1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Minky. He was 3 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,599 Speaker 1: reluctant to share his secret. The call, though, was too strong. 4 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,479 Speaker 1: In the secret too dangerous. The world you see was 5 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:31,319 Speaker 1: coming to an end, and everyone needed to prepare a 6 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: farmer by trade. William Miller had once been a captain 7 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,199 Speaker 1: in the War of eighteen twelve. He had seen a 8 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: lot during his military service, and he attended church well 9 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:46,560 Speaker 1: religiously in eighteen sixteen, though he no longer believed in deism, 10 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: the idea that there is a supreme being whose hands 11 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: off certain the real truth was hidden in the scriptures 12 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 1: he searched until he found it in Daniel fourteen, which 13 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: read unto two thousand days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed? 14 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: To Millard, the message was perfectly clear, rapture by the 15 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: hand of God. Excited, Miller concluded that doomsday would occur 16 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: two thousand, three hundred days after a revelation on creation 17 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: from the prophet James Usher. With time running out, he 18 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: told neighbors and friends. He talked about his discoveries at 19 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: church too, and before long locals began to believe him. 20 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: Though he was never ordained, he had pained a license 21 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: to preach and took his sermons on the road. He 22 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 1: published books and produced pamphlets in just six months. His message, 23 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,960 Speaker 1: are You Ready to Meet Your Maker? Gained followers across 24 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: the country. Of course, not everyone believed him. Angry mobs 25 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: pelted him with eggs and rotten food, but their attempts 26 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: to break up his sermons only made him more popular. 27 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: After three hundred lectures, followers of what had become known 28 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: as the Millerite movement seated fifty thousand, and with his 29 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: shouts that the world would soon end, millions more were curious. 30 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: If nothing else, Jesus would come for them. He promised 31 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: he would arrive high on a mountaintop sometime between March 32 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: twenty one, eighteen forty three and March twenty one, eighteen 33 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: forty four. When that didn't happen, Miller admitted he may 34 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: have been wrong and adjusted the date to April eighteenth 35 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: of eighteen forty four. And when that date came and went, 36 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: he became certain that the end of the world would 37 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: happen on October twenty two of that year. Despite his 38 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,959 Speaker 1: being wrong multiple times, his followers doubled when they met 39 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: for services. Their enthusiasm was equal to any big tent revival. 40 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: Miller's popularity sword One man, a dairy farmer who believed 41 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: in Miller, gave way all of his cows, the reason 42 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: there wouldn't be anyone at the farm to care for 43 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: them once he had gone up ascended. That is, and 44 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,279 Speaker 1: you wasn't the only one giving away their earthly belongings. 45 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: Believers sold their land, gave away their jewelry and animals. 46 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: They even busted up their furniture that have no use 47 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: for sofas and beds where they were going. Women cut 48 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: off their hair and ripped the ruffles from their dresses. 49 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: Wanting to be properly attired for heaven, they began to 50 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 1: wear long, flowing white garments. In the late spring of 51 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: eighteen forty four, a meteor flew across the sky at noon, 52 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: and the cosmic event was all the proof the Millerites 53 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: needed the end was near. On October one, followers put 54 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: on their ascension robes, and, believing that Christ had chosen mount, 55 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: would choose it, climbed to the top and waited. Others 56 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: who were physically unable to climb that far, felt that 57 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: apple trees were the next best bet. An entire family 58 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: had perched themselves in the tops of trees in a 59 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: local orchard, and when a pair of travelers passed by 60 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: a man in the tree asked if they were aware 61 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: that the world would end by daybreak, one a reverend 62 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: said that the matter didn't affect him, as he lived 63 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: in Boston. The second author, Ralph Waldo Emerson, told him, 64 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: the world doesn't affect me. I can get along without it. 65 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: As the sun set, the Millerites waited, eager to meet 66 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: their maker by sunrise, though it became clear he wasn't coming. 