Railroads were a major factor in the organization of the Assemblies of God. (Search my study for the term "railroads," and you will see just how important they were!)
Stories from the Railroads
Howard Goss was filled with the Baptism in the Holy Spirit on a train when it arrived for a meeting with Charles Parham at Orchard, Texas from April 13-15, 1906. Goss described it like this, “Presently my tongue was loosed and I began to speak in languages I had never heard before.” P. M. Stokely and Joe Rosselli, along with ten others, were on the same train and “received the baptism” as well. See B. F. Lawrence, “Apostolic Faith Restored: Reminiscences of an Eyewitness,” Weekly Evangel, March 4, 1916, 4.
Excerpted from my study on pages 89-91:
In Malvern, Arkansas, where E. N. Bell published the Word and Witness from 1912-1914, laid along the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad route established in 1874.[1] Hot Springs was a full twenty-five miles away from Malvern. At the time, Hot Springs was not considered nearly as accessible as Malvern. Joseph Reynolds of Chicago, who was known as “Diamond Joe” because of “his huge diamond tie pin,” built the Hot Springs railroad to Malvern out of frustration.[2] Reynolds’s wagon had broken down six miles out of Malvern forcing him to walk the rest of the distance. With this motivation, Reynolds built the Hot Springs Railroad in 1875, and the narrow gauge was converted to standard gauge in 1889. Without this Hot Springs connector, the Assemblies of God would not have met in Hot Springs in 1914.[3]
The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad operated passenger, mail, and freight services between St. Louis, Missouri to Cairo, Illinois, to Texarkana, Texas. Malvern was in the middle of that route and served as a key reason why Bell’s Word and Witness was so successful. Bell moved his printing operations from Malvern, Arkansas to Findlay, Ohio in 1914.[4] While Findlay may seem now to be an obscure place for great connectivity to the world, in 1914 it was not. Findlay had railroad service from Carey, Ohio since 1850.[5] On December 30, 1905, the Western Ohio Railway had completed a significant railway link to Findlay. On January 2, 1906, the Republican Jeffersonian recorded its significance:
The driving of the golden spike was one of the most important events ever recorded in the history of electric railway building, following which the first car was operated over the Lima-Findlay extension of the Western Ohio railway. The particular significance of the events is the fact that this connection makes it possible to travel continuously on electric lines throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.[6]
The electric railway system boasted greater potential for connectivity in Findlay, Ohio than Bell had experienced in Arkansas. In 1912, Malvern, Arkansas was Bell’s Word and Witness printing headquarters, and Arkansas only had ten companies that operated street and elevated railways with a total of 123.19 miles of electric railway track with only 299 cars. By comparison, in 1912, Ohio had eighty-two companies that operated 4,137.32 miles of electric railway tracks with 6,358 cars.[7]
The report from Findlay continued: “Roads now under construction will soon make possible continuous travel from eastern New York state to Chicago, and it will only be a matter of a few years before it will be possible to travel from New York to Chicago on interurban lines.”[8] Findlay sat just 45 minutes by rail from Lima, Ohio where Lima Locomotive Works “produced some 8,000 locomotives,” making it “universally associated with some of the finest steam power produced in North America.”[9] Findlay’s Mayor Metcalf said, “Friend Wheeler said this line would bind Findlay to Lima but we feel that it binds Lima to Findlay. We feel like the people down at Boston, that we are ‘The Hub of the Universe.’”[10] Indeed, because of the interconnectedness railroads provided in the North as well as the sheer mileage there, ministers like Welch and Flower with deep roots in the Christian and Missionary Alliance were able to secure more supporters more quickly within the Assemblies of God by 1916.[11]
[1] Ibid., 189.
[2] Ibid., 138.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Minutes, April 1914, 7.
[5] See ChristianEvangel.com/Railroads.
[6] “Golden Spike was Driven Saturday,” Republican Jeffersonian, January 2, 1906, 5. Another significance of Findlay is its proximity to Oberlin, Ohio where Charles Finney ministered. Oberlin was connected to Findlay via railroad by 1850. Promotional announcements appeared as early as March 1915 for Finney’s Lectures on Revivals of Religion. Flowers claimed, “Charles G. Finney received the baptism in the Holy Ghost with speaking in tongues, and God made him the greatest evangelist of his age, it being estimated that over half a million were converted under his preaching. Finney’s Lectures on Revivals is one of the best books on the subject a preacher can get, and every Pentecostal preacher should have one of them if it is his purposed to be used by the Lord in winning souls.” See Flower and Bell, “A Book for Preachers,” Christian Evangel, March 20, 1915, 2. Also see the encouragement of “Finney’s Lectures on Revivals of Religion,” Word and Witness, June 1915, 4; and Minutes, 1915, 16.
[7] “No. 174—Street and Elevated Railways, 1912,” Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1913 (Washington D. C.: Bureau of the Census Library, 1914), 261.
[8] Ibid.
[9] William D. Edson and John H. White, “Lima Locomotive Works,” The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, no. 123 (1970): 81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43518352.
[10] “Golden Spike,” Republican Jeffersonian, January 2, 1906, 5.
