Vintage photos of Governing Body Members and other things..

[kejedo]

On 10/31/2018 at 2:07 PM, minister159 said:

"Also discovered was the home in which Maria Russell lived, 516 14th ave. N. She did, in fact, live with her niece Mabel Packard (deceased 1961 or 1962) who kept the same residence till her death and evidently had no children or other relatives known in the area. Also sharing the home residence was Mabel's husband Richard Packard (deceased in 1950's) and Emma Russell (1855 - 1929) who was Maria's fleshly sister and the widow of Joseph L. Russell, C.T. Russell's father. The four are buried on a "family" plot at the cemetery mentioned in the obit."

 

Wow! According to this, C.T. Russell married his mother's sister, or aunt, who was only five years younger than his mother and two years older than him. It says his mother's name was Emma, but according to the Proclaimers book, his mother's name was Ann Eliza who died when he was only nine years old. So much for accurate reporting!

                I am a bit stymied by trying to figure out this family dynamic.

Edited February 21, 2019 by kejedo

[jwhess]

I was looking through some older material when I remembered the days when Br. Russell was being defamed by several groups.  One was a charge of promoting "miracle wheat" and several other unsavory topics.  Br. Rutherford was our lawyer and he wrote a 64 page booklet outlining the defense and providing well-known references and public statements by important friends in business and government.

 

One of my favorites is General Hall who was the Adjutant General of the US Army (like Joint Chiefs of Staff now).  He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (probably one of the few witnesses who ever did that).  He later became a baptized witness, a traveling companion to Br. Russell and later a Pilgrim "circuit overseer".

[Shawnster]

General William Preble Hall  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Preble_Hall

 

 

He married Ms. Terese Blackburn (1868–1943), daughter of Senator Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn of Kentucky. They had a daughter who died in childhood, Terese Preble Hall (1894–1899). Both his wife and daughter Terese are buried with him in Section 1 of Arlington National Cemetery. They had two additional children live to adulthood, Blackburn Hall, a graduate of West Point and former Major of the Regular Army, of Los Angeles, California, and Octavia Preble Hall (1900-1981), who later took the name Terese, and married Colonel Percy McCay Vernon, Regular Army, of Amite, Louisiana.^[1]

 

 

Hall was associated with the International Bible Students Association (IBSA) for several years before his death. In September 1911, the IBSA appointed a "Missions Investigation Committee", chaired by Charles Taze Russell, to travel to Japan, China, the Philippines, and India in order to make recommendations for future missionary efforts and expenditures,^[4] and General Hall was among the seven appointed committeemen.^[5][6] In the April 15, 1912 issue of the Watch Tower, the following was published above the signatures of "Adj.-Gen'l W. P. Hall" and the other committeemen:

The gentlemen who have served on this Committee are all earnest Bible Students. Their zeal in the matter of this investigation may be judged from the fact that they not only paid their own expenses, but additionally defrayed Pastor Russell's and all secretarial expenses. These gentlemen have long been deeply interested in the propagation of the Gospel, both at home and abroad.^[7]

Speaking of the entire committee, Jehovah's Witnesses' official history says, "Wherever they went they spoke about God's purpose to bring blessings to mankind by means of the Messianic Kingdom. Sometimes their audience was small, but in the Philippines and in India, there were thousands."^[8] The Committee presented its report at a March 31, 1912 meeting at the New York Hippodrome, attended by 5,200 and chaired by then-future Watch Tower Society president Joseph F. Rutherford.^[9]

[sunshine]

22 hours ago, jwhess said:

I was looking through some older material when I remembered the days when Br. Russell was being defamed by several groups.  One was a charge of promoting "miracle wheat" and several other unsavory topics. 

 

 

Brother John, can you tell us the story of the miracle wheat?  

[pholmes38]

You could read this:

 

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/301975002#h=158:0-161:1360

 

From 1975 Yearbook

 

 

And this old QFR

 

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1953371

 

Edited May 31, 2019 by pholmes38

[jwhess]

7 hours ago, sunshine said:

Brother John, can you tell us the story of the miracle wheat?  

Sr. Rosie, the Publisher's of the Watchtower used to accept some advertisements at times in the distant past.  A couple of devoted brothers in faith came into possession of a small quantity of an unusual strain of wheat seed.  The seed had been purchased on the common market and had been named "Miracle Wheat" by the farmer that discovered the seed.  It had a magnificent reproductive quality.  A single seed would produce a hundred of stalks attached to the one root.  It could produce a thousand seed grains per plant.  this was 20-40 times more wheat than average.  The members of Br. Russell's organization offered the wheat as a contribution to be sold for $1 a pound ($60/bushel).  All of the money was donated to the World Wide Work of the day.