67 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: The Millerites had just suffered the great disappointment, and now 68 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: that the world wasn't ending, they began to suffer great 69 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: depression that had given away everything, and many were now 70 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: homeless and broke. Newspapers printed their story, or at least 71 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 1: some version of it. Many Millerites claim that reporters made 72 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,159 Speaker 1: up the part about the robes. Today, though the story 73 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: is widely accepted as fact. But what happened? How did 74 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 1: so many people come to believe Miller Historians speculate that 75 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: it might have been because powerful leaders and trusted experts 76 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: hadn't told the public otherwise. No one holding a higher 77 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: authority than Miller had proved him wrong, and by the 78 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: time their cognitive biases had hit a fever pitch, such 79 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: evidence was dismissed as disbelief and ignorance. You'd think that 80 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: afterward they'd have gone back to how things were before 81 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: Miller came along instead of recanting their belief, though they 82 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: came to what they felt was a broader understanding. They 83 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: had just interpreted the signs wrong. The world itself hadn't 84 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: ended because Christ had cleansed heaven, not earth. But of 85 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: course this isn't the only example of such an event 86 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: in America. Moments of passionate belief that led people to 87 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: do things most would never consider. Time may have distanced 88 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: us from these movements, but their shadows are still there, 89 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:55,480 Speaker 1: painted across the pages of history. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome 90 00:05:55,960 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: to American shadows. The church goers in the town of Enfield, 91 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: then still part of Massachusetts, or what their pastor called 92 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,160 Speaker 1: stubborn and maybe even lacks in changing their less than 93 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: Christian ways compared to neighboring towns, and with a reputation 94 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: on the line that wouldn't do the church invited another 95 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: preacher to speak. Jonathan Edwards accepted the invitation and took 96 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,720 Speaker 1: the task seriously. If his speech didn't whip the pastor's 97 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: flock into shape, nothing would. He stood before the congregation 98 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: on July seventeen, forty one and read his sermon, Sinners 99 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: in the Hands of an Angry God. He had already 100 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: delivered the speech to his own flock not long before, 101 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: and to great success. His vivid descriptions of hell and 102 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,159 Speaker 1: the evil had observed in the real world, coupled with 103 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: scriptures showing that certain behaviors were a bee line to 104 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:01,719 Speaker 1: Satan's doorstep, had the terrified flock gasping and screaming, there's 105 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out 106 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,919 Speaker 1: of Hell. Edwards railed, but the mere pleasure of God. 107 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: More gasps erupted from the crowd as Edwards continued his 108 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: seething sermon, informing them that such sinners deserved what was 109 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: coming to them, that witnessing the bad events in life 110 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: was just a taste of the horror Satan had waiting 111 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: for them at any moment. He told them God might 112 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: allow Satan to seize their souls, but God had given 113 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 1: them chance after chance, and now he was furious with them. 114 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: Not only might he rain down his wrath on them, 115 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: he'd let Satan have their souls too. The congregation cried 116 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: out for help for counsel. Edwards wasn't done, though not 117 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: by a long shot. He continued to quote scripture and 118 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: blend it with story after story at a fierce and 119 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: unrelenting pitch. By the end of the sermon, his shouts 120 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: were barely heard over the crowd. This type of speech, 121 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: now referred to as fire in Brimstone, is still studied today. 122 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: But what made the speech so effective. The trouble began 123 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: between the seventeen thirties and forties. New England found itself 124 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: in the middle of the Great Awakening, one of three 125 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 1: distinct periods of widespread spiritual revivals and new denominations and 126 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: religious movements. The devils and the details they say, and 127 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: while much of Europe was facing which hysteria, many Americans 128 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: focused on Satan. Their fear of the devil was part 129 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: of what made Edward's speech so powerful. Throughout history, some 130 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: sects of Christianity haven't taken to the idea of letting 131 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: judgment day just come and go. They've tried to fight 132 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: it by identifying potential Antichrists at all costs. The Antichrist, 133 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: to the belief Goes, would cause the end of the 134 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:51,239 Speaker 1: world with catastrophes and a host of other misfortunes. Identify 135 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:53,680 Speaker 1: and read the world of them, and all would be well. 136 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 1: Wicked behaviors and even thoughts were believed to cause storms, 137 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: bad crops, stillborn, chill, green mental illness, disease, and any 138 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: host of further wicked behaviors. In short, the devil fed 139 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: off the impure acts of man, gaining more and more 140 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,959 Speaker 1: power until he could challenge God by bringing about Doomsday. 