The Trials of Jonas

We will all be familiar with CTR’s brief description of his contact with Jonas Wendell. From the booklet A Conspiracy Exposed and Harvest Siftings (1894) page 95 (Special edition of Zion’s Watch Tower for 25 April 1894) we read:

 “Among other theories, I stumbled upon Adventism. Seemingly by accident, one evening I dropped into a dusty, dingy hall, where I had heard religious services were held, to see if the handful who met there had anything more sensible to offer than the creeds of the great churches.

There, for the first time, I heard something of the views of Second Adventists from the preacher, Mr. Jonas Wendell, long since deceased. Though his Scripture exposition was not entirely clear, and though it was very far from what we now rejoice in, it was sufficient, under God, to re-establish my wavering faith in the divine inspiration of the Bible, and to show that the records of the apostles and prophets are indissolubly linked. What I heard sent me to my Bible to study with more zeal and care than ever before.”

There had been a similar comment made about 15 years before, in the supplement issued with the first issue of Zion’s Watch Tower sent TO THE READERS OF THE HERALD OF THE MORNING and dated June 1879. This gave slightly different details:

“I have been a Bible student since I first had my attention called to the second coming of our Lord, by Jonas Wendell, a Second Advent Preacher, about 1869, who was then preaching the burning of the world as being due in 1873. But though he first awakened my interest on the subject, I was not a convert, either to the time he suggested nor to the events he predicted. I, in company with others in Pittsburgh, organized and maintained a Bible class for the searching of the Scriptures, meeting every Sunday.”

In spite of the disclaimers, Jonas obviously made an impression on CTR. So in this article we are going to try and understand the human Jonas which may account in some part to the effect he had on CTR.

Jonas Wendell (1815-1873) was a family man. He married Jane Gilmore (1823-1909) and they had one son, Daniel Gilmore Wendell (1839-1914). Some sources erroneously give a second child, daughter Emily, but this is a misreading of the 1870 census. Emily was Daniel’s wife and all four were living at the same address in Edinboro on census day. Daniel’s daughter Cora married and lived in Edinboro with her family until her death in 1928. The family subsequently moved away to Florida. There is a Wendell family plot with memorials in the Edinboro cemetery.

For a detailed review of Jonas’ life and evolving theology and also his links with other key players like Nelson Barbour, see Separate Identity volume 1, pp.65-82.

Like Nelson Barbour, Jonas was very keen on date setting for the return of Christ. The failure of his expectations for 1854 caused a dip in his activities as shown by official records. In the 1850 census he was a clergyman in Oswego, New York. Following the 1854 failure he settled his family in Edinboro. In the 1860 census he was a grocer in Edinboro, and in the 1866 tax assessment lists he was a lawyer. But then his faith was renewed and by the 1870 census he was back as “clergy.” He also had a new date to promote, 1873. How he did this we will come to later.

Jonas and his contemporaries were all very human, with human frailties, but they were imbued with a mission and weren’t going to let setbacks deter them. Whatever we may feel about the details of their beliefs today, they lived them and expended themselves, often to a premature end.

So what trials did Jonas face?

We are going to look at three: physical difficulties, financial setbacks, and scandal.

The thought of physical difficulties comes over in the Advent Christian Church paper The World’s Crisis for 5 May 1869. This carried a letter from H A King then of Nevada, Ohio, about Jonas’ work organising regular meetings and mentioned that he had a physical disability. Several (actually six) wished to get baptised but Jonas couldn’t do this on his own because he only had the use of one arm. Whether this was temporary or a more permanent problem is not known.

Of particular interest is the location where this happened in March of 1869, Pittsburgh.

Physical issues would affect Jonas later. In August 1873, he suffered a serious fall down a flight of stairs in Edinboro. His obituary by George Stetson in The World’s Crisis for 10 September 1873 detailed this, and how he soldiered on before overtaxing himself helping someone with a “fickly horse” and collapsing and dying a week later at the age of 67.

Trials also included financial setbacks. From The World’s Crisis for 13 January 1869:

Wendell’s horse died and he had to ask his fellow believers for help. Two of the names who came to his aid might be familiar. Daniel Cogswell’s name appeared on the cover of early issues of Nelson Barbour’s Herald of the Morning. And Ira Allen appears in Zion’s Watch Tower for November 1880 helping to arrange a visit from CTR, and his daughter Lizzie wrote for the magazine and later for John Paton’s World’s Hope.

