In Retrospect

By John K. Berokoff
Молоканское* Обозрение : The Molokan* Review, August 1945, pages 8, 35.
[Red text in square brackets added by Andrei Conovaloff.]
[* This 10-issue mislabeled journal was produced not by Molokane, but by Spiritual Christian Dukh-i-zhizniki in Los Angeles]

In recent years I frequently go out of my way to drive through that part of Los Angeles adjacent to the gas works. I suppose it is a nostalgic impulse that draws me to this neighborhood, because there stands the first house in which I lived in America [503 Turner street] and there are the grounds of the first school I attended [Amelia street school].

This district, in fact, is the original [main] locale of the [Spiritual Christians from Russia] Molokans in America [from 1905-1910. The first to arrive in Spring 1904 were interviewed somewhere along Utah street north of 1st Street, across the Los Angeles River.]

It is bounded by First Street, Alameda and Aliso Streets and the river. In those days (1907) it was a residential neighborhood with schools, churches, grocery stores and even a plunge for the neighborhood children.

Many of the houses then occupied by [Spiritual Christian] Molokan families still stand — but the one of most interest to us is the two-story frame building on North Hewitt Street (then Lafayette St.) between Turner and Jackson streets, which was the site of the first regular [Spiritual Christian] Molokan [meeting hall] church in America. [The Stimpson-Lafayette Industrial School main hall] It was used as such by our people between the years 1905 and 1911.

[The first members of the Brotherhood of Spiritual Christians to arrive in 1904 probably used the Bethlehem Institutional "Mother church" which was awkward because it had pews and a podium, not stackable benches and tables. It also had a cross on the steeple, not shown in photo below. One block south was the more convenient Stimpson-Lafayette Industrial School with a kitchen, and is where Rev. Henry Teichreib, a Russian-speaking Presbyterian minister, conducted services for these immigrants from Russia. In the 1800s Presbyterian missionaries visited Spiritual Christians in Novorossiya (South Ukraine). When "Molokane" were reported to be coming to Los Angeles, the Presbyterians thought they were Shtundisty.]

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In the fall of 1907 when [my family immigrated,] I first saw the building, [Stimpson-Lafayette Industrial School hall] it was already established as a [Spiritual Christian] Molokan [meeting hall] church with benches and tables of the type used to this day. There were many folding chairs too, which were left there by previous occupants but they were soon discarded, because it was thought they were too noisy and also the elders thought it was undignified for a worshiper to lean back in the chair during Divine services. [Some zealot Dukh-i-zhizniki are taught to sit forward on backless benches with their feet spaced apart and under their center of gravity, positioned to immediately stand or jump, because: "You never know when the Holy Spirit will call you."]

The [altar] "table" [prestol] was surrounded and graced by persons of exceptional abilities and qualities of spiritual leadership unequaled to the present day. Persons responsible for the "exodus" from Russia were all there. Such men as Efim G. Klubnikin, whose visions and prophecies as a boy, were being fulfilled by the exodus. It was he who went from village to village in Trans-Caucasia and proclaimed that the time had come to depart to a place of refuge. And here he was at the head of the table — for his prestige was great.

[Berekoff probably did not know that Klubnikin probably saw most all the hundreds of Dukhobortsy marching in 1895 between jails while under arrest in Kars Oblast for burning guns and protesting their treatment. Dukhobortsy men were paraded in shackles through many villages of Spiritual Christian tribes going to the Karadakh prison in the Citadel or fort Castle of Kars, and then back through more villages of Spiritual Christians going north to the Metkhi jail in Tiflis high on a cliff above the Molokan settlement called "peski" (sands). 

Nikolai I. Agaltzoff, whose forceful personality and penetrating logic resolved many a dispute of the brotherhood, was there. His powerful sermons were interspersed with parables and richly illustrated with anecdotes from practical life in the old country.

Here too, was Philip M. Shubin, whose natural ability as a leader, was enhanced by a thorough knowledge of the scriptures and by a broad acquaintance with the best literature of the world. It was his duty to expound the [Prygun] Molokan way of life to the outside world and to repel any theological attack on the brotherhood — and he did it well. [During the "bride selling" scandal (1911-1914), Shubin testified in court that he was dethroned as a leader. Later, for denouncing the divinity of the Kniga solntse, dukh i zhizn' (~1928), he was undoubtedly attacked and shunned by zealots.]

