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Doctrine and Fellowship: William Channing Gannett and the Unitarian Creedal Issue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

William H. Pease
Affiliation:
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Extract

In the thirty years following the American Civil War, American society witnessed marked changes. Among the many stimuli to these changes, Darwinian evolution and the literary and intellectual Renaissance of the Middle Period were perhaps predominant. And of all the changes wrought in this thirty years of many changes, those in American religious thought may be counted among the most significant.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1956

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References

1. For the details of the organization of the National Conference see Report of the Convention of Unitarian Churches Held in New York, on the 5th and 6th of April, 1865, and of the Organization of the National Conference (this title and subsequent National Conference Reports hereafter cited as National Conference Report); also Lyttle, Charles H., Freedom Moves West. A History of the Western Unitarian Conference. 1852–1952 (Boston, 1952), 119120Google Scholar; and Cooke, George Willis, Unitarianism in America (Boston, 102), 190–1.Google Scholar

2. National Conference Report (1865), 132.Google Scholar

3. Persons, Stowe, Free Religion. An American Faith (New Haven, 1947), 15Google Scholar. Cooke, , Unitarianism in America, 193.Google Scholar

4. Learned, John, “Post-Transcendental Unitarianism,” Unity, XXXII (10, 1893), 8891Google Scholar. It was little to the point that the convention also passed a resolution declaring “that all the resolutions and declarations of this Convention are expressions only of its majority, committing in no degree those who object to them”; and that they “are all dependent wholly for their effect upon the consent they command on their own merits, from the Churches here represented or belonging within the circle of our special fellowship.” For the liberals this was at best indecisive, at worst, sophistical. The preamble, after all, was the key to official attitude. See National Conference Report (1865), 39.Google Scholar

5. National Conference Report (1866), 20.Google Scholar

6. Francis E. Abbot to William J. Potter, November 21, 1866; cited in Ahlstrom, Sidney E., “Francis Ellingwood Abbot” (MS Ph.D. thesis. Harvard, 1951), II, 82Google Scholar. In the December issue of the Radical, Abbot made publie his plan to break with the National Unitarian Conference; see “Organization,” Radical, II (12, 1866), 219–25.Google Scholar

7. National Conference Report (1868), 87.Google Scholar

8. National Conference Report (1870), 123Google Scholar. The vote was 267 to 33.

9. Quoted in American Unitarian Association. Anniversaries and Reports (1874) (published annually; hereafter cited as A.U.A. Reports), 16.Google Scholar

10. William C. Gannett to Ezra S. Gannett, [November 81, 1868], from the collection of Lewis S. Gannett, West Cornwall, Connecticut (hereafter cited LSG).

11. William C. Gannett, “What is a Liberal Christian?” (MS Sermon #45, [October 31, 1869]), from the William Channing Gannett Collection, Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, New York (hereafter cited WCG-CR).

12. William C. Gannett to John W. Chadwick, October 31, 1870, from the William C. Gannett Collection, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York (hereafter cited WCG).

13. For a summary of Western Unitarian Conference developments during these early years see Lyttle, , Freedom Moves West, 75, 78–9Google Scholar; and Cooke, , Unitarianism in America, 171Google Scholar. The quotation is taken from the latter source.

14. Quoted in Wendte's, Charles W. [“Report of the Western Conference Meeting”], Christian Register, LVI (05 22, 1875), 3.Google Scholar

15. Ibid., 3.

16. Brooke Herford to William C. Gannett, April 10, 1879, WCG.

17. Unity, V (July 1, 1880), 150.Google Scholar

18. Gannett, William C., “Creeds that Never Grow Old,” Unity, IX (06 16, 1882), 168Google Scholar. See also “Proceedings of the Twenty-eighth Session of the Western Unitarian Conference,” Unity, IX (May 16, 1882), 126–8.Google Scholar

19. “Proceedings…,” Unity, IX (May 16, 1882), 126–8.Google Scholar

20. Gannett, William C., “The Creed that Never Grows Old,” Unity, X (09 1, 1882), 274Google Scholar. however, Wendte, Unity, IX (08 16, 1882), 248–9Google Scholar, had contended that the resolution did command unanimous support.

