The Story of our Health Message

Toward Vegetarianism

William Metcalf, pastor of the Society of Bible Christians of Philadelphia (see note p. 49), was an enthusiastic vegetarian and, as early as 1821, the author of a booklet entitled “Abstinence From the Flesh of Animals,” which was widely circulated and quite generally reviewed pro and con by the public press. History of the Philadelphia Bible Christian Church, 29. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1922. After corresponding with Dr. Graham, Dr. Alcott, and others who were leading out in diet reform, he initiated a convention of diet reformers in Clinton Hall, New York, May 15, 1850. SHM 46.2

Here was launched the American Vegetarian Society, with Dr. Alcott as president; William Metcalf, corresponding secretary; and Dr. R. T. Trail, recording secretary. To give the society a voice, The American Vegetarian and Health Journal was issued, edited by Metcalf. Ibid., 43, 44. Because of lack of support the journal was suspended in 1854, but the vegetarian cause continued to be ably advocated in The Water Cure Journal, The Moral Reformer, and The Graham Journal. SHM 46.3

At the fourth annual meeting of the society Horace Greeley presided as one of the chairmen. There were 350 persons in attendance, including Drs. James C. Jackson and R. T. Trall, also Mrs. Amelia Bloomer and Mrs. Susan B. Anthony. Ibid., 158, 159. Though not so large in membership as its counterpart in England, the society maintained a healthy existence until the death of Mr. Metcalf in 1854. (The Vegetarian Society of America was reorganized in Philadelphia, June 24, 1886. On November 2, on Wallace Street in that city, a reception was held by the society in honor of Dr. J. H. Kellogg of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, who delivered an address on the history of vegetarianism.) SHM 46.4