Afanasey T. Bezayeff, the meek and humble man of God and a prophet, whose revelations and prophecies were a source of discussion and comfort to the whole brotherhood for many years was here too. He was one of the [Dukhizhiznik] Molokan pioneers in America, and his stories of hardship and adversity in a strange land were very real and vivid. His first year here was marked by a terrible tragedy when his two grown sons were killed in a cave-in of an excavation.

Last, but not the least, there was Ivan G. Samarin, our present elder statesman, whose untiring efforts for the welfare of our brotherhood continued for nearly half a century.  His knowledge of the world and ability to write forcefully was utilized by the brotherhood on many occasions. He, together with Philip M. Shubin were the unanimous choice to represent the [Spiritual Christians] Molokans on many an important mission. But perhaps his greatest contribution was the meticulous care with which he compiled, transcribed and edited the manuscript of our стpадальцы [stradal'tsy : elders] for the book of [Book of the Sun, ] Spirit and Life [Kniga solntse, dukh i zhizn'].

These and others whose names are not so familiar, held our brotherhood together in unity and guided its affairs with Divine wisdom until one by one, with the exception of Mr. Samarin, they passed on. Much, very much too soon, for it is now when life is becoming more and more complicated that their wisdom and uniting influence is so sorely missed.

But, to get back to the two-story building. The [Spiritual Christians] Molokans did not own the building, it was loaned through the good offices of Dr. Dana Bartlett, of blessed memory. [Though the Stimpson-Lafayette Industrial School was not owned by the Congregational Church which owned the Bethlehem Institutions, Bartlett was assigned the position of Manager-Superintendent in 1905 by its board of directors.] It is regrettable that the benefactions of Dr. Bartlett to the [Spiritual Christians] Molokans are not known well enough by our younger generation.

To the bewildered, lonely and homesick [Spiritual Christian] Molokan people who found themselves in such a strange land and who were looked upon as capricious because [many] they would not change their customs and modes of dress, Dr. Bartlett's kindness was a source of strength and encouragement. Our elders turned to him for advice and guidance, and his influence among our people was great and continued for many years. [The Bethlehem Institutions were dissolved in scandal in 1914.] It is to his eternal credit that he did not use this influence to proselytize our people. He acted on the assumption that it was better for a good [Spiritual Christian] Molokan to remain a good [Spiritual Christian] Molokan rather than becoming a bad Methodist or a bad nobody. He knew that a good [Spiritual Christian] Molokan need never be ashamed before God or man. It could be said that Dr. Bartlett was the only [American] non-Molokan who had the confidence of our entire brotherhood during the 40 years of our American sojourn.

However, other influences — not so altruistic or benign — began to assert themselves very early among our people. Influences whose insidious power was hard to recognize and more difficult to combat — were already at work among our youth.

The movies or foggies (туманные) as our people so aptly named them, were the principal agents. Even at this early date they were actively corrupting young people's minds by the glorification of so-called romance. I believe it was in [1911] 1908 that the first [Maksimist or Prygun] Molokan girl eloped with an American boy. You can imagine the sensation and excitement this event caused among our people. There was much publicity about it in the press when the girl's parents tried to have the marriage annulled by the courts. The girl charged the parents wanted to sell her [for a record $500] to a man of their choice. The newspapers pounced on this [for nearly 3 years], for it was grist for their mill. The fact that there was a semblance of truth in the charge did not help matters any. It was a custom in those first few years for the parents of a prospective suitor to offer to reimburse the girl's parents the cost of her [lost wages to support her parents and/or] passage to America. This was the basis of her charge. Fortunately this [traditional but illegal in America] custom or practice was abandoned soon after this publicity. [See: Bride Selling, pages 38-40.]

The courts refused to annul the marriage, but, the girl did not live happily as in the movies. There was no basis for a lasting happiness. The couple had nothing in common except transitory infatuation, so the marriage collapsed as many other similar ones. The husband divorced the girl after a few years and she was soon forgotten [shunned], not only by him, but by her own people as well. She died a few years ago and was buried with her nearest relatives in attendance only. This event was followed by many similar ones. Elopements, juvenile delinquencies, hobos — all these evils appeared very early in the history of our American life.

It would be unjust to say that the people or the elders did not recognize these signs for what they were. They did, but they could not formulate any effective means of combating them. They made many attempts to escape from these evil influences by moving, en masse, to farming communities, but none were practical or successful, and they were soon given up, and most returned to an easier life in their kingdom in the city.

As of now, the evils are still with us and no effective remedies are in sight, unless we are willing to submit ourselves to the hardships of another mass exodus.
Also by John K. Berokoff, edited by Andrei Conovaloff