The Russells and the Allegheny cemetery

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 19^th 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 his was 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).

The Allegheny cemetery and familiar images

We are all influenced by our surroundings, and this article illustrates how Charles Taze Russell might have been influenced by his at the Allegheny cemetery.

The video “Jehovah's Witnesses—Faith in Action, Part 1: Out of Darkness” portrays the funeral of Ann Eliza Birney Russell, CTR’s mother. She died when Charles was about to turn nine years old. The reconstructed shot in the film has obviously been closely modelled on the Russell family plot that you can visit in the Allegheny cemetery today.

Screenshot from Jehovah's Witnesses - Faith in Action, part 1. 

Copyright: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.

 Joseph L and Ann E Russell grave stones

At the time Ann Eliza died, five interments had already taken place.  CTR’s Uncle and Aunt, James and Sarah, were there, but they died before he was born. It was James who purchased the standard plot for ten graves originally - although only nine spaces were used. Also, three of Charles’ siblings had died and were buried there.

Young Charles may have attended the funerals of his two brothers and one sister, and then of course his mother. As an adult in his 20s he would likely have attended the funeral of his Uncle, Charles Tays Russell, who was buried in the row behind.

So, Allegheny cemetery was definitely on CTR’s radar. Below are two modern photographs of the main entrance through which you would have to travel to the part of the cemetery where the Russell plot is found. Notice the round towers on the ramparts.

Now just think what CTR did when he founded his own magazine, Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.  From the first issue in 1879 until the end of 1890 it had the same graphic on the masthead. And even when the paper gained a proper cover in 1891, the graphic below was retained until December 1894 at the head of the opening article.

The tower and wall do look somewhat familiar!

I am very grateful to the author of “Watch Tower of Allegheny Historical Tour” who made this original suggestion, and who also supplied the most recent photographs included in the article.

Other familiar images for the Allegheny cemetery were Egyptian motifs and a homage to Egyptian architecture. This was quite common in many cemeteries of the era, both in American and the UK. Here are some modern photographs of examples in the Allegheny cemetery.

Coming closer to the area CTR visited, if you look at the family graves and then just to the left, this is what you can see.

The Egyptian theme is preserved with a steep pyramid monument and then, just behind it, there is a monument of an open book. This pyramid is a bit the worse for wear because it was damaged by a local tornado many years ago. However, the Russell grave markers in front were unharmed as they were laid flat on the ground. The book with names inscribed was a fairly common monument based on texts in Daniel and Revelation.

But put the two images together, and you might see the idea for the monument that was erected on the United Cemeteries plot after CTR was buried there – a pyramid with open books on each side and names inscribed. The idea was reportedly suggested by J A Bohnet, but was agreed by CTR. And maybe these familiar images from his childhood had a part to play in that.

Conjecture of course – both the suggestions in this article are – but a possibility none the less.

General William Preble Hall

The Watchtower Society’s book God’s Kingdom Rules (1973) discusses on page 56 the stand that Bible Students took towards warfare during WW1. While the command not to kill was paramount in their minds, they also wished to be obedient to their understanding of the “higher powers” of Romans 13. On that basis, some were prepared to join the army and wear a uniform. Of course, wearing a soldier’s uniform, carrying a weapon, but then firing to miss, would be a difficult situation to be in, but this was the basic advice CTR gave in Volume 6 of Studies in the Scriptures, The New Creation, pages 594-595:

"We would consider it not amiss...to request a transference to the medical or hospital department, where our services could be used with full consent of our consciences; but even if compelled to serve in the ranks and fire our guns we need not feel compelled to shoot a fellow man."

This background may help some modern readers to understand the picture at the top of this article. This is General William Preble Hall, in full military uniform, wearing his medals. Hall was a Bible Student. The photograph is taken from a convention report for 1911; a convention where Hall was a featured speaker.

So who was this man? What was his background and connection with the Bible Students?

Hall came from a military background. He was born in 1848. He graduated from West Point in 1868 and served principally on Western Frontier duty until the Spanish-American war. He rose to the rank of Brigadier General. The following comes from the volume Who Was Who in America 1897-1942, page 507. (Spelling and abbreviations used have been preserved)

“Served principally on frontier duty until Spanish war; was in fight with Apaches at Whitestone, MT, Ariz., July 13 1873; Big Horn and Yellowstone Exped, 1876. And in action at Indian Creek, WY July 17, 1876, and combat of Slim Buttes, Dak., Sept. 9-10, `876; attacked by Indians while in command of reconnoitering party near camp on White River, CO, Oct 29, 1879, and while going rescue a brother officer was surrounded by about 35 warriors; awarded Congressional Medal of Honor for most distinguished gallantry on that occasion’ Adj. Gen Dep Puerto Rico 1899-1900. Was mem. Dept. Div. army, and distinguished marksmen teams. 1879-92, and won medals upon all these teams, shooting, carbine, and revolver. Retired June 11, 1912.”

