Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous

by Dick B.

© 2007 by Anonymous All rights reserved

[Excerpt from the Introduction to Dick B.’s forthcoming book, Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous]

“Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!”

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4^th ed., p. 181

Introduction

Dr. Bob—Cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous and the man whom Bill Wilson called “The Prince of All Twelfth Steppers”—asked,

“Do you believe in God, young fella?” Clarence Snyder [the newcomer] asked, “What does that have to do with it?” “Everything,” Dr. Bob said. Clarence replied, “I guess I do.” Dr. Bob insisted, “Guess, nothing! Either you do or you don’t” When Clarence Snyder replied, “I do,” Dr. Bob then said, “Now we’re getting some place. All right, get out of bed and on your knees. We’re going to pray.” DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers  (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980),144.

Bill Wilson—the other Cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous—brought this message to A.A.,

“Henrietta [Henrietta Dotson, wife of A.A. Number Three Bill Dotson], the Lord has been so wonderful to me, curing me of this terrible disease, that I just want to keep talking about it and telling people” Alcoholics Anonymous, 4^th ed. (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001), 191.

Bill Dotson—A.A. Number Three—stated this about the real A.A. message as he had heard it:

“I thought, I think I have the answer. Bill was very, very grateful that he had been released from this terrible thing and he had given God the credit for having done it, and he’s so grateful about it he wants to tell other people about it. That sentence, ‘The Lord has been so wonderful to me, curing me of this terrible disease, that I just want to keep telling people about it,’ has been a sort of golden text for the A.A. program and for me” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4^th ed. (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001), 191.

Dr. Bob stated the following about his religious instruction as a young person in his home town of St. Johnsbury, Vermont,

“I had refreshed my memory of the Good Book, and I had had excellent training in that as a youngster” The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical sketches Their last major talks (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1972, 1975), 11-12.

The authors of this Dr. Bob title believe that, as Bill Wilson himself often stated, the hand of the Creator of the heavens and the earth was upon the beginnings of Alcoholics Anonymous. Whether you start with the conversion and cure of alcoholism which Bill Wilson had seen in the life of his grandfather Willie Wilson; or whether you start with the conversion and cure of alcoholism which he himself began to experience at the Calvary Rescue Mission altar in New York; or whether you start with Bill’s conversion experience at Towns Hospital in New York; or whether you read about the William James accounts of conversion and cure that Bill studied after his experience, the hand of the Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, was the apparent causative power.[1]

But our search begins at a seldom-discussed root—the excellent training in the Bible which Dr. Bob said that he had received as a youth. And whether you start with the astonishing awakening and revival in St. Johnsbury in 1875; or whether you start with the plans and efforts of his own North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury; or whether you look at the town-wide prayers and work of five different churches (and later a sixth) in St. Johnsbury which precedent the “Great Awakening” of 1875 in St. Johnsbury; or whether you look at the beginnings of Young Men’s Christian Association personal work and revivals and conversions in St. Johnsbury; or whether you look at the total change in the little New England town, its churches and its people beginning in 1875--the hand of the Almighty was the apparent causative power. These are the facts you will see set forth and amplified in this title.

This, then, is a new study. It will unearth and display the things that were happening in Dr. Bob’s youth that left with him an indelible impression which he expressed in the last line of his personal story in A.A.’s basic text—“Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!”

For Dr. Bob had received instruction on God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, and prayer from his deeply religious, Christian parents. He had learned them from North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury, of which his father and mother were members. His father was also a Sunday School Teacher at, and Deacon of, the church. His mother was also a Sunday School Teacher at, Assistant Superintendent of the Home Department of, and head of the intermediate and primary departments of, the church. He had learned them from North Congregational Church prayer meetings on Wednesdays. He was immersed in them as a participant in the growth and vibrancy of his Christian Endeavor Society. He had learned them in his daily chapel, required Bible-readings, and prayers at St. Johnsbury Academy. His father was an examiner at St. Johnsbury Academy, and was also president and chairman of the local Y.M.C.A. His mother was a teacher at St. Johnsbury Academy; a participant in, and president of, the Congregational Women’s Club; and an active member of the Home Missionary Society. The same instructional training can be said to have come from the St. Johnsbury Academy and the stern rules of its Congregationalist Fairbanks family founders, trustees, and leaders as to its requirement that all trustees be members of a Congregational church; that all “scholars” (as students were called) attend daily chapel with its Bible-readings and prayers; that all scholars weekly attend church and a Bible study; and that its very curriculum and texts contain Christian and biblical materials.

