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HISTORY and TIMES of THE KINGDOM |
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Ralph Pass Story The following is a contribution from a former Kingdom member and reader of this website. It gives a brief peek into what it was like to court the affection of your desire as a young adult in the Kingdom. "God
works in Mysterious Ways His wonders to perform." The
following are the events that led to the marriage of I
was a student at a Bible Class, at Chestnut Hill in New Boston, New Hampshire. I was there from July 1947 until August 1948, when
the following events started. My
interest in one of the young ladies, at the Class, prompted me to ask to speak to my
teacher. Herman Anderson was the Bible
School teacher and Esther's uncle. Some time
later I That
September, during a church gathering, in Boston, I informed Mr. Willard Gleason, head of
the Bible School, that it was time for me to return to California. Mr. Gleason was a white haired elderly man with a
white bushy mustache. I had finished a year at the Bible Class and it was time to leave. I was told, "when you go to the Bible Class
you go for four years." I disagreed with
him and stated that I was leaving. Later
I was called in with another senior minister, Mr. Victor Abram, and Mr. Gleason. They proceeded to apply the pressure on me. I listened and when they had finished I stated
that I felt that I had to return to California. They
became frustrated trying to convince me to stay in the Bible class. After
the gathering I went back to New Hampshire and wrote my mother, (she was in Rhode Island),
that I wanted to leave and return to California. The
pressure continued to build. Other ministers
talked to me and told me that I was taking myself out of the church by going against the
advice of the ministers. I was in tears but
still firmly convinced that I was to leave the Bible class.
In December we went to Mr. and Mrs. Obadiah Aldrich's home in the upstate Catskill
Mountains of New York. My
mother had taken care of Mrs. Aldrich many years ago and they were very dear friends. Several days after we arrived my mother started
having severe pains. They were so bad that
she made out her will. At the time I knew
nothing about kidney stones. After several
days of the pains she improved and I took her to a doctor for an examination. The doctor confirmed that she had passed a stone. Victor
Abram arrived and I asked to talk to him. I
told him of my interest in Esther Anderson. He
gave me no hope because of my leaving the Bible Class.
After Christmas I was told, if I wanted to, I could go to the home of Mr. Wakeman,
in Sherman Connecticut. He required help with
his business while he worked on printing a new songbook.
I agreed since my mother and David were returning to California. It also gave me time to work on my Mechanical
Engineering correspondence course. Mr.
Wakeman was in his late 70's. He was a
watchmaker by education. He designed and made
his own machines. He wrote and published
music. He was a capable orchestra and choir
conductor. He turned down orders for his
products so that he could have time to work on church projects. He was, at this time, creating the zinc plates,
for printing on his platen press, for the new church songbook. He was to be my mentor for the next 18 months. Bert
Anderson, Esther’s brother, sent me a piece of wood to make a napkin ring. I turned and grooved the wood on Mr. Wakeman's
lathe and engraved a verse from the Bible on it and filled the engraving with light
plastic wood. "Whether therefore ye eat
or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." I wrapped a strand of bright copper wire on each
end. I
gave the napkin ring to Esther's brother Bert to give to Esther. She received it and used it at the Bible Class. When Herman Anderson found out that it was from me
it was confiscated. Esther still was not
aware of my interest in her. She knew that I
made the napkin ring but it had no meaning to her. She
told me later she had decided, when we were in the class, that I was not the one she
wanted to marry. Every
month Victor Abram, Frank Murray, and a man from the Bible class would come to Mr.