141 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: The devil could hide anywhere, too, a cloven hooved man, animals, 142 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: including black cats, and perhaps especially women, because they were 143 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: perceived as the weaker sex. Was believed women were more 144 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: prone to the temptations of the devil. But the deepest 145 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: pits of hell, Edwards claimed, had been reserved for Native Americans, they, 146 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 1: he claimed were agents of the Antichrist. He wasn't alone 147 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: in his backwards and bigoted thinking. In early America, some 148 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: settlers believed the devil had a stronghold over the Native Americans. 149 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: Their pagan beliefs and their very existence threatened the settler's 150 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 1: concept of what Christian life should be on their newly 151 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:01,199 Speaker 1: colonized land. Further, these settlers believed that during the colonial era, 152 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: the Antichrist had control of the Church and the King 153 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: of England. In short, some of these Protestant Americans were 154 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 1: certain that non Protestants, immigrants, Native Americans, alcohol, and any 155 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: other obstacle that didn't agree with their ideology was doing 156 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: the devil's bidding. If the Native Americans wouldn't convert to 157 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: their way of life and Christian beliefs, if they didn't 158 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:28,000 Speaker 1: surrender land for the betterment of mankind, they must be 159 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: killed to save the world. Inane and racist, absolutely, and 160 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: it sadly made sense to them. The colonists were on 161 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: a new continent, then encountered people unlike them in their speech, apparents, 162 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 1: and faith. With a new land and life came tremendous 163 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: instability and plenty of anxiety to go with it. Humans 164 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 1: across the millennia have looked for ways to explain things 165 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: they didn't fully understand in an attempt to feel in 166 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: control during times of uncertainty, Fear fueled irrationality and hatred 167 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,439 Speaker 1: among the colonists. Therefore, it became their duty to protect 168 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: the earth at all costs until Christ's return. They believed 169 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: that they had been uniquely tasked by God to conquer 170 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: the land so that evil would not prevail. And all 171 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: this change brought on a lot of experimentation concerning religion. 172 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,719 Speaker 1: In fact, during the American Revolution to religious revivals were 173 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 1: also occurring the First and Second Great Awakenings. Churches offered 174 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,199 Speaker 1: hope in a world that seemed more than a little hopeless. 175 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: But times were changing and religious needs with them, and 176 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: along the way there were people who capitalized on the 177 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:46,920 Speaker 1: darker side of belief. Their message, however, wasn't one of hope. 178 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: It was one of fear. Grotus Lie was just thirteen 179 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,080 Speaker 1: when she married twenty three year old Ira Wakeman in 180 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 1: eighteen hundred. Over the years, they had fifteen children together, 181 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 1: but Ira was not exactly the ideal father and husband. 182 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: He was a big man who liked to throw his 183 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 1: fists around, especially when drunk, which was quite often. Two 184 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: things set Ira off the most wrote as attendance at 185 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: Methodist meetings and reading the Bible, and it was the 186 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: Bible reading that brought on constant death threats Rhoda believed 187 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: her husband might kill her any day, and in he 188 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: tried to go through with it. He had lit a 189 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: fire and sat her in a chair Before it, he 190 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,439 Speaker 1: cursed her and God, swearing that the world would never 191 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 1: be at peace as long as she were part of it. 192 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: The story varies slightly here, depending on who tells it. 193 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: It goes either that Ira beat her unconscious or that 194 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: he stabbed her with a piece of burning firewood, regardless 195 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: of how the assault took place. Row To later claimed 196 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: that she died. Upon her death, she claimed red eyed 197 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: imps danced around her when a bright white spirit emerged. 198 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: Moments later, the imps scattered, and that spirit took her 199 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: by the hand and escorted her up into the clouds. 