Charles Cullis

Background

Charles Cullis was born on March 7, 1833 in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of John Cullis, of old Puritan stock.

As a child he was infirm and he remained more or less an invalid all his life.

Education

After serving as a clerk in a mercantile house, his health became seriously impaired and he turned to the study of medicine.

Career

His early practise was among the poor, especially among those with chronic illness. Cullis’s interest in “faith cure” was quickened by stories of the work of Herman Francke in Germany and that of George Muller in England.

He read of Dorothea Trudel of Switzerland, whose work greatly impressed him; later he wrote her life story. About 1865 he opened a home for consumptives in Boston.

In a few years he had outgrown his quarters and, entirely through gifts from the public, he built many “homes” on eleven acres of ground in Grove Hall, near Boston.

The group consisted of a “Consumptives’ Home, ” a “Spinal Home, ” two "Orphan Homes, ” the Grove Hall Church, a “Faith Cure House, ” and a “Deaconess’ House. ” In Boston he maintained the Beacon Hill Church, the “Lewis Mission, ” the “Faith Training College, ” and the Cottage Street Church.

Missions were established at Boynton, Virginia, Alameda, California, Renicks Valley, West Virginia, Oxford, North Carolina, and two in India; “tract repositories” were started in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, the most famous of which was the Willard Tract Repository in Boston.

To maintain these numerous activities, Cullis is said to have obtained from the public, “in answer to my prayers, ” but without solicitation, as much as $600, 000 in twenty-five years, in daily contributions from a few cents to $2, 000.

The public attended his churches in large numbers and his “homes” were always filled to overflowing. So many came to his church from a distance that he built the “Faith Cure House” near-by for those who had to remain overnight.

During the summer Cullis held open air “conventions” or “revivals” at Intervale, New Hampshire, and Old Orchard, Maine.

He was attacked from other Boston pulpits as an adventurer, but he never made any reply and thus kept his dignity. Essentially honest, he spent all the money collected on his charities and died a poor man.

Achievements

• The training school, established about 1873, was successful and he is said to have collected over $30, 000 for it; a bookstore was connected with it, where tracts were sold. Practically no provision was made for the continuation of his work after his death and most of his charities dissolved in the course of a few years. It is possible that some of his ideas stimulated the development of the Christian Science Church in Boston.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Faith Hymns (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Faith Hymns Wake, my soul, stretch every ne...)

  • Other Faith Cures;

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Tuesday Afternoon Talks

    (Leopold is delighted to publish this classic book as part...)

  • More Faith Cures;

    (This book an EXACT reproduction of the original book publ...)

  • Dorothea Trudel: Or the Prayer of Faith (1865)

    (This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)

Views

It is said that he always believed in using medical skill and only took patients after other physicians had seen them.

Connections

He was survived by his wife, Lucretia Ann Cullis, a son, and two daughters.

Father:

John Cullis

Spouse:

Lucretia Ann Cullis