Over the period 1843 to 1846, the nucleus of what was to become the Christadelphian body in Virginia began to form. Many of the ecclesias went through stormy times, yet some have survived to this day. But apart from the story of the formation of the Richmond Ecclesia recorded in Robert Roberts’ biography of Dr. Thomas, there is no trace of this development in almost all of our histories. Last month we described Dr. Thomas’ first Sunday in Virginia in almost four years when, on July 30, 1843, his presence in a Campbellite Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia caused a division. We will go on from there to combine information from Dr. Thomas’ Herald of the Future Age with Campbellite sources to fill in the story of the emergence of at least eight different groups of followers of Dr. Thomas.
It must be admitted that each ecclesia was very independent and, although Dr. Thomas and others of his followers visited and preached to many such groups over the next few decades, there was no monolithic group of “Thomasites,” but rather a group of “fellow travelers.” Not until the Civil War would the groups, as far as I can tell, even begin to coalesce. In spite of these factors, this period marks the beginning of the emergence of the Christadelphians. Conventionally, most date our beginning from Dr. Thomas’ re-baptism in 1847. I rather believe our community truly began that Sunday in Virginia.
We will look at what happened in the two crucial years, 1844-46, when Dr. Thomas returned to Richmond, Virginia and traveled around the state at the invitation of his supporters, much to the displeasure of his Campbellite opponents. In this period of time, eight to 10 congregations of the Campbellites in Virginia were divided by Dr. Thomas’ teachings, with some and occasionally all of their members following Dr. Thomas. We will also discuss what Dr. Thomas did in Richmond and where he lived.
Richmond
On September 25, 1844, Dr. Thomas left Louisville, Kentucky for Richmond, Virginia where he and his daughter Eusebia took up abode with Richard Malone in a large house built a few years earlier at 3273 N St. His wife must have joined him there later, having been left in Cincinnati with the Ganos, for she was in Richmond at the Malone’s family home during Dr. Thomas’ visit to the UK in 1848-50.
Alan Eyre recently discovered that Dr. Thomas owned a house at 3203 M St., and is naturally of the opinion that Dr. Thomas lived there. In the Herald of the Kingdom of 1856, p. 278, however, Dr. Thomas wrote, “Now in all this series of years from 1844 to 1852, eight years, our letters and papers were deposited in the letter box belonging to Mr. Richard Malone, with whom we boarded.” The two houses are almost back to back. As of November, 1995, both still stand although both are in disrepair. Whether Dr. Thomas lived in his house on M St., or just had an office there, is impossible to tell with any certainty. He was certainly listed as a physician at this address, and in fact got his Doctor of Medicine in March, 1848 from the Scientific and Eclectic Medical College of Petersburg, Virginia.
The origin of the ecclesia in Richmond is given in Robert Roberts’ biography of Dr. Thomas, but is worth extracting:
“On the first Sunday after his arrival…Mr. Malone…took the Doctor to a meeting house at Bethesda, ten miles from Richmond, where was accustomed to meet a Campbellite congregation…he (Dr. Thomas) was invited to address the people…It was noised about that (Malone) had gone out with Dr. Thomas to Bethesda, broken bread there, and had procured speaking facilities for him. This offense…(was)…made ground for his expulsion…it had the effect of causing the Doctor and a few others to commence a meeting on non-Campbellite principles…This may be said to have been the first organic manifestation of the Truth.”
Richard Malone later separated from Dr. Thomas, but it is possible that one of the original group was Balville Sutton, who died a Christadelphian many years later. Many present-day members in Richmond can trace their ancestry to the Malone and Sutton families.
The followers of Dr. Thomas certainly made their presence felt: the Campbellite press noted, “The Lord has sent Dr. Thomas to Richmond to kill Campbellism,” and claimed in
1845 they would attend the worship services in order to create a disturbance by turning and rustling the pages of their Bibles. It was said of the Campbellite Church “Sycamore,” of which Dr. Thomas had been the evangelist eight years before, that its “lamp was almost extinct,” placing the blame on his “bad” influence there.
North of the James River
Free Union
We saw last month how the Fredericksburg Church was split when Dr. Thomas attended in July, 1843, and how Allan Magruder was excommunicated by the Charlottesville Church for simply entertaining him. Magruder became associated with the Campbellite Church in Free Union, fairly close to Charlottsville, and in November, 1843, they officially welcomed him into fellowship. (Free Union is 12 tortuous miles northwest of the city in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.)
In March, 1845, Alexander Campbell said the disciples at Free Union were not in fellowship with the other congregations around them and called them “a disorderly handful of disaffected persons.” There was certainly a strained relationship between Magruder and Campbell, culminating in a lawsuit filed by Magruder over an editorial Campbell wrote about a convention in Baltimore in November, 1844. Magruder simply wanted an apology printed and, although he received it, his litigious method of obtaining it seems strange to us.
We will discuss this lawsuit again when we deal with Allan Magruder and others of his family. It is of note that Richard Lemmon supported Magruder in Baltimore, and it was mostly by the efforts of Lemmon brothers Richard and William that the ecclesia in Baltimore was founded some years later.
King William County
Some readers may remember an article in the Christadelphian, November, 1993, about the “lost” Christadelphian meeting place in Lanesville, King William County. This ecclesia had its origin, the records show, in 16 members who were excluded from a local Campbellite Church called “Jerusalem” in June, 1845, for being followers of Dr. Thomas. (Being based mostly on Campbellite records, this account differs somewhat from that in the Christadelphian article.)
Although mainly built by these brethren, they were forced out of the building and organized a congregation called “Zion” that Dr. Thomas visited several times. (The present Lanesville hall was built by the efforts of Dr. Lemuel Edwards after the death of Dr. Thomas and after several other Christadelphian meeting places had been built in different places.)
