A: They are all direct ancestors of my husband on the Rutherford side of his family, and they and their families were all highly active in a new (at the time) religious movement called The Disciples of Christ (which is currently known as The Church of Christ (Disciples)). Thomas Chalmers Scott in particular is still remembered by Church historians as a strong and passionate leader within the early movement, but fascinatingly, the family now only seems to remember the secular side of his life (he was employed for most of his time in Canada as the Surveyor of Customs for the port of Toronto). Who exactly were the Disciples, what did they believe, and what do they remember about our ancestors?
The Disciples of Christ was a North American church, coming into being in the mid-eighteen-thirties in Ontario, slightly earlier in the United States. There were two main streams of influence on its development in Canada, the first being the Scottish Baptist church and the second being the writings and preachings of Barton W. Stone in Kentucky and Thomas and Alexander Campbell in Western Pennsylvania (the influence of these men in the United States became known as the Stone-Campbell movement or the Restoration movement). The Disciples of Christ was very much a back-to-basics group, rejecting the idea that congregations needed pastors or ministers to interpret the Bible for them, and believing that Christian philosophy, creeds and customs developed by church hierarchies since the time of Jesus were irrelevant and divisive. They aspired to unite Christians under a simple and rational reading of the New Testament, stripping away as much as possible any potential source of disagreement. They believed in full-immersion baptism (which was later to have disasterous effects for Scott), church groups led by elders, and, in the early years at least, the silence of women in the Church (as advocated by St. Paul). They were highly evangelistic, and in consequence, many of the church leaders traveled frequently and developed ties to neighbouring communities where they had helped "plant" congregations. Unfortunately for me as an amateur historian, early primary records are sometimes sketchy (at first the Disciple congregations tended to consist of a small group of people meeting in someone's house, with no systemic record keeping). Fortunately, there is a lot of recorded oral history around the early years, and beginning in 1846 David Oliphant Jr.(Oliphant Senior's son and the brother of Mary Oliphant, through which the family line descends) began publishing a series of monthly journals, which he would continue for the next forty years.
Probably the most dynamic and interesting of my husband's Disciple ancestors is Thomas Chalmers Scott, the father of John Galloway Scott. Scottish records show us that Thomas C. Scott was born March 28, 1806 in Auchtermuchty, Fife, Scotland to David Scott and Katharine Greig, and that on December 12, 1833 he married Ann Galloway in nearby Dundee, Scotland.
According to his obituary (the Toronto Daily Globe, December 15, 1876) "during the emigration excitement of 1842 in Great Britain, he made up his mind to come to America, intending to settle in some part of the Western States. Upon his arrival in New York, however, he met with Mr. James Lesslie, of his city, who persuaded him to come to Toronto, and took him into his employment...Though of Presbyterian parentage he attached himself early in life to the Scottish Baptists, the tenets of which denomination are somewhat similar to those of the body known as "The Disciples" in Canada and the United States." He would have been in his early 40s at the time of his immigration. He appears to have lived in Detroit, Michigan for at least a short period before his move to Toronto, for he is listed as one of the early members of the Disciples congregation in Detroit, begun by Joseph Hawley sometime before1842. The Disciple connection was perhaps how he met James Lesslie, whose family were also Disciples, although Scott's obituary in the Bible Index (2nd series, I, 1, Jan. 1877, 18-22) claims that he and the Lesslies had "mutual friends in Dundee". This obituary also tells us more about Scott's conversion away from the church of his parents: "As a young man, he studied with a small group of his peers, with the result that he left the Presbyterian Church, joined the Independents, then determined to be baptized. He along with a dozen others formed a church."
