Henry S. Clubb

Henry Stephen Clubb (June 21, 1827 – October 29, 1921) was a British-American Swedenborgian, abolitionist, chartist, journalist and author, who was state senator for Pennsylvania and founder and first President of the Vegetarian Society of America (VSA).

The Reverend

Henry S. Clubb
Born
Henry Stephen Clubb

(1827-06-21)June 21, 1827
DiedOctober 29, 1921(1921-10-29) (aged 94)
OccupationMinister, activist, journalist, author
Notable work
Thirty-nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian
Spouse(s)
Anne Barbara Henderson
​
​
(m. 1855; died 1915)​
Children3

Biography

Clubb was born on June 21, 1827 in Colchester, England.[1][2] He had at least one brother, Robert, and one sister, Sarah Anne. His father, Stephen Clubb, was a Swedenborgian and raised his son in the same faith. Both of his parents were vegetarians for a time.[1]

Clubb was working as a clerk at the post office when he heard about a London-based commercial traveler named William Ward about a community called the Concordium and practicing an alternative lifestyle. This community, later called Alcott House was found in Ham Common, and influenced by transcendentalism. In 1842, Clubb joined this community. His journey there was via London, his first visit to the English capital and his first journey by train. After the project failed, he moved to London and worked with James Simpson, a cowherdite and vegetarian. In 1850, he joined the Bible Christian Church, a sect founded by William Cowherd. He also became the local secretary of the Vegetarian Society in Salford.[3]

In 1853, Clubb emigrated to the United States and initially found work as a journalist in New York, where he worked alongside Charles A. Dana for the New-York Tribune.[4] As an abolitionist and pacifist, he lectured against slavery.[5]

Henry S. Clubb with his wife and daughters

Clubb married Anne Barbara Henderson on November 15, 1855, in Allegan, Michigan;[6] they had three daughters.[7]

Between 1856 and 1857, he was involved with Charles DeWolfe and John McLaurin in building a utopian community known as Octagon City, Kansas. This project was originally designed as a vegetarian colony, but changed its focus to promoting a highly moral society with the octagon as its basic architectural structure, as propagated by Orson Fowler. The project failed due to mosquitoes, malnutrition, grain thefts and general exhaustion in the inhospitable terrain.[3]

In the American Civil War, Clubb fought for 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 down when it passed through his pocket which was filled with money and his naturalization papers, which were destroyed.[4]

Clubb founded the Vegetarian Society of America (VSA) in 1866 and became its first president. He published a cookbook for the organization and founded its magazine Food, Home and Garden.[3] In 1893, Clubb was largely responsible for the success of the International Congress for Vegetarians at the Chicago World's Fair.[6]

He briefly returned to England in 1901, visiting Salford. In 1907, he decided to write a history of vegetarianism, to be published in the Chicago Vegetarian Magazine.[3]

Clubb died on October 29, 1921, at the age of 94.[6] He is buried at Oakwood Cemetery, Philadelphia with his wife and daughters.[2]

Selected publications

References
  1. "Henry S. Clubb letterbook; Payne and Swiney letterbook 1836-1840, 1865". William L. Clements Library. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  2. "Henry Clubb, 1827-1921". Chartist Ancestors. 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  3. Gregory, James (Summer 2001). "A Michigander, A Patriot and Gentleman". KanColl's Online Magazine. Archived from the original on 2002-07-28. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  4. A., E. (January 1896). "The Rev. Henry S. Clubb". Vegetarian Messenger. Manchester.
  5. Iacobbo, Karen; Iacobbo, Michael (2004). Vegetarian America: A History. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 89–91. ISBN 978-0-275-97519-7.
  6. 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.
  7. "1896 Rev. Henry Stephens Clubb Autographed Photo, Vegetarian Activist". Ancestorville Genealogy. Retrieved 2020-07-06.

Further reading
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