Francis Harold Rowley (25 July 1854 – 14 February 1952) was an American
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
minister,
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
campaigner and
hymn writer
A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who is traditionally ...
.
Biography
Rowley was born in
Hilton, New York
Hilton is a village in Monroe County, New York, United States. The population was 6,027 at the 2020 census. The community was named for the Rev. Charles A. Hilton and is entirely within the town of Parma.
History
In 1805, Jonathon Underwood cam ...
on 25 July 1854.
[''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography, Volume 43''](_blank)
(1961). New York: James T. White & Company. pp. 206-207 In 1875, Rowley graduated B.A. at the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
and B.D. at
Rochester Theological Seminary in 1878.
He was ordained into the Baptist ministry in 1879. He was a pastorate at Baptist churches in
Titusville, Pennsylvania
Titusville is a city in the far eastern corner of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,262 at the 2020 census. Titusville is known as the birthplace of the American oil industry and for a number of years was the le ...
during 1879–1884.
Rowley was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of
North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 12,961 as of the 2020 census. Best known as the home of the largest contempor ...
during 1884–1892. In
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
he served the
First Baptist Church until 1910.
Rowley was a trustee of the
University of Chicago Divinity School
The University of Chicago Divinity School is a graduate professional school at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today is without ...
, 1894–1896. He preached at
Appleton Chapel of Harvard University.
Rowley was a hymn writer best known for authoring the popular hymn ''I Will Sing the Wondrous Story''. It was composed by Rowley's associate Peter P. Bilhorn and was presented to
Ira D. Sankey as a gift.
[Osbeck, Kenneth W. (2012)]
''101 Hymn Stories''
Kregel Publications. pp. 33-34. Sankey was impressed with the song and published it in ''Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs and Solos'', in 1887.
He married Isa Amelia on June 11, 1878, they had four children.
An honorary
Doctor of Divinity
A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...
was given to him by the University of Rochester in 1895. In 1947, the Rowley School of Human Understanding at
Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, United States. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder ...
was established in his honour.
Rowley died in Boston, in 1952.
Animal welfare
Rowley took interest in animal welfare and the humane movement. From 1892 to 1900, he was Secretary of the
American Humane Association
The American Humane Society (previously American Humane), is an American animal welfare organization founded in 1877 that works to rescue, care for, and protect animals by taking action wherever and whenever they are in need. It was previously ...
and succeeded
George T. Angell
George Thorndike Angell (June 5, 1823March 16, 1909) was an American lawyer, philanthropist, and activist. He advocated for animal welfare, founding and serving as president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. ...
as President of the
Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center (MSPCA-Angell) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with its main headquarters on South Huntington Avenue in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Bo ...
in 1910.
Rowley used photographic evidence to reveal the poor conditions and violence towards animals found in
slaughterhouse
In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...
s.
[Cronin, J. Keri. (2018). ''Art for Animals: Visual Culture and Animal Advocacy, 1870–1914''. Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 92-93. ] Most people give little thought to the subject because they do not directly encounter the activities of the slaughterhouse on a daily basis. Rowley aimed to remind people of violence toward animals that was occurring in the slaughterhouse and how people's
consumer choice
The theory of consumer choice is the branch of microeconomics that relates preferences to consumption expenditures and to consumer demand curves. It analyzes how consumers maximize the desirability of their consumption (as measured by their pr ...
s were part of a cycle of cruelty, although not always visible.
In 1914, one of the photographs Rowley circulated was titled "For the Sake of a Veal Cutlet".
It shows a young calf being slaughtered by two men. The calf is suspended from hooks attached to the slaughterhouse ceiling. The calf can be seen kicking and fighting for his life as a worker slices the calf's fur, skin and muscles, whilst blood pours to the floor.
Rowley acknowledged
vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
as an ethical idea but was not personally a vegetarian.
[Finsen, Lawrence. (1994). ''The Animal Rights Movement in America: From Compassion to Respect''. Twayne Publishers. p. 52. ][Helstosky, Carol. (2015). ''The Routledge History of Food''. Routledge. pp. 190-191. ] He admitted that "the less meat eaten the less the demand that creates the whole traffic in food animals fraught with its many cruelties."
Rowley's goal to prevent cruelty was the requirement by law that every animal killed for food would be rendered unconscious first before the knife was inserted. In 1915, through Rowley's influence, a building was made to house the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Angell Memorial Animal Hospital. He was President of the American Humane Education Society.
Rowley was President of both societies until his retirement in 1945. He was responsible for the passage of legislation toward slaughterhouse humane education and reform in Massachusetts.
Rowley was Chairman of the Animal Protection Committee for the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety and vice-president of the American Society for the Humane Regulation of Vivisection.
In 1948, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals named the Rowley Memorial Hospital in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...
for him in 1948.
Selected publications
''Human Vivisection: A Statement and An Inquiry''(with John G. Shortall, 1900)
''A Christmas Conference''(1910)
''The Humane Idea: A Brief History of Man's Attitude Toward the Other Animals''(1912)
''Slaughter-House Reform in the United States and the Opposing Forces''(1913)
''Slaughter House Reform''(1914)
''The Gnat and the Camel''(1920)
''The Teacher's Helper in Humane Education''(1920)
*''The Horses of Homer'' (1930)
*''An International Appeal'' (1935)
Gallery
For the Sake of a Veal Cutlet.png, ''For the Sake of a Veal Cutlet'', published by Rowley in 1914
Francis H. Rowley and others, 1918.png, Francis H. Rowley and others, 1918
Francis H. Rowley 1920.png, Newspaper article, 1920
References
Further reading
*Janet M. Davis. (2016). ''The Gospel of Kindness: Animal Welfare and the Making of Modern America''. Oxford University Press.
*William J. Shultz. (1924)
''The Humane Movement in the United States, 1910-1922'' New York.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowley, Frances H.
1852 births
1954 deaths
American animal welfare scholars
American animal welfare workers
American Christian hymnwriters
American anti-vivisectionists
Baptists from New York (state)
Baptist ministers from the United States
Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School alumni
People associated with the MSPCA-Angell
University of Chicago trustees
University of Rochester alumni