The fruit of the Spirit is “temperance.” That’s the word that’s used in the King James Version of the Bible (Galatians 5:22-23).

Ahh…refreshing! The city has restored the plumbing – so you can still drink from Petaluma’s WCTU fountain

When you hear about temperance, do you think of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)? The WCTU was a nationwide network of Christian women, concerned about the increasing alcohol use in the United States. They had reason to be concerned. Historian W.J. Rorabaugh wrote about the early days of the republic, “Americans drank from the crack of dawn to the crack of dawn.”

By the 1830s, the tolling of the town bell at 11 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. marked “grog-time.” Americans were drinking eight gallons of pure alcohol a year – that’s about 90 bottles of 80 proof liquor a year, about three times more than Americans today.

During the 1800s church men and women rose up in protest. Their approach was to encourage alcohol abusers to abstain. That was the goal of the temperance movement – to encourage abstention. The WCTU erected drinking fountains in many towns, near the bars, so men could find liquid refreshment in a healthier way.

The WCTU Water fountain is a half-block down the street from Andresen’s Tavern.

First Presbyterian Church of Petaluma was a meeting place for Petaluma’s WCTU chapter. You’ll find a drinking fountain on Western Avenue, downtown, near Andresen’s Tavern, with the letters, “W.C.T.U.” and the words, “Total abstinence is the way to handle the alcohol problem.”

During the early 1900s, as the temperance movement became politically powerful, temperance – the encouragement of self-control, gave way to political force and attempts to control others. Temperance education was forced in schools. The WCTU joined forces with another powerful group, the Anti-Saloon League, and became a political force to be reckoned with. Anyone running for office knew the perils of crossing swords with or ignoring this invigorated temperance, now, prohibition movement.

The WCTU drinking (water) fountain, on Western Ave. at Petaluma Blvd, Petaluma

In the 1810s several states had enacted prohibition and, by 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution. A nation’s experiment with forced abstinence began.

Is this what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote, “the fruit of the Spirit is…temperance?” Is this what happens when Christians gain political power?

READ Part 2 – What Went Wrong with the Prohibition

READ Part 3 – Prohibition

One of the leaders of the temperance movement in Petaluma was Rev. Lorenzo Waugh, 1808-1900. I wrote about “Father” Waugh HERE>