It serves as a reminder that so many of the players in those early days knew each other.

A trial of a far different kind happened in 1871. This was scandal. A very public accusation of immorality was made against Jonas involving a girl who had been released from a “House of Refuge” after his intervention. We will explore this in some detail.

It appears that a girl named Mary Terry had relatives in Edinboro and, for whatever reason, was committed to what was called the “House of Refuge.” Jonas knew of the case and secured her release, giving guarantees of good conduct and according to other reports helping her find employment. His status as a minister and at least some knowledge of the law likely helped him do this. So far so good. But then the girl went on her travels – sometimes on her own, sometimes with another girl - no doubt using the railroads to do so, and at some point it was claimed that Jonas had offered to run off with her to Pittsburgh.

AI image provided by Leroy with thanks

One of the less slanted reports, although with no guarantee of accuracy in the detail, came from The Pittsburgh Commercial for 31 May 1871, page 4.

Jonas was described as 60 at the time, a nice round figure for a philandering clergyman. Actually he was 55, but no doubt looked 60. He was old. He was a minister. He was a married man. The girl was a sweet vulnerable 16 year old, pretty, but perhaps “somewhat simple minded.” If you were eager for salacious scandal, what more could you ask for? In reality, as we will see later, rather than an unworldly “sweet sixteen” Mary was a more traveled 19 year old at the time.

If The Pittsburgh Commercial used a certain restraint that wasn’t the case when the story broke elsewhere. Various by-line writers had a field day, veering between a sinful clergyman and an elderly seducer, and sometimes combining the two. For example (all cuttings dated 29 May 1871): The Cincinnati Enquirer, A MINISTER ARRESTED FOR ADULTERY; The St Louis Republic, A SINFUL ADVENTIST; The Courier-Journal, A TREACHEROUS SHEPHERD; The Washington Daily Patriot, ANOTHER REVEREND SEDUCER; The Cleveland Leader, A REVERENT SCAPEGRACE; The Appeal-Democrat, AN OLD AND REVEREND SINNER; The Evansville Journal, A SHAMEFUL FORNICATOR; and The St Louis Globe-Democrat, AN AGED LOTHARIO ARRESTED.

Even if Jonas were guilty, one can feel sympathy for his wife, Jane, and the rest of the family in Edinboro. But as events were to prove, he wasn’t.

However, it was hardly a surprise that most popular newspapers weren’t that interested in a clergyman cleared of wrongdoing, so very few carried the sequel.

Once the “crime” was brought to public attention events moved swiftly. Jonas was detained in Erie, Pennsylvania, and brought back to Edinboro. The girl was a little more difficult to find. As noted above she had been traveling from place to place and “after a tedious search” was finally tracked down. Like Jonas she was brought back to Edinboro.

Faced with the enormity of the situation, she either recanted or claimed she’d never made the accusation in the first place. To its credit, The Pittsburgh Commercial for 1 June 1871 carried the news:

Quote: “(Mary Terry) makes affidavit that the charges made against Mr. Wendell are entirely without foundation.” Jonas was cleared.

Interestingly, in the aftermath the girl was not blamed. A week later the same paper noted that Wendell had been completed vindicated and blamed an unnamed “personal enemy” for the story. From The Pittsburgh Commercial for 7 June 1871:

A retraction of the accusation was noted in the editor’s journal column in The Advent Christian Times for 4 July 1871:

“The man who published the scandal has corrected it before the public and done what could be done to retrieve the wrong.”

So what do we know about Mary Terry?  She’d had family in Edinboro, that was how Jonas came to hear of her, and in her travels the papers noted she had relatives in Rouseville. Existing records suggest she was born Mary Anna Terry in Chester, Pennsylvania, in November 1852.

As already observed, she had been placed in a House of Refuge. We will show later that this was specifically the House of Refuge in Pittsburgh.

The concept of Refuge might suggest a haven for the needy, but in reality this was part of the penal system.

