By Ken B.
© 2015 Anonymous. All
rights reserved
St. Johnsbury Caledonian, St. Johnsbury, Vt., Friday, Mar. 12, 1875
Walter Perrin Smith, the father of A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob, was
living and working in St. Johnsbury when the “Great Awakening” of 1875 in St. Johnsbury
happened. He:
·
His parents were Vermont natives John Stoddard Smith
(a blacksmith by trade and later a farmer in Hardwick in Caledonia county,
where he passed away May 5, 1886) and Sophronia Maria (Perrin) Smith (who
passed away October 15, 1887).[3]
·
Attended academies at Hardwick, Vermont, and
Morrisville, Vermont.[4] (The
“academies” of that day were roughly equivalent to what we call “high schools”
today.)
·
Was briefly principal of Hardwick Academy in
Vermont after his graduation from the University of Vermont in 1867.[6]
·
Pursued the study of law with Powers & Gleed,
attorneys of Morrisville in Lamoille County, Vermont.[8]
·
Was a partner of Hon. Jonathan Ross in St.
Johnsbury for one year in 1869 to 1870, which partnership ended when Ross was
elected to the supreme bench.[11]
·
Married Susan Amanda Holbrook on August 15, 1876—either
in Lyndon, Vermont (most likely) or in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.[15]
·
Their only child, Robert Holbrook Smith, was
born August 8, 1879.
·
Was a director, vice-president, and member of
the board of investors of the Passumpsic Savings Bank in St. Johnsbury.[20]
He also eventually became president of this bank.[21]
·
Was the daughter of Perley Rogers Holbrook,
M.D., and Louise Maria (Lawrence) Holbrook of St. Johnsbury.[24]
And now, here are key statements about the “Great Awakening”
of 1875 in St. Johnsbury and related matters from the Friday, Mar. 12, 1875,
issue of St. Johnsbury Caledonian newspaper:
Left-hand column (column one)
“Religious Meetings.
Free Baptist Church . . . Rev. O. Roys, pastor.
Methodist Church . . . Rev. D. E. Miller, Pastor.
North Cong’l Church . . . Rev. Chas. M. Southgate, Pastor.
South Cong’l Church . . . Rev. E. T. Fairbanks, Pastor.
Church of the Messiah, Universalist . . . Rev. B. M.
Tillotson, Pastor.
Baptist Church . . . Rev. J. H. Marsh, Pastor.
. . .
Local and State News.
Laymen’s meeting at Avenue Hall Sunday afternoon, at 3
o’clock. All are invited.
. . .
There will be a donation to the Rev. O. Roys, at the Free Baptist hall, on Friday evening, Marc 19.
Annual meeting of the Y. M. C. A. at the close of the young
people’s meeting at the North Church next Saturday evening.
True Repentance, and what leads to it, will be the subject
of discourse at the Church of the Messiah next Sunday evening.
. . .
Some touching letter and beautiful remembrances have been
received by several persons in this place, from the Massachusetts laymen who
came here strangers, but left warm friends.
About forty persons united with the several churches in this
place last Sabbath, some of them in the fruits of the revival now in progress.
Thirteen adults and three children were baptized at the North Church.
Union meeting at North Church tonight Thursday. Young
people’s union meeting at the same place Saturday evening. Young converts’ and
enquirer’s meeting at the several churches, Friday evening.
. . .
Column Two
. . .
The Great Awakening.
The religious awakening in this place continues with power.
The union mass meetings are continued twice a week and are largely attended. The
people do not come together to hear orators from abroad, for there are none.
But they hear the words of truth and soberness out of the mouths of those in
whom the Lord has put a new song. These include worldly men, moral men, bashful
men, timid women and children—all classes and conditions who believe with their
hearts, are all ready to make confession with their mouths. Every meeting some
new ones rise and ask for the prayers of Christians. One marked feature of this
revival is the illustration of the power of prayer. Many an one as in substance
said: “I have sat under preaching unmoved; the solicitations and arguments of
friends only set me more firmly against all good influences; but when I found
my Christian friends were making my case the subject of earnest and united
prayer, it touched my heart, and I could hold out no longer.”
Another pleasant feature of this awakening, is the earnest
manner in which converts go to work. There is a good religious interest in the
towns all about, and the Macedonian cry, “Come over and help us,” is heard on
every side, and is gladly responded to. Some converts of six weeks standing
have experienced more spiritual growth and joy in service, than many Christians
of as many years. They believe with the Psalmist that the redeemed of the Lord
should say so; and they have strength given them to do it.
In Lyndon, Burke, West Concord, Danville, Barton, etc.,
there are union meetings being held, and good religious interest. Other towns
are reaching out their hands for this great salvation. May their prayer be
answered. Union meetings by the laymen, begin at Lyndonville to-morrow, and
continue over the Sabbath. It is expected that similar meetings will be held at
St. Johnsbury Centre the same days.
Column Four
. . .
St. Johnsbury Centre.
. . .
Rev. H. J. Broadwell, who has been supplying the pulpit of
the Congregational church at the Centre for a few weeks, has closed his labors
and returned to his home at New Haven, Conn., the present week. Mr. Broadwell
did not wish to remain unless he could be settled, and as there was no
probability of this being done, he withdrew.
It is expected that a series of union meetings under the
auspices of the Y. M. C. A. Committee, will begin at the Centre on Friday
evening of this week, and continue over the Sabbath—conducted by laymen.
. . .
Column Five
. . .
