In June, 1847, Dr Thomas set out on his normal summer preaching tour This had been, and would continue to be, a feature of his year Others might relax and enjoy the summer but Dr Thomas would take advantage of the long summer nights to preach in the evenings wherever he could find an audience. This trip, consisting of two separate journeys and lasting about eight weeks, was different from its predecessors in two ways:
- It was the first preaching trip after his own rebaptism and settling on “The Truth.”
- During this trip he deliberately, for the first time, appealed to an audience outside the Campbellites when he preached to the Adventists, formerly Millerites. He also made his initial contact with Elder Joseph Marsh, of Rochester New York, whose lingering influence among the Church of God of the Abrahamic Covenant can be traced down to our day.
First stage of travels -within Virginia
From July 19 to the end of August, Dr Thomas traveled the length and breadth of Virginia, mostly presenting his new message to old friends, but also presenting “the Truth” to new groups As far as I can tell, however, all either had been, or still were, associated with the Campbellites It was, according to the account published in the Herald of the Future Age, a wet summer, and his travels were several tunes interrupted or extended by heavy rams He stated frankly that his audiences were not as large, nor were his receptions as warm, as they had been the previous summer He wrote ironically of political hog roasts cutting into his audiences “All the world’ went to the barbecue, and about 17 loitered m to see, but certainly not to hear us”
Of the 18 or so places at which he is recorded as having spoken, perhaps half had an existing nucleus of followers It seems that these perhaps represented the bulk of his followers at the time we know that the circulation of his magazine, the Herald of the Future Age, was about 400 at the time, so probably the audiences he addressed contained the majority of these Although he found much ready hospitality on his travels, not all he met were supporters Dr Thomas passed Elder Barten Stone without recognizing him “toiling under a hot sun through thick sand” toward the church where both were expecting to speak On their previous meeting a year or two previously he had threatened to put a bullet through the doctor if ever their paths crossed again – a threat that Dr Thomas took very seriously One of the summer’s fierce thunderstorms held him up overnight, and now as he neared the home where Dr Thomas was resting, his host asked Stone to walk in to meet him The meeting passed, however, in tranquility, Stone asking for a light – for his tobacco-pipe, not his gun.
All the recorded titles of his addresses during these summer travels were, perhaps not surprisingly, on the Kingdom of God, with one topic being on the case of Zachaeus, the man m the Sycamore tree, particularly the text, “This day is salvation come to this house forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham” The size of his audiences varied from less than ten to several hundred, perhaps 40 or 50 on average So about 1,000 heard his message on this, Dr Thomas’ first trip after his own re-baptism.
But his was not the only voice proclaiming the true gospel For part of the journey, he traveled and shared the speaking duties with schoolteacher Albert Anderson, whose re-baptism 13 years before had been the beginning of the rift between Dr Thomas and Alexander Campbell Commenting on Bro Anderson, Dr Thomas wrote, “We point at him as to ‘an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile,’ and as an illustration of the legitimate fruits of the things we advocate and most assuredly believed”
Many of the places he visited are little remembered today But he did speak at Good Hope, still an ecclesia today, and at Paineville, where a decade before he had debated Campbell and agreed not to openly preach the mortality of man, except if attacked It is worth noting that both these two places in which he taught still stand today little changes rapidly in rural Virginia!
Phase two: Off to Baltimore and New York
Immediately after the conclusion of his tour of Virginia, Dr Thomas embarked on a much more ambitious trip to the north and east, which was to take him to Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark, New York City, Buffalo, and Rochester This is the preaching journey somewhat inaccurately referred to by Robert Roberts m his biography of Dr Thomas as “his first tour for the proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom” Dr Thomas wrote, “We resolved then, as an act of faith, to set out on a journey of 2,000 miles, to make known the Gospel of the Kingdom, at our own cost if need be, but in hope that the truth received would carry us through without serious damage to our limited means” In this he was deviating from his custom of only traveling by invitation, and after assurance of his expenses being met But clearly he viewed the importance and urgency of his message worth any required financial sacrifice As it turned out, his expenses were $73 75, and his receipts $8645 – but whether the spiritual results were as positive we shall see.