According to The Jeffersonian of 1 June 1854, page 1, the Pittsburgh House of Refuge was opened in 1854, and was for (quote) “infants under the age of twenty-one years, committed to their custody by two Judges...on complaint and proof made to them by the parent, guardian, or next friend of such infant...that said infant is unmanageable or a vagrant, and has no parent or guardian capable and willing to restrain, manage and take proper care of such infant.”

The Sunbury American for 23 February 1856 noted that two years after opening “the House of Refuge...now contains 135 inmates. It noted that “the directors state that the institution exerts a salutary effect upon the minds and deportment of viciously disposed youths.”

The institution moved out of the Pittsburgh area in the mid-1870s. The Official Report on the move dated May 13-16, 1874 was in The Third Annual Report of the National PRISON Association of the United States (capitals mine).This noted “it is to be removed from Allegheny City, where it is cooped up within very restricted premises enclosed by massive stone walls, to a large and splendid farm...in Washington County.”

The report included comments from the superintendent, one Reverend R N Avery: “We demand implicit obedience and we always obtain it.” He qualified his comment by saying “That strict discipline does not interfere with the happiness of the children is evident from the cheerfulness which characterizes our whole family.” His statement appears to have been taken at face value.

Avery’s name as superintendent confirms that this is where Mary Terry was detained. The 1870 census for McClure Township lists R N Avery as superintendent of the House of Refuge. He is there with his wife and family.

This is on page 45 of the schedule and is followed by various supervisors, teachers, matrons, etc. of the establishment, and then come the names of around 230 inmates, who today would be called teenagers. On page 50 of the schedule we find Mary Terry.

All it tells us is that she is 18 and was born in Pennsylvania. So, as noted above, rather than “sweet sixteen” she was nineteen when the accusations were made.

A later report on the newer farm location dates from 1888. It’s found in The Journal of Prison Disciple and Philanthropy, Pennsylvania Prison Society, January 1888. This explained the House of Refuge regime: The girls “never mingle with the males or speak to them, nor do they ever see them except in the chapel services (at which) a minister of some religious denomination officiates.” As well as six and one half hours of schooling each secular day and chapel on Sundays, the girls “do the washing for the entire institution, cook for themselves, make their own clothing and also shirts for the boys.”

One can appreciate why Mary would have been all too keen to get out of the place!

AI image provided by Leroy with thanks

As to her subsequent history, there is one possible sighting in the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette for 29 December 1871, which has a Mary Terry in Pittsburgh, as ”an inmate of a house of ill-repute” being sent to the workhouse.

The Mary Anna Terry, who was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1852, would lose her Terry name when she married and moved to New Jersey in 1874. She lived until 1937 and raised six children, one of whom lived until the 1970s.

Returning to Jonas Wendell, his trials were not yet completely over. He was still subject to investigation in a church hearing at the Advent Christian Conference in New York State.

Fortunately they ruled in his favor. The result below comes from The Advent Christian Times for 27 June 1871:

A fuller report was published in The Advent Christian Times for 25 July 1871:

The rider at the end suggests that while Jonas had been well-intentioned he’d been somewhat naive in his dealings with Mary.

In spite of his various trials, Jonas expended himself on his preaching because of the urgency of the times as he saw it. He published a small booklet Present Truth or Meat in Due Season in 1870 to proclaim a literal return of Christ for 1873. It was republished in June 1873 with an extra chapter by E. Wolcott of Keyport, New Jersey.

Jonas died before his own “great disappointment.” An obituary in The Watchman’s Cry for 1 October 1873, written by the editor S.W. Bishop, expressed support for his views:

DEATH OF ELDER JONAS WENDELL

“He was an earnest lover of the appearing of our Great King, and was therefore deeply interested in those prophecies which treat especially of his glorious advent. By a thorough and prayerful study of those prophecies he became fully convinced that our Lord will return to earth this present year, 1873; and, as many of our dear brethren know, sent out a synopsis of his faith in this great truth in a printed essay, broadcast through the land...WE SHALL SEE HIM IN A FEW WEEKS, beyond the reach of death, at the appearing of our great Life giver, when he shall come to bestow immortality on all the good, both dead and living. God grant we may all be ready.” (Capitals mine).

