• Principal Alexander Russell Main, M.A., D.D., 1876-1945 by Wilkie J. Thomson.
• Your State Archivists or Historians Are-- by Wilkie J. Thomson.
• Acknowledgments--Churches, Committees and Individual Subscriptions by Wilkie J. Thomson.

      It seems fitting to us that something of the life of such a Federal figure as the late A. R. Main, M.A., D.D., for 27 years Principal of The College of the Bible, Glen Iris, Victoria; Editor of the "Australian Christian" for 27 years and the first Principal of Churches of Christ Bible College, Woolwich, N.S.W., should be commenced in such an issue as this. Thanks are due especially to Mr. Douglas Main, of Mount Kembla, N.S.W., who made the few relevant documents remaining available, to Mr. Randall T. Pittman for his memories and help, and to that small company of good folk who still live and remember him. And, by no means last or least, Mrs. A. Clutterbuck who typed the manuscript. We hope you will want to continue reading about this man who had such an influence on the Australian Brotherhood. It is obvious that a biography in such a small paper must be serialised and must be condensed. We hope that it will, at least, form a basis for a larger work by someone in days to come.--W.J.T.

      1. Early Days

      If you look at the map of Scotland, or are familiar with it, you will know that the county of Dunbarton lies north-west of Glasgow, between the mouth of the Clyde, Loch Long and Loch Lomond. It can be cold there, very cold, as the north-west gales sweep down from the Hebrides and across the many water-ways of the broken and disjointed coast. Within this county was the small parish of Cumbernauld, and here, more than 100 years ago, was a dairy farmer by the name of John Main, who took to wife Isabella Muir at Torpichon in 1853.

      There were several sons and daughters of the marriage and, as the farm was not large enough to maintain the family, the older boys used the farm horses and dray for cartage work. Glasgow was then extending its borders and here, twelve miles or so out from the city proper, well-to-do business people were building their homes.

      The farm was more than a mile out from the village of Dullatur and the Main children, on their way to school, had to deliver milk to these homes. In winter the snow was often banked up on each side of the road. The milk was carried, not in billy-cans, but pitchers. The late Mrs. Isabella Turnbull, an elder sister of Alexander's, said they had to carry eight or nine of these on each hand. She described with much feeling the hardness of this task in winter's bitter cold and the ice-covered, slippery roads. Alex. was spared this task because he was too young to carry them. (1 questioned Mrs. Turnbull about these jugs "eight or nine on each hand". I later wrote her regarding them and, in her reply, she re-affirmed the same number. She did tell me that they were for the early morning cups of tea of the well-to-do, so they may have been small jugs.)

      This younger brother, Alexander Russell Main, was born on February 19, 1876, and two years later his mother died. Thereafter the eldest sister kept house.

      Alex hated the cold and let everybody know it on the way to, the village school. In later years he was revolted by the mud and slush of the byres where

the cows were housed throughout the winter. I have often had a mental picture of him doing his share of the farm work, which included the cleaning of the cow-house, a job in those days generally referred to in Scotland as "the muckin' o' the byre". There grew a determination in his heart that if he should ever have a son he would not have to live under such conditions if he could possibly provide better.

      The Cumbernauld Public School to which Alexander went later, was fortunate in having a headmaster of some outstanding ability, not the least of which was the recognition of the potential within his students, many of them, it is said, filled important positions in various parts of the world. His name was D. Macphie. From this school, Alex gained a scholarship which made it possible for him to attend night-school classes in Glasgow, to which he travelled the twelve miles by train, and he became a pupil teacher (P.T.) in the Cumbernauld Public School.

      Travelling the twenty-four miles in all, to Glasgow and back, may seem an easy thing to us now, but it was not so easy in that day and generation to attend such night classes throughout the long and severe winters. Crouched in a, corner of a carriage compartment from which he would have to arise occasionally and stamp his feet to restore the circulation, this very good-looking, fresh-faced youth would spend most of his travelling time in study. Early photos of A. R. Main show him as a youth or young man of strong character, a firm chin, well-shaped mouth, aquiline nose and bright clear eyes, beneath a high and broad forehead which was crowned with dark hair. 1 should imagine that few would pass him by without taking a second look at this young man of such striking personality.

