An Armenian Captain in the Salvation Army

Vahe H. Apelian

It is the season. Whenever and wherever we went out for shopping lately and will be going for the next few days to do our Christmas shopping we encountered someone ringing a bell and alerting us to donate for the Salvation Army.

Little did I realize that the Salvation Army,  in the words of Wikipedia, is “a Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organization. The organization represents worldwide a membership of over 1.7 million consisting of soldiers, officers and adherents collectively known as Salvationists.” It runs a variety of charitable outreach facilities be it churches, thrift stores, charity shops, adult rehabilitation centers and others.

According to Wikipedia “The Salvation Army was founded in 1865 in London by one-time Methodist circuit-preacher William Booth and his wife Catherine”. The Salvation Army refers to its ministers as “officers” and much like an army it has a hierarchy of ranks including Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt Colonel, Colonel, Commissioner and General. 

Being such an old organization, having spanned over three centuries, and still going strong, surely its mode of operation has evolved over time and in the process amassed a rich history as attested by the museum it maintains, at least on line.

It is from such an online Salvation Army museum that  downloaded the attached type written letter about one of its most colorful figures. Some even claim he remains the Salvation Army’s most influential officer whose legacy continues to reverberate in the annals of the Salvation Army history. He was an Armenian and whose name was Nshan Garabedian. It appeared that in his time Salvation Army actively pursuit evangelical mission and Nshan Garabedian stood apart by his flamboyance with his trademark as “Joe the Turk”  playing his cornet to attract attention preaching salvation. A cursory search in the internet will show many pictures of him. The attached postcard, bearing his picture, reads “Jesus Is Mighty To Save”, the latter being a quote attributed to Joe.

Nshan Garabedian, "Jesus is Mighty To Save"

The letter I came across reads as follows:

“Capt. Neshan Garabedean, or a he was familiarly called “Joe The Turk” was not strictly speaking a Turk, having been born in Caesarea near Jerusalem, Armenia. This was the name given to him some some unknown person.

Joe’s father was a priest of the Armenian Church.

At the age of 17, he went to Constantinople to learn the trade of shoe making. After a short stay he emigrated to America.

After his arrival in the United States he drifted aimlessly from on place to another until he finally anchored in San Francisco. Here he drank freely and was described as a “walking terror”.

He became converted thru the efforts of Private  John Milseps. Milseps then becoming a officer and Captain.

The Salvation Army soldiers and officers endured terrible persecutions in those days when they went out on the streets to hold meetings. The first time Joe went on the street his former companions threw rocks, one hitting the drummer causing a terrible gash.

Joe became the doorkeeper at sand Fransisco #1 Corps and later the sergeant major. He worked at his trade and was never ashamed to preach Christ to every one who came in.

Joe became an officer and was appointed to assist in Los Angeles.

During his years as a officer he was in jail several times. In addition to this he suffered much persecution, having his nose broken on one occasion.

He retired from active Salvation Army service and a few years after passed away in New York.

 (not legible) June 7, 1891”.

As an added note, Nshan (Neshan) Garabedian (Garabadean) was born in 1860 and passed away in 1937 after 38 years of service to the Salvation Army during which, it is claimed that he was arrested 53 times for disturbing peace, something he boasted about claiming he was imprisoned the same number of times for Jesus.

We have a few more days left for shopping and it appears that Christmas shopping ends on the very late afternoon just before the Christmas day. I will have to admit that my perception of the Salvation Army has changed and I will be more generous in my donation when I come across another Salvation Army bell ringer in a couple of hours.

The letter.