As noted in CTR’s own comments in the Herald supplement, he was aware of Jonas’ beliefs about 1873. Barbour was to recalculate the date for 1874, and when again nothing visible happened, eventually the concept of an “invisible presence” was explained.

In a sense this was history repeating itself. William Miller’s movement focussed on 1843. Nothing happened. So the chronology was adjusted to reach 1844. Nothing happened. It was then calculated that the date was right but the related event was invisible – in 1844 this would be the “cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary” which is still the position of the Seventh Day Adventist Church today. Scroll forward 30 years and we have Wendell’s date of 1873. Nothing happened. The chronology was then adjusted to reach 1874. Again it seemed that nothing happened. But Nelson Barbour came to believe that 1874 marked an invisible “parousia.” His paper Herald of the Morning proclaiming that event attracted CTR, who as noted in his own statement quoted earlier, was familiar with Wendell’s views.

So Jonas was a real person, with real problems but a real mission.

He was undoubtedly sincere, even if we judge him as sincerely wrong. One cannot fault him on his zeal for the scriptures (as he understood them) or his passion for publishing and preaching in spite of various issues to contend with.

He certainly left his mark on CTR, and the rest as they say, is history.

Pastor Russell's Round the World Tour

 Guest post by Liam C.

Part 1 of 2

Many readers of this blog who are interested in Bible Student History and who like me spend too much time on the internet, may have come across a series of photos related to the I.B.S.A. Foreign Mission Investigation and World Tour. What is the story behind these photos? Below is my best attempt at answering this question.

The photos are held at the Library of Congress in the George Grantham Bain Collection. George Grantham Bain was a New York photographer who also founded the first news photography service, Bain News, in 1898. He was:

 “A visionary who saw the potential of coupling photographs with words in newspapers and magazines, his news photo service focused on people and events, from politics to sports, disasters to celebrations. The Bain News Service accumulated photographs of worldwide coverage, which were distributed to various newspapers and were enhanced by receiving local pictures from its subscribers as part of their reimbursement” (i).

The Library of Congress purchased the Bain collection in 1948 from D.J. Culver and thankfully made them available with no known restrictions on publication. Included in the Bain photographs are 39,744 glass negatives three of which are below:

Although exactly how the Russell photographs came to be acquired by Bain is unknown, the fact that they are included in such a prestigious collection is perhaps a testament to Russell's popularity at the time and the widespread appeal of the Bible Student message.

Photos in the Bain collection do not include much background information. However a bit of detective work actually reveals when and where the Russell photos were taken. In the margins of two of the above photos is the date (shown as 9/25/11 in reverse). The significance of this date can be found in the below extract from the January 1, 1912 Watch Tower, an issue entirely dedicated to publicising the world tour. Speaking of events in the year 1911 it says:

By further comparing details from these photos with pictures of the original Waldorf Astoria's famed rooftop garden, it is almost certain that this is where these photos were taken. I have written to the Waldorf Astoria archives and can update this post if any additional information turns up.

It’s kinda cool to envision that meeting, surrounded by the elegance of the Waldorf Astoria’s rooftop, with Russell and company laying out the blueprint for what would become an unforgettable four-month global expedition.

What else can be known about the background of this legendary Round-the-World Tour? Read part 2.

 

Part 2 of 2

A deeper dive into Russell’s Round-the-World Tour should probably start with a brief discussion of the Layman’s Missionary Movement and the Protestant missionary fields in the last few decades of the nineteenth century which at the time were filled with confidence and optimism.

The Evangelization of the World in this Generation by John R. Mott, page 1 & 2 describes how in 1886 a movement arose among students primarily in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Ireland that would eventually be attributed with adding 20,000 volunteers to the foreign missionary endeavour, therefore accelerating missionary work around the world. This movement called the Student Volunteer Movement (SVM) inspired Protestant leaders to create institutions to offer financial support.

