in the lake she fell into a hidden hole and drowned – while her young son, Roger, was nearby. He called for help, but it was too late.  Since Lizzie had a history of guilt and self-loathing that pushed her towards Universalism (see Separate Identity Volume 1, pp. 206-207) the possibility of suicide while mentally disturbed comes to mind. However, the locals without that background judged this to be a simple tragic accident and no inquest was required. Her body was taken by her sister back to Chicago and there was cremated.

It was a sad end, and there may be more of her activities from the late 1890s to still discover.

Switzerland

 In French-speaking Switzerland, in 1914-1915, postcards were distributed or mailed to potentially interested parties. One side featured a landscape picture, while the other side was an invitation to attend a "religious conference", at a given time and location.

Some examples of these materials are below:

Images supplied by Franco.

The Newspaper Syndicate

 Guest post by Bernhard

In the early history of the Bible Students Association (I.B.S.A.) we often encounter the term “Newspaper Syndicate” in its writings. But what exactly was this “Newspaper Syndicate?” When was it founded? Who worked in it, and what results did it achieve?

Essentially, the term "Newspaper Syndicate" is another name for a press association, such as the American Press Association of New York.The purpose of such an association is to sell content such as articles, columns, photos, etc. to various newspapers and magazines, or to ensure that desired content is published and paid for.

Publishing religious sermons in newspapers, for example, was naturally very effective. Firstly, because it allowed for an incredibly large readership worldwide, and secondly, it saved the high printing costs and the time required by many people to disseminate all the content, even though various sermons and advertisements were not free and consumed considerable sums of money.

Charles Taze Russell was aware of the influence of newspapers. He stated in 1912: “Few indeed are those that realize the opportunities and the power of the Press in this the twentieth century. So great is this power that the generally accepted opinion of a nation upon a subject may be completely reversed within a month. This was not so fifty or one hundred years ago. Under former conditions it would have taken a century to crystallize public opinion on such a matter as the recent Dr. Cook and Commodore Peary North Pole controversy. This case was, through the Press, placed on trial before the “Tribunal of Public Opinion,” and consequently was readily settled, furnishing an excellent example of how the people of the whole world take knowledge and settle matters in this our day. ... Thus is manifested an unprecedented opportunity for the Press. Will it be grasped? Yes! The Newspapers at present constitute the only channel through which the solution of this mighty problem can be speedily disseminated among people. The Daily and the Weekly Press of the present day are the sole source of information for millions of families, and these families assuredly will, through the Press, learn a harmonious, complete and satisfactory explanation of heretofore incomprehensible doctrinal questions.“

The Bible Students “Newspaper Syndicate” was founded by Charles T. Russell in New York in 1908 to contact national and international newspapers to regularly provide them with his sermons and weekly Bible studies, as well as to advertise various lectures and events related to the International Bible Students Association. However, long before the syndicate was founded, Russell's sermons were published weekly in newspapers.

The December 1, 1904, issue of the Watch Tower announced that sermons by C. T. Russell were appearing in three newspapers. The next issue of the Watch Tower, under the heading “Newspaper Gospelling,” reported: “Millions of sermons have thus been scattered far and near; and some at least have done good. If the Lord wills we shall be glad to see this ‘door’ keep open, or even open still wider.” The door of “newspaper gospelling” did open still wider. In 1908 sermons were being published in eleven newspapers.

Wherever C. T. Russell traveled, gave lectures, or attended conventions, he telegraphed a sermon (about two newspaper columns long) to the “Newspaper Syndicate” which then distributed the sermon to many daily newspapers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Initially, the sermons appeared only in English; from 1912 onward, they were also published in German and Swedish.