His first port of call was Baltimore His ferry had left Richmond at 5 p m, and he arrived at 6 a m , after a stormy all-night trip He immediately headed for the “hospitable abode of Richard Lemmon” It was Friday, September 10, and Dr Thomas informed Lemmon, “We were on our way northward if the brethren were disposed to hear what we had to say, we would stay till Monday, if not, we would take the boat for Philadelphia at 2 o’clock” After breakfast, the constituted authorities concurred there could be no objection to hear what anyone had to say concerning the Word, so Dr Thomas stayed and spoke.
When the time arrived for him to speak, however, at least one member voiced his violent objection, and there was considerable controversy and dispute before he could get a hearing So, for the first time, objections were raised not only to the message of Dr Thomas, but also to his very ability to present the gospel – a pattern to be repeated many times over the next few years Although he was heard, he was not welcomed by all, although he obviously convinced some of his message For example, Richard Lemmon had previously lent the doctor $400 to tide him over the problems caused by being swindled out of the proceeds of his farm in Illinois Now he forgave him the debt, and his brother, William, gave $50 toward the expense of the forthcoming trip Richard Lemmon was baptized into the saving name in 1853, and he and his brother William later formed the nucleus of the Baltimore Ecclesia.
Leaving Baltimore, Dr Thomas headed north to New York by way of Philadelphia, where he arranged to speak on his return Arriving m New York City, he went over to Newark, New Jersey and spoke by arrangement with “the Second Advent friends,” on Friday and three times on “The Lord’s Day,” as Dr Thomas m-variably called Sunday Here, for almost the first time in his life, Dr Thomas proclaimed his message outside the narrow ranks of the Campbellites – perhaps to his wife’s relatives, for some of them lived in Newark at the time.
Next: Upstate New York
Leaving New York City, Dr Thomas caught the steamboat “Alida” for Albany, 145 miles up the Hudson, for a fare of 50 cents This low fare reflects the intense competition on the Hudson there were about 150 steamboats on the river at this time Dr Thomas extolled the Hudson scenery as “beautiful and surpassed only by the Clyde” At Albany, he caught a tram for Buffalo, for a fare of $12, and arrived safely after a rail journey of 235 miles, which took, according to contemporary timetables, about 25 hours Dr Thomas complained bitterly about the patronage of the ticket sellers, who reluctantly condescended to sell him a ticket, only after refusing Virginia money and demanding 2 percent discount for Ohio money (Dr Thomas’ italics ) He did, however, have glowing words for the beauties of the Mohawk Valley, as he was appreciative of the mighty Niagara Falls when he was m Buffalo.
Dr Thomas was here using the railways close to their origin in North America The first railroads had begun operation in the USA in 1831 The railroad Dr Thomas used, the New York State Railroad, only started operations m 1843, four years earlier, with primitive steam engines and open windowed carriages Only a year earlier, he had ridden a horse from Richmond to New York City, but now, and for the rest of his life, railways and steamboats were to carry him throughout Northeast America.
To quote a nineteenth century source The American Railway by Clarke, published m 1889).
When we picture the surroundings of the traveler upon railways for the first ten or fifteen years of as existence, we find his journey was not to be envied. He was jammed Into a narrow seat with a stiff back, the deck of the car was low and flat…Tallow candles furnished a “dim religious light,” but the accompanying odor did not savor of cathedral incense. The dust was suffocating in dry weather; there were no adequate spark-arrestors on the engine, or screens at the windows, and the begrimed passenger at the end of his journey looked as if he had spent the day in a blacksmith shop… The springs of the car hard, the jolting intolerable…and conversation was a luxury that could be indulged in only by those of recognized superiority in lung power.
