With the end of the Civil War in 1865, Dr Thomas was able to travel easily to the South as well as the North, unlike the difficult journeys made in 1861 and 1864. He did not, however, revive his magazine, suspended after the outbreak of the war He was apparently quite content to let Robert Roberts in England, with the Ambassador (later Christadelphian), carry the literary flame. He was now in his late fifties, and his physical strength was ebbing— although not his zeal for the Truth. With time to reflect, he wrote volumes two and three of Eureka in this period, as well as Phanerosis, his magnus opus on God manifestation. In this article, I will look at the last few years of the life of Dr Thomas, spent for the most part quietly in suburban West Hoboken, New Jersey. I will also deal a little more with his travels than I have for previous years, as the accounts are buried in the pages of old Ambassadors, available to few, and not covered in any standard biography of Dr Thomas.
Affairs in the U.S.A.
Since he had been long separated from the Campbellites, and had his own beliefs now well settled, we might expect Dr. Thomas and his associates to have been in harmony. This was not to be. He was greatly troubled, not only by assaults from such long-time opponents as the Campbellites, but also by some who were formerly colleagues. In this period, the followers of Benjamin Wilson affiliated with George Dowie in Edinburgh, Scotland, and opposed both Dr. Thomas and Robert Roberts. There were also many other debates, often over minute details of interpretation, and the whole American brotherhood was fragmented. There was no agreed-upon statement of faith, and, although the significance of what Dr. Thomas had re-discovered was acknowledged, there was no unanimity.
For example, Dr. Thomas reported a custom of the brethren in Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia, at the memorial service: “Each one rises, walks to the table, and helps himself. By this custom, they relieve themselves of the responsibility of handling the elements to those who might be improper persons… With them, therefore, the breaking and eating is not a test of fellowship. They hand it to no one, and withhold it from no one… their test of fellowship is… ‘walking in the light as the Deity is in the light, and so having fellowship with each other,’ which is the only true ground of fellowship exhibited in the world.”
At this time there were four major magazines circulating among the Christadelphians, and those holding similar beliefs were:
The Ambassador, published by Robert Roberts in Birmingham, England. Commenced in 1864.
The Messenger of the Churches, published in Edinburgh, Scotland, by George Dowie. Started about 1853.
The Gospel Banner, published by Benjamin Wilson in Geneva, Illinois Commenced in 1853
The Harbinger, published in Detroit, Michigan, by Newman, Reed and Stephenson (I have not seen any copies of this one only extracts m the others )
If you read them, you will see the same correspondents appearing mall four magazines, at least for the period prior to 1867 However, only the first of these was endorsed by Dr Thomas, and in turn it strongly supported him The others differed from Dr Thomas on issues of conduct as well as doctrine, and the lack of decisive action by Dr Thomas against them was perhaps one of the reasons the Truth did not take hold as strongly m this country as it did during this same period in the British Isles Over the years, the last two magazines formed part of the group out of which the Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith came (see article # 21) Although by this time Benjamin Wilson had apparently coined the name “Church of God of the Abrahamic Faith,” the term commonly used for his group was “Brethren of the West,” and that used by the Harbinger group was “Obedient Believers of the Gospel” To read their magazines is a sad exercise in how much mud can be slung about peripheral issues, and it would do no good to repeat either side of the disputes now.
The correspondence of Dr. Thomas
For these years, as for much of his life, Dr Thomas carried out a voluminous correspondence with the brethren around the U S A and Canada, some small part of which still survives He did this despite pain a “hereditary disability affecting my left arm and hand, developed since 1862 You may see from the uncaligraphic evidence before you the nature of the affliction” I would agree, the letters I have are very difficult to read But from what they say it is clear Dr Thomas kept his finger firmly on the pulse of the ecclesias, forming his own opinions as to who was trustworthy and who was not, which opinions he naturally shared with Robert Roberts.
Some of these opinions had ramifications that echo down to our days For example, Dr Thomas was a friend of Bro A D Strickler, of Buffalo, and this good opinion seemed to have carried down to the dispute over his tract, “Out of Darkness into Light ” thus started the Berean rift in this country – but that is an account not for this series! As Bro Strickler died in 1939, he must have been one of the last in this country with direct links to Dr Thomas.
Even in the days of Dr Thomas, we have evidence that the question of resurrectional responsibility was troubling to the ecclesias Dr Thomas, after giving his opinion, wrote sadly, “In hope of tunes when all such will be put to silence”
Other letters give some idea as to the major means of support of Dr Thomas in later years — the personal, unsolicited gifts from his many friends in North America As Bro Samuel Coffman, one of these benefactors, said, “In the beginning of his career, while engaged in secular occupation, his substance had been completely swept away Everything he undertook for himself came to naught but how different the result of his labors for the Lord” At his death, his estate was sufficient to maintain his widow and daughter, and also to provide the main funds to support Robert Roberts, which allowed him to expand the Ambassador and reduce the price of much of his literature.