In Watch Tower, April 15, 1909, this newly founded “Newspaper Syndicate” is introduced: “Another item: In the interest of the work we have contracted with a Newspaper Syndicate, giving it a general control of the sermons,- to say -which newspapers may have them and which may not, the terms, etc. This Syndicate will handle the sermons for profit, nevertheless at a low price. Be assured that Brother Russell makes no profit by the sale of the Gospel. In view of this we advise that our friends hereafter refrain from any effort to have the sermons published in any newspaper-contenting themselves with the encouragement of the papers publishing these sermons will be sent to us.“

In the article “The Newspaper Syndicate’s idea“ (Watch Tower 1912, p.36) we can read: “For the benefit of our readers we remark that Brother Russell is very anxious to co-operate with the Newspaper Syndicate which handles his weekly sermons. While he retains fullest liberty in respect to the subject matter of his discourses, he yields other points considerably to the Syndicate’s wishes. This will account for his greater care in his clothing, his more frequent use of cabs and parlor cars. The Syndicate insists that Brother Russell’s personality has much to do in placing his sermons far and near. And Brother Russell is glad to yield to the Syndicate’s business judgment, because he desires that his Gospel message shall be heard the world around.“

In 1913, it was reported that clergymen were resisting the publication of Russell's sermons in newspapers. Russell wrote: “Divine providence is still favoring the presentation of the Gospel in the public press. The efforts of the enemies of the Gospel of the kingdom to misrepresent our teachings and to prejudice editors and publishers against them have not prevailed. In this also we perceive that He that is for us is mightier than all they that be against us. The day may come when the truth will be crushed to the earth by slander and misrepresentation, but that day has not come yet. Indeed, in quite a number of instances the editors, although worldly men, have appreciated the situation, despised the unjust principle manifested by some preachers in their opposition, and have given space and prominence to our message. The latest figures given us by the Newspaper Syndicate which handles the Sermons and Bible Study Lessons in the United States and Canada show 1,424 papers publishing weekly. About 600 papers in Great Britain, South Africa and Australia publish weekly. This in round figures represents 2,000 newspapers. How many millions of readers are thus reached by these papers we know not, nor can we tell how many of those reached are reading and being influenced. We do know, however, that the whole world is waking up, and that the truths we are presenting are gaining adherents and exerting influence everywhere.“

The December 15, 1914, issue of the Watch Tower reports that the spread decreased: As our readers are aware, Pastor Russell's sermons and weekly Bible studies have for several years been very widely published in the secular newspapers. The number publishing is not so large as formerly; nevertheless, we are probably reaching more people than ever, by reason of inserting the sermons in metropolitan newspapers – in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Baltimore, Washington, Los Angeles. … The difference between the two services is that in the smaller cities the sermons are published strictly as news, the newspapers paying for the stereotyped plates twenty-five cents per column weekly. It is the business with these, conducted by a newspaper syndicate, that has fallen off considerably. The number now publishing the sermons, etc., regularly, is about one thousand.

The Lecture Bureau

This “Newspaper Syndicate,” newly founded in 1908, had its lecture bureau in the Metropolitan Building, New York, in room 3040. The building was located at 1 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. From March 1916, the office of John G. Kuehn of the Mena Film Company was also located in room 6078 in the same building. Several people were members of both the newspaper syndicate and the Mena Film Company.

The department consisted of journalists, reporters, typists, and photographers.The office was headed by George Chester Driscoll. At the same time, there were three permanent staff members (Isaac Page Noll, George Minor Huntsinger, and Dr. Leslie Whitney Jones), as well as several outside assistants and photographers.

Reporter, director and travel manager

Driscoll was the person responsible for Russell's public funding, activities, and travel arrangements. For twenty years (from 1897) he was in special newspaper syndicate work. In 1908 he organized and became manager of the Pastor Russell Lecture Bureau, which syndicated Russell’s sermons through the American Press and other newspaper Associations in America and also in foreign countries, through which Russell’s sermons were published in over 4000 newspapers. He supervised the publicity of Russell’s various Foreign campaigns, and as publicist preceded the Foreign Investigations Committee as well as arranging for the advertising etc., in connection with the public meetings which Russell addressed on that tour. He was Russell’s special advertising manager in connection with the Photo Drama publicity.

In 1915 he became president and manager of the Pyramid Film Company, in 1918 he became a director of the Mena Film Company and in 1919 he became a manager of the Kinemo Kit Corporation and worked as Moving Picture Producer. In 1920 he travelled with J. F. Rutherford, A. H. Macmillan, A. R. Goux and D. W. Soper to Palestine and Egypt. Some movies were made for the Kinemo Company.

