Henry S. Clubb | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Henry Stephen Clubb (1827-06-21)21 June 1827 Colchester,Essex, England |
| Died | 29 October 1921(1921-10-29) (aged 94) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Resting place | Oakwood Cemetery,Sharon, Pennsylvania, U.S. 40°01′23″N75°06′03″W / 40.0231018°N 75.1007996°W /40.0231018; -75.1007996 |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1842–c. 1907 |
| Notable work | Thirty-nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch | Union Army |
| Rank | Quartermaster |
| Conflict | |
| Signature | |
 | |
Henry Stephen Clubb (21 June 1827 – 29 October 1921) was an English-AmericanBible Christian minister, activist, journalist, author, Civil War veteran, andMichigan State Senator. Born inColchester, England, Clubb advocated for various causes, includingabolitionism,vegetarianism, andChartism. He immigrated to the United States in 1852, where he worked as a journalist and was involved in efforts to establish a utopian community, known asOctagon City, Kansas. During theAmerican Civil War, Clubb served in theUnion Army as aquartermaster, including during theSiege of Vicksburg. From 1873 to 1874, he representedMichigan's 29th Senate district. Clubb also led the Bible Christian Church in Philadelphia and founded the Vegetarian Society of America, serving as its president. In 1903, he published his best-known work,Thirty-nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian.
Henry Stephen Clubb was born on 21 June 1827, inColchester, England.[1] He was the youngest of the nine children of Stephen and Elizabeth Clubb. His parents were firstUnitarians who then becameSwedenborgians. They were alsovegetarians for a time and were members of theVegetarian Society, as was his brother Robert. Clubb's education, similar to that of many English boys of the time, was obtained from various sources, including attending evening school and studyingCobbett's Grammar andPitman's phonography until the age of 12.[2]
At the age of 13, Clubb became a clerk at the Colchester post office.[3] While working there, he learned aboutW. Gibson Ward, a London-based commercial traveler, who spoke of a community called the Concordium that practiced an alternative lifestyle. This community, later calledAlcott House was found inHam Common, and influenced bytranscendentalism.[4] Clubb was inspired to become a vegetarian by Ward's regular visits to his father's home, where he listened to Ward's vivid descriptions of the horrors and cruelties of theslaughterhouse.[2]
In 1842, at the age of 15, Clubb joined the Concordium. His journey there was via London, his first visit to the English capital and his first journey by train. After the dissolution of the community, he remained in London and became proficient in Pitman's shorthand, which had been advocated by progressives like the Concordists as a tool for the 'new age'. He initially worked as a shorthand teacher before taking on the role of secretary toJames Simpson, the affluent leader of the early English vegetarian movement.[4]
In 1850, he joined theBible Christian Church, a sect founded byWilliam Cowherd.[4] He also became the local secretary of the Vegetarian Society inSalford[4] and wrote for theVegetarian Advocate newspaper.[3] Around this time, Clubb and his family participated in a shorthand and vegetarian community inStratford St Mary (c. 1848–1851), near Colchester.[4]
By 1848, Henry Clubb had joined theChartist movement. Clubb played a key role in uniting the Chartist localities and land plan branches in the region into what became known as the Essex and Suffolk Chartist Union. However, 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 was earning a living through lecturing and writing on vegetarianism across the country.[3]
In 1853, Clubb immigrated to the United States and initially found work as a journalist inNew York, where he worked alongsideCharles A. Dana for theNew-York Tribune.[5] As anabolitionist andpacifist, he lectured against slavery.[6]
Between 1856 and 1857, he was involved with Charles DeWolfe and John McLaurin in building a utopian community known asOctagon 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 byOrson Fowler. The project failed due to mosquitoes, malnutrition, grain thefts and general exhaustion in the inhospitable terrain.[4]
In theAmerican Civil War, Clubb fought for theUnion Army as aquartermaster. He took part in theSiege 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.[5]
While living inGrand Haven, Michigan, Clubb published theGrand Haven Herald newspaper and served as a state senator representing the29th District from 1873 to 1874.[7] He also served as clerk of the constitutional commission of Michigan and oversaw the printing of theJournal of the Constitutional Commission of Michigan.[8]
Clubb founded the Vegetarian Society of America (VSA) in 1886 and served as its first president. He published a cookbook for the organization and founded its magazine,Food, Home and Garden.[4] In 1893, Clubb was largely responsible for the success of the International Congress for Vegetarians at theChicago World's Fair.[2]
In 1900, the VSA merged with theChicago Vegetarian Society.[9] The VSA'sFood, Home and Garden was renamedThe Vegetarian and Our Fellow Creatures (1901–1903),The Vegetarian Magazine (1903–1925),The Vegetarian Magazine and Fruitarian (1925–1926), andThe Vegetarian and Fruitarian (1926–1934).[9]
Clubb briefly returned to England in 1901, visiting Salford. He publishedThirty-nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian in 1903, describing his reasoning for following a vegetarian lifestyle.[10] In 1907, he decided to write ahistory of vegetarianism, to be published in theChicago Vegetarian Magazine.[4]
Clubb married Anne Barbara Henderson on 15 November 1855, inAllegan, Michigan[2] and they had three daughters.[11] His wife died in 1915.[2]
Clubb died inPhiladelphia on 29 October 1921, at the age of 94, due tochronic gastritis anddementia.[1] He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery,Sharon, Pennsylvania,[1] with his wife and daughters.[12]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