21. Sunderlaud, Jabez T., “Defining Unitarianism,” Unity, X (09 16, 1882), 291–2.Google Scholar

22. Sunderland, Jabez T., “The Relation of the Church To-day to the Religious Life,” Christian Register, LXIII (06 19, 1884), 392.Google Scholar

23. See, for example, Frederick L. Hosmer to William C. Gannett, July 5, 1884, WCG.

24. “Annual Report of Rev. Sunderland, J. T., Secretary of the Western Unitarian Conference,” Unity, XV (05 23, 1885), 121–7.Google Scholar

25. “Proceedings of the Thirty-first Annual Meeting of the Western Unitarian Conference,” Unity, XV (May 23, 1885), 135–7.Google Scholar

26. William C. Gannett to John W. Chadwick, May 12, 1885, WCG.

27. William C. Gannett to John W. Chadwick, December 12, 1885, WCG. For conservative comment on Sunderland's withdrawal from Unity, see Sunderland, Jabez T., “A Card to Readers of Unity,” Unity, XV (06 15, 1885), 184Google Scholar; and [Jasper Donthit], “Secretary Sunderland's Withdrawal from [Unity,’” Our Best Words, VI (July, 1885), 9Google Scholar. Douthit wrote that Sunderland was “compelled to because of the “non-christian, agnostic, and materialistic tendency” of Unity.

28. William C. Gannett to Mary T. Lewis, November 10, 1885, LSG. On November 3, 1887, Mary T. Lewis became Gannett's wife.

29. Frederick L. Hosmer to William C. Gannett, July 5, 1884, WCG.

30. John C. Learned to Frederick L. Hosmer, May 23, 1884, WCG.

31. William C. Gannett to Frederick L. Hosmer, May 23, 1884, WCG.

32. “Annual Report of Rev. Sunderland, J. T. …,” Unity, XV (05 23, 1885), 121–7.Google Scholar

33. Draft copy, William C. Gannett to Grindall Reynolds, July [24?], 1886, WCG.

34. Ibid. Indicative of the liberals' desire to avoid a split was the fact that Gannett himself was a member of the two-man committee. David Utter was the other member.

35. Ibid. See also Unity, XVI (September 5, 1885), 8.Google Scholar

36. For these developments see, for example, National Conference Report (1880), 151–2Google Scholar; and Ibid. (1882), 26, for the broadened fellowship resolution was adopted with but one dissenting vote, and replaced the older Article IX of 1870. On the resolution see, also, Wilbur, Earl Morse, Unitarianism in Traasylvania, England, and America (Cambridge, 1952), 480Google Scholar. Concerning the Year Book Issue, Gannett commented, “… I'm glad abont the Year Book, though it's but a step towards the real question. Of course only a step at a time can be taken. It isn't necessary that ‘Unitarianism’ sh'd be the name of the best thing in religion, but whether or not it is to be, depends, I take it, on the question whether it is willing to be the name of a religion that is non-Xn as well as Xn and non-Theistic as well as Thcistic,—a religion whose Trinity shall be Science, Ethics & Worship, but the greatest of these— Ethics.” William C. Gannett to Charles W. Wendte, January 19, 1884, WCG. Despite the Year Book settlement, Potter continued to insist that Unitarianism remained restrictive because it still included the term “Christianity.” The only solution to the problem, he concluded, was to make the National Conference Constitution completely open by eliminating the term “Christianity,” and by recognizing that “first, freedom of thought is an inherent and inalienable right of the human mind; [and] second, uprightness of character is an aim in life that has precedence over all theological creeds.” Potter, William J., “The Unitarian National Conference and Mental Liberty,” Index, n.s. V (05 7, 1885), 535–7.Google Scholar

37. William C. Gannett to John W. Chadwick, December 12, 1885, WCG.

38. Gannett, William C., “What is Unitarianism?” (MS Sermon #282, February 25, 1883), WCG-CR.Google Scholar

39. [Gannett, William C.], “Why W.C.G. Gives Our Best Words God-Speed,” Our Best Words, VI (01, 1885), 67.Google Scholar