      The Main family attended one of the three different Presbyterian Churches in the village-The Free Church of Scotland. Alexander's personality must have been felt there, for a rich gentleman of Dullatur prophesied that he would become a minister. When he was about 13 or 14 years old, this man promised him a Bible, but, with good Scottish caution, made the proviso "when he should become ordained".

      The older brothers of the family migrated to Australia and in 1892 Alexander followed them out. It was on this voyage that he committed the gospel of Matthew to memory. The headmaster of the school regretted his leaving, as he predicted a brilliant career before him in Scotland. A full set of Waverley novels was presented to, him which are in the possession of his son, Douglas. They are inscribed as follows:-

      The new home to which he came was in Drummond, Victoria, where Stephen Cheek had established a church in 1878. The preacher of this church at the time was K. McKenzie. He was not a particularly literate man apparently, but he and his wife are referred to in the Jubilee Pictorial History of Churches of Christ in Australia in the following words:--

      "The church will ever remember the kind and loving services rendered by Mrs. G. McKenzie and her late beloved husband, Kenneth McKenzie."

      Although Mr. Main, sen., later came to settle with his sons, Alex was still unsettled. He did not feel fitted for farm work and he was considering returning to Scotland and school-teaching when A. B. Maston paid a visit to Drummond. One result of that visit, apparently, was that Alex committed his life to Christ. He was baptised by Mr. McKenzie, in the creek which ran behind the McKenzie home. A picture of this creek appears in the Jubilee History, on page 263, and is entitled "A Historic Spot" because here Stephen

Cheek had baptised about fifty people. The picture is one of beauty, peace and tranquillity, but some of those baptised there told how larrikins and enemies to the way of Christ did their utmost at times to despoil the baptismal waters and to interfere with the services.

      There is an interesting link in the lives of these two men, Maston and Main, although one was an American, 41 years of age, and the other a Scotsman of 18 years, and in many other ways so dis-similar. Aaron Burr Maston was born in Ohio, U.S.A., in 1853. His home was a small log cabin in Coshacton County on the bank of a winding river known as Crooked Run. No doubt the winters were severe there, too, but not quite as bad as at Main's Dullatur. But Maston's mother had lived to care for and cherish her children. Alex Main was left motherless at 21 years and, because of his advanced intelligence, his re-actions perhaps would be those of a child a little older. Not that he lacked love from his sisters and brothers, for they seemed to care for him to the point of spoiling. Although Maston had earned a B.A. degree in America, he was not academic as was the younger Alex Main. Maston was a man of strong imagination, a man of vision who turned his dreams into realities

      I have often wondered if Main took thought to enjoy the moonlight and shadow on the snow as he trudged to and from the station, although, as we shall see later, he retained a love for Dullatur. But Maston wrote, "Men get to love places for their associations. To me the most enchanted scene on earth is the little valley in Ohio where 1 was born and partly brought up. There is more music and poetry in its memories than all else beside. The log cabin is a king's palace, decorated inside and outside with the rich recollections of childhood." "Amongst the Churches of Christ throughout Australasia, for a quarter of a century, the name of A. B. Maston was a household word, while for the last fifteen years of his life, he was the most striking, picturesque personality among the twenty thousand Disciples of Australia and New Zealand. His name had also spread to America, Africa and Great Britain." (Quotations from "Life of A. B. Maston", by G. P. Pittman, 1909.)

      It was this man who recognised in Main the potential within him, and one may well wonder if he foresaw the day when Alex would carry his torch of service when he, Maston, should be called out of this world. He persuaded Alex Main to go to Melbourne and took him into his own home and gave him employment as a compositor at the Austral Co., which he had founded. There Alex made some friendships that lasted throughout their lives-Douglas Pittman, who became Manager of The Austral Co., and Randall T. Pittman. The latter tells that he first met Alex at a Conference Picnic held at Surrey Hills and his accent was so broad that he had difficulty in understanding him.

      With A. B. Maston, Alex Main attended the church at Collingwood, where the former was preaching, but ill health forced Maston to relinquish the work. His place was taken by Ferdinand Pittman, in 1896, and R. T. Pittman remembers his brother referring to the brilliant young man who attended the services. A friendship which Alex made there was with F. Collins (1875-1960, Page 2, Digest No. 19), who became one of our greatly loved preachers.

