One of the most supportive friends of Dr Thomas was Allan Magruder For over twenty years, he aided, advised, and defended financed his efforts, served as assistant editor of his magazine, accompanied him on his travels, and also used his considerable influence to get him through the battle lines during the Civil War A prominent lawyer, he was both a friend of President Abraham Lincoln and had for a brother a general in the Confederate army.
Although he later became estranged from Dr Thomas, and after his death was attacked by Robert Roberts, his efforts undoubtedly helped Dr Thomas spread the Truth m Virginia and surrounding areas And there are aspects to his work, not mentioned in any history of Dr Thomas, that throw light on the depths of the passions aroused in those times — even though his actions seem strange to us now He was undoubtedly a major help to Dr Thomas from 1843 until the 1860’s, and it seems appropriate to discover more of this intelligent, energetic, generous and multi-faceted individual and his relationship with Dr Thomas.
Background
Allan Bowie Magruder was born in 1812 in Port Royal, Virginia, a small town near the Washington-Richmond Road Allan was the third of eight children of a prominent Virginia lawyer, Thomas His eldest brother, George, served as a captain m the U S Navy until the Civil War, when he resigned his commission and went to England, one of his daughters later married a Scottish baron Allan was, from early years, well known both in Virginia (Charlottesville) and Washington, DC, as a newspaper editor and lawyer He went to see President Lincoln as a representative of the Southern point of view, and actually stayed in Washington after the outbreak of the Civil War until the awkwardness of his brother being a general in the Confederate Army manifested itself He returned to Virginia, where he stayed until after the end of the Civil War He seemed to have spent the last years of his life close to Baltimore, Maryland he was buried in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1885.
He had eight children, but only one, the fourth born, Emily, provided him with grandchildren Sadly, his firstborn child and only son, John, U S Army, was killed “while leading his cavalrymen ma charge against rioters” His seventh child, Julia, became very prominent as an author you can read her biography m any standard reference He authored his best-known work late in his life his “Life of John Marshall”, (Marshal was the third Supreme Court Chief Justice, and native of Richmond, Virginia) was published m 1885, the year of Magruder’s death.
Religious Activities
His religious activities, which are of course my chief concern, appear to have started in Charlottesville, Virginia around 1835, when he became an editor of the Virginia Advocate and associated with the Campbellite Church (Disciples of Christ) of that city He might well have met Dr Thomas then, for the latter visited Charlottesville in 1836, and commented on the recent formation of the Campbellite church in that town.
In any event, we know the two did meet in 1843, just after Dr Thomas’ return from Illinois, when Allan hosted the doctor on a brief visit to Charlottesville They had no significant relationship before this visit, but the mere fact that Magruder hosted Dr Thomas, posted bills advertising his lectures, and listened to him, was used by Dr Thomas’ opponents, particularly Reuben Coleman, then pastor of the congregation They forced Magruder out of the church on October 18, 1843 — an event chronicled by a little book Magruder wrote, titled A Narrative of the facts and circumstances attending the ex-communication of Allan B. Magruder from the church calling themselves ‘Disciples of Christ ‘in Charlottesville, Virginia With such a title, who needs to read the book to know its subject’ Lawyer Magruder speaks eloquently in it m his own defense, and m defense of Dr Thomas That this obscure book survived is surprising perhaps God wanted it for later generations to read as an account of two stalwarts at work against such intense opposition.
Life at Free Union, and Magruder’s suit against Campbell
So the split was made, and Magruder then found a little group of allies at Free Union, about 12 miles northwest of Charlottesville The brick building of the “Free” church where Allan met, and Dr Thomas frequently lectured, is still standing, high in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia.
He soon made even more of a stir, for as a delegate from Free Union Magruder attended a Lord’s Day convention in Baltimore in late November, 1844 Many prominent men of the times attended, the chairman was John Quincy Adams In conjunction with Richard Lemmon of Baltimore, later to become another staunch supporter of Dr Thomas, Magruder objected to the convention using any trace of the Old Testament Sabbath in that of the “Lord’s Day” This drew the wrath, not only of the convention, but also of Alexander Campbell In an article published in the Millennial Harbinger for January, 1845, he claimed Magruder was not a “true delegate”, and he “screamed” out his opinions to drown out the hisses from the floor But Magruder was not an individual who took censure lightly — he sued Campbell for $12,000 for defamation of character Undoubtedly, this had some of the effect desired — Campbell published a lengthy retraction in his magazine, and so Magruder let the suit lapse The suit is referred to in most biographies of Campbell, and in the novelized life story, “The Fool of God”
Dr Thomas also refers to the suit in his Herald of the Future Age Magruder wrote a letter entitled May a Christian Appeal unto Caesar? — a question he obviously answers m the affirmative Dr Thomas comments, “The above (letter) was written by Mr M in defence of the course he recently and reluctantly pursued in relation to Mr Campbell This gentleman had been guilty of defaming Mr M ‘s character and refused to accord him the redress which honor, justice and truth demanded” Not a course of action we would pursue, or agree to be pursued today—but those days were different.
Co-worker with Dr. Thomas
Dr Thomas visited Charlottesville and Free Union quite frequently over the next few years, there to be hospitably entertained by Magruder amid his growing family at his home of 415 Park St Dr Thomas noted that Magruder’s wife, Sarah, and his sister were “in the faith” Magruder was adept at procuring places for Dr Thomas and himself to speak, using provocative advertising which filled halls to overflowing, often for seven nights running.
The little group there grew to about 25, but this was not the only work of Magruder There is frequent reference to Magruder’s work in spreading the gospel for example, m 1853 he recorded recording that he and Albert Anderson, another loyal supporter of Dr Thomas, had baptized 12 to 15 during a previous lecturing tour.
Keeping the Herald alive
It was these two, along with Richard Malone, who kept the flame of the Truth alive in Virginia during Dr Thomas’ prolonged absence in England, 1848-1851 As recorded m volume three, number ten of the Herald of the Future Age, “The Herald will be continued in our absence We have appointed a committee of three to superintend its affairs” The three were Richard Malone, Albert Anderson, and Allan Magruder, the first being the kind individual m whose house Ellen Thomas, the Doctor’s wife, resided It was May, 1851 before the last issue of volume four of the Herald appeared, and the committee disbanded Both Anderson and Magruder, sometimes together, sometimes separately, spent much time in these three years preaching the gospel m Virginia, so when Dr Thomas returned in 1851 he found a still continuing group of believers And Magruder kept alive the correspondence started by Dr Thomas m the pages of the Bible Examiner, which was also interrupted by his English visit What energy all these men had for the work of the Truth m those far off times.
Magruder in the 1850’s
The busy life of Magruder can be traced through the pages of the Herald of the Kingdom and the Age to Come, the replacement magazine for the Herald of the Future Age He resided in the Charlottesville area, attending and helping the little group at Free Union to grow He was particularly interested in the place of the Russian Empire in Bible prophecy, contributing articles and synopses of lectures on the subject He was also very active in debating and opposing the Campbellites.
In June, 1855, he conducted a four-day debate with Edward Orvis, a Campbellite minister from Pennsylvania It was held at Acquinton Church, King William County, Virginia, presumably because of the growth of the ideas of Dr Thomas in that area, where members of the Edwards, Robbins, and Little-page families became faithful believers We know much about it, for the debate was published, and can still be read, titled, “Debate on the punishment of the wicked and the Kingdom of God its character, locality and time of its establishment”
In 435 pages much ground is covered, but Magruder is very careful to declare himself his own man, independent of any authority save the Bible, and that included Dr Thomas Indeed he claimed not to agree entirely with the Doctor’s opinions, although whether that included what we would now term “first principles” I cannot tell The debate lasted perhaps 20 hours, spread over four days, and was attended by many hundreds, fascinated to hear two well educated and articulate men argue on matters concerned with eternal salvation Would that there was such interest in these days! It is perhaps interesting that Dr Thomas, although strident in print, rarely challenged his opponents to debate, and no such similar debate is recorded of him.
Transfer to Washington
In 1858, Magruder removed his law practice to Washington, DC, where he mixed with the high and mighty of the nation His brother, John, was later to be stationed there as commander of the president’s guard, a president who would soon be embroiled in the Civil War, beginning as it did on April 12,1861 And Allan was prominent indeed he was asked to serve as an envoy by President Abraham Lincoln to George Summers, a prominent Virginian who, at the time, was engaged m deliberating on seceding from the Union.
John Magruder left Washington on April 20, 1861, joining the Confederate army Allan stayed behind, but the difficulty of having a southern lawyer practicing in the capital of the north, while having a brother and several other relatives in the southern army, was obvious he was accused of being a spy, and he had to leave hurriedly According to the account in the Herald, he got up one morning m Alexandria, Virginia, to find it in the possession of federal forces he hurried to the train station, and succeeded in arriving before the troops, only because they did not know the “most direct way” Thus he escaped to Charlottesville, although his family’s clothes were not so lucky, being on the next freight tram Also lost were two “ambrotypes” of Dr Thomas, early glass photographs.
Dr. Thomas, the Magruders, and the Civil War
One of the most interesting episodes of Dr Thomas’ travels (and there were many) is when he crossed the war lines in late summer of 1861 He did so because he had found he could cross from the North, where he lived, to the South in Ohio, from which he made his way to Richmond, Virginia This was close to Washington, DC geographically — but the war lines lay m between Dr Thomas was resigned to retracing his steps, at a great cost in time and money, until he found Magruder had returned to Charlottesville.
It then occurred to the Doctor that Allan could use his influence with his brother John, then the commanding general of the defensive lines between Richmond and the federal Fort Monroe, Just above Newport News on the Chesapeake Bay.
This general, “Prince John” as he was known, is a fascinating character study — at once charming, tall, and always elegantly dressed, his larger than life style conflicted with the rigid standards of the Confederate leadership. Despite his successes in his early engagements, and consequent promotions, he was accused of military blunders in the seven-day’s battle around Richmond. He was transferred to Texas in the summer of 1862 and was successful there, but was never recalled from his “exile”. After the war ended, rather than surrender, he went to Mexico, where he served in the government of Emperor Maximilian. He attempted to arrange an escape for the doomed ruler when enemy forces closed in — he failed, and was forced to flee to Cuba. Prince John eventually returned to the U.S.A., where he died in 1871. He was mourned by many — his pronounced lisp made him memorable, and his frequent heavy drinking and outrageous behavior made him notorious.
Crossing the lines of war
So Allan gave a letter to Dr. Thomas, who had met the general in Washington, and who had heard him lecture there. The Doctor set out, quite unconcerned apparently, to cross the opposing lines. Dr. Thomas sent a copy of Allan’s letter to John, received a favorable reply, and set out for the battle lines. While there, he was entertained in his normal grand style by general John Magruder, “and we all dined pleasantly together from a table well furnished from land and sea.”
The next day, which must have been September 3, or thereabouts, the doctor made his way down the peninsula toward Fort Monroe, passing Big Bethel where the first land battle of the Civil War had been fought on June 10. At this skirmish, General Magruder vanquished General Butler’s forces.
The doctor had few problems on the journey, apart from a spill of the horse-drawn ambulance in which he was riding. He was received by General John Wool, who had taken over from General Butler on August 17. Thus the Doctor passed safely through the lines and was soon in Baltimore. He passed on to Washington, to find the brethren there either dispersed to the west or forced to make a livelihood by making munitions, as they would not fight. Thus Dr. Thomas concluded his last journey before the Civil War compelled him to cease publishing the Herald.
Magruder’s family involved in war
I might mention, however, that Magruder, although there is no evidence he ever took up arms, did support his brother in his war efforts. He served as chief commissary officer to his brother, with the nominal rank of major, as the records of the times show.
I can find no evidence that Magruder ever wrote favoring the position of Dr. Thomas that Christians ought not to bear arms, and with a brother and at least one son and a nephew in the army, as well as a brother who retired from the U.S. Navy on the advent of the war, his family had quite a military cast. His only son died in uniform: he also lost a son-in-law and another young relative at Gettysburg.
Dr. Thomas was sympathetic to the plight of the family, taking Magruder’s niece into his house after the Civil War: her father was one of those killed at Gettysburg, and her mother was a sister in the Richmond Ecclesia.
Allan Magruder, Dr. Thomas, and Robert Roberts in later years
For reasons somewhat unclear to me, Dr Thomas and Magruder became estranged after the Civil War, and these differences were naturally carried on by Robert Roberts Little or nothing is heard from Magruder in the Ambassador, Robert Roberts’ magazine that essentially took over from Dr Thomas’ magazine and was later renamed The Christadelphian Perhaps because he wrote in the Messenger of the Churches, George Dowie’s dissident magazine, or perhaps because of his disagreements on doctrine with Dr Thomas, Robert Roberts was warned to beware of Magruder To quote the words of Dr Thomas from The Christadelphian, 1870, page 299 “The ecclesia here (in Baltimore) is in peace after it has been relieved of the presence of a wordy agitator, whose own [children] have joined the Episcopalians, and [he] had set up for himself [the teaching of] no judgement for the saints after resurrection” That this refers to Magruder is confirmed by Robert Roberts, who cited this letter in declining to meet with him in Baltimore after the death of Dr Thomas in 1871.
Disputes with Bro. Roberts
This is not the last reference to Magruder in the pages of The Christadelphian in 1875, he is the subject of a lengthy article by Robert Roberts on a pamphlet Magruder wrote entitled Certain Christadelphian Doctrines Compared with the Scriptures In this, Magruder argues against the judgment seat of Christ, and is strongly rebuffed by Robert Roberts over eleven dense pages.
So Magruder is heard of little more m Christadelphian circles That he never lost his faith is clear In 1881 he wrote a book, “The Bible Defended and Atheism Rebuked Reply to Robert G Ingersoll’s lectures” (Ingersoll was a prominent atheist, who challenged believers in the religion of Christ to discussion — but strangely never seemed to find it possible to accept any of the challenges given him ).
We have already mentioned Magruder’s biography of John Marshall he certainly kept active all his long life, no doubt kept young by his large family (his daughter Julia was born when he was 42) It is sad that, as Dr Thomas commented, none appear to have persisted m the way of the Truth Indeed, one of his daughters became a nun, and Julia sent her fictional heroes and heroines, possessors of immortal souls, to that sky-kingdom, heaven!
Conclusion
Magruder began well, and supported Dr Thomas for decades Without him there would have been few, if any, supporters in Virginia when Dr Thomas returned from England in 1851. He was one of the few who not only helped Dr Thomas, but also lectured and proclaimed the same message.
I am sure there are families still m the Truth that are grateful he baptized their forebears And although he and Dr Thomas disagreed late in their lives, I am happy to leave his eternal fate with the judge of all the earth, who alone knows the heart.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One