Rutherford Exposed: The Story of Berta and Bonnie

by Farkel 747 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  Leolaia

  Well, today the US government released records from the 1940 census to the public domain, giving us a whole new body of material to work with.

  So to kick off this new area of exploration, let me present for the first time the listing for Beth Sarim as it was polled on 4/18/1940:

  

  Here we find that Clayton W. Short and Frances B. Short were the caretakers of 4440 Braeburn Road, San Diego, California. This shows that by 1940, the Balkos had already moved away from Beth Sarim, replaced by the Shorts from New York City. Helpfully, the census asks where the individuals in question lived on 4/1/1935, where we see that the Shorts had earlier lived in NYC. This suggests that the Shorts were Bethelites relocated to Beth Sarim to replace the Balkos. Unknown of course is why the Balkos were replaced. Did they leave Beth Sarim of their own accord or were they fired? And if the Shorts were still living in 1935 in New York City, then unless there were other caretakers residing at Beth Sarim in between, it seems like the Balkos were probably not replaced until sometime after April 1935.

  I just examined the 1930 census and I see that at Bethel in 1930 there lived a William C. Short, lodger, who was 31 years old and born in Utah. This matches the Clayton W. Short above who was 41 in 1940 and also born in Utah.
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  cantleave

  Keep digging Leo - this is fascinating stuff. Who'd have thought god's org would have so much intrigue and machination!
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  Leolaia

  As far as Bethel was concerned, everyone there was listed alphabetically and then at the end of the list of Bethelites there appeared three more individuals: Rutherford, William Heath, and Bonnie Heath. They were similarly set apart in the 1930 census, as they were residents of the seventh floor where Rutherford had his office:

  

  What is interesting here is that Berta Peale is absent not only from this post-alphabetical grouping but also from the entire list of those residing at 124 Columbia Heights, Kings, New York. So where was she on 4/19/1940?

  The other datum of importance here is the age given for Bonnie Heath. Here her age is stated as 35, indicating a DOB of 1904. This is thus a witness to the DOB of 7/17/1904 that Bonnie maintained from the late 1930s until she died -- a DOB that I have shown to have been an impossibility.

  The material also specifies the educational background of Rutherford, William Heath, and Bonnie Heath. It reveals that Rutherford had three years of college and Bonnie had four years of college, while William only got as far as 8th grade. And Fred Franz? He was specified as having had four years of college -- the same as Bonnie Heath. And among those with the lowest levels of education was Charles A. Wise, former vice president of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, who had reached only the 4th grade.
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  still thinking

  This has to be one of the best threads here...I read through it a while ago...I can't believe you are still finding info Leolaia.
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  St George of England

  What age is given for Rutherford in 1930? It looks like 70.

  JFR died in 1942 aged 73 as I recall so he would only be about 51 in 1930.

  George
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  JRK

  George,

  That would be 61 in 1930.

  JK
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  VM44

  Thanks Leo, I was wondering what the 1940 census data would reveal concerning Beth Sarim and Rutherford.

  It appears Beth Sarim was a little "Short" on help at the time! (Sorry, couldn't resist)

  Have you had a chance to lookup up Mrs Rutherford and Malcolm's data yet?

  Also, to everyone reading this, this will be the last census for which Beth Sarim was owned by The Watchtower. It was sold in 1948 as having "served its purpose" and being "rather expensive to maintain" in the words of Knorr.
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  St George of England

  That would be 61 in 1930.

  So now we know the standard of my arithmetic! Thanks JRK.

  It still begs the question, is he listed on the 1930 census as being 70?

  George
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  Leolaia

  St George of England...That was an image of the 1940 census I posted, giving Rutherford's age as 70. As you can see on p. 29 of this thread, the 1930 census gave his age as 60. His birthday was in November so he would have just turned 72 when he died on 1/8/1942. His death certificate gave his age as 72 years 2 months.
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  St George of England

  Thanks Leolaia, that makes more sense.

  George