      There is a notebook extant with some of Main's sermon titles and dates. The first is dated January, 1895, and was preached at Drummond. Many of his early sermons were preached at South Yarra.

      There is no doubt that Main absorbed much teaching from Maston. It was O. A. Carr who persuaded the latter to go to New Zealand from America and he gave to him a list of suggestions to help him in his ministries in "a foreign country". Within these suggestions there is the basis of all that Maston did. As we follow through the life of A. R. Main, we may find these the fundamentals of A. R. Main's work. When Maston died, after years of suffering, at the early age of 54, Main was one of those whose appreciation of him is published in Life of A. B. Maston. He wrote within it, "Though dead, our brother yet speaketh. The wonderful patience, the marvellous cheerfulness with which great tasks were attempted and accomplished, in the face of suffering such as we cannot imagine, the passionate love for the church . . . the strong uncompromising plea for a Christianity pure as at the beginning, the ready help extended to the brethren in any time of need--the memory of these things will be with us. We have seen the heroism of a Christian life, and should not forget the sight." And then he quoted the lines:--

      But much was to happen in the life of A. R. Main before he wrote those words of his friend and mentor, A. B. Maston.

YOUR STATE ARCHIVISTS OR HISTORIANS ARE:--

      Colin Bowser, B.A., 53 Point Road, Woolwich, New South Wales, 2110.

      C. R. Burdeu, 32 Salt Street, Windsor, Queensland, 4030.

      Jas. P. Foot, 32 Robin Street, Launceston, Tasmania, 7250.

      Alan Pyne, Christian Centre, 146 Barrack Street, Perth, West Australia, 6000. David Whyatt, 189 Gawler Place, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000.

      Wilkie J. Thomson, Churches of Christ Centre, 217 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000.

      (Send subscriptions to The Australian Churches of Christ Historical Society, W. J. Thomson, 143 Surrey Road, Blackburn, Victoria, 3130.)

      Any matter of State historical interest may be sent to them for preservation; i. e., letters, diaries, minute books, roll books, publications, pieces of historical interest such as communion cups, etc., photographs (put the names to such where you can). We would encourage Churches to keep their own records as much as possible. Do not destroy any such matter. At least let your State representative see these, as what is so often considered valueless may be invaluable from an historical viewpoint. Use tape-recorders and preserve the tapes of sermons and reminiscences. Colour transparencies of people or important events should be taken and carefully preserved.

Acknowledgments--Churches, Committees and individual subscriptions:--

      South Australia: Brighton Gardens; Grote St., Adelaide; Semaphore; H. W. J. Harding; E. A. Arnold.

      New South Wales: Tempe; Bexley North; Inverell; Dr. York; Seven Hills; Epping; Taree; Chatswood.

      West Australia: South Perth; Northam; Fremantle; Scarborough; Wembley; Christian Welfare Centre; Aged Persons' Home Board; Midland; Manjimup; North Perth; Bassandean.

      Queensland: Gympie-Monkland; Redcliffe; Marooka.

      Tasmania: Margaret St.; Launceston ($2).

      Victoria: Tootgarook; Blackburn ($2); Dawson St., Ballarat; Frankston; Reservoir; Geelong; Belmont; Brim; Bendigo; Coburg; Dimboola; Warragul; G. K. Scambler ($2); Mrs. E. Smith; E. W. Roffey; Brighton.

      All $1 except where stated otherwise. Thank you.

      Thank you, also, for the many letters of encouragement and interest. We are glad to know that, as a result of the circular letter, many churches have appointed local historians and archivists.

      . . . And things to come in our paper: The Pittman Family; The Theo. Edwards Story (an honoured South Australian preacher, now in his 88th year, who preached by the light of natural gas 66 years ago); Men of Faith of the P.P.F.; History of the Church at Seven Hills; Hon. W. C. Morrow, M.L.C.; and more of A. R. Main.

      Historical Society Evening Meal, Woolworth's Cafeteria, 5.30 p.m., Thursday, October 17.