1767

(EYEWITNESS TO THE FOUNDING DAYS OF THE SALVATION ARMY)

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 750.00 USD
(EYEWITNESS TO THE FOUNDING DAYS OF THE SALVATION ARMY)
"Booth said to me: 'The Lord will take care of us...it is Hell's half acre'...We met with a rough welcome…"

JOHN THRESHER (b.1845) British watchmaker believed to be a co-founder with William Booth of the Salvation Army. Superb content A.M.S. with A.L.S. 1p. 12mo. transmittal letter and holograph envelope signed "John Thresher" and bearing paper "GREAT SEAL OF THE CHURCH OF AMERICA", the manuscript 3pp. 4to., Pittsburgh, Oct. 24, 1917. Thresher writes to reporter E. B. Thompson of the Pittsburgh Sun about the founding days of the Salvation Army. In part: "...William Booth planned a meeting on Sunday July 2nd 1865 in an old Quaker burial ground...he invited me as one of his assistants. I wanted a few of the East London police to protect us, it was the very worst place in all London...Booth said to me: 'The Lord will take care of us...it is Hell's half acre'...We met with a rough welcome. A flint stone made a ding on my face, it is one mark I am proud of. William Booth when asked if he was going back after such mob violence said: 'I am going back till the people learn to love me'...we had flowers given us by the very people who pelted us with stones and rubbish...William Booth and Catherine Booth had one great idea. I was to preach the Gospel to the poorest and most degraded people. The churches failed in that direction...they were not welcome...In 1865 London and other cities were in very bad shape...men, women and children...were in an awful condition, gin palaces...open a large part of Sunday...William Booth and his wife...said to me Your state church fails to reach the worst grade of people...the poor are neglected as also the real vicious and wicked...In [Jesus'] name they worked like slaves outside the churches. The world knows the result...Mrs. Catherine Booth...answer to the Bishop of Carlisle who preached a sermon condemning the army is full of good thought...They worked in much the same way Billy Sunday is working...It was at a meeting in the nature of a conference that William Booth was assigned to a circuit of the [Methodist] church. The church was crowded. Booth was seated on the main floor, Mrs. Booth in the gallery. The one word Never rang through the church, it was the voice of a woman...Catherine Booth...Many claim that was the one important word that laid the foundation for the future and present Salvation Army...Her prayer was for Divine guidance. God spoke to William Booth, the word Never was a message from God delivered by his wife Catherine Booth". Fine condition. Sold with a carbon typed copy of an article on Thresher which contains scant details of this incredible tale.

Estimate: $500 - 750.

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Part I: Lots 1-979 - September 27th, 2012

Part II: Lots 980-1845 - September 28th, 2012