One of these institutions was the Layman’s Missionary Movement (LMM). Between the years 1909-1910 The LMM arranged a series of three to four day conventions held in more then 50 cities averaging well over 1,000 in attendance. While the students of the SVM had adopted the slogan “The Evangelization of the World in this Generation”, The LMM took this further and advertised their conventions with the slogan “$30,000,000 to Convert the World” (ii) & (iii)

This slogan caught Russell’s attention. Russell was somewhat sympathetic to the missionary cause and even once recalled how as a boy of seven years of age he told his mother that he wanted to be a missionary (iv). As he developed the unique interpretation of scripture known to readers of this blog, his missionary aspirations were adjusted to fit his overall understanding of God’s plan as revealed in scripture. Part of this understanding was that the mainstream Christianity of his day was not a model of Christ’s kingdom but had been judged unworthy of it. Therefore converting people of non-Christian lands to this form of Christianity would be counterproductive. He pointed out that doctrines such as the “conviction that there is no hope for any who die in ignorance of the only name whereby we must be saved” (v). when thought through, were abhorrent to people of non-Christian backgrounds, as they offered no hope for their ancestors or family members that had not accepted Christ. He further saw in the Scriptures a future age following Christ’s Advent, where all who died in ignorance of Christ would be given another chance, without question a more hopeful view. Russell’s criticism of mission work included the observation that missionary successes were often overstated and that behavior of people in “Christian” lands was anything but Christian while non-Christian peoples were more moral than supposed.

Russell’s response to the Layman’s Missionary Movement came in July 1911 with the article “$30,000,000 to Convert the World is the Proposition a Joke?” (vi). In this article Russell references the LMM and lays out his criticism of mission work, contrasting it with the early successes of his own missionaries in India and Africa. But he didn't stop there. Several months later at the annual Bible Students convention at Mountain Lake Park, Maryland, September 1-11, 1911 a committee was formed to “supply an unvarnished report of the true condition of affairs in Oriental lands amongst the peoples usually termed “heathens”.(vii). This was followed on September 25 by the committees first meeting at the Waldorf Astoria as discussed in Part 1. This committee was named the I.B.S.A. Foreign Mission Investigation Committee.

To be sure, one goal of this tour and subsequent report was to assess the feasibility of the claim made by the LMM. Russell had other reasons for travelling to foreign mission fields at this time though. One of the conclusions drawn from the framework by which he saw the Bible’s message was that during the unique time period him and like minded Bible students were living through, they were tasked with gathering from the churches of nominal Christianity any remaining saints, a responsibility which they worked diligently to accomplish. But what of the growing number of Christians living in traditionally non-Christian lands that due to distance or language barriers had not heard the Bible Student message? Seeing conditions first hand would help him decide whether directing further resources there was warranted.

The  I.B.S.A. Foreign Mission Investigation Committee would come to include chairman Charles Taze Russell, secretary Fredrick Homer Robison/Robinson (called Professor). Doctor Leslie Whitney Jones (1872-1946), Adjunct General of the United States Army, William Preble Hall (1848-1927), Washington D.C., grocery store chain owner John Donaldson Pyles (1857-1943) and two well known Ohio businessmen Robert Bowie Maxwell (1840-1912) of Mansfield and Ernest W.V. Kuehn (1863-1925) of Toledo, whose business dealings earned him the moniker “great clover-seed merchant”. Also added were unofficial members Ingram I. Margeson (1871-1935) who acted as director, George F. Wilson (1857-1945) and wife Olivia E. Wilson (1864-1957) of Oklahoma City and George Chester Driscoll, who for the first half of the trip traveled several weeks ahead of the group to assist with press and any other arrangements that needed to be made.

Foreign Mission Investigation Committee (minus G C Driscoll) pictured with a group of Japanese gentlemen associated with the Japan Y.M.C.A. including Kuninosuke Yamamoto (back row far right). Picture from 1912 Bible Students' Convention Souvenir Notes, page 22. 

Further details about the tour can be found in the 1912 Bible Students’ Conventions Souvenir Notes and the Committee Report published in the Watch Tower April 15, 1912.

End notes

ⁱ "George Grantham Bain," Legends of America, accessed January 28, 2025, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/george-grantham-bain/

^[ii] A more detailed discussion of the SVM and LMM can be found in Dawson, David. “Mission and Money in the Early Twentieth Century.” The Journal of Presbyterian History (1997-) 80, no. 1 (2002): 29–42. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23336304.