Y. M. C. A.
The annual business meeting of the Y. M. C. A. will be held
at the North Church on Saturday evening, March 13, at eight o’clock. The
election of officers will take place and all members are invited to be present.
Those wishing to join are invited to be present, or send in their names. It is
desirable to increase the membership by addition to the number of ladies who
are members, and they are especially invited.
F. B. Denio, President.
[1] DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (New
York, N.Y.: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980), 9. “. . . Dr. Bob
. . . was born August 8, 1879, in the front bedroom of a large 19th
century clapboard house at Central and Summer Streets in St. Johnsbury,
Vermont.”
During our first research trip
to St. Johnsbury in October 2007, my dad (pen name “Dick B.”) and I searched
the birth records for Robert Holbrook Smith at the Town of St. Johnsbury
building (which contains offices of the fire department, of vital statistics,
and of public officials). The building was located on Main Street, very close to
the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. We then had a clerk there produce for us a
certified copy of the birth certificate for Robert Holbrook Smith (Dr. Bob),
and we purchased it. Bob’s birth records did not indicate whether he had been born
in a hospital or at home. The clerk who assisted us with Bob’s records opined that
he had been born at home based on those and similar records from that time
period. (See Dick B. and Ken B., Dr. Bob
of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster
in Vermont (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2008), 93,
113, 242: http://www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml.
At the time of Dr. Bob’s birth
in 1879, the street address for the house in which he (apparently) was born was
“20 Summer Street.” [See, for example: “Smith, Susan Holbrook” in Albert Nelson
Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England,
2d ed. (Chicago, A. N. Marquis &
Company, 1916), 994: http://mcaf.ee/1qfp6o.]
During one of my dad’s and my four research trips to St. Johnsbury (2007, 2008,
2012, 2013), someone in St. Johnsbury told us that the street addresses for
Summer Street had been renumbered sometime since Dr. Bob was born in 1879. And
that person told us that that was why the street address for “Dr. Bob’s
Birthplace and Boyhood Home” today is “297 Summer Street.”
[2]
Hiram Carleton, ed., Genealogical and
Family History of the State of Vermont, Vol. II (New York: The Lewis
Publishing Company, 1903), 172: http://mcaf.ee/1qfp6o.
[3] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 172. See also “Smith, Walter Perrin” in Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed., 994.
[4] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 172; and “Smith, Walter Perrin” in Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed., 994.
[5] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 172. In its “Deaths” section (pages 128-30), Walter Perrin Smith is listed under
the “Non-Graduates” heading as follows: “Walter Perrin Smith, l ’67-’68, A.B. (Vermont) ’67, A.M. (ibid.) ’70, d. at St. Johnsbury, Vt.,
Oct. 16, 1919, aged 78. See The Michigan
Alumnus, Volume XXVII, October, 1920—August, 1921 (Ann Arbor, Mich.: The
Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, [1920]), 130. The listing in The Michigan Alumnus would seem to
indicate that Walter Perrin Smith obtained an A.B. degree from the University
of Vermont in 1867, and an A.M. degree from the University of Vermont [which would
seem to be the meaning of “(ibid)” in
the listing] in 1870. The listing for “Smith, Walter Perrin” in Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed., 994,
states more clearly: “. . . A.B., U. of Vt., 1867, A.M., 1870; . . .”
[6] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 172.
[7] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 172. The abbreviation “l ’67-’68”
in the listing for Walter Perrin Smith in The
Michigan Alumnus would seem to
indicate that Smith studied law at the University of Michigan from 1867 to
1868, but that he didn’t graduate from the university with a law degree. See The Michigan Alumnus, Volume XXVII,
October, 1920—August, 130. The listing for “Smith, Walter Perrin” in Marquis,
ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed.,
994, states more clearly: “. . . student Ann Arbor (Mich.) Law Sch. 1 yr.: . .
.”
[8] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 172.
[9] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 172; and “Smith, Walter Perrin” in Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed., 994.
[10] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 172.
[11] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 172-73.
[12] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 173.
[13] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 173. See also: DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, 9.
[14] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 173. See also: DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, 9.
[15] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 173. See also Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed.,
994. The listing for “Smith, Susan Holbrook” in Marquis states: “m. St.
Johnsbury, Aug. 15, 1876, Walter P. Smith.” However, the listing for “Smith,
Walter Perrin” on the same page in Marquis states: “m. Lyndon, Vt., Aug. 15,
1876, Susan Amanda Holbrook.”
[16] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 173. See also: DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, 9.
[17]
Carleton, Genealogical and Family History,
vol. II, 173. See also: DR. BOB and the
Good Oldtimers, 9.
[18] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 173. See also: DR. BOB and the Good
Oldtimers, 9.
[19] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 173.
[20] Carleton,
Genealogical and Family History, vol.
II, 173.
[21] DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, 9.
[22] The Michigan Alumnus, Volume XXVII,
October, 1920—August, 130. See also “Death of Walter P. Smith had long been
identified with the best interests of the community” in the October 17, 1919,
issue of the evening Caledonian: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=143051078;
accessed 10/6/2015.
[23] Smith,
Susan Holbrook” in Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed.,
994.
[24] Smith,
Susan Holbrook” in Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed.,
994.
[25] Smith,
Susan Holbrook” in Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed.,
994.
[26] Smith,
Susan Holbrook” in Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed.,
994.
[27] Smith,
Susan Holbrook” in Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed.,
994.
[28] Smith,
Susan Holbrook” in Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., Who’s Who in New England, 2d ed.,
994.
[29] “Susan
Holbrook Smith”: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=138700602;
accessed 10/6/2015.