40. Gannett, William C., “The Honest Creed,” Unity, XV (03 7, 1885), 45.Google Scholar

41. Gannett, William C., “What Makes a Unitarian?Unity, XVI (01 23, 1886), 258–61.Google Scholar

42. Gannett, William C., “A Symposium of One Concerning Things Uncertain,” Unity, XVI (02 13, 1886), 295–7.Google Scholar

43. Editorial, “As Free as You Please, But Still Churches,” Unitarian, I (March, 1886), 60–2.Google Scholar

44. Gannett, Willinm C., “Not in Ill- Will,” Unity, XVII (03 20, 1886), 32–4.Google Scholar

45. Sunderland, Jabez T., The Issue in the West (n.p., 1886).Google Scholar

46. “Report of Rev. J. T. Sunderland, Secretary of the Western Unitarian Conference,” Unity, XVII (June 5, 1886), 192–6.Google Scholar

47. For the various resolutions see Gannett, Willinm C., “Western Unitarian Conference,” Unity, XVII (05 22, 1886), 161–4Google Scholar; “Annual Meeting, the Western Unitarian Conference,” Unitarian, I (June, 1886), 167–9Google Scholar; “Report of the Proceedings of the Thirtysecond Annual Meeting of the Western Unitarian Conference,” Unity, XVII (June 5, 1886), 205–7Google Scholar; and Gannett, William C., “Mr. Sunderland's Issue in the West,” Unity, XVII (05 29, 1886), 173–6Google Scholar. In this last article Gannett quoted the Sunderland resolution as saying, “Resolved, that while opposing all creeds as tests of fellowship, we deem it proper to declare that the Western Unitarian Conference, as a body, stands for and represents faith in one God, in immortality, in worship, and in personal righteousness as exemplified in the example and teaching of Jesus Christ.” In the “Proceedings,” however, the form was given, “Resolved, That while opposing all creeds or creed limitations, the Western Unitarian Conference hereby declares its purpose as a body to be the promotion of a religion of love to God and love to man.” The Unitarian account also gave the longer form. All accounts agree, however, that, whichever form was actually voted on, the Sunderland resolution lost by a vote of 34 to 20.

48. Gannett, , “Western Unitarian Conference,” 161–4Google Scholar. See also “Report of the Proceedings,” 205–7.

49. James P. Bixby to Samuel J. Barrows, June 9, 1886, WCG. Sec also Lyttle, Freedom Moves West, 185, on the compromise issue. Gannett's second and third resolutions were defeated by a 20–24 vote; the first passed by a vote of 34 to 10.

50. Gannett, , “Western Unitarian Conference,” 161–4.Google Scholar

51. The preceding characterization is based upon two letters which the moderately conservative Rev. Arthur M. Judy of Davenport, Iowa, wrote to Gannett, June 4 and [?], 1886, WCG.

52. Charles W. Wendte to Samuel J. Barrows, June 3, 1886, WCG. Wendte was a liberal and life-long friend of Gannett, although they broke deeply and personally during the Western Controversy. Having been pastor in Cincinnati and Chicago for thirteen years, and having been one of the original founders of Unity, he was thoroughly acquainted with the liberal position. See Dictionary of American Biography (New York, 1936), XIX, 651–2Google Scholar; also Wendte, Charles W., The Wider Fellowship, Memories, Friendships, and Endeavors for Religions Unity (Boston, 1927).Google Scholar

53. Charles G. Ames to Samuel J. Barrows, May 28, 1886, WCG.

54. Isabel C. Barrows [Mrs. Samuel J.] to William C. Gannett, June 19, 1886, WOG.

55. Sylvan S. Hunting to Samuel J. Barrows, [ca. June, 1886], WCG. Hunting for years had been an active liberal missionary and pastor in the Midwest. His liberalism was indicated, for example, by his membership in the Free Religious Association. See Cooke, , Unitariavisin in America, 214Google Scholar; and Lyttle, , Freedom Moves West, 133.Google Scholar