^[iii] An example can be found in the New York Times December, 13, 1909

^[iv] Zions Watch Tower, June 15, 1899 page 2489

^[v] Zions Watch Tower August 15, 1901, page 264

^[vi] The Watch Tower, July 1, 1911, page 202-204

^[vii] Report on Foreign Mission Work, International Bible Students Association, April 15, 1912, page 123

The Rainbow

 (Much of the background to The Rainbow’s doctrinal position with its key players is taken from Edwin Le Roy Froom’s The Conditional Faith of Our Fathers, volume 2 (1956) starting on page 380.)

The Rainbow was a British monthly periodical which is of interest to those researching Watch Tower history. Its first issue was in January 1864 and its final issue was for December 1887. Its founding editor was William Leask (1812-1884). Leask came from a Congregationalist background and had the pastorate of the independent Maberly Chapel in London for the last twenty years of his life. After his death Joseph Bryant Rotherham (1828-1910) took the editorial chair. Rotherham came from a Church of Christ (Campbellite, Restoration Movement) background and brought the paper to its conclusion.

The purpose of the magazine was stated clearly on its title page.

The subheading “with special reference to the revealed future of the church and the world” remained with the magazine throughout its history.

According to Froom (volume 2, page 381): “Starting out as a forum for discussion of opinion, the journal soon became a veritable battleground of effective debate.” So in its first year, for example, you had contrasting articles side by side. From the April 1864 correspondence section you had “COMING” AND “APPEARING,” DIFFERENT (pages 180-182) immediately followed by (pages 182-184) “COMING” AND “APPEARING,” THE SAME. (pages 182-184).

The periodical fulfilled its brief with a variety of articles. In its first three years, subjects included:

PLAN OF THE AGES

SCRIPTURAL DATES OF THE TIME OF THE END?

SECOND ADVENT – PRE-MILLENNIAL

WILL THE RAPTURE BE VISIBLE OR SECRET?

WILL THERE BE A SECRET PRESENCE?

The concept of certain events being secret or invisible was frequently discussed and when Matthew 24 v.3 was explained, “parousia” was often rendered as “presence.”

Here are a few examples:

July 1864

July 1866

December 1868

When Benjamin Keith showed Nelson Barbour the Diaglott’s interlinear rendering “presence” in Matthew 24 v.3 in the mid-1870s, leading to the invisible presence explanation for 1874, he could perhaps have been a Rainbow reader. We will return to this thought later.

The magazine soon settled into its most identifying feature, promoting the tenet of conditional immortality. According to this belief, man does have an immortal soul and there is no literal eternal Hell fire; rather, immortality is only granted by God through Christ and is conditional.

The catalyst that led to The Rainbow’s reputation for this doctrine, was an article written by William Maude (1827-1883). Maude was a contributor to the paper from its very first year on various subjects, but it was his article on conditional immortality simply titled IMMORTALITY published in March 1869 that cemented The Rainbow’s position. Maude’s history and a detailed précis of this key article can be found in Froom, volume 2, pages 383-389.

This caused a furore and around five hundred promptly cancelled their subscriptions. But the die was cast. New subscribers soon replaced those who had gone, and the follow-up articles included (from 1870):

IS ENDLESS SUFFERING THE DOCTRINE OF SCRIPTURE?

LIFE AND IMMORTALITY ONLY IN CHRIST

Various names were given to this position, Life only in Christ, Immortality through Faith, Annihilationism, Conditionalism, but Froom (page 451) credits Leask and The Rainbow for popularising the expression “Conditional Immortality.”

In America writers like Henry Grew and George Storrs promoted conditional immortality and now The Rainbow was doing the same in Britain. It is therefore not surprising to find Rainbow readers in America.

A number of American periodicals mentioned The Rainbow. In the Advent Christian Church fold, The World’s Crisis called it “an able monthly” (1 April 1868) and offered to act as agent for American subscribers. From the Crisis for 13 October 1869:

Here it is called a “valuable monthly.” These offers and descriptions were to be repeated and the Crisis also frequently republished material from The Rainbow; perhaps most notably when William Maude’s key article on IMMORTALITY was serialised over three issues, 31 March, 7 and 14 April, 1869. 

Confirming the connection, the Crisis editor Miles Grant had a letter of support published in The Rainbow for February 1870.

