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Name: Dr. John
Silas Geiser Age/DOB: 1870 County of Conviction: Sheridan Judicial District: 17th Case No.: 244 Date of Conviction: Information filed May 21, 1918; amended July 2,
1918 Sentence: $200 |
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Allegations: Probably
in a sermon on May 5, 1918, said: "All war is wrong. It is all wrong to buy liberty bonds
or thrift stamps. We should
remain firm; and I urge you not to buy or purchase any liberty bonds or
thrift stamps." He also said: "I
believe it is wrong to kill one's fellow man. One who buys Liberty Bonds and Thrift Stamps [then and
thereby meaning Bonds and Thrift Stamps of the U.S., issued for the purpose
of maintaining the cost of the conduct of the war in which the United States
of American wasÉand is engaged with the government of Germany] to furnish
ammunition for the killing of people is as bad as it would be to kill one's
self. I believe that one who
buys Liberty Bonds and Thrift Stamps to aid and support the war is as bad as
those who hire gunmen in the city of New York to kill their fellow man [then
and thereby meaning and intending to convey the meaning that the soldiers and
sailors of the U.S. who, in battle, kill their enemies, were similar to the
gunmen in the city of New York who, for hire, feloniously kill and murder
their fellow man]." Case Details: 12 witnesses for the state. $5,000 bail bond. Personal Information: Became the first minister of the United Brethren
Church in Baltimore in 1907. Came west in 1911 after his first wife died in
childbirth. Hundreds of Brethren attracted by the claims of the Great
Northern Railroad settled in North Dakota, Montana and further west. Geiser
settled in Froid and also worked as a dentist there. Was an Elder and
minister in the Grandview Church of the Brethren from 1915 to 1928, except
for a period when he resigned in 1918 after declaring bankruptcy. The Church
of the Brethren had always stood against war and
had passed a new statement "Teaching Against Militarism" in 1916.
John remarried in Montana and had four children. The family returned to
Maryland in 1928 and settled in Riverdale, Prince George's County. John died in 1934.
Updated 4/11/06 |
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