When Scott and his family arrived in Toronto in 1842, they joined a group of about 33 Disciples meeting in "a brick building on Shuter Street" which had been started by James Beaty. It seems that Scott and Beaty did not see eye to eye, for in 1846 there was a rupture and Scott led a group away from the Shuter Street congregation, starting and supporting a congregation on Richmond Street (which later moved to Pembroke Street, where Scott built a meeting house for the congregation). The Lesslie family sided with Scott and followed him to Richmond Street. The church histories I have read don't say exactly what precipitated the quarrel, but according to historian Geoffrey Ellis, "The impression is left that there was not room for two strong-minded men in the Shuter Street church and that the Richmond Street group was the more 'progressive' of the two." ("The Restoration Churches in Toronto", pg. 6). Beaty was a strong business leader in the city, had just been elected Alderman of the St. Lawrence ward in Toronto, and eventually became a representative in Canada's first parliament, so he was obviously no shrinking violet. It speaks to Scott's own independent mind and strength of conviction, I think, that he would go up against such a well-connected and formidable figure.
Scott took a leading role in the church from then on. As well as regularly preaching in Toronto, he frequently travelled to other communities within Ontario to speak and convert. Joseph Ash, whose memories of the early church were recorded in some of David Oliphant's journals, paints a vivid portrait of a visit Scott paid to Bowmanville in 1846.
"It became known that John Simpson, a wealthy, active and intelligent miller and merchant, was much exercised over his spiritual state. He was not a member of any church, but an attendant and very liberal supporter of a congregational church. We in Oshawa had just concluded a big meeting at which...T.C. Scott was one of our preachers. As Bro. Scott was quite a favorite of Simpson's, we were induced to go to Bowmanville that Bro. Scott might have some conversation on the subject of religion. We (I think four of us) called at Simpson's store, and found him in his office. Scott and him were in the office alone for a short time, but soon the 'Minister' Climie came and went into the office, having some hint of what was going on...The 'Minister' came out and walked the floor in quite an excited state and went back into the office, and tried to induce Simpson all he could not to be baptized, thus interrupting them, and repeated the interruption several times. Some 12 or 15 of us spectators were in feverish anxiety about the result. At length the door opened, and our hearts beat high with joy and exultation at the announcement made by Scott, 'I am happy to tell you' (addressing us from Oshawa) 'that Mr. Simpson is to be baptized immediately, and we are going to the lake past Elder Burk's, and you, Bro. Ash, are to go at once, call on Elder Burk, notify them and find the best place for the baptism.' O, the excitement there was in the village. Men were on the run along nearly every street giving notice of the coming event...Mr. Climie...was the first...to go to the lake...[followed] by a long train of carriages...We called at Elder Burk's, made the news known to their great joy...The 'minister'...did his utmost to persuade Mr. Simpson to abandon his baptism... Making no impression on Simpson he commenced an argument against immersion with Elder Burk, who resigned the argument to Bro. Scott...[who] bowed Mr. Climie away and led Mr. Simpson into the water..."
Simpson was an important and wealthy man who would later become a Senator. I feel sorry for poor Minister Climie...you can really feel his anguish over losing a prominent member of his congregation in such a public manner! As my husband pointed out, Scott's job in the customs house was likely quite seasonal, with a lighter workload during the winter months as the port would be iced over, which would leave him with a lot of travel time during some parts of the year. However, it seems that sometimes his own congregation felt that he spent too much time on the road and not enough with them.
An exciting event for the Disciples took place in 1855; Alexander Campbell, the highly influential American partially behind the Stone-Campbell movement, paid his only visit to Canada, accompanied by his wife. During their time in Toronto they were guests in Scott's home, which I'm sure was both a great honour and an exciting intellectual opportunity for Scott.
 |
| Alexander Campbell |
The visit was headline news throughout Ontario and Campbell spoke twice in Toronto to large crowds, which included some clergymen of other faiths (among them Dr. James Lillie and Dr. Pyper, Baptists, and Dr. Ormiston of the Presbyterian Free Church). Campbell later wrote up this visit in his publication The Millennial Harbinger, and although he spoke graciously about Scott himself, it seems to me that there is a veiled rebuke regarding the Scott-Beaty split in his musings:
"We immediately set sail for Toronto on board a first rate Lake Ontario Steamer. Soon we arrived at the landing. We found Bro. Thomas C. Scott and Bro. Elliot [referring to William Elliot] with a carriage to conduct us to Bro. Scott's, whose Christian hospitality we enjoyed during our sojourn in that city. Bro. Scott is now presiding elder of the church of our brethren in the city and occasionally proclaims the gospel in the surrounding country."