When an official agent was appointed in New York to handle subscriptions, the Crisis published the information and continued to make positive comments such as (19 February 1873) “The Rainbow contains valuable articles from able writers. We commend it to our readers.”

Other Advent Christian papers followed suit. The Advent Christian Times (9 January 1872) with typical verbosity called The Rainbow “an invaluable arena for adventurers in the stupendous conflict of religious thought” and frequently reprinted its articles.

The Advent Christian Quarterly likewise reprinted material from The Rainbow’s pages. For example, from Volume 1, number 3 (January 1870):

In the Church of God/Age to Come fold, the Gospel Banner and Millennial Advocate (edited by the Diaglott’s Benjamin Wilson) regularly re-cycled Rainbow articles. See the example below from 15 May 1868.

The Banner was succeeded by The Restitution and that too used Rainbow material. One of the earliest surviving issues is for 16 December 1874, where an article is introduced:

The Life and Advent Union’s Herald of Life and of the Coming Kingdom frequently raided The Rainbow’s pages for copy. Under George Storrs’ stewardship, the Herald noted (March 29, 1871) that “The Rainbow is doing a great work in (Britain).” When an accredited agent was appointed for American subscribers in May 1871 (George W Young of New York) this was advertised in each weekly issue until nearly the end of the year, and the paper probably used Rainbow material more than any other American paper at this time.

When Storrs went back to producing Bible Examiner it too praised The Rainbow. The February 1874 issue described The Rainbow as being “filled with good and interesting matter.”

Storrs advertised that George W Young was still the American agent for subscriptions and articles continued to be taken from its pages.

Joseph Seiss’ Prophetic Times was another supporter. The November 1865 issue described the new periodical as a “sprightly and valuable English Magazine of Christian Literature” and like others reprinted material from it. A further testimonial from June 1867 read:

Looking at all of the above, if you were a reader of Adventist or Millennialist periodicals in the United States in the late 1860s and throughout the 1870s there was no way you could avoid The Rainbow.

We mentioned Benjamin Keith earlier. We know he was a regular reader of The World’s Crisis for a number of years. This paper contained a feature where the names of those who requested literature were listed. The name B W Keith occurs in this a number of times, including the issue below for 30 September 1868.

Other examples are found in issues for 24 June 1868, 4 November 1868, 9 June 1869, 28 September 1870, 12 October 1870, 21 February 1872, 31 July 1872, and 2 April 1873. In addition Keith attended New York State conferences at Springwater (including in June 1872) and wrote to the paper, for example, in its issue for 2 April 1873. He is also mentioned as a conference delegate in the Advent Christian Times.

So with all these quotations and links, the suggestion that Keith could also have been a Rainbow reader, and might therefore have partly absorbed the “invisible presence” concept from that source, while unproven, is perfectly feasible. But certainly the historical influence of this periodical was considerable.

In view of all the above, it is not surprising that the Rainbow had connections with certain key players in Watch Tower history and pre-history.

Here now are some examples.

 

George Stetson.

George Stetson (1814-1879) spoke at different times at Quincy Hall, Allegheny[i], and CTR credited him as an influence in Harvest Gatherings and Siftings (ZWT May 1890 and several times reprinted)[ii]. When Stetson died in 1879, CTR spoke at his funeral.[iii]

Stetson wrote a letter to The Rainbow in its issue for February 1873.

George Storrs

Another American figure, already mentioned, who features in Watch Tower pre-history is George Storrs. Storrs was a champion of conditional immortality and after leaving The Herald of Life returned to publishing Bible Examiner. In 1874 he visited Allegheny for a series of meetings, and specifically mentioned CTR’s father, Joseph Lytle Russell, as a friend he made there.

We have already noted Storrs’ enthusiastic endorsement of The Rainbow in Bible Examiner for February 1874 and he often reprinted articles from it thereafter. The Rainbow in turn referred to Storrs in its February 1879 issue.

Nelson Barbour

Barbour is mentioned several times. A British writer, retired Baptist pastor Elias Helton Tuckett (1814-1891), wrote for The Rainbow, and singled out Barbour for special mention. In an article entitled “Probable Time of the Second Advent” which ran in two parts over August and September 1877, Tuckett highlighted the predictions of Joseph Seiss for 1870 and then those for Nelson Barbour a little later. From the September 1877 issue, page 426, Tuckett wrote:

The article concludes with a summary straight out of Barbour, featuring the dates 1874, 1878 and 1881.