The reference to Big Horn calls to mind the death of General Custer. A personal letter from an elderly member of the WT headquarter staff dated Jan 23, 1995 makes this connection: “One day before the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Custer told Hall to scout the Indians, so he came within one day of dying with Custer and his men.” The same source said that Hall had a reputation for kindness and fairness to the Indians, often seeing to it that their needs were met out of army supplies. (Hall served as a Quartermaster at different stages of his career.)

The letter writer’s own life overlapped Hall’s by about twenty years, although there is no indication they ever personally met. He obviously believed the acount he gave, and it is a really good story, repeated verbally by others over the years. The logical progression of the anecdote is that Hall being sent away from the expedition might have been some sort of "providence”, leading to his becoming a Bible Student twenty-five years later, to travel internationally with CTR, witness to Theodore Roosevelt, etc.

However, while Hall’s good reputation is supported by other accounts, the actual link to Custer is geographically problematic. At the time of Custer’s death, Hall was a lieutenant with General Cook in the Fifth Cavalry, whereas Custer was with the Seventh. Hall’s documented activity took him to the Big Horn River in Yellowstone in the state of Wyoming. However, Custer’s last stand took place at the Little Bighorn. That is both a different river (more a stream and a small tributary of the Bighorn) – and in a different state, Montana.

One can see how over time a story might be told, believed, and then embellished. As the very last line of the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence said: “This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

In fairness to all concerned, it should be noted that this legend has not appeared in any official printed source to my knowledge.

So how did General Hall become a Bible Student?

Hall relates his experience in a letter to ZWT for June 1, 1905. In September 1904 while attending the World’s Fair at St Louis, he had picked up two tracts published by the Watch Tower, and was moved to write off for the first volume of Millennial Dawn. He soon obtained the other volumes and his letter shows his full commitment to the message.

By 1907 CTR was highlighting Hall’s example in sharing his faith. In a convention talk “To Colporteurs and Harvest Workers” CTR singled out Hall for praise in visiting all the people he knew in Washington with Bible Student tracts. In CTR’s estimation this took more courage than fighting on the battlefield.

In 1908, Hall was one of those listed who had taken “the vow.”

By 1911 Hall was giving the address of welcome at the Mountain Lake Park, Maryland, convention, before introducing J F Rutherford as convention chairman.

It was at this convention that a world tour was announced to investigate foreign missions. CTR and six companions made the tour and reported back in a special issue of the Watch Tower for April 1912. General Hall was one of the group, and in the photograph below from the 1912 convention report, he is third from the left, just behind CTR who is seated. 

When the tour visited the Philippines, where Hall still knew some US military personnel, he gave a talk on "The Bible and Christianity from the Standpoint of a Soldier."

In July 1912 at a convention in Washington D.C. Hall led a session which the convention report headed Lake of Hell-Fire Officially Repudiated, which presented an anti-Hell resolution for adoption.

In 1915 J F Rutherford produced his booklet Great Battle in Ecclesiastical Heavens. In the character witnesses, Hall features prominently. His testimonial to CTR (dated April 3, 1915) takes up most of page 52 in the original American printing, signed W P Hall, Brigadier General, US Army, and then Hall’s own photograph takes up the whole of page 53.

That same year CTR made a more pointed statement about the implications of wearing a military uniform in the Watch Tower for September 1, 1915, page 260. He wrote that “to put on the military uniform implied the duties and responsibilities of a soldier as recognized and accepted.” He wondered “how great the influence would be for peace, for righteousness, for God, if a few hundred of the Lord’s faithful were to follow the course of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and refuse to bow down to the god of war.”

As a result, Bible Students in different lands made different decisions, some accepting non-combatant service and others flatly refusing to wear a uniform at all. And after CTR died, comments on warfare and patriotism in the book The Finished Mystery resulted in eight well-known Bible Students being arrested and sentenced to long prison terms in 1918. They were released after around nine months in 1919.

With his background, one might wonder how Hall dealt with this. He had of course retired from the army back in 1912. And it appears he continued as a Bible Student and stayed in association with the IBSA. He died in December 1927 and his obituary was published in the Society’s Golden Age magazine for February 8, 1928, page 302. Probably written by Clayton J Woodworth, it reads:

General Hall Passes On

GENERAL William Preble Hall, retired, former Adjutant General of the United States Army, and well known to Bible Students in all parts of the world, has passed on, at the age of 79 years.

General Hall, awarded a Congressional medal of honor for distinguished gallantry in action in one of Colorado’s many Indian wars, in 1879, was also brave is his defense of the truth. He was neither afraid nor ashamed to distribute tracts in his home neighborhood, one of the most exclusive in Washington, D.C.

