Joe
the Turk Left an Impression
Cartoon Joe the Turk appeared at Millennial Congress and recent Festival of Faith
He immigrated to America around 1883, settling in San Francisco and opening a shoe business. He was converted in The Salvation Army barracks and eventually became Corps Sergeant/Major of the San Francisco No. 1 Corps. In 1887 he became a Salvation Army officer.
In 1923, a Boston newspaper reporter, Paul Waitt, who wrote in "Boston Travelers", reported an open air arrest he witnessed in Malden, Massachusetts in approximately 1893. He described Joe as being a rather massive gentleman of six feet in height and weighing 250 pounds, garbed in flaming red, baggy zouave trousers and matching blouse, luxuriously trimmed with braid.
On the top of his large head rested a red fez. He was arrested 53 times by eight various police authorities, usually winning after asking for a jury trial.
"Joe the Turk" is a legend from The Salvation Army's colorful past. He was an Armenian, born Nishan Der Garabedian, in 1860 in Tallas, Turkey, the son of a priest of the American Episcopal Church, the National church of the Armenian people.
Territorial Youth
Secretary
Edward Hobgood portrays
Joe the Turk
A landmark decision in 1893 in Wisconsin by the supreme court The State ex rel. Garrabad (sic) versus Dering declared as unconstitutional a law which caused the arrest of Joe for playing his cornet in the street. He was eventually appointed evangelist for The Salvation Army, traveling the country attired in his special costume and carrying an oversized red, yellow and blue umbrella with religious slogans on it and a picture of the founder, General William Booth. Around the outside of the umbrella were lights that lit up and on top was a small miniature statue of liberty with a torch that also lit up.
Some of the slogans he used were "Heaven is real and so is hell", "Jesus is mighty to save", and "No cross, no crown". He never paid a fine for obstructing the streets, winning the right to preach the Gospel on the streets.
Click on Pictures to Enlarge
After 38 years of adventurous service in the ranks of the Army, he retired in 1925. He was promoted to glory in his New York hotel room in 1937. Thousands called "Joe the Turk" their spiritual father.
Photos Courtesy of Southern Historical Center
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