by vienne 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
As at least some of you know, I am coauthor of two history books about Zion's Watch Tower's earliest years. We are at a dead end with one of the Watch Tower's earliest evangelists, S. D. Rogers. We do not know his first name or have any biography outside of a scattering of newspaper articles and mentions in ZWT.
Can you - will you - explore this. Help me find out who this man really was.
Thanks for your help.
I have done my best, but came up with nothing other than what you already have on your blog.
Perhaps sources in places he had been (Michigan, Toronto, England) would have more information.
Which two books are those vienne? Would be interested to read them (if I haven't already!)
wifi, thanks for your effort. Sometimes we find things with ease, sometimes not. Roger's identity is a puzzle.
Hi Vienne
I did a quick Google search and found S D Rogers mentioned in the book Jehovah's Witnesses: Continuity and Change, by George D Chryssides (2016; Routledge).
I managed to copy an excerpt of the copyrighted material that talks about S D Rogers under the heading Dissent and Schism . By the book's account, he was an early colporteur who travelled to England, promptly refused to do what Russell expected him to do and thought the message would be more effectively spread via public addresses.
Here's the excerpt:
Thanks for that. We're seeking a definitive ID with first and middle name. He was born, according to his passport application, about 1847, He seems to have lived in Michigan.
Hmmm...only a guess, but most men of that designation "S" in the 1800s was "Samuel" and "D" would have been either Daniel or David. Since it's unlikely to be Daniel (because of the -el ending) in this case, it's most likely Davis, Dickens, Dawson or other family name. If you know his birth place in Michigan and approximate year of birth, he may be in the geological records.
I'd bet my sparkling ruby red bippy that his given name was Samuel.
My sister's a genealogist. If you have any other clues I can have her do some checking.
He may have been born in Canada. We don't know but there is a hint that he was. In 1904 he gave his address as Vassar, Michigan. There was a Samuel D. Rogers living in Lapeer, Michigan, near J. H. Paton. Don't know if that's him.