A further article by Tuckett in the November 1878 issue entitled “The Midnight Hour” also singles out Barbour:

These comments on Barbour were highly favourable, although an earlier review of his book Three Worlds was less so. From July 1876, and we assume written by editor Leask:

The review mentioned C F (sic) Russell as publisher of Barbour’s work.

The Crisis never deigned to review Barbour’s work, but in its issue for July 25, 1877 a correspondent took issue with the above review; not the actual criticism of Barbour – they fully agreed with that - but the statement: “The incurable tendency of our American brethren to fix dates for the advent and the resurrection is fatally exhibited in this pamphlet.” They felt this was unfair to Americans, and some of the British were just as bad.

Charles Taze Russell

CTR’s key work The Plan of the Ages (later re-titled The Divine Plan of the Ages) would be given a full-scale review by Joseph Bryant Rotherham in 1886, who by then was the paper’s editor. From The Rainbow for December 1886:

Rotherham starts very positively:

“THIS is a notable book—bold, broad, and breezy; very refreshing after the stereotyped dogmas and platitudes which pass current in the theological world. It is a book for men and not for children... “The Plan of the Ages” is a valuable production, and is probably destined to furnish material assistance in shaking down old walls and building up new.”

The review totals nearly ten pages. Rotherham concluded with:

“Only those who read dispassionately for themselves “The Plan of the Ages” will perhaps believe us when we assure them that enough in any case remains that is unimpeachable to render this volume such as is likely to repay abundantly any discreet man’s perusal. The Chapter on “The Permission of Evil” is alone more than worth the price of the whole volume, and is the fullest discussion of this great mystery, and the nearest approximation to a probably correct solution of it, with which we are acquainted.”

It should be noted that in the full review, Rotherham questioned some of CTR’s views on the millennium, dispensations, restitution, the person of Christ, judgment day and the nature of man. However, it has also been observed that many of these reservations were resolved by Rotherham in two detailed appendices in the 1902 edition of his Emphasized Bible.

 

Zion’s Watch Tower articles

This positive view of CTR’s ministry was reinforced when The Rainbow chose to reprint three Zion’s Watch Tower articles, all in the September 1887 issue. All three had been taken from Zion’s Watch Tower for July 1887. Pages 383-384 (Rainbow) carried the article THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST NECESSARY TO SALVATION. This originally appeared in Zion’s Watch Tower as part of THE VIEWS FROM THE TOWER. The Rainbow reprint concluded:

Then pages 401-403 carried the article “HOW CAN YE BELIEVE,” which was a complete article from the July 1887 ZWT.

And finally, almost immediately afterwards on pages 404-405 came the article REVEALED IT UNTO BABES which again first appeared in the July 1887 ZWT.

 

End of the Rainbow

The magazine was struggling with its circulation during 1887 and attempts were made to attract new subscribers. But eventually in the December 1887 issue Rotherham announced that it would be the last. Soundings were taken for a new replacement journal that would be half the size and half the price. But this apparently never happened.

One possible reason for this was that back in 1878 the Conditional Immortality Association was formed. Leask was one of the founding members. They organised annual interdenominational conferences. They also had their own journal The Bible Standard which started the year before in 1877. Its masthead proclaimed that it was “devoted to the doctrine of...Conditional Immortality.”

Other papers too promoted the same view like The Bible Echo (1872>) and The Messenger (1876>).

The Rainbow had served its purpose for 24 years but now it was time to call it a day.

---

[i]See for example, World’s Crisis, 9 October 1872 page 3, and Speaker’s Appointments from 20 November 1872 page 27, and several weeks thereafter, also Advent Christian Times, 11 November 1873, page 112.

[ii] ZWT May 1890 page 4, Harvest Gatherings and Siftings, reprinted in ZWT 15 July 1906 page 230. Also incorporated into A Conspiracy Exposed and Harvest Siftings, special ZWT, 25 April 1894, page 96.

[iii]See Stetson’s obituary in ZWT November 1879 page 2, and World’s Crisis, 5 November 1879, page 102.