 

The wheat needed more room to grow than average wheat.  The name was not given by Russell but the farmer Mr. Stoner.  It had been called Miracle Wheat for several years before the Watchtower Society ever got any.  It was sold by the farmers in Europe and America.  It was chosen as a legal case to smear Russell because of the price.  It should be noted, that the original owners of the wheat sold it to everybody else at $1.25 per pound.  The wheat eventually was superseded by current stains we have now.  What we grow today would have been more miraculous than the wheat of 1912.  If you need to see the entire 64 page argument, I can post this brochure on my cloud account for you to download.  It is available on line at different places and Kindle sells an electronic copy for 99 cents.

[sunshine]

Thanks brother John,  I didn't know this story .  It's very wise that we no longer sponcer products or carry advertising, but  there certainly  was nothing nefarious in the affair at all.  

 

Interesting to know.

[jwhess]

Helping our children learn has been of importance to the leaders in our organization for a long time.  Times have changed.  Here are a couple of our early "children's" books.  These are dated 1920 (ABC) and 1924 (Paradise)...Note the dinosaur slide from the PhotoDrama slides.

 

 

[Paradise-Lover]

15 minutes ago, jwhess said:

Helping our children learn has been of importance to the leaders in our organization for a long time.  Times have changed.  Here are a couple of our early "children's" books.  These are dated 1920 (ABC) and 1924 (Paradise)...Note the dinosaur slide from the PhotoDrama slides.

 

 

Love this. Pls can you pm me a copy of the Golden Age ABC?

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Love this. Pls can you pm me a copy of the Golden Age ABC?

Me too please. Pdf or epub... TIA

Just Older

[jwhess]

Here is the first edition of the Harp of God a book published in 1921.  It was specifically designed fro Bible Study.  Rutherford explained that the harp had 10 strings.  So there were 10 lessons each dealing with a basic Bible doctrine like the Ransom or Resurrection.  We did not have digital online studies but we had postcard questionnaires.  we had studies by mail.

 

Proclaimers book page 560

 Harp of God (1921)

 

To assist those who obtained this book, the Society arranged a correspondence course in topical Bible study. This consisted of 12 questionnaires, sent out over a period of 12 weeks.

 

 

[rocket]

Can we conclude that Rutherford was wrong when he said "millions now living will never die.?"

Jehovah said to Adam, "in the day you eat of the fruit you will die." Satan said the opposite and Eve was deceived not knowing that their were two ways to view it. Like wise all the "millions now living" in Rutherford day are dead and yet many are alive in heaven and in Jehovah's memory._Jn. 11:24-26

Edited July 11, 2019 by rocket

[jayrtom]

1 hour ago, rocket said:

Can we conclude that Rutherford was wrong when he said "millions now living will never die.?"

Jehovah said to Adam, "in the day you eat of the fruit you will die." Satan said the opposite and Eve was deceived not knowing that their were two ways to view it. Like wise all the "millions now living" in Rutherford day are dead and yet many are alive in heaven and in Jehovah's memory._Jn. 11:24-26

Interestingly, according to some references I found, in 2015 there were half of million of people with more than 100yrs, and now between that and 1million

Since, those numbers are for registered people, if we think of all the people that isn't registered on those databases, I believe we have more than 1 million people alive today that were also alive when Rutherford said that. So maybe it isn't totally wrong just yet

15 hours ago, jwhess said:

Here is the first edition of the Harp of God a book published in 1921.  It was specifically designed fro Bible Study.  Rutherford explained that the harp had 10 strings.  So there were 10 lessons each dealing with a basic Bible doctrine like the Ransom or Resurrection.  We did not have digital online studies but we had postcard questionnaires.  we had studies by mail.

 

Proclaimers book page 560

 Harp of God (1921)

 

To assist those who obtained this book, the Society arranged a correspondence course in topical Bible study. This consisted of 12 questionnaires, sent out over a period of 12 weeks.

 

 

I see you have a museum at your place

[Shawnster]

A young Fred Franz demonstrating the phonograph.

[LuvDogz]

Love seeing all these old photos, images, and information!

[jwhess]

2 hours ago, rocket said:

Can we conclude that Rutherford was wrong when he said "millions now living will never die.?"

