Who was Harry Morse ?

[Scott Pitta]

Origin of term "holy roller"

San Francisco Examiner (6/11/1905)

A score of men hard at work building a gigantic ark can be seen any weekday just outside of the Holy Rollers' colony at Benton Harbor, Mich. Nearby Is a small menagerie, where Benjamin, prophet . and leader of the strange religious sect, la collecting the animals destined to be saved from the flood which he foresees In 1916. The workers, like all of the colony, are fine healthy specimens, showing no signs of fanaticism or Insanity as they put In their hours of hard labor each day. Their Holy flowing hair and broad felt hats are the only things unusual In their appearance. Arriving Prophet Benjamin la a tall man, forty-five old. with long, jet-black hair and beard and a face that remains ghastly white in spite of months of outdoor life, which here tanned the features of all his followers. The prophet, with plans and specifications not his hand, dlrects the men In this extraordinary . piece of shipbuilding.
The ark la not Intended to sail on ordinary waters there Is no need of building It near the water. Therefore the "Holy Rollers” picked out a convenient sheltered little valley far back from the water, where the craft will remain high and dry till the second flood. There are about three hundred "Holy Rollers” In the "City of David," as their colony is called. They refer to themselves as "Israelites," though there Is not a single Hebrew among them. They are called "Holy Rollers” because the names of the elect are inscribed on the "Holy Rolls," which are kept in a small shanty called a tabernacle ln the centre of the "City of David. ". Nobody but the prophet who has proclaimed himself the reincarnation of Noah is permitted to enter the tabernacle. When Benjamin's flood arrives, some time in the rear 1916, his great ark Is to be finished and all the faithful people and worthy animals are to be ready to come out of the rain, he says.


The press came up with the term to describe religious fanatics. Not specifically Pentecostals.

[Scott Pitta]

Origin of term "holy roller"

San Francisco Examiner (6/11/1905)

A score of men hard at work building a gigantic ark can be seen any weekday just outside of the Holy Rollers' colony at Benton Harbor, Mich. Nearby Is a small menagerie, where Benjamin, prophet . and leader of the strange religious sect, la collecting the animals destined to be saved from the flood which he foresees In 1916. The workers, like all of the colony, are fine healthy specimens, showing no signs of fanaticism or Insanity as they put In their hours of hard labor each day. Their Holy flowing hair and broad felt hats are the only things unusual In their appearance. Arriving Prophet Benjamin la a tall man, forty-five old. with long, jet-black hair and beard and a face that remains ghastly white in spite of months of outdoor life, which here tanned the features of all his followers. The prophet, with plans and specifications not his hand, dlrects the men In this extraordinary . piece of shipbuilding.
The ark la not Intended to sail on ordinary waters there Is no need of building It near the water. Therefore the "Holy Rollers” picked out a convenient sheltered little valley far back from the water, where the craft will remain high and dry till the second flood. There are about three hundred "Holy Rollers” In the "City of David," as their colony is called. They refer to themselves as "Israelites," though there Is not a single Hebrew among them. They are called "Holy Rollers” because the names of the elect are inscribed on the "Holy Rolls," which are kept in a small shanty called a tabernacle ln the centre of the "City of David. ". Nobody but the prophet who has proclaimed himself the reincarnation of Noah is permitted to enter the tabernacle. When Benjamin's flood arrives, some time in the rear 1916, his great ark Is to be finished and all the faithful people and worthy animals are to be ready to come out of the rain, he says.


The press came up with the term to describe religious fanatics. Not specifically Pentecostals.

[Scott Pitta]

Access to a Tulare, California newspaper archive provided a timeline for the beginning of Pentecostalism in Tulare from 1906 onward. I have been able to put together a timeline from 1906 until 1936.

Names of early PAW ministers and the movement of ministers around help understand who was where and when. Evangelists and missionaries are also recorded.

I will incorporate the new data later. The new names may provide leads for new material.

I am very tired but satisfied.

[Scott Pitta]

The latest data was a newspaper archive that begins in 1918. Which is 12 years after Azusa Street.

So the Pentecostal Mission is already up and running in Tulare, California. I was able to chronicle who pastored there from 1918 until the mid 1950's.

Early names of pastors and evangelists who had revivals there include:

A.F. Varnell was the pastor in 1918.