200 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 1: Once in heaven, she claimed she met both Christ and God, 201 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 1: but after welcoming her as one of their own, the 202 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: angels returned her to earth and then vanished. Rhoda took 203 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: her experience as a revelation she was one with Heaven now, 204 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: and if she had survived her husband, it was God's will. 205 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: After all, her husband was an agent of the Devil, 206 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: put on earth to kill her, and he had tried 207 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: to do just that. He had failed, though, because Rhoda 208 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 1: had been chosen by God when she awoke, she left 209 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: him and went to live with her daughter Caroline. Determined 210 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: to spread the word, she began preaching door to door. 211 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:56,839 Speaker 1: Certain that she had been chosen as the prophetess of God, 212 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:01,439 Speaker 1: she set about convincing others as well. Her half brother, Sammy, 213 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: whom she also lived with from time to time, had 214 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 1: experienced a brain injury that left him more like a 215 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: child than a grown man, and Sammy above all, believed 216 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:15,560 Speaker 1: every word his sister told him. Before long, Rhoda and 217 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,839 Speaker 1: her followers paid Ira a visit. They tied him up, 218 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:21,920 Speaker 1: and Rhoda stabbed him. She told everyone that would free 219 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: Ira of the devil. Although he survived the initial attack, 220 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: he died some time later. Rhoda claimed she had had 221 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 1: another revelation, though, that Ira had died when the devil 222 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: no longer had any wicked plans for him. Her followers agreed, 223 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: saying that for being in league with the devil, Ira 224 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: got exactly what he deserved. The wake Knight's message of 225 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 1: doomsday continued to gain more followers, but Rhoda had high 226 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: standards for her followers. Do and believe as she said 227 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: and all would be well disagree, though, and she would 228 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: expose them as being the Antichrist. And that criticism was 229 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: extended to the churches full of believers around her. Once, 230 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: after watching people enter one of these churches, she openly wept. 231 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: She woke her daughter Caroline in the middle of the night, 232 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:15,520 Speaker 1: claiming that heavenly spirits wouldn't let her rest. They came 233 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: to her night after night, she said, begging her to 234 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: preach in the churches. In eighteen fifty two, though Caroline's 235 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: husband Ephraim dared to speak out mother. He said, there 236 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: is nothing in your doctrines. It's all a delusion. And 237 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 1: with that, Rhoda became convinced that her son in law 238 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: was possessed and wanted to kill her. She was afraid, 239 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: she told Caroline, and not just afraid of Ephraim. Rhoda 240 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: claimed another of her son in law's, Charles Willoughby, was 241 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: also possessed. According to Rhoda, Charles had not only caused 242 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: a winter's worth of storms, but it also plagued Sammy 243 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: with thousands of imps that crawled over his head and back. 244 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:00,960 Speaker 1: But like her husband Ephraim, Caroline felt the stories about 245 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,080 Speaker 1: the imps pushed things too far, and she expressed her 246 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: thoughts to her mother. As you might expect, Rhoda wasn't 247 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: at all pleased. Don't call me mother, she shouted. Anybody 248 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: that wants to kill me needn't call me mother. Rhoda 249 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: would disown Caroline. Then she, Sammy and another follower named 250 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: Thankful Hershey moved to New Haven, Connecticut. There they found 251 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: a small house by the Grove Street Cemetery, practically under 252 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: the eaves of Yale University. They sold fruit syrups and 253 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 1: herbal medicines, and even boarded children. To earn additional income, 254 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 1: Rhoda preached to nearby farmers and workers, meeting with them 255 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: every Sunday and once more later in the week. Charles Sandford, 256 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: fresh from his release at the Hartford Retreat for the Insane, 257 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: joined them in hopes that Rhoda could cure him of 258 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: his mental illness. But he wasn't her only new follower. 259 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: A seventeen year old named Amos Hunt also joined up 260 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,600 Speaker 1: and quickly rose to the ranks of the wake nights. 261 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: Some time later, Amos and his wife arrived for a 262 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 1: meeting bearing pies and cakes. Rhoda ate a slice of pie, 263 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: and then polished off one and a half of the cakes, 264 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,199 Speaker 1: all on her own. It's probably no surprise that she 265 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: became sick, but Rhoda claimed that the sweets had been 266 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: laced with poison and had nearly killed several followers, although 267 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:25,159 Speaker 1: there's no record that anyone else fell ill. For days, 268 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: Rhoda lay sick in bed before visiting her doctor, his 269 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: diagnosis insanity. Undaunted, she claimed Sammy was having a Yale 270 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: chemist test the remaining cakes, but even before he announced 271 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: his findings, she told her followers that enough poison had 272 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: been found to kill at least ten men. The poison 273 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:47,959 Speaker 1: in question hadn't been arsenic, though she said that as 274 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,199 Speaker 1: a prophet of the Lord, she was immune to that. No. 275 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: She claimed the cakes had been made from something worse, 276 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 1: a concoction of men's