Dr. Thomas’ travels in 1865
Just after the end of the Civil War, Dr Thomas went to see ecclesias m Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland This was a distressing journey, for he was visiting areas and brethren devastated by the effects of what still is the most costly war the U S has ever fought, measured both in lives lost and economic damage done He spent five weeks m travel, speaking both publicly and in private, and m ministering materially to the brethren as far as his limited means would afford He found them “cast down, but not destroyed” Dr Thomas was pleased the negative influence of the Gospel Banner had not reached them, but clearly the number of brethren had fallen over the previous few years There were fewer than 20 in Richmond, Virginia, and these were not united Amid the devastation of the aftermath of the great fire m that city, he spoke at the Universalist House to the few who gathered there Venturing outside the city, he found the roads in terrible shape, it took 12 hours to go 40 miles Under a hot sun, the journey was fatiguing, not to mention hazardous to his health, with countless dead horses and mules lying along the road, unburied Many of the brethren he stayed with had lost all to the marauding troops He stayed with a Bro Smithson, who was over 70, and whose two sons and son-in-law had been forced into the Confederate Army, and died while in prison or shortly after He had eight grandchildren, three daughters and a wife dependent on him!
Most of his long account deals with the tribulations and losses of the brethren, but he dealt with it in his normal forthright manner Visiting King William County, where he had been lavishly entertained in well-appointed plantation houses of members of the ecclesia, he exhorted them “God had visited them m judgment, and reduced them from affluence to comparative poverty Would they not turn over a new leaf, and for the future live less for themselves, and more unselfishly for the Truth, and the needy of the household of faith’?” I am sure this was not the sole content of his message, for he tells of speaking for four hours at the “Octagon” in Louisa County, followed by another hour from his long time friend, Albert Anderson Not for Dr Thomas was “the fashionable length of fifteen or twenty minutest” So he left for home, but not before calling m at Baltimore, where he stayed with Bro Packie (Bro William Lemmon, the founder of the ecclesia, had recently died ) He also took with him the niece of General John Magruder, whose husband had been killed at Gettysburg This was the general who had helped him through the battle lines in 1861.
Events of 1866
Perhaps what is most significant about this year is what did not happen — the planned third visit of Dr Thomas to England He had despaired of finding the subscriptions in America to enable him to publish the third volume of Eureka, so he was all set to go to England However, when he visited Bro Samuel Coffman in Ogle County, Illinois, his problem was discussed, and the brethren there were assigned, each according to his means, an amount totaling $1,260 — a “time, times, and half a time” A significant sum then — perhaps $50,000 in current dollars With this help, Dr Thomas stayed in America and carried out his normal visits to Philadelphia and Baltimore, in intense heat He was not happy with the spiritual results of his travels he remarked in a letter to Robert Roberts, “I entirely agree with you in your graphic description of the barrenness of Christadelphia ” He seemed to have spent most of his summer travelling, with multiple visits to several nearby states, and excursions to Worcester, Massachusetts, and Norfolk, Virginia But he no longer appears to have gone far afield — no voyages to Nova Scotia or the deep South, as he did a decade before As Dr Thomas commented when he visited Worcester, “I wish you to understand I never go uninvited and unsought for” He spoke to about 16 there — a typical size for American ecclesias of that time.
The years 1867-9
During these three years, Dr Thomas kept up his correspondence, spent his summers in large part travelling to familiar places, in company often with his daughter Eusebia, and writing and arranging the publishing of various works These include the third volume of Eureka (published in 1869), Phanerosis, published in 1867, Anastasis and several other works Many of these were published on Dr Thomas’ behalf by Bro John Donaldson of Detroit, Michigan, and old copies are still found in local libraries.
Dr Thomas’ health was beginning to fail at this time His daughter, Sis Eusebia Lanus, wrote, “Father frequently complains of his head A feeling of tightness, or pressure, and sometimes of heaviness comes over him, disabling him from writing I think this is not to be wondered at seeing how constantly he has applied himself to his labors, day and night, without intermission for so many years”
It was clearly not an easy time for Dr Thomas Despite his best efforts, discord was being sown among the ecclesias by several adversaries After noting a long list of false doctrines, Dr Thomas commented, “These are they who have gone out from our ecclesias, because they were not of us They have somewhat thinned us” Over the years, 200 to 300 had been baptized in his home ecclesia, but only about 30 remained (This ecclesia moved from the Cooper Institute, New York to the Odd Fellows Hall, Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1868) But he carried on his summer travels, to New England, Pennsylvania, and Virginia mostly He was still drawing converts from the Campbellites, and consequently the wrath of their leaders, but the growth was slow, unlike the rapid expansion being experienced in England So it was not surprising that, when he finished Eureka Volume III in 1869, he decided to accept the entreaties of Robert Roberts and others and make an extended visit to the British Isles.
Before this, he made “A Farewell Tour in America,” as it is entitled in the Christadelphian Clearly he anticipated an eventual removal to Britain, and the brethren m England purchased a house for him and his family m Olton, near Birmingham On his tour, he went to Worcester, then on to Toronto, thence to Illinois and Wisconsin by way of Detroit Even on this trip he was troubled by opposition, particularly m Detroit, but at least an ecclesia Dr Thomas felt comfortable with had been formed in Chicago (He had always stayed at a hotel when visiting there previously)
Three of the leaders in the U.S.A. were seen: Bre. Coffman in Ogle County, Harper in Milwaukee, and Bingley in Chicago. Bro. Coffman had underwritten Eureka Volume II, Bro. Bingley was to write Index Re-rum and initiate our current Declaration, and Bro. Harper’s name is to be found many times in the Christadelphian over the next few years.
On May 5, 1869 Dr. Thomas, accompanied by his daughter, sailed on the SS Idaho for England, to a warm welcome from Robert Roberts and all the Christadelphians in Great Britain, who were then probably five times the number of those in the U.S.A. It would be a year before he returned to the United States, intending to wind up his affairs in this country before permanently settling in Britain. The outworkings of God’s plan for John Thomas were to be sadly different, as we shall see.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One