Jehovah said to Adam, "in the day you eat of the fruit you will die." Satan said the opposite and Eve was deceived not knowing that their were two ways to view it. Like wise all the "millions now living" in Rutherford day are dead and yet many are alive in heaven and in Jehovah's memory._Jn. 11:24-26

Jesus said  (John 11:24-26)..."Martha said to him: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” 25  Jesus said to her: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life; 26  and everyone who is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all."

 

Jesus said it first about 1900 years earlier.  Then he asked..."Do you believe this?"...😊

[jwhess]

 

From 1929 until his death, Br Joseph Rutherford spent time in this house in San Diego California. At times in the past, Jehovah’s Witnesses were challenged at the door by people who thought we were crazy building “a temple out in the California desert for prophets of the past”.

Well. It wasn’t in the desert as you can see.  And it wasn't a temple. It was a very nice house, built by private funds (not the society) and Br. Rutherford was able to work in warmer climates for his deteriorating health.  Our Proclaimers book had a nice article on this building.  Like the radio station WBBR, it was eventually sold when it was no longer needed.

I have included newer pictures with the older ones for comparison.  The last time I looked (quite a while ago) it was a private residence now.

*** jv chap. 7 p. 76 Advertise the King and the Kingdom! (1919-1941) ***

[Box/Picture on page 76]

“House of the Princes”

  Brother Rutherford had a severe case of pneumonia after his release from unjust imprisonment in 1919. Thereafter, he had only one good lung. In the 1920’s, under a doctor’s treatment, he went to San Diego, California, and the doctor urged him to spend as much time as possible there. From 1929 on, Brother Rutherford spent the winters working at a San Diego residence he had named Beth-Sarim. Beth-Sarim was built with funds that were a direct contribution for that purpose. The deed, which was published in full in “The Golden Age” of March 19, 1930, conveyed this property to J. F. Rutherford and thereafter to the Watch Tower Society.

 

  Concerning Beth-Sarim, the book “Salvation,” published in 1939, explains: “The Hebrew words ‘Beth Sarim’ mean ‘House of the Princes’; and the purpose of acquiring that property and building the house was that there might be some tangible proof that there are those on earth today who fully believe God and Christ Jesus and in His kingdom, and who believe that the faithful men of old will soon be resurrected by the Lord, be back on earth, and take charge of the visible affairs of earth.”

 

  A few years after Brother Rutherford’s death, the board of directors of the Watch Tower Society decided to sell Beth-Sarim. Why? “The Watchtower” of December 15, 1947, explained: “It had fully served its purpose and was now only serving as a monument quite expensive to keep; our faith in the return of the men of old time whom the King Christ Jesus will make princes in ALL the earth (not merely in California) is based, not upon that house Beth-Sarim, but upon God’s Word of promise.”

 

 

Edited July 25, 2019 by jwhess

[Margaret]

What I really like are the old yearbooks. But how far do they go back and are there pdf’s of them?

[Old]

Google maps will take you there in an instant, then you can go to steet view. Still a very nice house.

[jwhess]

20 minutes ago, Margaret said:

What I really like are the old yearbooks. But how far do they go back and are there pdf’s of them?

Sr. Margaret, the Watchtower Library (on DVD) for windows and the Watchtower Online Library (WOL) both have yearbooks back to 1970.  The only editions that have pictures (scans) are after 2012.

 

Some of us collectors have PDF yearbooks back to the beginning (1927 edition).

[jayrtom]

3 hours ago, Old said:

Google maps will take you there in an instant, then you can go to steet view. Still a very nice house.

What was the address you used?

[nanceebgd46]

Brother Jayrtom,

 

address of Beth Sarim is - 4440 Braeburn Rd, San Diego, Ca 92116

p.s. I located the residence by googling...Beth Sarim...and current pictures popped up.

[carlos]

Last year when we visited San Diego we visited Beth Sarim and my wife took a pic of me there.

 

[jayrtom]

1 hour ago, carlos said:

Last year when we visited San Diego we visited Beth Sarim and my wife took a pic of me there.

 

Based on your profile photo, if I saw you in Madrid I wouldn't recognize you

But that's a very nice photo. I wonder if the inhabitants of that house know of its story 🤔

[carlos]

31 minutes ago, jayrtom said:

Based on your profile photo, if I saw you in Madrid I wouldn't recognize you

But that's a very nice photo. I wonder if the inhabitants of that house know of its story 🤔

I'm a chameleon.

No, that pic in my profile is from some years ago.