Resurrected writers: Carpenter

The dead still speak
An occasional series by Maxwell Ryan

M

uch of the thrilling history of The Salvation Army is found not in the tomes of official history (although they should not be neglected), but in the many biographies that capture the life and times of the biographical subjects. All that constitutes the Army - policy, evangelism, administration, salvation, holiness and much else - are found in the countless biographies that flooded from busy Army presses in its earlier days. Among the most prolific and skillful biographers was Minnie Lindsay Carpenter, wife of General George Carpenter, who led the international Salvation Army from 1939 to 1945.

Minnie Carpenter (right) with her husband General George Carpenter & their daughter Stella

 

The Carpenters were Australian officers who spent much of their officership editing and writing for the Army papers, both in their homeland and later at International Headquarters. In a time when officer-wives seldom had appointments apart from their husbands, Minnie Carpenter was a brilliant exception. She and her husband both had been members of the Army’s editorial department in Australia where they learned their trade as writers. Minnie’s quick mind, her great capacity for work and her fluency with language enabled her to turn her pen to a writing career that spanned 60 years.

In 1883 Minnie’s parents came across a Salvation Army open-air meeting in Sydney, Australia and picked up a copy of The War Cry. They had never seen a religious paper like it. The style was crude and its enthusiasm embarrassed them. Little did they dream that their firebrand daughter would, as a Salvation Army officer, work on this paper as well as being editor of The Victory, a youth magazine.

This strong-willed girl disliked doing many things until one morning God spoke to her, “If you don’t take yourself in hand and make yourself do things properly, you will be of no use in My Kingdom”. Wrote Minnie some years later, “I wasn’t born tidy, nor diligent, nor punctual, but through really seeking to please the Lord Jesus, I began to build those qualities.”

In 1911 Minnie and George were transferred to IHQ in London, England. Minnie was called to see Bramwell Booth, Chief of the Staff, who perceived the agile intelligence behind her writings. He would test her mind, by talking of a report he wished her to write. Her comments were lucid and penetrating. Commenting on the report the Chief said, “I am surprised that you have such an understanding of the inner life of the Army.” Minnie smiled, “It is my Army, Chief, and I have studied it.”

By the end of 1914 Minnie, as well as being a busy wife and mother, was fully engaged in special literary work for the General, including investigative reports of Army activities in England and Europe. Her first biography was a sketch of the life of Miriam Booth, who died in 1917. The book was warmly received, with good reviews and the story opened the door for biographies, in addition to her less known reports. Working almost non-stop during the next decade, Minnie wrote biographies that captured the essence of the Army. Her elegant and forceful use of language, along with an understanding of the subjects of her books, gave to these publications a luminous quality that makes them compelling reading even today.

Here are a couple of examples of her sensitive and descriptive narrative style of writing:

“An Army officer, conducting Sunday meetings in a northern city, was honoured to be the guest of that sweet, venerable saint and scholar, Bishop Henry Moule. The officer, returning to the bishop’s residence late on Sunday, was warmly greeted by his host, who inquired:
“‘Have your meetings today been fruitful, Colonel?’
“‘My lord, we have seen nine souls seeking salvation,’ replied the officer.
“‘Nine souls! Nine souls! What a wonderful thing!’ exclaimed the bishop reverently. After a pause the aged teacher continued, ‘Colonel, will you allow me the honour of unlacing your boots?’
“Much distressed, the officer rose, ‘No, no, my lord, no! Pardon me, but I could not!’ he protested. But the bishop was already on his knees busy with the laces. ‘For my sake, allow me! I should like the honour of unlacing the shoes of a soul-winner,’ he persisted.”

Astute readers will also recognize in her biography of John Lawley the Army’s time-honoured way of bringing converts to the Saviour, and will sense the passion that stirred the hearts of our Army pioneers.