Wakman's print shop to print "THE
STANDARD." Mr. Murray had started
writing "THE COLLEGE WORLD" in the early 1930's and changed its format to the 8
or 12 page printing called THE STANDARD. The
first issue of the new format was Jan. 1949. Every
time Victor Abram came I would talk to him and tell him that I was still interested in
Esther Anderson. One time he told me to be
patient and give the others a chance. My
heart sank through the floor. I had not
considered that I might have competition. In
April the day before they came to print THE STANDARD I was thinking about Esther and I
prayed that she would come. I had no reason
to believe that she, or any other lady, would come since men had always come in the past. In
the morning the car arrived and I went downstairs to say hello. I stepped into the room and saw Esther. I have never been so shocked, surprised, and
speechless in my life. I turned around and
went back up stairs. I lay on my bed and
cried. I couldn't believe what I saw. Finally
I got myself together and went back downstairs. Of
course Esther didn't know anything about my feelings toward her. The
next time Victor came, in May, I explained to him what happened. He didn't give me any encouragement. I continued to sweat it out continually being torn
apart with my love for Esther. In
July, finally, Victor talked with Esther and got her permission for me to write to her. I wrote my first letter and told her about my
prayer and her appearance. When she wrote she
told her side of what happened. Frank
Murray had left New Hampshire driving to Sherman Conn. to print THE STANDARD. They stopped several miles down the road,
remembering they should take someone from the Bible Class to help. They turned the car around and drove back to the
Bible Class. There was a discussion about who
should go, and it was decided to select one of the young ladies. Esther Anderson was suggested and she went with
them. No one knew that they were providing
the answer to my prayer. We
wrote to each other and finally at the Sept. church convention, in Boston, I had an
opportunity to talk to her for about 15 minutes. I
had known Esther for several years, but with the strict separation at the Bible class I
had never spoken to her. On Oct. 11th I received Esther's letter accepting my proposal. On
Oct. 30th Esther and I were in Maine and left church early just before the announcement of
our engagement. My mother was in a car with
Mr. Gleason and others. She told him about
Ralph and Esther being engaged. He exclaimed,
“What!” My mother said that he was
dumbfounded. The year before I had had quite
an argument with him about leaving the Bible Class. Other
than the 15 minutes that we talked at the September Convention, I had never talked with
Esther before. We had seen each other from a
distance, but we did not have an opportunity to get acquainted. Here we were engaged to be married. We had no money, no job, and no home. We were literally starting from nothing but each
other. Since
I had been after Esther for over a year, without her knowledge, I wasn't about to wait for
a long engagement. The next three months we
were busy with preparations for the wedding. Esther
made her own wedding dress, and two other dresses. Esther
and I talked with Mr. Ernest Tupper about the wedding license requirements. We had to have a blood test. The doctor broke his needle when he tried to stick
me. On the second try he finally drew blood. We
went to the Durham, Maine Town Clerk's office to get our license. The office was a desk in his home. The house was a mess, with magazines, papers and
dirt on the bare wooden floors. The town
clerk was reclining on a couch, unshaven and without a shirt on over his undershirt. His sister rummaged through a pile of papers on
the desk and found the required forms. When
she finished filling out the form, and the man moved enough to sign them, she asked if I
wanted to pay the two dollars now or later. I
told her, as I got the money out, that I would pay for it now and I would "pay for it
later" also. Esther
and I went to Lewiston and bought her a wedding ring.
With our limited funds we managed to buy a platinum ring for $18.00. The ring was too small and required sizing for a
proper fit. After
Thanksgiving, I returned to the Wakeman home in Connecticut. Our wedding date was set for Jan. 8th. 1950. Plans were made for Frank Murray to have the
wedding service during the regular Sunday service, and Mr. Ernest Tupper to perform the
wedding. I set the type and printed our
wedding invitations on scraps of card stock from Mr. Wakeman’s cake tester materials. I used a wood file on the edges of the invitations
to give them a fancy appearance. When
we were preparing to leave for the Christmas gathering in Boston, Mr. Wakeman asked me if
I wanted his wedding present then or after we returned from our honeymoon. I said I would prefer to receive it after we
returned. I had no idea that his present
would be $110.00. I had no money and no way
to earn any. During
the Christmas convention, in Boston, I didn't feel well.
I was probably nervous. My weight had
dropped from a normal 185 down to 169. Esther
and I left and went to Portland, Maine to the two masted yacht Coronet. We stayed there with Carl and Crystal Webster for
several days. The night before the
wedding, in Durham Maine, the temperature was 20 degrees below zero and 12 inches of snow
blanketed the area. The road to the church
required plowing. We made it to the church on
time. After everyone was inside, Esther and I
waited in the vestibule at the front entrance.
Most of the people in the church had no idea that they were attending a wedding
during the regular Sunday morning service. When
the music started we walked down the aisle together.
We sat on the platform during Frank Murray's 1 and 1/2 hour long service. Then Mr. Tupper performed the wedding and we were
pronounced husband and wife. |