And our present title is loaded with historically-accurate accounts of the foregoing events and elements.

It is for the reader to decide: (1) how much Dr. Bob absorbed from what he himself called his “excellent training” in the Bible as a youngster; (2) where Dr. Bob received that training; and (3) what impact the very unusual Christian awakening in his home town of St. Johnsbury had on Dr. Bob during his youth.

Our account begins with the following remarks about what had happened in St. Johnsbury in 1875, shortly before Dr. Bob was born in 1879:

“REPORT OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCHES”

“CALEDONIA CONFERENCE [Caledonia is the Vermont county in which the North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury, is located]

“For this county, as a whole, it is justly claimed that the past year has been one of uncommon religious prosperity. If there has been no special revival it is because there has been little of that apathy in the churches which calls for a revival. The powerful influence from on high during last year in almost every congregation, turning so many to repentance, has in a good degree continued, as an impulse to Christian work, biblical study, and growth in Christian character. The fruits of this great revival appear even more largely in the figures of the past than of the previous year, additions have been made by profession to every church in the conference—430 in the aggregate—an average of thirty to each church. The converts, as a whole, have stood the test of a year’s service remarkably well, some few only in the comparison revealing the fact that they had no root in themselves. From the South church, St. Johnsbury, which has received 108 members in the past year, the report comes saying the year has been characterized by the spiritual growth and development of Christians. The weekly prayer-meetings must have averaged nearly two hundred. The Bible is much studied. Of the North church, which has received 114 members, it is said no revival is in progress, but an active, earnest religious feeling is manifest in full prayer-meetings and readiness to do any Christian work. The pastor of the church [Mr. Southgate] was dismissed in June [1875], and his successor [Rev. Henry W. Jones] installed in November [November 18, 1875] . . . .”[2]

As for the next and succeeding chapters, you will find many more reports and statements about the very special atmosphere in which Dr. Bob was reared as he established, and moved ahead in, his relationship with God.[3] Years later, Bob’s fellow A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson underlined one portion of the remarkable faith, training, and personal religious work that Bob had brought with him to Alcoholics Anonymous. Bill said:

“He prayed, not only for his own understanding, but for different groups of people who requested him to pray for them,” said Bill Wilson. “I was always glad to think that I was included in those prayers,” said Bill. “And I sort of depended on him to get me into heaven. Bob was far ahead of me in that sort of activity. I was always rushing around talking and organizing and ‘teaching kindergarten.’ I never grew up myself.”[4]

We start with the context of what Dr. Bob himself actually said about the Bible and about his youth. Only then, by looking at his youth itself, can one gain a real understanding of this man’s A.A. role years later. He said:

“I was born in a small New England village of about seven thousand souls. The general moral standard was, as I recall it, far above average. . . . The town was well supplied with churches and schools in which I pursued my early educational activities.

“My father was a professional man of recognized ability and both my father and mother were most active in church affairs. Both father and mother were considerably above the average in intelligence.”[5]

That stage setting is found at the very beginning of Dr. Bob’s personal story in A.A.’s basic text. It challenges us to look for details—details about the churches and schools in which he pursued his early educational activities. Also, about the specific church in which his father, mother, and he were deeply involved. In addition, about the kind of specific training and example he received from parents so involved. And to look for further details. About the little village where he grew up and its morals, religious inclinations, and leadership. And about what Dr. Bob did and learned in his Christian Endeavor society. Also, about results achieved because of his church’s insistence on a vigorous home and family role in the education of a young person. In addition, about the nature and extent of emphasis by all of these on the young person’s Christian training, morals, and standards, as well on that person’s study of the Bible, extensive prayer life, and calling to bring others to Christ in conversions. So when we see the words “more or less forced” in the following statement by Dr. Bob, we need to think about the viewpoint of family, church, school, and society and its probable basis in this Bible verse found in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Preliminarily we can say two things about this verse: (1) Dr. Bob’s family, church, school, and disciplined religious village undoubtedly had his future, not any youthful meanderings, in mind, when they laid down his religious path. Quite possibly, they all said “jump.” And in his youth, he simply asked, “How high?” (2) As happens with many alcoholics who really try to become cured and restored to an honorable and useful life, and also try to remember what they were taught before they went astray, the results can be just as good as they were when Dr. Bob became “old.” Let’s therefore consider the following statement by him in the foregoing context:

“From childhood through high school I was more or less forced to go to church, Sunday School, and evening service,  Monday night Christian Endeavor and sometimes to Wednesday evening prayer meeting.”[6]

In his later and finally sober years, Dr. Bob returned to the training so heavily impressed upon him. He said:

“I had refreshed my memory of the Good Book, and I had had excellent training in that as a youngster.”[7]

“I’m somewhat allergic to work, but I felt that I should continue to increase my familiarity with the Good Book and also should read a good deal of standard literature, possibly of a scientific nature. So I did cultivate the habit of reading. I think I’m not exaggerating when I say I have probably averaged an hour a day for the last 15 years.”[8]

“At that point, our stories didn’t amount to anything to speak of. When we started in on Bill D., we had no Twelve Steps, either; we had no Traditions. But we were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book. To some of us older ones, the parts we found absolutely essential were the Sermon on the Mount, the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, and the Book of James.”[9]

“It wasn’t until 1938 that the teachings and efforts and studies that had been going on were crystallized in the form of the Twelve Steps. I didn’t write the Twelve Steps. I had nothing to do with the writing of them. . . . Bill came to live at our house and stayed for about three months. There was hardly a night that we didn’t sit up until two or three o’clock, talking. It would be hard for me to conceive that, during these nightly discussions around our kitchen table, nothing was said that influenced the writing of the Twelve Steps. We already had the basic ideas, though not in terse and tangible form. We got them, as I said, as a result of our study of the Good Book. We must have had them. . . . We were maintaining sobriety—therefore, we must have had them. Well, that was the way things got started in Akron. As we grew, we began to get offshoots, one in Cleveland, then another one in Akron, and all have been continuing ever since.”[10]

Note all these important expressions out of the mouth of Dr. Bob: (1) “basic ideas . . . as a result of our study of the Good Book”; (2) “convinced that the answer to our problem was in the Good Book”; (3) “I should continue to increase my familiarity with the Good Book”; and (4) “I had refreshed my memory of the Good Book, and I had had excellent training in that as a youngster.”

In my research of tapes at the General Services Office archives in New York, I had found this statement which Bill Wilson made in 1954 when he interviewed T. Henry and Clarace Williams on the subject of the early A.A. days:

“I had learned a great deal from you people [T. Henry and Clarace Williams], from the Smiths themselves, and from Henrietta [Seiberling]. I hadn’t looked in the Bible, up to this time, at all. You see, I had the [conversion] experience first and then this rushing around to help drunks and nothing happened.”[11]

Once I learned the foregoing facts, largely through extensive travel, research, and interviews, I finally asked these simple questions: (1) If Bill Wilson had not looked in the Bible and was simply rushing around fruitlessly uttering his conversion story and trying to help drunks, what basic ideas had he learned from the Bible during the three months with the Smiths in 1935? (2) If Dr. Bob had had excellent training in the Good Book as a youngster, if he had been more or less “forced” into North Congregational Church services, Sunday School, Sunday evening service, and sometimes Wednesday prayer meetings, what had he learned then? (3) If Christian Endeavor meetings required Confession of Christ, conversion meetings, Bible study meetings, prayer meetings, Quiet Hour observances, with “love and service” as a motto, what had he learned there? (4) If his parents were at his side in these observances and were devout church people steeped in the doctrine that the right training of the young would be fruitful, what had he learned from them? (5) If revivals, conversions, and evangelism were in the air at St. Johnsbury and bringing about conversions and church growth, what had he derived from that? (6) If St. Johnsbury Academy required daily chapel with Bible-reading and prayer, and also required weekly church attendance and Bible study, what had he learned from that?

We turn to the history and surroundings of his youth for as many of the answers as we have thus far found; and we suggest there are mounds of evidence and repositories still to be plumbed—something that has escaped the “recovery” community historians and scholars for years and years.