brains, oil of their bones, the 277 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: eyes of dogs and roosters, basil, topaz, copper, sink, platina, 278 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:08,560 Speaker 1: and toad entrails. Some wakem knights thought Hunt and his 279 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: wife had made the poisonous cakes to determine if Rhoda 280 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 1: was divine or merely human. Hunt, though was instantly accused 281 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: of being the Devil's agent. Sammy even suggested that Hunt 282 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:24,159 Speaker 1: should die for his sins against the Prophetess well that 283 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: or pay a cash settlement. Perhaps surprisingly, Hunt paid five 284 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: hundred dollars, and none of this sat well with the 285 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:37,000 Speaker 1: rest of the wake Nights. Rhoda's disciples began to wonder 286 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: how the Prophetess hadn't seen the betrayal coming. But worse 287 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: than that, they were shocked that she had accepted a 288 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: payoff from a man of sin. Rhoda attempted to regain 289 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 1: her followers trust with more lies and fear the world 290 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,120 Speaker 1: would inevitably be destroyed. She told them taking the money 291 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: had placed an evil influence on every one of them, 292 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: not just her, for Itightened by the prospect, they wanted 293 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: to know how to save themselves. Not surprisingly, Rhoda told 294 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 1: them exactly what had to be done. In December of 295 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five, Rhoda and Sammy moved again, settling into 296 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:27,680 Speaker 1: a small house that was often crowded with fellow wake nights. 297 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:30,439 Speaker 1: It was there that she told the others that the 298 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 1: Antichrist had left Amos Hunt and had found its way 299 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:38,399 Speaker 1: to a pistol factory worker named Justice Washington Matthews. He 300 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: had attended a few of their meetings, often accompanying one 301 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:46,359 Speaker 1: of their own, Meritable and her sister Polly. Justice didn't 302 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: care much for Rhoda, and the feeling was mutual. The 303 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 1: damning evidence against Justice had been that his wife had 304 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: suffered a convulsion around the same time that Rhoda had 305 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 1: fallen ill, and the timing, she claimed had not been 306 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,679 Speaker 1: a coincidence. The Antichrist had taken possession of Justice, and 307 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 1: now the wake Nights must wage a battle to rid 308 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: him of the devil. Oddly, Justice didn't object to their 309 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,359 Speaker 1: first attempt at exercising the devil from him. Maybe he 310 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: felt pressured, or maybe he felt that the tea they 311 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: wanted him to drink, brood from the bark of a 312 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:23,400 Speaker 1: witch hazel tree, wasn't so bad. Afterward, though, Rhoda determined 313 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: that the tea hadn't worked. Believing that Justice was still possessed. 314 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: The wakem Knights began to pray over him, but when 315 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: no one witnessed a spirit leaving his body, they began 316 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,440 Speaker 1: to plead with him to give up the demon. Rhoda, however, 317 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:43,160 Speaker 1: had a different solution in mind. Blood On December twenty three, 318 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: she and her followers conducted Sabbath worship in an upstairs bedroom. 319 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,280 Speaker 1: All told, fifteen people came and went for services that 320 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 1: day and throughout the evening. By ten o'clock, Sammy had 321 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,399 Speaker 1: a nice fire going in the front room. When Justice 322 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: arrived with his wife and sister in law, he removed 323 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,359 Speaker 1: his damp boots in front of the fire, and that's 324 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: when Rhoda screamed, claiming the demons were torturing her. She 325 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: wasted no time in instructing Polly to blindfold Justice because 326 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: eye contact with a man of sin would harm her brother, 327 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: claiming she feared for her safety. Rhoda also asked Polly 328 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: to bind Justice's hands behind his back. Not wanting Rhoda 329 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: to be frightened of him, Justice allowed it. Those present 330 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,800 Speaker 1: then led him to the day bed and began the exorcism. 331 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,160 Speaker 1: For two hours, they alternated between praying for his soul 332 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,719 Speaker 1: and shouting at him to give up the devil. Rhoda 333 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,920 Speaker 1: eventually retreated to her room, where she claimed the demons 334 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,919 Speaker 1: continued to torture her in the most excruciating of ways. 335 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: After an hour, she said the demons were crawling around 336 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:52,639 Speaker 1: inside her and that she would soon die, and that 337 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:56,639 Speaker 1: if she did the world would end. Alarmed at her revelation, 338 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: members raced down the stairs. He's killing her, they out it, 339 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:04,959 Speaker 1: He's killing the messenger. The prayers turned into a discussion. 