Finding History in Dundee
Sometimes you can discover lost information in the most curious ways
In the winter of 1947, Junior Call and Paul Maeser were serving as full-time missionaries in the British Mission. In the aftermath of the Second World War and a period of poorly conceived consolidation, the Church was beginning to expand and open new congregations across the country. The two missionaries were assigned to Dundee, Scotland, to organise meetings and to establish a congregation.
One of the first things the missionaries needed to sort was a place for the fledgling congregation to meet, which was formally organised on 30 November 1947. One day around that time the two elders were joined by a fellow missionary (Elder Reed Izatt) and the Scotland District President (William Stoneman).
A few different records exist from the early days of the Dundee branch. There is an 1856 minute book in existence and there are some record books about the Dundee Conference (district or stake in contemporary nomenclature) and some missionary and convert accounts from the nineteenth century. A membership record book captures some important dates and names. In the manuscript history for Dundee, the earliest mention of a branch is at a General Conference of the British Mission held in April 1845.
As the missionaries explored Dundee in the hopes of finding a meeting place they called at a bookshop to enquire about a book. Inside they were greeted by Frank Russell, the bookstore manager, who explained that although they did not have the book at present they were hoping to receive it soon. The distinctive American accents raised Frank’s curiosity and he enquired as to why they were in Dundee. After explaining their purpose the missionaries received a surprise.
“That’s strange, I’ve been sticking up for your church all of my life. My grandparents were among the first people to be baptised in Dundee when your people first came over here.”
Frank was born in Dundee in 1874 to Robert and Jessie Russell. His grandfather (also called Robert Russell) was born in 1819 and was baptised a Latter-day Saint on 10 August 1842 in Airdrie by Elder James Thomson. The following year Elder George P. Waugh was assigned to Dundee where he baptised two people and “sprinkt” [sprinkled] three others in the River Tay.1 We can only speculate why Robert Russell was in Airdrie, but he might have been the means or reason why George Waugh was sent to Dundee the following year.
In 1848 Robert was serving as a missionary alongside Hugh Findlay and David Cook in and around the Edinburgh Conference, which included Dundee.2 Other fragmentary evidence shows that Robert was involved with the financial affairs of the Church in his area.3 Robert married Chesterfield Aimer in November 1843 and she was baptised a Latter-day Saint in 1844. The circumstances and details are currently unknown, but in March 1851 Robert was cut off from the Church. The break from the Church came just before Frank’s father, Robert (1844-1921), would have been eligible for baptism.
Frank’s family appears to have subsequently had some kind of connection to the Church and he remembered attending Latter-day Saint meetings with an aunt. The Saints met in various different buildings in the city and they often found Masonic Lodges were willing to let them rent space to meet in.
To the rear of Frank’s Bookshop was St David’s Halls, which is a former Masonic Lodge. According to Frank, the Saints had met there in times gone by and he allowed the elders to see the hall where the meetings had been held. In the course of their conversation, Frank shared that he had a minute book kept by his grandfather of early Church meetings in Dundee. He asked them to call back later and he would share it with them.
When the Elders later returned Frank had, as promised, brought the book to show them. It was an old book-keeping notebook with yellowing pages and was over 100 years old. The minutes of the first meeting were recorded in black ink that had turned brown with age.
Dundee Branch
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Organised by Elder John Cairns from Nauvoo
Assisted by Elder J. D. Rosy from Stirling
On 17th July, 1844
Consisting of Ten Members.
The record then continued with lists of ordinations, deaths, and even part of a sermon. It seems that Frank retained possession of the record and it could well remain in the possession of his descendants.
The missionaries wrote to the Millennial Star about the curious incident:
"Reading the aged record and reviewing the events in the lives of those elders and members, whose foot-steps we follow, have proven inspirational and challenging to us who are now reopening this very same branch."4
Although he was not a Latter-day Saint, Frank was a faith-filled and religious man who served as a preacher in his local church. He died in 1959 and his bookshop continued for some time which had become quite a landmark, especially for local university students.5
A lesson for today’s generation of missionaries in the British Isles is that they are walking on well-travelled streets that have seen generations of Latter-day Saint missionaries pass through. Forgotten or lost history about the Church is there to be discovered by all. Who knows what might yet be found?
Dundee Branch Membership Records, CR 375 8, bx. 6328, fd. 1, CHL.
‘Conference Minutes,’ The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, Vol. 10, No. 13 (1848), p. 198.
‘List of Monies Received,’ The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, Vol. 9, No. 7 (1847), p. 112.
‘Dundee Elders Unfold Shades of Past,’ The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, Vol. 110, No. 2 (1948), p. 43.
‘Mr. Frank Russell dead,’ Dundee Obituary Books 1869-2018 Image, FindMyPast.