Bill W.’s Boyhood Religious Training

By Dick B.

There are plenty of biographies of Bill W. In fact, Bill Wilson’s own autobiography has now been published.¹ And, in acquainting yourself with A.A.’s founder William Griffith Wilson, you might want to have in mind a time-line of some very significant periods of his life as they relate to alcoholism and the fellowship to cure alcoholism that Bill W. and Dr. Bob founded together in Akron, Ohio on June 10, 1935. This segment refers to Bill’s boyhood life in East Dorset, Vermont.

Here are the highlights I’ve now found.

(1) Bill’s paternal grandfather was Gilman Wilson (called Willie). Willie was a founder and officer of the little East Congregational Church located just across from the largest house in East Dorset, Vermont. And it was in that house that Bill W. was born and lived for a time. Grandpa Willie Wilson had married Helen Barrows, whose family owned the huge house that was then called the Barrows House. Willie became the innkeeper and tavern keeper, and he and his wife Helen named their inn the Wilson House. Grandpa Willie had purchased and owned Pew 15 in the Congregational church next door. His son Gilman Barrows Wilson (called Gilly) was married in that church. His bride was Emily Griffith, the girl who lived in the house on the other side of the church. All the Wilsons attended and were active in that church. That East Dorset church had all the attributes of a New England Congregational Church of the day. These elements included a creed, a covenant, emphasis on salvation, conviction about the truth of God’s Word, worship services, sermons, Sunday school, conversions, revivals, and prayer meetings.²

(2) Grandpa Willie Wilson was also an alcoholic. He attended temperance meetings and revivals, but he didn’t get sober. One day Willie ascended to the top of nearby Mount Aeolus at East Dorset, Vermont. There he cried out to God for help, had a conversion experience, and was cured of alcoholism. He rushed down to his little church, seized the pulpit, announced his salvation, and astonished the audience. He never drank again and lived on for several years. Bill W.’s mother never tired of telling that account to anyone, including Bill W. and his father, who would listen.³

(3) Bill’s other grandfather, Gardner Fayette Griffith (called Fayette), was a Civil War veteran. His family was the wealthiest in East Dorset. Fayette himself owned the town’s water works. He prospered in lumber and real estate. He and the other Griffith family members regarded the East Congregational Church next door as their family church, and. Fayette supported it. The Griffith names appear in the church records. Fayette was a voracious reader, always reading aloud after supper, even sending off for special books. He regularly read the Bible and books on philosophy and law. When Bill W. returned to East Dorset from Rutland, Vermont and came to live with Fayette, it was Grandpa Fayette who enrolled Bill in the Congregational Sunday school. Bill recalled church sermons, revivals, and even a specific two-day Temperance meeting conducted by his Sunday school. Fayette strongly encouraged his grandson Bill W.’s reading. Bill’s first biographer reported, “The more Bill read, the more Bill wanted to read. He read about Horatio Alger and Thomas Edison. He read Heidi, the family encyclopedia, and, of course, the Bible.”⁴ Another biographer reported Bill’s childhood recollections extended to listening to his mother and father singing religious songs together, mother at the piano, father singing, and the song recalled to Bill’s mind the love of his Heavenly Father.⁵ Still others refer to additional religious experiences Bill had in his boyhood days—(1) Bill “had seen people ‘witnessing’ to such conversions at the tent revivals he attended as a boy. . .”⁶ (2) “As a youth, Bill Wilson had himself attended temperance meetings.”⁷ (3) “Bill relaxed into childhood memories of starchy Sunday sermons and old-time temperance pledges. . .”⁸

For more details, see Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W.

Gloria Deo

dickb@dickb.com; 808 874 4876; http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml