Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-03-30
DEPOSED PASTOR
NOW A SOCIALIST,
FRIEND DECLARES
The Rev. W. 7. Sherman Lum-
bar Now Living in Henry
George Single Tax Colony.

Persistent rurnor to the effect that
the Rev. w. T.. Sherman Lumbar. the
deposed pastor of the Mt. Pleasant
Baptist Church. is in this city, instead
of Edmonton, Canada, to which place
he went with Mrs. Lumbar and Mr..
and Mrs. Thomas Ward were investi-
gated by a reporter of the Evening
STAR n were found to be I'M
founded.
Mrs. ]. H. Spanjer, of 2 Broad street,
said over the telephone today: II do
not believe thai Mr.. Lumbar or any
member of his family is in this city.
We hear from him two or three times
a week, and would know for certain
II he were in this city. I, too, have
heard it rumored that he was seen
here, but I am safe in saying thai the
story is false
Some interesting things were
brought to light by the reporter while
conducting the investigation. Several
of Mr.. Lumbar's friends were visited;
those friends with whom he commune
Gates, n they all said that the former
pastor and his wife are perfectly
happy.
He has adopted the Alden Freeman
theory" said one friend. IF you remem-
Der, Alden Freeman, the East Orange
millionaire Socialist and free-speech
advocate, believes that a mar to be per-
fectly free and happy should be his W
preacher, his own lawyer and his own
physician. Well. Mr.. Lumbar is just
that, and in addition he is living in a
Henry George single-tax community,
Edmonton, Canada.
Mr.. Lumbar, prior to his studying
for the ministry, was educated for the
bar. That, of course, gives him a good
knowledge of the law and enables him
to defend himself in all legal matters.
Having been a minister for many years,
he Is fitted for a spiritual supervision
of himself. All he needed to complete
the Freeman theory was a knowledge
of medicine. This we believe he is fast
learning. When he left Newark one of
his friends, a physician, presented him
with a huge medicine cabinet.
May become Radical Lecturer.
Il should not be a bit surprised" on
tinued this man. "if Mr.. Lumbar were
some day to mount the lecture plat
form and disseminate radical thought
He is very enthusiastic about the SIN
gle-tax government in Edmonton. In
fact. when he returned from a trip to
that place he talked about 1t from the
pulpit"
One of the anti-Lumbarites was Wis
ited by the reporter, and was told that
Mrs. Lumbar has written to her friends
that her husband takes great delight
with his farm, and that at the time of
writing he was carrying a basket of
newly laid eggs.
The anti-Lumbarite chuckled when
he heard this, and said that Ii was too
cold yet for farming, and that he vas
certain that umba mad not moved
out to his 1850 acres of land given him
by the Canadian government.
do you know" said he, that Ed
monitor Is the farthest north of any
populated city in Canada, and that 1t
is too cold even to think of farming
Edmonton is in Alberta, you know, and
the climate there is not like 1t is in
New Jersey. I believe that Lumbar
rs trying to get back into the church.
/ heard that he wanted the pulpit in
the Edmonton Baptist Church, but
that he could not get 1t. There is a
church 200 miles from there that he Is
trying to get"
It was learned that Mr.. Lumbar had
NJ intention of going to Canada,
despite the fact that he said SO, until
the latter part of last April, after he
had been asked to resign from the
Mt. Pleasant Church. Following the
request by the officers of the church,
Mr.. Lumbar conceived of the idea of
going TO Canada, and induced some of
his friends to go with him. About
six families agreed, and Lumbar was
given money to go to Canada to satisfy
himself as 20 the desirability of To-
eating there.
Some of the members OF the church