Fred Franz stated he concocted the whole 1925/Beth Sarim story just to get the drunken and declining Rutherford out of Brooklyn and out of the way.
Farkel
That sweet and wholesome man known as Mr. Rutherford
by Homerovah the Almighty 26 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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Homerovah the Almighty
If Beth Sarin was really and truly built for the returning ancient worthies , then it solidifies the fact that Rutherford was an off the wall nut case,
My belief though about this guy was he played the WTS. for what he personally could get out of it, the lavish home complete with its in ground pool
in a sunny and warm climate, was a slice of cake built for himself.
No wonder the WTS kept this situation out the minds and thoughts of the JWS for so many years even until to this day.
Likewise you can bet the typical R&F JWS didn't know a thing about its existence just like today the overwhelming majority do not know about it and for
a very good reason.
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Nathan Natas
More attention ought to be paid to the house at the Staten Island Watchtower Farm. It was reputed to have been one of JFR's "love shacks" before he became a San Diego surfer dude. There aren't any great mysteries about the house that I am aware of (no Satanic Tunnels of Intrigue, alas), but it was an interesting facility intended to survive periods of intense social disorder, like, uh, Ragnarok.
It was adjacent to the WBBR transmission tower, and in the same neighborhood as Woodrow United Methodist Church and cemetery, where various Bethelites like W. E. van Amburgh and his wife and "brother" Macmillan, "brother" Covington, a great crowd of nameless faceless Bethelites, etc., were deposited during the period after the Pittsburgh cemetery was used (I think at the time Brooklyn Bethel opened its doors) and before the "launching pad" was put into service at the Watchtower Farm property in upper New York State. Van Amburgh and many others were cremated and their cremains were deposited somewhere within the Staten Island plot used by the WTB&TS, but as VM44 noted, there was a fire at the Methodist Church (in the 1960s, I think) that destroyed most of their records of who was buried in the WTB&TS plot.
From time to time through the years mention has been made in WT magazines of various Bethelites being buried at Staten Island, and I have been told by someone who claims to be a former Bethelite that in one of the Bethel libraries there is a listing of those burials. That material has yet to see the light of day. It would only be a list of names, so no earth-shattering information is likely to be contained there, but some of those names MIGHT be very interesting. (*might*)
J. F. Rutherford died in San Diego and was illegally buried on the grounds of Beth Sarim - the city of San Diego specifically DENIED a request for burial at Beth Sarim/Beth Shan. For the sake of appearances, a coffin was shipped from San Diego to Staten Island, and that empty coffin was buried. Presumably it is still empty.
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slimboyfat
Fred Franz stated he concocted the whole 1925/Beth Sarim story just to get the drunken and declining Rutherford out of Brooklyn and out of the way.
Where did he state this?
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Nathan Natas
(This is not a reply to slimboyfat's question)
"...I was often around Brother Rutherford in informal settings, such as at our radio station, WBBR, or in his study on Staten Island. He was such a kindly man and practiced what he preached. He did not expect anything of others that he would not do himself. Unlike responsible individuals in many other religious organizations, Brother Rutherford was of the highest spiritual and moral character. He clearly lived for Jehovah’s Kingdom..."
"...in 1923 they set about building the radio station WBBR on Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City.
At times I was the only operator of our station. I lived there on Staten Island but would make the three-hour ferry and train ride to the factory in Brooklyn to do electrical or mechanical work. To make our radio station essentially self-contained, we installed a diesel generating plant. On Staten Island we also had our own water wells and a garden that supplied food for the small staff there, as well as for the Bethel family in Brooklyn..."
- The WATCHTOWER, August 1, 1994, "SERVING WITH THE MOST PROGRESSIVE ORGANIZATION" (as told by Robert Hatzfeld)
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"...the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society had established on Staten Island its first radio station, WBBR. That was in 1924. I had the joyous privilege of serving on the Society’s programs, not only delivering speeches but also rendering tenor solos, and even playing the mandolin to piano accompaniment. Further, I sang second tenor in our WBBR male quartet. Of course, Brother Rutherford, as the president of the Society, was the featured speaker over WBBR and had a vast listening audience..."
- The WATCHTOWER, May 1, 1987, "LOOKING BACK OVER 93 YEARS OF LIVING" (As told by Frederick W. Franz)
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"...in 1932 he decided we should raise more of our own food, particularly meat. So he arranged to have some chicken houses built on the Society’s 15-acre (6-ha) farm on Staten Island. Somehow he learned that I knew a little about raising chickens. This resulted in my spending weekends with him designing chicken houses and measuring out land in order to build them..."