56. William C. Gannett to Samuel J. Barrows, June 4, 1886, WCG.

57. Quoted (no source cited) in Lyttle, , Freedom Moves West, 186Google Scholar. Among the leading conservatives who went into the W.U.A. were Joseph Shippen, who resigned as President of the W.U.C.; John Snyder of St. Louis, Albert Walkeley of Manistee, Michigan, and Jnhez T. Sunderland of Chicago, all of whom resigned as Directors of the W.U.C.; also James P. Bixhy of Ann Arbor, Oscar Clute of Iowa City, Jasper L. Douthit of Shelbyville, Illinois, and A. G. Jennings of La Porte, Indiana. Clute was missionary for Iowa, Minnesota, and Dakota; and Jennings was state missionary for Indiana and an ex-Seeretary of the W.U.C. These men and others, less important, are listed in “Some Events and Utterances Since the Conference,” Unitarian, I ( June, 1886), 146–8Google Scholar; and “Western Unitarian Association,” Our Best Words, VII ( July 31, 1886), 3Google Scholar. See also Lyttle, , Freedpm Moves West, 186Google Scholar. Sunderland listed those whom he Considered the principal liberal-ethical leaders in descending order as William C. Gannett, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, John Learned, James V. Blake, John Effinger, Mrs. Leonard, P. B. Forbush, Henry M. Simmons, and J. H. Crooker. Jabez T. Sunderland to Howard N. Brown, September 14, 1886, Howard N. Brown Papers, Meadville Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois (hereafter cited as HNB). Wilbur Called the W.U.A. scarcely more than a paper organization, Unitarianism in Transylvania, England, and America, 483–4; whereas, though factually correct, from the role it played during the next eight years, this seems like an ungenerous understatement.

58. James P. Bixby to Samuel J. Barrows, June 4, 1886, WCG.

59. [Douthit, Jasper L.], “Peace, Peace, When There is no Peace,” Our Best Words, VII (05 22, 1886), 2.Google Scholar

60. [Douthit, Jasper L.], “An Atheistic Platform,” Our Best Words, VII (05 22, 1886), 1.Google Scholar

61. “The Issue in the West, in Brief,” Unitarian, I (September, 1886), 248–9Google Scholar. Brooke Herford contended, “Liberty Gone Wild,” Unitarian, I ( July, 1886), 184–5Google Scholar, that “to contend that ‘liberty’ requires the pulpit to be equally [as] open [as lay fellowship is simply nonsense. It is equivalent to maintaining that in a college any one who is admissible as a 8tudent is also fit to be recognized as a professor, or that any one who is allowed to enlist in an army is therefore eligible for command.” John Snyder held that “if the Conference would abandon its executive & missionary function & become a religious & theological Intitute I should be delighted & profited with its meetings. But I do not believe it can create new churches upon the basis of a platform from which all religious purpose has been bleached.” John Snyder to William C. Gannett, May 3, 1886, WCG.

62. Frederick L. Hosmer to Samuel J. Barrows. May 22, 1886, WCG.

63. Jenkin Lloyd Jones to Samuel J. Barrows, May 16, 1886, WCG. See also Jones to Barrows, June 3, 1886, WCG.

64. Christian Register, LXV (May 20, 1886), 305–6Google Scholar. For a further comment on the achievement of the Cincinnati convention see Christian Register, LXV (May 27, 1886), 321.Google Scholar

65. “Report of the Secretary of the Western Unitarian Conference,” Unity, XIX ( June 4 and 11, 1887), 188–92Google Scholar. This is from an open letter of the Directors of the W.U.C. explaining the Cincinnati basis, written July 27, 1886. It was included in the 1887 “Report.” Seven years later John Learned called the Cincinnati resolution the first victory for pure transcendentalism in all religious history; Learned, John, “Post-Transcendental Unitarianism,” Unity, XXXII (10 12, 1893), 8891Google Scholar. For two viciously caustic but witty assessments of the conservatives, see James V. Blake to Samuel J. Barrows, May 28, 1886; and Blake to William C. Gannett, March 3, 1887, both in WCG, group of middle-roaders led by T. B. Forbush, all of whom Sunderland considered more anathematic even than Gannett, declared a plague on both houses, putting their faith in A.U.A.—state conference cooperation. T. B. Forbush to Samuel J. Barrows, June 28, 1886, WCG; and Jabez T. Sunderland to Howard N. Brown, November 4, 1886, HNB.

