Living History is an ongoing series showcasing just a small assortment of the more than 350,000 items housed at The Salvation Army Heritage Centre in Toronto. This month, we spotlight a pen holder and wallet owned and used by General William Booth.

In the 19th century, pen and ink ruled the world of communications, and General William Booth was one of the most prolific writers of the era.

A humble pen holder in The Salvation Army’s Heritage Centre belonged to General Booth, the co-Founder of the organization that now spans the globe. It likely held the very pen he used to write In Darkest England and the Way Out, which became the blueprint for social reform in England.

When he wasn’t writing books and corresponding with Army officers the world over, General Booth was writing sermons, which were placed in this leather wallet whenever he was on the road. Carried by his aide-de-camp, John Smith, he presented it to his aunt, Mrs. William Hutchison, when he left the position. She, in turn, passed it on to her son, Brigadier Ernest Hutchison, who donated it to the museum in 1979. 

As for the pen holder, General Evangeline Booth, William’s daughter and an international leader of The Salvation Army in her own right, acquired it and presented it to a John Cameron on October 28, 1947. How it found its way to the museum is a mystery to this day.

Photo: The Archives of The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory