The Vegetarian Crusade: The Rise of an American Reform Movement, 1817-1921

Chapter Six: Would You Like to Be a Successful Vegetarian?

147 chap ter six Would You Like to Be a Successful Vegetarian? ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Vegetarianism is the ethical corollary of evolution. It is simply the expansion of ethics to suit the biological revelations of Charles Darwin. —J. Howard Moore, Why I Am a Vegetarian Although American vegetarianism shifted significantly with the development of Kellogg’s Battle Creek Sanitarium, the movement was not wholly disconnected from its past. The new movement vegetarianism of the late nineteenth century attracted adherents thanks to a growing vegetarian populationwhosememberstransformedtheirdiettomaximizestrength ,energy, and productivity. Henry S. Clubb, by then a veteran of American movement vegetarianism, monitored these developments with great interest. Except for the brief time during his service in the Union army when he ate meat out of necessity, Clubb’s dedication to vegetarianism never waned. Following the war, Clubb moved to Grand Haven, Michigan, where in 1869 he founded the Grand Haven Herald, the area’s first Republican daily. He also became involved in local politics, serving as a Republican state senator from 1873 until 1874, as well as secretary to the state’s constitutional convention of 1873.1 Soon after, however, Clubb reconnected with his past and moved back east. His decision pushed movement vegetarianism back on the path toward building a new, national organization. In the process, movement vegetarianism embraced a new ideology, that of the “successful vegetarian.” During Clubb’s years in Michigan his vegetarianism was personalized, lacking a larger community to conjoin with in the immediate area.2 Isolated from the East Coast–oriented Bible Christian Church of which he was once a member, Clubb attended Grand Haven’s First Holland Dutch Reform Church.3 Clubb, however, was exploring his life options. The possibilities 148 :: Would You Like to Be a Successful Vegetarian? ranged from entering a seminary in Kalamazoo to enrolling as a medical student at the newly christened Battle Creek Sanitarium and training school. He even maintained a brief correspondence with J. H. Kellogg.4 In Michigan, Clubb was beset by professional and financial difficulties. In the summer of 1876, he traveled to Philadelphia to report on Philadelphia’s Centennial Exhibition, the first world’s fair held in the United States. Clubb sought to reconnect with his past and spoke with Bible Christian attendees at the fair. The church’s elders had organized an exhibit on the sect and were excited to see a member of the faithful returning to the church’s hometown. The group immediately invited Clubb to conduct Sunday services.5 Clubb had always been an inspiring speaker; his years lecturing to the American Vegetarian Society (AVS) and his public appeals to potential colonists for the Kansas settlement had honed his oratorical skills. Apparently his talent had not waned during his years in Michigan. The Bible Christian congregation was so moved by Clubb’s impassioned preaching that it offered him the full-time position of church pastor, the leader of the movement , early in 1877. Clubb was eager to reestablish an active connection with the Bible Christian and vegetarian communities, and soon after he accepted the church’s offer. The decision would have significant implications for movement vegetarianism. Since the dissolution of the AVS in 1862, movement vegetarianism had been without a national organization advocating for the principles of dietary reform and connecting a geographically disparate group. While the lack of a singular association did not mean that vegetarianism itself disappeared , it did create an opportunity for movement vegetarianism to be redefined. In the twenty-four years between organizations, movement vegetarianism shifted from a primarily communal reform movement to one focused more on the individual. The new, personalized vegetarianism resonated with larger audiences, causing it to grow and become more visible. This increasing popularity made the emergence of a national organization reflecting these new values inevitable. And Henry S. Clubb—given his work with movement vegetarianism’s previous national organization—was the perfect candidate to lead the group back to a national association. Clubb spent the early 1880s leading the Bible Christian Church in Philadelphia . Church members remained active vegetarians and proponents of the diet. Clubb served as the church’s pastor and spent the early part of the decade largely disconnected from developments taking place in movement vegetarianism in such locations as Battle Creek. He did, however, see the opportunity to create a more unified, national vegetarian movement.6 Would You Like to Be a Successful Vegetarian? :: 149 Clubb had worked with both the British...