- The WATCHTOWER, March 1, 1986, "CONFORMING TO JEHOVAH’S WAYS" (As told by Arthur Worsley)
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"...While serving on Staten Island, I also had the rare privilege of getting better acquainted with J. F. Rutherford, who was then president of the Watch Tower Society. This was because he spent half of each week there, as those peaceful surroundings were most favorable for writing—and what a lot of that he did!..."
- The WATCHTOWER, October 1, 1984, "JEHOVAH HAS DEALT REWARDINGLY WITH ME" (As told by Karl F. Klein)
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"...During the summer of 1923 I accepted an invitation to assist with the construction of the Watchtower Society’s new radio station WBBR on Staten Island. Among those who came over from the headquarters in Brooklyn to help out on weekends was 18-year-old Nathan H. Knorr, who in 1942 became the third president of the Watch Tower Society. It was while working there and attending a convention in New York City that I was baptized on October 19, 1923. It was my first opportunity to symbolize my dedication to serve Jehovah God.
That winter I returned home to work on my family’s small dairy farm near Wallkill, but in the spring I was back at Staten Island to do some landscaping and road building..."
- The WATCHTOWER, September 15, 1983, "THANKFUL FOR A DELIGHTFUL LIFE OF SERVICE" (As told by John Booth)
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"...Since writing his life story Calvin Prosser finished his earthly course—he being of the remnant of the heirs of the heavenly kingdom—dying December 13, 1968. Funeral services were held on Staten Island on December 16, the service being conducted by Max Larson, factory servant and a longtime personal friend as well as one of the directors of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. .."
- The WATCHTOWER, February 15, 1969, "FOLLOWING ‘YOUR LIGHT AND TRUTH"
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"...In 1929 Brother Rutherford, the president of the Watch Tower Society, asked me to serve on a farm of thirty-six acres on Staten Island. This was also the home of the Society’s radio station WBBR. After working there a few years, I again served as janitor at Bethel until 1936, when I was assigned to the Kingdom Farm at South Lansing, New York, near Ithaca, to care for the hogs and chickens. The Society had bought it the year before, and it consisted of many hundreds of acres. As the Brooklyn Bethel family grew, I was kept busy just looking after the hogs. I took a course in animal breeding so as to be able to care for my job better. .."
- The WATCHTOWER, August 1, 1969, "BIBLE TRUTH BROUGHT ME FREEDOM FROM FEAR OF HELL" (As told by Paul Hammer)
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"...In 1931 the Society’s president, J. F. Rutherford, asked me if I would like to transfer to Staten Island, location of the Society’s radio station WBBR, and serve there as cook for the workers. This I gladly agreed to do, for not only would I be working at a job with which I was familiar, but also I would have many opportunities to share in the house-to-house ministry in a part of the field that needed more attention. At first we were just a few, and our meetings were conducted on the Society’s property. But by 1932 our numbers already warranted the renting of a hall for meetings. It is encouraging to know that the group of 25 persons who used to come together at that time has now grown to upward of 500 dedicated, active servants of Jehovah, associating in four strong congregations. .."
- The WATCHTOWER, July 15, 1968, "DETERMINED TO PRAISE JEHOVAH" (As told by Harry Peterson (A. Papargyropoulos))
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"...Funeral services for Brother Macmillan, held at 3 p.m. on August 29, were conducted by the Society’s president, N. H. Knorr, and then the earthly remains of Brother Macmillan were interred at the private burial plot of the Brooklyn Bethel family on Woodrow Road, Staten Island, New York. .."
- the WATCHTOWER, October 1, 1966, "ANNOUNCEMENTS"
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"...Drawing great consolation from the written Word of “the God of all comfort,” the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Pennsylvania announces herewith the death of Brother Hugo H. Riemer on March 31, 1965. After years of service as a pioneer publisher in the field, he was called to the Society’s Brooklyn headquarters in 1918, since which time he served with the Society’s headquarters till his death at eighty-six years of age. He was on the boards of directors of both the Society’s Pennsylvania corporation and its New York corporation, also serving in the official capacity of assistant secretary-treasurer of both corporations. Thus, after his dedication to Jehovah God in 1904, he served for the greater part of his long life in the direct, full-time service of his heavenly Father, as one of the anointed remnant of Christ’s followers. After a funeral service attended by 239 on Saturday morning, April 3, interment of his earthly remains took place at the private burial plot of the Brooklyn Bethel family at Huguenot Park, Staten Island, N.Y. ..."