After one year’s service in America Hollister was manager of the Pastor Russell Lecture Bureau of Great Britain (in 1910), Africa and Australia. In 1912 Russell gave him the management of translating the first Volume and other messages which were subsequently disseminated in Japan, China and Korea and other countries, necessitating much travel and work in these countries. For this reason he was made Foreign Director in the Mena Film Company. He became the Watchtower Representative of Japan and the far east. Hollister arrived in Australia in late 1913 and spent several months of the following year in Australia and New Zealand.

William James Hollister and his wife went together with Robert Reuben Hollister in 1913 to China and Japan.

Huntsinger, of Independence,Kansas, was recognized asone of the best court reporters in the country. He was one of the few stenographers who could take notes while speakers spoke quickly. He died in 1915 after an illness of three years from tuberculosis.

Jones of Chicago, was originally a medical doctor. Since 1905 he produced the  “Souvenir Convention Reports.“ Jones was also involved in the Mena Film Corporation and became a director of this Company. He was also a member of the Foreign Investigation Committee on the World Tour in 1912. He had charge of several Trans-Continental Special Train Parties. He died in a road accident in 1946.

Noll worked together with Jones, Huntsinger and Driscoll in the “Newspaper Syndicate.“ Noll reported on the Russell-Troy debate in 1915. In 1919 he became a director of the Kinemo Kit Corporation and the Pyramid Film Company.

He was one of the official photographers in the time of Russell and Rutherford. He was a member of the Cleveland class, Ohio. In 1919 he was a cinematographer of the Kinemo Kit Corporation. Together with Rutherford, A. H. Macmillan, A. Goux and G. C. Driscoll he visited Palestine and Egypt in 1920.

She served also as secretary in the “Newspaper Syndicate.“ She was married to John Frank Stephenson. The “Ming Yu Bao,” The Chinese Recorder, March 1913, page 134-135, wrote: “We have received two copies of a paper called “Bible Study,” and inside one is a letter signed “Bible Study Club, V. Noble, Secretary” addressed to “Fellow-servant in a foreign field,” and reading in part as follows: - “We proffer you our little journal free on receipt of a postal card request. Even postage included, the expense will not be a serious item to us”! This is followed by the intimation that on the reverse side ofthe letter will be found a place for the addresses of missionaries, which may be entered on the subscription list, ad libitum, but only at their request.”The Continent, a Presbyterian journal noted for opposing Russell and The Watch Tower, sent someone to visit the Bible Study Club offices located in the Metropolitan Building in New York City.The magazine reported: “The office to which Mr. (sic! Mrs.)Noble invited correspondents to write is occupied by a business concern of an entirely different character, which reports that “Mr. Noble” simply receives mail at that address. This firm disclaims all connection with him. On a corner of the glass in the door is the revealing line, “Pastor Russell Lecture Bureau.” (Bruce W. Schulz, A Separate Identity, Organizational Identity Among Readers of Zion’s Watch Tower: 1870-1887).

For a period of time Russell's sermons were published weekly in more than 2,000 newspapers, with a combined circulation of 15,000,000 readers ; and in all about 4,000 different newspapers published his sermons. Some idea of the scope of his work can be understood from the words written in The Continent, a publication not friendly to him: ”His writings are said to have a greater newspaper circulation every week than those of any other living man; greater, doubtless, than the combined circulation of the writings of all the priests and preachers in North America; greater even than the work of Arthur Brisbane, Norman Hapgood, George Horace Lorimer, Dr. Frank Crane, Frederick Haskins, and a dozen other of the best known editors and syndicate writers put together.” (Harp of God, p. 239)

So Brother Russell became the greatest syndicate writer of his day. Many came to a knowledge of the truth by means of these published sermons.

After Brother Russell died, another effective method of spreading the good news began to be used. On April 16, 1922, Joseph F. Rutherford made one of his first radio broadcasts, speaking to an estimated 50,000 people.