Albert Anderson, a strong local supporter of Dr. Thomas, commented, “The Campbellite meeting house called ‘Jerusalem’ was mainly built by our brethren before their eyes were opened by the Truth; and taken from them without compensation by the Campbellites, whose contribution toward its erection was as nothing but whose numbers over countered ours.”
Presumably it was the Edwards’ family who built the church, as it was recorded at his death that Dr. Lemuel Edwards, father of 14, had built 12 churches in his life — probably at least two as a Christadelphian.
“The Octagon” in Temperance, Louisa County
The Temperance congregation of the Campbellites in Louisa County, about 30 miles northwest of Richmond, all followed Dr. Thomas and separated from the Campbellites around 1845. They are locally famous for building (or almost building) a meeting hall with an unusual eight-sided design, part of stone and part of wood. Local histories tell us that it was used by the “Thomasites,” and that a Mr. Anderson was the “pastor” for many years.
The brethren invested $500 in its construction, and it was also used by the Richmond Ecclesia whenever Dr. Thomas came to town. Apparently started in 1856, it was based on a plan suggested in Fowler’s “Home for All,” but was never completely finished. Indeed, Dr. Thomas commented in 1858 that the work of finishing the building proceeded “with all the grave and elaborate expedition of the renowned circumlocution office” (an allusion to the writings of Charles Dickens). At the time, over two years after building was commenced, it was cold, with no windows. By 1870 it was used by others, and the building later fell into disuse.
South of the James River
“Good Hope,” Lunenburg County
We have already covered the story of this ecclesia, still meeting today in the same hall they were in the process of erecting when they separated from the Campbellites in 1845 (#5 April, ’96). The story of the split says: “In the spring of that year, at Springfield (Good Hope), in Lunenburg County, Chester Bullard, who was one of the leaders of the Campbellites in Virginia, arrived along with William Stone to ‘assist the brethren in eliminating the Thomasites from the congregation.’ They were forced to withdraw, however, and the whole group supported Dr. Thomas, led by its first elder, Dr. Charles May.”
This illustrates a general theme south of the St. James, for in this region the Campbellites proceeded as a body against the followers of Dr. Thomas. Elders of the various congregations assembled June 16, 1845 to meet the “serious difficulties” and decide on “remedial measures.” Ten gathered together and recognized that in some areas, particularly in Lunenburg County, the situation was dire for the Campbellites. The churches were urged by this assembly to exclude individuals holding Dr. Thomas’ views and to refuse to fellowship congregations which adhered to him. They also published in November, 1845 a “history” of Dr. Thomas since the signing of the reconciliation agreement in Paineville in November, 1838 and urged all Virginia brethren to disavow him so his “dangerous” doctrines would not be spread. This appeared to have little effect, however, as Dr. Thomas made his usual tour of southeast Virginia in the summer and asserted, “we were never more cordially received.” He secured 60 subscriptions to the Herald of the Future Age on the tour.
“Goodes,” Charlotte County
By the time of his next tour in 1846, however, the situation had changed. The doors of all the congregations in the area, except those which had decided to join Dr. Thomas, were closed to him. An example of this occurred at a meeting house called Goode’s, in Charlotte county just north of Lunenburg. There the Campbellites heard Dr. Thomas was coming to visit and locked the building against him. Since the place was a union house and not owned by the Campbellites, the Doctor could not be kept from preaching there. One of his followers crawled through a window, unbolted the doors and Dr. Thomas preached.
“Corinth,” Powhatan County
This was another Campbellite church much affected by the dispute with a significant group becoming followers of Dr. Thomas. On one occasion Ellen Thomas visited the meeting house and was denied fellowship simply for being the wife of Dr. Thomas. The act naturally caused much dispute in the congregation and contributed to the formation of the “Thomasite” group in the area.
This incident also throws a little light on Ellen Thomas as it is one of the few times we hear of her acting independently. She must have known she was going to be abused for her presence, but it did not inhibit her attending. Dr. Thomas makes it clear in the Apostolic Advocate, 1837 that his wife had been baptized only after her independent study of the Bible.
Other Areas
Congregations in other towns were also affected, but the ones we have considered seem to be the most significant. At least they are the ones upon which we can find historical data.
Strong measures were effectively used against Dr. Thomas in southwest Virginia. Chester Bullard, who so strongly opposed Dr. Thomas in Lunenburg County, by a thoroughly illegal stratagem, had The Herald of the Future Age stopped. “The subscribers went to the Post Office for naught.”
Outside Virginia, there is little evidence of activity. One notable exception, however, was a congregation of some 140 in Jeffersonville, Iowa that joined with Dr. Thomas. It was led by Dr. Nathaniel Field, but he and Dr. Thomas later disagreed.
Conclusion
There is little doubt that during the two years covered by this article, several hundred brothers and sisters aligned themselves with Dr. Thomas. To this day there are more Christadelphians per capita in Virginia than any other state in the U.S.
The congregations were not directly associated, except by a common agreement with Dr. Thomas. They functioned quite independently of each other in almost all areas except the sharing of a common faith. Disputes within and between the congregations were common for many years, but the flame of the Truth has remained alive in Virginia from then until now.
May we all be strengthened by these accounts of opposition overcome and the Truth proclaimed.
Note on sources: There are two major sources for this period: Ante-bellum Virginia Disciples of Christ, by Darst and the Herald of the Future Age. The “History of the Richmond Hall Ecclesia” in the Advocate magazine, June, 1989 was also interesting. The “Octagon” account is given in History of Louisa County, VA by Malcolm Harris. The Magruder-Campbell lawsuit is found in the Millennial Harbinger for June, 1845.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One