Arriving in Buffalo, he was met by Bro B F Scott, who had procured the use of the large Advent hall, where the doctor spoke to the local group of Second Advent believers He commented, “The Adventists m Buffalo are the only hope of the truth there Were we living in the city, we would consort with them, because they believe m the word concerning the future, and are teachable”
Dr. Thomas in Rochester – and Joseph Marsh, a founder of the Church of God of the Abrahamic Covenant
Retracing his steps to Albany, Dr Thomas visited Rochester, primarily to see Joseph Marsh, to whom he had written from Buffalo asking for a speaking opportunity This was a meeting with significance that has tendrils reaching down to our days, for Joseph Marsh was one of the founders of the Adventist group now known as the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith (CGAF) Introduced to Dr Thomas’ writings only a month or so earlier, via the George Storrs connection, Marsh sent copies of his Advent Harbinger (not Millennial Harbinger, as Robert Roberts has it) to Dr Thomas m exchange for the Herald of the Future Age Joseph Marsh had been a prominent follower of William Miller a few years before, and was now leading one of the splinter groups of Adventists (Millentes) from that movement The full story of his life, and his involvement with both Dr Thomas and other followers of the doctor is another story Some of these consisted of a loose group who later split from Dr Thomas, partially over immortal emergence, and founded groups that later emerged as the CGAF.
His audience in Rochester was meager, partly because of the weather (again – it must have been a terrible summer!) He spoke there two weekday nights and planted the seeds for what, not very much later, became a thriving Christadelphian ecclesia, Dr Thomas was to revisit Rochester many times in the next few years.
Speaks in New York City and Philadelphia on way home
As prearranged on his journey north, Dr Thomas spoke to the Campbellite congregations m both New York and Philadelphia, although not without opposition His chief ally m New York City, Bro Gould, hospitably offered his home to Dr Thomas Speaking in New York four weekday nights to good audiences, Dr Thomas spent his Sunday with his Advent friends in Newark again The twenty-eight topics covered in New York were printed in the Herald, and relate almost entirely to the “Gospel of the Kingdom,” as might be expected.
He called in to Philadelphia for breakfast with George Storrs, and was pressed into speaking to Storrs’ congregation, another splinter group of Adventists Strangely enough, the Campbellites in town came to see him, and complained about not grant-mg them a visit This Dr Thomas found ironical, as they had roundly denounced him when he left ten years before, in 18371 He spoke m Baltimore twice more before reaching home, after being absent on his northern journey for five weeks and 2,000 miles of travel.
Conclusion
So Dr Thomas finished his first preaching journey after his own re-baptism He did not stress the need for others to be re-baptized, as he had been This was to come later But even so he found his message had less appeal than he expected He had been battling the Campbellite organization for years, and now whenever he attempted to appeal to his former colleagues, opposition erupted m almost every case. This summer, even his attempts to appeal to various Advent groups had less success than he clearly hoped for With hindsight, we can say the start of perhaps four ecclesias can be traced to this trip – one ex-Campbellite in Baltimore, and three ex-Adventist in Newark, Buffalo, and Rochester He returned home in the fall of 1847, and busied himself over the winter with writing and his medical professorship But he must have determined to carry his message, as soon as his lecturing duties let him, even further afield, to visit the land of his birth, and accept the offer of a roof over his head from his brother, Henry Whether Henry knew of the intention of his brother to preach his gospel I do not now – the invitation talked of various medical opportunities for the doctor, not religious ones!
But we can look back on the travels of Dr Thomas, and discern the beginning of the appeal of the message of the Christadelphians – to those with a keen interest in their own salvation, which continues to this day We appeal to people through the same teaching of the true gospel of the kingdom, coupled with end-time prophecy (though without the fanatical date-setting of the Millentes) We are comforted to know it is God who directs our efforts, and is still calling His elect through the “foolishness of preaching” which so characterized the life of Dr Thomas.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One