66. William C. Gannett to Samuel J. Barrows, May 21, [1886], WCG. See also Gannett to John W. Chadwick, May 26, WCG.

67. William C. Gannett to Samuel J. Barrows, June 4 and 12, 1886, WCG.

68. William C. Gannett to Samuel J. Barrows, June 4, 1886. See also draft copy, William C. Gannett to Samuel Greeley, June 15, 1886, WCG.

69. Gannett, William C., “Mr. Sunderland's Issue in the West…,” Unity, XVII (05 29, 1886), 173–6Google Scholar. See also Gannett, , “How They Captured the W.U.C.—Mr. Herford's ‘Real Story’ Made More Real,” Unity, XVII (07 10, 1886), 274–6Google Scholar, in which Gannett calls Sunderland's “Issize in, the West” “a wedge deliberately set in all the churches”; and Gannett's summary of William C. Gannett to Henry M. Simmons, June 17, 1886, WCG.

70. The preceding analysis is from William C. Gannett to Samuel J. Barrows, June 4, 1886, WCG.

71. Cooke, , Unitarianism in America, 226–7Google Scholar. Samuel J. Barrows to William C. Gannett, July 14, 1886, WCG.

72. Samuel J. Barrows to William C. Gannett, July 14, 1886, WCG.

73. John C. Learned to William C. Gannett, July 14, 1886, WCG. Albert Walkeley to Howard N. Brown, October 11 and 30, 1886, HNB. Jabez T. Sunderlaud to Howard N. Brown, November 4, 1886, HNB. John R. Effinger to William C. Gannett, August 5, 1886, WCG. In a letter to Howard N. Brown, [probably November-December, 1886], HNB, Effinger was less optimistic “Loyalty to the A.U.A. has been regarded by the friends and dependents of the A.U.A. as entirely precluding sympathy and cooperation with the W.U.C It is eastern rather than western unfriendliness which has given us most anxiety.”

74. Gannett, William C., “Our Twin Unitarian Superstitions,” Unity, XVII (08 28, 1886), 357–60.Google Scholar

75. “Notes on the Western Situation,” Unitarian, I (September, 1886), 235–6.Google Scholar

76. This was the gist of a resolution to be presented by the liberals at the forthcoming convention. Jones and Blake reportedly agreed to it “a little reluctantly,” and Gannett, it was reported, “ is so opposed that he will endeavor to have it suppressed.” T. B. Porbush to Howard N. Brown, March 7, 1887, HNB.

77. This was the gist of a resolution to be presented by the middle-roaders at the forthcoming convention. T. B. Forbush to Howard N. Brown, March 7, 1887, HNB.

78. Gannett, William C., “Things Most Commonly Believed,” Unity, XIX (04 9, 1887), 77–9Google Scholar. Gannett had also suggested that even the 1886 resolution might be too binding and rigid, at least appearing “coercive by seeming to require freedom, for which not all are ready yet.” He had therefore suggested an addition to the 1886 resolution “as will snake it only the thought of the majority, bnding on none, and always open to revision.” Gannett, William C., “Cincinnati Resolution—Was it Un-Congregational?Unity, XIX (04 2, 1887), 64–6Google Scholar. Even at this early date in the Western Controversy, Gannett felt weary, tired, and exhausted. This was his first experience with any sort of personal antagonisms and recriminations, and he confided that “pretty much all the pleasure of this general western work has been for the present destroyed”; and that if things got any worse he would “probably counsel yielding of everything but the principles involved, & withdraw from active interest.” William C. Gannett to Mary P. Lewis, April 5, 1887, LSG.