Here comes the scolding:
"Our brethren [in Toronto] are not as prosperous and as co-operative as they might be, or as they should be, and, as we yet hope, they will be. They have talents, learning, and the means of being eminently useful, provided only, that mere order, or mere discipline, or church etiquette, should not usurp the place or province of faith, hope, and love. 'These three' as Paul calls them are paramount to everything in the Christian profession. Paul would have contracted with any church in his day, never to eat flesh or drink wine while the world stood, rather than to wound or cause to stumble a weak brother. The vital principle of church order is brotherly love. Let that abound and all is peace, health and prosperity."
It is possible that the Scott family stood host to several American visitors over the years. The "Ecclesiastical Observer", October 1, 1874, contains a description of a visit to Canada by prominent Disciple Benjamin Franklin (no, not that Ben Franklin!), where he says:
"We met our venerable Bro. Scott of Toronto, visited him at his own house, and found him to be what we have heard him reported to be--a man of fine intelligence, amiable and agreeable in his bearing. He has been known as a preacher of much ability for many years."
Scott's son John Galloway Scott is mentioned occasionally as also travelling to preach for the Disciples, but some time between 1861, where his family is listed on the Canadian census as Disciples of Christ, and 1871, where they are listed as Baptists, he seems to have left his father's church. He and his father-in-law, William Elliot, joined the Jarvis Street Baptist Church and in fact both, along with another former Disciple, William McMaster, donated a great deal of money towards the construction of its present building. I'd love to know why John Galloway switched and what the consequences were for his relationship with his father, who was obviously so passionate about his beliefs. To me, the fact that they are buried together suggests that there was no lasting rift.
Ann Galloway Scott, Thomas's wife, died on September 2, 1854. She is buried, along with Thomas C. Scott, John Galloway Scott and Minnie (Elliot) Scott, at the Necropolis cemetery in Toronto. She had borne him three children. I assume that she shared her husband's faith but I have no direct evidence of this. In 1856 Scott remarried, to Miss Sarah Hawley of Detroit. She was the daughter of Richard Hawley, leader of the Detroit congregation Scott had briefly belonged to and which Sarah had belonged to as well. It is possible that they had kept in touch over the years, or that the families had. The new Mrs. Scott seems to have been a bit more directly involved in Disciple affairs, at one point writing a letter published in one of Oliphant's journals on the importance of supporting Missionary work, which seems to have been an interest of hers. This was a late marriage, and the two had no children together.
On December 13, 1877, Scott passed away. The cause of his death is listed on the death record as "Typhoid Pneumonia". Disciple history (Ellis's article on Toronto Restoration Churches) describes the cause of death in a bit more detail:
" On December 3rd in 1876, four went forward at Pembroke for baptism, and Scott did the baptizing. On the 6th of December, he said, 'I fear I have taken a cold.' He died on the 13th succumbing to typhoid pneumonia and was buried on the 16th. Butchart comments: 'The death of T.C. Scott...was a great blow, from which it [the Pembroke St. Church] never fully recovered. Scott...owned the building, but in his estate the church lost it."
I can only imagine how freezing the waters of Lake Ontario must have been in early December. Knowing Scott, I'll bet he never even flinched.
After his death his wife, the former Miss Hawley, moved back to Detroit. She died ten years later, on February 22, 1887, at age 79. She is buried in Detroit. In her will she left her estate to the Disciples church, in particular to assist with Missionary work. The Memorial Christian Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is named in honour of her bequest.
I find Thomas Chalmers Scott an intriguing figure. I picture him as a man of charisma, spiritual dedication and independent thought. I would dearly love to read any of his sermons or writings, but so far I've had no success in finding extant copies of anything coming from his own pen.
As I mentioned earlier, both William Elliot and David Oliphant Sr. were also disciples. Although the Elliot and Scott families appear to have been very close, Disciple history does not say a great deal about William Elliot other than the occasional mention of him as a preacher. The Oliphant family, however, were key players in the development of the Disciples faith in rural Ontario. My next posting will be about them.
No comments:
Post a Comment