Here is a photograph of C T Russell in his study at the Pittsburgh Bible House c. 1906. Notice the picture on the wall in the top left hand corner of this photograph.
If you look very closely, below is the photograph under discussion. It is a picture taken of the workers at the Bible House. I originally had two copies, one marked 1899 and the other 1902. Both came from a relative of W E Van Amburgh. As to which is the correct year, a lot would depend on when the Henninges were in America, between visits to Britain, then Germany, and finally Australia.
Bernhard researched the picture and provided the following information which clearly establishes the correct year as 1902 (or very shortly thereafter):
You see on the group photo brother William Van
Amburgh and left brother George Garman. Both became members of the Bible House
family in autumn 1900. So the photo couldn’t be taken before 1900.
Ernest and Rosa (Rose) Henninges were in England
from April 1900 till November 1901 and than he came back to
Pittsburgh. They stayed there till June 1903; than they went to
Germany. So the photo couldn’t be taken before November 1901.
Otto Koetitz and his wife Jennie succeeded Henninges
in November 1903 in Germany. Otto was a coworker in Bethel from 1896 followed
by his wife in 1900.
Albert Williamson became a member of the Bible House
staff in 1899. Harriet Stark (who married him in 1905) and her mother Britee C.
Stark began to work in the Bethel in 1900.
Laura Whitehouse lived also there since 1900.
Johannes Gotthold Kuehn came also in 1900 to the
Bible House as a part-time worker. His wife Ottilie Friederike and son Alfred
followed in 1902.
So this brings us to the date of 1902, maybe early 1903.
Subsequent to this article being written originally,
Bernhard incorporated this material into his book on the Bible House.
While browsing the biographies of people closely related to and cooperating with CTR, I noticed that at the end of his life, there were people who were much younger than him, even 15-30 years old (eg Van Amburgh, born in 1863; Macmillan, born in 1877; JFR, born in 1869; Woodworth, born in 1870; Williamson, born ib 1878). I wonder what happened to the people who were roughly the same age as CTR. Why did they leave him.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Bohnet was one of the exceptions because he was born in 1858.
Where are the older CTR associates? After all, he did not live exceptionally long. He used to have a lot of older friends (Wendell, Storrs, Stetson), and at the end of his life many younger ones. Where have his peers gone?
Many of the most active at the end of CTR's life would have been younger because they had age, health and opportunity on their side to work for the cause full-time. There were older ones as well, for example William Hickey from the 1870s Bible class who was interviewed at Cedar Point Ohio. While some older ones may have gone in a different religious direction, the three you name (Wendell, Storrs and Stetson) all died before there ever was a Watch Tower Society.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I have never looked up these 16 speakers (?) at CTR's funeral in terms of birth. That would be a comparison.
ReplyDeleteSorry, there were 17 speakers (The Watchtower December 1, 1916 p. 6000-6013, reprint).
ReplyDeleteAlthough there were supposed to be 20 speakers (The Watchtower December 1, 1916 p. 6000, reprint)