79. John C. Learned to William C. Gannett, April 19, 1887, WCG.

80. “Report of the Proceedings of the Thirty-third Annual Meeting of the Western Unitarian Conference,” Unity, XIX ( June 4 and 11, 1887), 199201Google Scholar. William C. Gannett to Mary T. Lewis, May 20, 1887, LSG.

81. Gannett, William C., The Things Most Commonly Believed Today Among Us (n.p., n.d.); also printed as Unity Short Tract #17 (Chicago, n.d.).Google Scholar

82. T. B. Forbush to Howard N. Brown, January 10, 1887, HNB.

83. The preceding from Samuel J. Barrows to William C. Gannett, March 5, 1887, WCG.

84. Samuel J. Barrows to William C. Gannett, March 19, 1887, WCG.

85. Draft copy, William C. Gannett to Samuel J. Barrows, March 15, 1887, WCG.

86. William C. Gannett to Mary T. Lewis, May 1, 1887, LSG.

87. William C. Gannett to Mary T. Lewis, May 1, 1887, LSG. Sylvan S. Hunting thought that there was “little hope of union.” See [Mrs.] C. T. Cole to William C. Gannett, May 2, 1887, WCG.

88. William C. Gannett to Sylvan S. Hunting [missent to W. R. Cole and returned to Gannett], May 11, 1887, WCG.

89. “Report of the Proceedings of the Thirty-third Annual Meeting of the Western Unitarian Conference,” Unity, XIX (June 4 and 11, 1887), 337Google Scholar.

90. Christian Register, LXVI (June 2, 1887), 337.Google Scholar

91. Unitarian, II (November, 1887), 259Google Scholar, from an installation sermon delivered by David Utter.

92. “Is the Proposed Ethical Basis for Unitarianism Dishonest?” Unitarian, IV (November, 1889), 502–3.Google Scholar

93. Snyder, John, “A New Dictionary,” Unitarian, V (July, 1890), 346–7.Google Scholar

94. During this period Gannett broke personally with Jasper Douthit, and, more importantly, with Charles W. Wendte.See, in particular, Gannett's letter to Wendte, June 3, 1886, and two replies, June 10 and August 2, 1886, all in WCG; and Jasper L. Douthit to William C. Gannett, July 12, 1888, and Gannett's draft reply, July 16, 1888, both in WCG. “We are a much shattered little body, our Western Conference,” Gannett wrote to Mary E. Rice (May 1, 1888, LSG). Furthermore, a resolution of friendship adopted by the W.U.C. toward the A.U.A. in the spring of 1887 and reciprocated produced no improvement in East-West relations. The A.U.A. sent its own agents to work in the West: 1887, George Batchelor; 1888, George W. Cutter; and 1890–1896, T. B. Forbush. See A.U.A. Report (1887), 67Google Scholar. Kate G. Wells to William C. Gannett, January 18 and 19, 1888, LSG.

95. William C. Gannett to Jenkin Lloyd Jones, April 23, 1889, WCG.

96. William C. Gannett to Jenkin Lloyd Jones, November 23, 1889, WCG.

97. From a printed preliminary brochure, dated September 18, 1890, and issued by J. H. Crooker, WCC.

98. John Effinger to William C. Gannett, September 2, 1890, WCG.

99. William C. Gannett to Jenkin Lloyd Jones, November 8, 1890, WCG. Gannett held the A.U.A. largely responsible for the impasse reached by 1890 because of its sympathy toward the W.U.A. and because of its hesitation and procrastination.

