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Henry S. Clubb

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Henry Stephen Clubb (June 21, 1827 – October 29, 1921) was an English-American Bible Christian minister, social reformer, journalist, writer, and politician. Born in Colchester, England, he was associated with vegetarianism, abolitionism, Chartism and pacifism. After moving to the United States in the 1850s, he worked as a journalist, took part in the attempted settlement of Octagon City, Kansas, and served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. From 1873 to 1874, he represented Michigan's 29th Senate district.

The Reverend
Henry S. Clubb
Born
Henry Stephen Clubb

(1827-06-21)June 21, 1827
Colchester, Essex, England
DiedOctober 29, 1921(1921-10-29) (aged 94)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting place
Oakwood Cemetery, Sharon, Pennsylvania, U.S.
40°01′23″N 75°06′03″W / 40.0231018°N 75.1007996°W / 40.0231018; -75.1007996
Occupations
  • Minister
  • social reformer
  • journalist
  • writer
  • politician
Years active1842–c. 1907
Notable workThirty-nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian (1903)
Spouse
Anne Barbara Henderson
​
​
(m. 1855; died 1915)​
Children3
Military career
Allegiance United States
Branch
Union Army
Rank
Quartermaster
Conflict
Signature

Clubb later founded the Vegetarian Society of America, serving as its first president. He edited and published vegetarian periodicals, helped organise the vegetarian congress at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and wrote on vegetarianism. His best-known work, Thirty-nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian, was published in 1903.

Biography

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Early life and background

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Henry Stephen Clubb was born on June 21, 1827, in Colchester, England.[1] He was the youngest of the nine children of Stephen and Elizabeth Clubb. His parents were first Unitarians and later Swedenborgians. They were also vegetarians for a time and were members of the Vegetarian Society, as was his brother Robert. Clubb's education, like that of many English boys of the time, came from several sources, including evening school and study of Cobbett's Grammar and Pitman's phonography until the age of 12.[2]

Early activism

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At the age of 13, Clubb became a clerk at the Colchester post office.[3] While working there, he learned about W. Gibson Ward, a London-based commercial traveller, who spoke of the Concordium, an alternative community later known as Alcott House at Ham Common.[4] Clubb was encouraged to become a vegetarian by Ward's visits to his father's home, where he heard Ward speak about slaughterhouses.[2]

In 1842, at the age of 15, Clubb joined the Concordium. His journey there was via London, his first visit to the capital and his first journey by train. After the dissolution of the community, he remained in London and became proficient in Pitman's shorthand. He first worked as a shorthand teacher before becoming secretary to James Simpson, a leader in the early English vegetarian movement.[4]

In 1850, he joined the Bible Christian Church, a sect founded by William Cowherd.[4] He also became the local secretary of the Vegetarian Society in Salford and wrote for the Vegetarian Advocate newspaper.[3][4] Around this time, Clubb and his family took part in a shorthand and vegetarian community in Stratford St. Mary (c. 1848–1851), near Colchester.[4]

By 1848, Clubb had joined the Chartist movement. He was involved in bringing together Chartist localities and land plan branches in the region into what became known as the Essex and Suffolk Chartist Union, although his involvement appears to have been brief. The following year, he was elected president of a dietetic class at the Library Institution in Salford and earned a living by lecturing and writing on vegetarianism.[3]

Career in the United States

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Clubb in his later years

In 1853, Clubb immigrated to the United States and worked as a journalist in New York, where he worked with Charles A. Dana for the New-York Tribune.[5] As an abolitionist and pacifist, he lectured against slavery.[6]

Between 1856 and 1857, he was involved with Charles DeWolfe and John McLaurin in building Octagon City, Kansas. The settlement was first planned as a vegetarian colony, but was later associated with moral reform and the octagonal architectural ideas of Orson Fowler. The project failed because of mosquitoes, malnutrition, grain thefts, and the difficulty of settlement in the area.[4]

In the American Civil War, Clubb served in the Union Army as a quartermaster. He took part in the Siege of Vicksburg, with his wife accompanying him. Clubb was hit by a bullet, but survived because the bullet was slowed when it passed through his pocket, which contained money and his naturalization papers; the papers were destroyed.[5]

While living in Grand Haven, Michigan, Clubb published the Grand Haven Herald newspaper and served as a state senator representing the 29th District from 1873 to 1874.[7] He also served as clerk of the constitutional commission of Michigan and oversaw the printing of the Journal of the Constitutional Commission of Michigan.[8]

Vegetarian Society of America

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Clubb founded the Vegetarian Society of America (VSA) in 1886 and served as its first president. He published a cookbook for the organisation and founded its magazine, Food, Home and Garden.[4] In 1893, Clubb helped organise the International Congress for Vegetarians at the World's Columbian Exposition.[2]

In 1900, the VSA merged with the Chicago Vegetarian Society. The VSA's Food, Home and Garden was later renamed The Vegetarian and Our Fellow Creatures (1901–1903), The Vegetarian Magazine (1903–1925), The Vegetarian Magazine and Fruitarian (1925–1926), and The Vegetarian and Fruitarian (1926–1934).[9]

Later life

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Clubb briefly returned to England in 1901, visiting Salford. He published Thirty-nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian in 1903, setting out his reasons for following a vegetarian diet.[10] In 1907, he decided to write a history of vegetarianism, to be published in the Chicago Vegetarian Magazine.[4]

Personal life and death

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Clubb with his wife and daughters

Clubb married Anne Barbara Henderson on 15 November 1855 in Allegan, Michigan and they had three daughters.[2][11] His wife died in 1915.[2]

Clubb died in Philadelphia on October 29, 1921, aged 94, from chronic gastritis and dementia.[1] He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery, Sharon, Pennsylvania, with his wife and daughters.[1][12]

Selected publications

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See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Mercer County, Pa". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 History of the Philadelphia Bible-christian Church for the First Century of Its Existence, from 1817 to 1917. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1922. pp. 67–89.
  3. 1 2 3 "Henry Clubb, 1827-1921". Chartist Ancestors. March 20, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gregory, James (Summer 2001). "A Michigander, A Patriot and Gentleman". KanColl's Online Magazine. Archived from the original on July 28, 2002. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  5. 1 2 E. A. (January 1896). "The Rev. Henry S. Clubb". The Vegetarian Messenger. Manchester – via International Vegetarian Union.
  6. ↑ Iacobbo, Karen; Iacobbo, Michael (2004). Vegetarian America: A History. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 89–91. ISBN 978-0-275-97519-7.
  7. ↑ Michigan Official Directory and Legislative Manual 1923-24 (section: "Members of Michigan Legislature from 1835 to 1922 Inclusive", pp. 94–190; Clubb is on p. 97). Lansing, Michigan: Published by the State of Michigan Under the Direction of Charles J. DeLand, Secretary of State
  8. ↑ Journal of the Constitutional Commission of Michigan. W. S. George & Company, State Printers. 1873.
  9. ↑ Puskar-Pasewicz, Margaret (2010). Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism. Greenwood. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-313-37556-9.
  10. ↑ Clubb, Henry Stephen (1903). Thirty-Nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian. Vegetarian Society of America.
  11. ↑ "1896 Rev. Henry Stephens Clubb Autographed Photo, Vegetarian Activist". Ancestorville Genealogy. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Henry Clubb, 1827-1921". Chartist Ancestors. March 20, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2020.

Further reading

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