- The WATCHTOWER, May 15, 1965, "ANNOUNCEMENTS"
NOTE: The area of Staten Island called "Hugenot Park" is also known as WOODROW.
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"...It was also in 1922 that the Society purchased property on Staten Island in New York City for the purpose of erecting a radio station. One Saturday afternoon the president of the Society, Brother Rutherford, took some of us with him to Staten Island. Upon arriving at the property that had been purchased, he pointed to a spot in the heart of the woods on the land and said: “All right, boys. Here is where we start digging. We are going to build a radio station on our land.” And did we dig! Every weekend during that summer we were at it..."
- The WATCHTOWER, July 15, 1964, "FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS TO SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY" (as told by Lloyd Burtch)
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"... At 11:30 a.m. the program for the Bengali-speaking brothers, of whom sixty-nine were in attendance, had principal items from the English program, given by Bengali brothers; after which Brother Franz spoke to them through an interpreter. He told of the pending sale of the Society’s radio station WBBR on Staten Island, New York; ..."
- The WATCHTOWER, July 15, 1957, "PART 2: ROUNDING THE WORLD WITH THE VICE-PRESIDENT"
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"...toward the end of 1922, the Society purchased a tract of land on New York city’s Staten Island, where construction of its first radio station was begun. It being finally completed and licensed by the government as station WBBR with a power of 500 watts, the first official broadcast was made Sunday evening, February 24, 1924, Judge Rutherford delivering the inaugural address, “Radio and Divine Prophecy.” For now more than three decades this noncommercial, educational station has continuously kept on broadcasting the Kingdom message, reaching multitudes of appreciative listeners. Its present studios are in the Bethel building at 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York. Its modern steel-tower directional antenna and 5,000-watt transmitter are at the station’s original site on Staten Island, at “Watchtower.”
(to be continued)- The WATCHTOWER, June 15, 1955, "MODERN HISTORY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES, PART 12: AN ERA OF PROPHESIED HAPPINESS BEGINS"
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"...Following his release in 1919 Brother Woodworth was made editor of the Society’s newly introduced magazine The Golden Age. He remained editor when the magazine’s name was changed to Consolation in 1937, to carry on as such until 1946. Because of advancing years he was relieved of this when the magazine was given a new change of name to Awake! For years he served as a member and director of the New York Corporation, People’s Pulpit Association and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc. He continued joyfully active at other duties assigned to him till his illness made this recently impossible. He died at the ripe old age of 81, loyal to the faith and unwaveringly devoted to the theocratic organization, on December 18, 1951, at 4 a.m. Interment of his remains took place at the burial plot of the Bethel family adjoining Radio Station WBBR on Staten Island, New York, at the same time with two other faithful Bethel family members who had died, hours apart, two days previous at the Bethel home. All three professed to be of the anointed remnant, and we rejoice in hope of their realization of Revelation 14:13."
- The WATCHTOWER, February 15, 1952, "ANNOUNCEMENTS"
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Homerovah the Almighty
Nathan what is point are you trying to make regarding all of those posts....just curious ?
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Farkel
slimboy,
It's from the book the "Four Watchtower Presidents" and that reference has been pointed out in here before. Professor Ed Gruss is a co-author and you can buy a copy (very inexpensive) from Randy's site. The source for this information heard that claim from Fred Franz himself. But even if that never happened, I could easily draw a whole ton of reasons why Rutherford got his 5,100+ square foot mansion on 100 acres of prime San Diego land. I've been there at least 2 dozen times. Oh, I didn't mention the OTHER 5,000 square foot mansion called Beth Shan on the other side of the canyon that he had, too. There are pictures of both sites on the Internet and Beth Sarim and Beth Shan are both mentioned in older WT literature, so this is no fantasy.
It is no secret that those in Bethel hated Rutherford as he made his decline because of alcoholism and his verbal and other abuse towards others who crossed him and towards the Bethel family in general. He was not a beloved man by any means. Only four people came to his funeral, and Nathan Knorr (his successor) and Fred Franz (his "oracle") were not among them. Neither was his (still) wife Mary or his (still) son Malcolm there, either.
The great JUDGE, the "greatest Bible scholar in the WORLD" only had FOUR people at his funeral.
NONE of his "great" books are still in print. Some "great" man that.
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