JJ Mundy (PAW)was pastor in 1920. He was a PAW official.

1922 evangelist W.M. Carson, from Los Angeles has a revival there.
1923 evangelist E.M. Walker is in town.
1923 D.C. Churchill is the speaker. He is PAW. He was a PAW official.
1927 H.A. Smith, from Texas is the evangelist.
1927 JJ Mundy is no longer the pastor.
1928 Carl Anderson is pastor.
1928 E. Raidies of Los Angeles is the evangelist.
1929 G.O. Burton of Indianapolis is the evangelist
1930 Garland Leonard is pastor for a year and then leaves for China as a missionary where he is killed. He was a student of Harry Morse.
1930 Frank Bales is pastor.
1932 Evangelist H.W. Coulon in town from Pasadena.
1934 Evangelist Leo Daffern is in town. He will later be pastor.
1935 A.B. Freeborn is pastor.
1935 Evangelist Estelle Steele in town.
1936 Leo Sampson Daffern is pastor.
1936- 1945 Paul Leak is pastor
1938-1939 Oma Ellis has a tent church on the edge of town.
1952-1955 Guy F. Hodgson is pastor.

Now to hunt these people down to see if their family members have pictures, diaries, etc.

There was more than one Pentecostal Church in town and the papers did not always distinguish between them. I use the addresses, not the church names to keep them straight.

This specific church was PAW and then ended up UPC. Not sure how many other churches have that history. There was no Peniel mission in Tulare, which is odd.

This is typical of the data that I am gathering.

[Scott Pitta]

Peniel Missions were Salvation Army type churches that existed for a short time on the West Coast. Once the Azusa Street arrival kicked in, fiscal backing and participation wained.

Clyde Haney, Harry Morse, Frank Bartleman, Herbert Buffum, Lydia Swinton and Selma Nelson were involved in the Peniel Mission movement.

Unfortunately, there is no written history of the Peniel Mission. They did have a monthly magazine, the Peniel Herald, but no copies seem to exist today.

Understanding the impact of the Peniel Mission on pentecostalism is in order. But this requires hard data.

As articles and bits of info come in about the Peniel Mission (in California) I have put them into a Peniel file. 30 pages later, it is still growing. But a gathering of glimpses is not a full picture.

In the 1920-1940's there were 3 Oneness Bible schools in California. All 3 of them were former Peniel Missions. They were small. They ended up producing ministers for the UPC such as Clyde Haney, David Gray and Carl Hayden.

More data is needed.

[Scott Pitta]

Frank Ewart kept a diary in 1908. A copy of it came in the mail today. Lots of names of minister friends and churches he preached at in Los Angeles.

But no names of anyone I am interested in.

I will created a log of the names of the ministers and the names of the different churches and see if they will lead to new data sources.

His (Ewart's) relationship with the Peniel Mission is interesting and his name is added to the list of people who interacted with Pentecostalism and the Peniel Mission.

[Scott Pitta]

One aspect of research is gathering data. Original data. For me, this means searching on Ebay for old pictures and out of print Pentecostal books.

I'm not sure how much time has been wasted on the process, but occasionally it pays off.

The Apostolic Faith Church of Portland was contacted directly today to inform them of a large collection of early pictures of their leaders and ministry efforts in the 1910-1940 time period.

I hope they pick them all up for their archive. I scanned and saved the pics I wanted. Later, I will examine the images as I look for people I am writing about.

It has been a good day for data collection. At least for the fine folks at Apostolic Faith Church of Portland.

[Scott Pitta]

A new book came in the post today.

William J. Seymour and the Origins of Global Pentecostalism by Gaston Espinosa. 2014.

The writing and reading of books is never ending.

[Scott Pitta]

A new book came in the post today.

William J. Seymour and the Origins of Global Pentecostalism by Gaston Espinosa. 2014.

The writing and reading of books is never ending.

[Scott Pitta]

A hymnal put together by Mattie Crawford came in the post today. It is from 1925.

Contributors include Mattie Crawford, GT Haywood, W.E. Booth Clibborn, and Joseph Reznicsek. I will take a closer look at other contributors to see if they are Oneness.

Mattie Crawford also lists a group of books she has penned.

I did not know Joseph Reznicsek or Mattie Crawford wrote music.

The hymnal features the music of Thoro Harris. Not sure if he was Oneness or not, more research is needed.