100. For the A.U.A. position see Grindall Reynolds to William C. Gannett, November 21, 1889; Brown, Howard N. to Editor of Unity, February 16, 1891Google Scholar; Howard N. Brown to William C. Gannett, February 23, 1891; and Howard N. Brown to William C. Gannett, March 10, 1891, all in WCG. A split similar to that between the A.U.A. and the W.UC. occurred between eastern and western women's organizations. At the National Conference conveirtion in Philadelphia in 1889, the eastern women had formed the National Alliance of Unitarian and Other Liberal Christian Women, which the Women's Western Unitarian Conference had expected to join. Opposition, however, developed over the word “Christian” and the West decided to remain aloof. In addition it had failed to fulfill an agreement to disband as had been tacitly agreed upon earlier. The details of the controversy are a complicated story in themselves, the threads of which can be followed in AU.A. Report (1890), 31–8Google Scholar; William C. Gannett, “National Unitarian Conference,” (MS Sermon #371, n.d.), WCG-CR; E.A.W., , “The Women's Conference,” Unity, XXV (05 17, 1890), 95Google Scholar; “Report of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Women's Western Uritarian Conference,” Unity, XXVII (May 21, 1891), 106–7Google Scholar; also scattered correspondence, 1889- 1891, in WCG. Gannett's defense of the western position was that “the simple fact, as it seems to me, is that the spirit wh. tried & failed in Cincinnati, tried & succeeded in Phila. The very position that Mr. Sunderland was after—making a name essenticl to Unitarianism—has been taken by the Alliance… the narrow name, the sectarian fellowship was made the sineqea-non of the Alliance: by the very name ¨dot;Evangelical Xns, Ethical Culture women, Jews, Agnostics are all shut out.“ William C. Gannett to John W. Chadwick, February 26, 1890, WCG.

101. William C. Gannett to Howard N. Brown, March 28, 1891, HNB.

102. William C. Gannett to Howard N. Brown, March 28, 1891, HNB.

103. William C. Gannett to Frederick L. Hosmer, December 19, 1892, WCG. FLH is Hosmer, at the time Western Conference Secretary; GW is George W. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the A.U.A.; JLJ is Jenkin Lloyd Jones.

104. William C. Gannett to Samuel J. Barrows, August 2, 1891, WCG.

105. “Thirty-eighth Annual Session of the Western Unitarian Conference, May 17–20, 1892,” Unity, XXIX (May 26, 1892), 105Google Scholar. Also quoted with variations in an editorial, “Union in the West” Unitarian, VII (May, 1892), 280–2.Google Scholar

106. “Thirty-eighth Annual Session of the Western Unitarian Conference, May 17–20, 1892,” Unity, XXIX (May 26, 1892), 105Google Scholar, gives the vote as 42–47.Sunderland, in a hand-written note, put the vote at 44–27, HNB.

107. Gannett, William C., “A Dimmed Ideal,” Unity, XXIX (06 16, 1892), 129–30.Google Scholar

108. Ibid., XXIX, 129–30.

109. William C. Gannett to Frederick L. Hosmer, April 24, 1893, WCG.

110. William C. Gannett to Frederick L. Hosmer, June 11 and 25, 1892, WCG. Gannett, however, did not drop out of the Conference; William C. Gannett to Jonkia Lloyd Jones, September 8, 1892, WCG.

111. William C. Gannett to Jenkin Lloyd Jones, January 20, 1893, WCG. In this same letter Gannett also wrote “You will try to convert the Conf. back to the higher position: my part is comparatively a small matter, but I shall simply accept the verdict & withdraw. I fought for the Conference while it stood for that 1886 position; I am not going to fight against the Conference even for the position,— there are other ways of serving that.” Jones, however, never accepted the verdict, and this was the beginning of the theological break between him and Gannett.

112. “Proceedings of the Thirty-ninth Arnual Session of the Westcrn Unitarian Conference,” Unity, XXXI (May 25 and June 1, 1893), 119–20.Google Scholar

113. National Conference Rcport (1894), 1920.Google Scholar

114. Ibid., 20–2. At 2:30 the convention formally votrd to put the revised Article VIII in the Preamble.

115. Ibid., 22–5. Hale, Edward E., “The Unitarian Conference,” Outlook, L (10 6, 1894), 558–9Google Scholar. “Our National Conference,” Unitarian, IX (October, 1894), 450–9.Google Scholar

116. William C. Gannett to Mary E. Rice, October 9, 1894, LSG.

117. Mary T. L. Gannett, Diary (1894), September 26, WCG.