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Stirred with the desire to give the gospel to the people,
Miss Weiss secured a tent, and with the aid of two men
piched it on the C. A. Straw farm, and people are
flocking by the hundreds to hear her.
–Hazleton, Pennsylvania, newspaper article, 1927
Evangelist and
Teacher of Ministers
Jessie Weiss Curtis: 1881 to 1972
Licensed minister 1945 to 1972
Something unusual was taking place in the country near the town of Drums,
Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1927. A large tent had been pitched in a field, and
what was going on in the tent was attracting a lot of attention.
A newspaper reporter counted 110 automobiles parked in the fields around the tent
one evening, and ascertained that people were flocking in from a radius of 20 miles. In
an article titled, “Kingston Girl Holding Services Near Drums,” the reporter explained
the attraction that was drawing the owners of these many automobiles: “Stirred with the
desire to give the gospel to the people, Miss Weiss secured a tent, and with the aid of
two men pitched it on the C. A. Straw farm and people are flocking by the hundreds to
hear her.” Night after night the crowds arrived in time to participate in the old-time
congregational song service, and stayed until the sermon was finished.
“With the skill of a clergyman of long years experience,” the article stated, “Miss
Weiss declares that she will teach no doctrine but what she can substantiate from the
Word of God. Her repertoire of subjects reaches out over a wide range.” (From “Kingston
Girl Holding Services Near Drums,” article in a Hazleton, Pennsylvania, newspaper, 1927.
See appendix A, 5.1.)
At the conclusion of her first evangelistic series, Jessie Weiss presented 80 converts
ready for baptism. The Drums, Pennsylvania, Seventh-day Adventist Church was born.
Mr. Straw, the farmer, donated the land on which the tent had been pitched, and on it
an attractive church building was erected. Jessie Weiss and her brother contributed the
beautiful amber stained-glass windows.
How did this woman, the daughter of a prominent merchant in Wilkes-Barre and
herself a successful businesswoman, find her way into evangelism?
Jessie Weiss was born December 30, 1881, in Larksville, Pennsylvania. She had a
sister, Olive, and a brother, Homer. Her father was a prosperous merchant and her