“It was a drizzling night and a huge man, wearing oilskins offered John a handbill and said, ‘God bless you, my boy. Tomorrow night in Pullan’s Theatre there’ll be a casting out of devils by the power of the Holy Ghost. You come’. John later learned this was James Dowdle, evangelist of the Christian Mission [forerunner of The Salvation Army]. During the meeting a godly man said, ‘Johnny, don’t you want to come to Jesus?’ ‘I want something,’ replied John. ‘Then come.’ James Dowdle knelt beside John Lawley and began to sing:
There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
“The familiar words sounded new and strangely meaningful to the kneeling lad. His heart melted and unutterable peace and joy flowed into his soul.”

The biographies Carpenter wrote were not hagiography but true accounts of God’s redemptive grace in changed lives. As Bramwell Booth wrote: “This gifted writer has earned our gratitude by her frankness of dealing with some of the purely human traits, including flaws and failures, in her hero’s character.”

Minnie Lindsay Carpenter’s last published book (though she continued writing until her promotion to Glory in 1960) was In The Land Of His Love, a vivid and interpretative account of time she and her husband, along with their daughter, spent in the Holy Land.

Books by this forgotten writer who chronicled so much of The Salvation Army’s life during a most fascinating time in the Movement’s history should be available in used book stores or on the bookshelves of Salvationists who value such timeless writing.

Instructional & Devotional Literature

• God’s Battle-School (Triumph Booklets) - London: SP&S, n.d.
• In The Land Of His Love - London: Epworth Press, 1949.
• Salvationists and the Sacraments - (reprint from ‘William Booth’), SP&S, (first published 1945, reprinted 1954).

Salvationist Biography

• Miriam Booth: A Sketch, London: SP&S, 1918.
• William Booth: Founder of The Salvation Army, London: Epworth Press, 1942.
• John Dean, London: Epworth Press, 1944.
• Commissioner Henry Howard, London: SP&S, 1926.
• Commissioner John Lawley, London: SP&S, 1924.
• Kate Lee: The Angel Adjutant of “Broken Earthenware”, London: SP&S, 1921, revised edition 1944.
• Three Great Hearts, (Lives of Randolph J. Sturgess, James Barker and Frank Aspinall)
• London: SP&S, 1921, second edition 1928.
• Some Notable Officers of the Salvation Army, London: SP&S, 1925. [T.H. Howard, Emma Moss Tucker, David Rees, Yuddha Bai, Jakob Junker, Alice Barker, Arnolis Weerasooriya, Hedwig Von Haartman, Mrs. Colonel Yamamuro, John Dean, Elizabeth Sapsworth, David Thomas].
• Women of the Flag, London: SP&S, 1945. [Catherine Booth, Emma Booth-Tucker, Hedwig Von Haartman, Yuddha Bai (Catherine Bannister), Alice Barker, Bertha Guggleman, Annie Elizabeth Harris, Kiye Yamamuro, Martha Chippendale, Caroline Erhardt, Elizabeth Swift Brengle, Anna Von Wattenwyl, Elizabeth Sapsworth].
• Fighting in Many Lands, Coralie of The Ranch, London: SP&S, 1947.

Writer: Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell Ryan is a former Editor in Chief in Canada and the UK. In retirement he is a part-time chaplain in a Salvation Army hospital in Winnipeg, Canada and a copy editor of theRubicon.

2 Comments to Resurrected writers: Carpenter

1. It’s amazing what comes into a Salvation Army Family Store (thrift shop). A large number of Army books came in one day and I immediately had a look through to see what I could add to my collection. Amongst them was a copy of Stella Carpenter’s biography of her father “A Man of Peace in a World at War.” Upon opening the front cover to my amazement I found that it was personally signed by Stella herself.

   Needless to say, I bought the book.

   No, I’m not selling it either…
Adam Couchman on October 23rd, 2007

2. I am looking for a one page bio. on Miriam Booth. Any ideas on how tofind it. I understand she is the daughter of
   General Bramwell Booth and may have had some mental challenges.
John Morrison on August 26th, 2008

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