[11] The impact of railway mail service also deserves more historical consideration. From 1879 through 1913, despite increasing in total mileage of railroads—carrying mail 79,991 miles with 2,609 employees (1879) to 228,618 miles with 18,265 employees (1913)—the average annual cost per mile to deliver mail was relatively unchanged. In 1879, the average annual cost per mile was only .1051 with an annual cost of $9,792,589. By 1913, the cost increased only to .1091 with an annual cost of $51,466,030. See “No.170—Railway Mail Service,” Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1913 (Washington D. C.: Bureau of the Census Library, 1914), 257. A. A. Boddy also commented in Confidence about the efficiency and lower costs of the United States Railway Mail Service compared to that in Great Britain: “The wonderfully cheap rate of postage in U.S.A. (One cent per pound, separate packages making up the pound) reduces the cost very greatly.” See Boddy, Confidence, March 1913, 59.
The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad operated passenger, mail, and freight services between St. Louis, Missouri to Cairo, Illinois, to Texarkana, Texas. Malvern was in the middle of that route and served as a key reason why Bell’s Word and Witness was so successful. Bell moved his printing operations from Malvern, Arkansas to Findlay, Ohio in 1914.[4] While Findlay may seem now to be an obscure place for great connectivity to the world, in 1914 it was not. Findlay had railroad service from Carey, Ohio since 1850.[5] On December 30, 1905, the Western Ohio Railway had completed a significant railway link to Findlay. On January 2, 1906, the Republican Jeffersonian recorded its significance:
The driving of the golden spike was one of the most important events ever recorded in the history of electric railway building, following which the first car was operated over the Lima-Findlay extension of the Western Ohio railway. The particular significance of the events is the fact that this connection makes it possible to travel continuously on electric lines throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.[6]
The electric railway system boasted greater potential for connectivity in Findlay, Ohio than Bell had experienced in Arkansas. In 1912, Malvern, Arkansas was Bell’s Word and Witness printing headquarters, and Arkansas only had ten companies that operated street and elevated railways with a total of 123.19 miles of electric railway track with only 299 cars. By comparison, in 1912, Ohio had eighty-two companies that operated 4,137.32 miles of electric railway tracks with 6,358 cars.[7]
The report from Findlay continued: “Roads now under construction will soon make possible continuous travel from eastern New York state to Chicago, and it will only be a matter of a few years before it will be possible to travel from New York to Chicago on interurban lines.”[8] Findlay sat just 45 minutes by rail from Lima, Ohio where Lima Locomotive Works “produced some 8,000 locomotives,” making it “universally associated with some of the finest steam power produced in North America.”[9] Findlay’s Mayor Metcalf said, “Friend Wheeler said this line would bind Findlay to Lima but we feel that it binds Lima to Findlay. We feel like the people down at Boston, that we are ‘The Hub of the Universe.’”[10] Indeed, because of the interconnectedness railroads provided in the North as well as the sheer mileage there, ministers like Welch and Flower with deep roots in the Christian and Missionary Alliance were able to secure more supporters more quickly within the Assemblies of God by 1916.[11]
[1] Ibid., 189.
[2] Ibid., 138.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Minutes, April 1914, 7.
[5] See ChristianEvangel.com/Railroads.
[6] “Golden Spike was Driven Saturday,” Republican Jeffersonian, January 2, 1906, 5. Another significance of Findlay is its proximity to Oberlin, Ohio where Charles Finney ministered. Oberlin was connected to Findlay via railroad by 1850. Promotional announcements appeared as early as March 1915 for Finney’s Lectures on Revivals of Religion. Flowers claimed, “Charles G. Finney received the baptism in the Holy Ghost with speaking in tongues, and God made him the greatest evangelist of his age, it being estimated that over half a million were converted under his preaching. Finney’s Lectures on Revivals is one of the best books on the subject a preacher can get, and every Pentecostal preacher should have one of them if it is his purposed to be used by the Lord in winning souls.” See Flower and Bell, “A Book for Preachers,” Christian Evangel, March 20, 1915, 2. Also see the encouragement of “Finney’s Lectures on Revivals of Religion,” Word and Witness, June 1915, 4; and Minutes, 1915, 16.
[7] “No. 174—Street and Elevated Railways, 1912,” Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1913 (Washington D. C.: Bureau of the Census Library, 1914), 261.
[8] Ibid.
[9] William D. Edson and John H. White, “Lima Locomotive Works,” The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, no. 123 (1970): 81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43518352.
[10] “Golden Spike,” Republican Jeffersonian, January 2, 1906, 5.
[11] The impact of railway mail service also deserves more historical consideration. From 1879 through 1913, despite increasing in total mileage of railroads—carrying mail 79,991 miles with 2,609 employees (1879) to 228,618 miles with 18,265 employees (1913)—the average annual cost per mile to deliver mail was relatively unchanged. In 1879, the average annual cost per mile was only .1051 with an annual cost of $9,792,589. By 1913, the cost increased only to .1091 with an annual cost of $51,466,030. See “No.170—Railway Mail Service,” Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1913 (Washington D. C.: Bureau of the Census Library, 1914), 257. A. A. Boddy also commented in Confidence about the efficiency and lower costs of the United States Railway Mail Service compared to that in Great Britain: “The wonderfully cheap rate of postage in U.S.A. (One cent per pound, separate packages making up the pound) reduces the cost very greatly.” See Boddy, Confidence, March 1913, 59.
The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad as well as the Frisco railroad proved to be consequential in many ministers affiliating. All affiliated ministers in the North lived in towns that had railroad access since at least 1850-1860. (This page is currently under development with Google Earth.)
After you've imported the railroad files into google earth, you can export the KML or KMZ files from the Google My Maps for this project to overlay the data. Click here to go to the google maps link.