Though always to some extent influenced by his early military training, he nevertheless took his stand on the Lord’s side and was a meek and faithful worker in the service work, doing with his might what his hand found to do. He toured the world with Pastor C.T. Russell on the foreign mission investigation and was the chairman of the Bible Students’ convention in Scranton in 1920. He was a brother greatly beloved by all who knew him.

(end of obituary)

Hall was buried in Arlington National cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia, Section 1, Lot 653. If you check the name “William Preble Hall” on the Find a Grave site, you can see his grave marker, along with a bit more biographical information, including family details which this article has not covered. One of his daughters lived until 1981. The Find a Grave article does not mention his Bible Student connections. However, Hall also gets his own article on Wikipedia. This does provide information about his religious background along with some more photographs.

(Revised from an earlier article on another blog to incorporate information supplied in the comment trail by Gary, Rachael and Andrew)

Joseph and Mary Rutherford

The Brooklyn Bethel family in 1910 and 1913

This article could be subtitled: Did they have a crèche?

A review of the 1910 Brooklyn census reveals the names of those then living in the newly established Brooklyn Bethel. What is unusual by modern-day standards is how many children were living there.

There were fifteen married couples living there, and nearly double that number who were single people. But the married couples included a number of children.

For example, the Brenneisen’s (Edward and Grace) had two children, Susan aged 10 and Ralph aged 7. The MacMillans (Alexander and Mary) had two children, Albert aged 2, and Goodwin aged 1/12, which I assume means one month. It might explain why MacMillan disappears from view at times in the Society’s history – he could have been outside Bethel handling family responsibilities for while.

The Sturgeons, (Menta and Florence) had a son, Gordon, aged 11. The Parkepiles (Don and Blanche) had a daughter, Mildred, aged 11. The Horths (Frank and Lilian) had a daughter, Marie, aged 15. And the Keuhns (J G and Ottile) had a daughter, Mildred, aged 16, as well as four adult children living there.

Addenda: The census was dated April 29 and 30. There is a supplemental page dated May 14 with some extra names, which include Joseph and Mary Rutherford, and their son, Malcom (then aged 17).

We could well ask, did they have a crèche?

Moving forward two and one half years we find that the Bethel family still had a number of children living there.

The occasion was the trial in January 1913 of Charles T. Russell vs. Brooklyn Daily Eagle (commonly called the “miracle wheat” trial). In the trial, witness Menta Sturgeon was asked to name all those who were currently part of the Bethel family, either living in or working there regularly. He was asked first in direct examination, when he outlined mainly the married couples and families there, and then in cross examination when he added those who were single. I am providing the full list here. They have been alphabetised according to surname. Sometimes Sturgeon gives a first name or initial, but often he does not. Of course, this is not as accurate as a census return; it is all down to his memory on the witness stand, so there may be omissions.

Miss Alexander

Miss Allen

Mrs Ambler

Mr and Mrs Bain and son

Mr and Mrs William T Baker and son

Miss Bebout

Miss Bourquin

Mr and Mrs Brenneisen and child

Mr and Mrs A Burgess

Mr Cohen

Mrs Cole

Mr and Mrs Cook and two daughters

Miss Darlington

Mr Davidson

Mr John DeCecca

Mr and Mrs F Detweiler

Mr Dockey

Miss Douglas

Mr Drey

Mr Edwards

Mr Emmerly

Mr Ferris

Miss Fitch

Mr Gaylord

Miss Gillet

Mr and Mrs Glendon and son

Miss Hamilton

Mrs Hartsell

Mr Heck

Mr Holmes

Mr and Mrs Isaac Hoskins

Miss Edith Hoskins

Miss Elizabeth Hoskins

Mr Howells

Mr Hudgings

Mrs James

Mr Jansen

Mr and Mrs H F Keene

Mr and Mrs John Keene and three daughters

Mr Knox

Mr and Mrs A H Macmillan and one child

Mr Mayer

Mr and Mrs McGregory and daughter

Mr William Miller

Mr and Mrs Mockridge

Mr Myers

Mrs Nation

Mr and Mrs Nicholson

Miss Niland

Miss Blanche Noble

Miss Virginia Noble

Mr W Obert

Mr John Perry

Mr and Mrs Peterson

Mr Plaenker

Mr and Mrs Raymond and daughter

Mr and Mrs Ritchie

Mr and Mrs Robinson

Mr and Mrs Rockwell

Pastor Russell

Mr and Mrs Schuler

Mr Seary

Mr Shearer

Mr Stamball

Mr Stevenson

Mr and Mrs M Sturgeon and son

Miss Taft

Mr Thompson

Miss Tomlins

Mr Totten

Mrs Wakefeld

Mr and Mrs A G Wakefield

It is interesting to note how many families still lived there. Where the children were of adult age they appear to be listed separately as working there in their own right. But those listed as sons and daughters and uncategorised children may well have been minors.