340 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: Two attendees said that it would be better to kill 341 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: Justice than to let Rhoda in the entire world die. 342 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: The remainder of the group quickly agreed, all except Sammy, 343 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:21,160 Speaker 1: who thought they should try one last thing. He ran 344 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: out into the yard, and when he returned he was 345 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,320 Speaker 1: carrying a two ft long piece of wood. Perhaps, he 346 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: suggested they could beat the devil out of him. They 347 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: secured the doors and shuttered the windows to the room, 348 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,200 Speaker 1: and then turned their attention to Justice. The first blow 349 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: struck him in the right temple, knocking him to the ground. 350 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: After that, Sammy hit him again and again. Then, claiming 351 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: some unknown influence was urging him on, he slit Justice's 352 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: throat with a pocket knife. Not satisfied that the job 353 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:57,439 Speaker 1: was done, he retrieved a large oven fork used to 354 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: lift the stove lit and drove it into justice His chest, 355 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,399 Speaker 1: not once, but twelve times, in a pattern designed to 356 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: make the shape of a cross. The holes, Sammy said 357 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:12,440 Speaker 1: would force the demon to leave Justice's brother in law, 358 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,200 Speaker 1: who had been pushed into another room during the exorcism, 359 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 1: heard gurgling noises. He pounded on the door, but others 360 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,920 Speaker 1: pulled him away, insisting that if Justice died, he'd be raised. 361 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: The sound of the blows and Justice's cries sent a 362 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: few scurrying away to a corner to pray. Another hour 363 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:35,320 Speaker 1: passed before Sammy finally opened the door at two in 364 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: the morning. Sammy's clothes were washed into basin. His sleeves 365 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:41,520 Speaker 1: were so stained that they were ripped from the shirt. 366 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: The floor was then mopped clean, and the piece of wood, 367 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 1: still caked with Justice's hair and blood, was dropped down 368 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: a hole in the front yard. Sammy's pocket knife was 369 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:53,919 Speaker 1: placed next to the corpse to make it appear that 370 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: Justice had killed himself. Then tired from their efforts, the 371 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: wake nights finally slept The next day. One of them left, 372 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:08,200 Speaker 1: returning with Justice's eldest son. The sight of his father's 373 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 1: blooded corpse sent him running to a neighbor, who alerted 374 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: the authorities. Upon their arrival, the police took in the 375 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 1: gruesome scene and then instantly arrested everyone present. Soon enough, 376 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,879 Speaker 1: they were all in court making their statements. Regarding the possession. 377 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: Newspapers were quick to report the trial. The New York 378 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:30,439 Speaker 1: Times called the murder a horrible case of fanaticism, adding 379 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,400 Speaker 1: that it was a frightful event of Millerism, and by 380 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,639 Speaker 1: then the American public often thought cases of violence or 381 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 1: public insanity were due to Millerism. But on the December 382 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: Sammy confessed and Rhoda's imaginary world collided with reality. She 383 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,199 Speaker 1: and the others awaited the grand jury's decision from a 384 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:55,120 Speaker 1: prison cell. While she did, she took to writing letters 385 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,880 Speaker 1: to various ministers and lawyers. Those messages alternated between plea 386 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,880 Speaker 1: and threats. She would surely die in prison, she claimed, 387 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: and her death would be avenged by God. It wasn't 388 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,280 Speaker 1: her own life that hung in the balance, it was 389 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:19,440 Speaker 1: the fate of the world that Following January, Rhoda, Sammy, 390 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:21,960 Speaker 1: and the other Wake Nights sat in court once more. 391 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,479 Speaker 1: Rhoda again insisted that the world would end if they 392 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 1: found her guilty, though she might decide to permit everyone 393 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,440 Speaker 1: to live a little while longer. However, she could call 394 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 1: for judgment day whenever she felt like it. The trial 395 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: dragged on until April. Members of the community, family and 396 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,399 Speaker 1: experts all took the stand to testify, and it was 397 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,320 Speaker 1: determined that none of the defendants were competent enough to 398 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:50,919 Speaker 1: stand trial. Rhoda and Sammy openly wept, while others had 399 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,119 Speaker 1: difficulty with the court's finding that she was clinically insane. 400 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: A New York Tribune journalist sat before her and jotted 401 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 1: down notes. Despite the ruling of insanity, a grand jury 402 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: still convicted the entire group. Sammy was found guilty of murder, 403 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: while Rhoda and the other followers were convicted as accessories. 404 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:14,639 Speaker 1: Before and after the fact, naturally, Rhoda was happy to 405 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,880 Speaker 1: tell her side of the story, how her followers were 406 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: simply trying to save her and all of humanity. Killing 407 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:23,159 Speaker 1: Justice had been the only way to rid him of 408 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:27,119 Speaker 1: the evil inside him. She claimed that sadly, when Justice 409 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 1: had died, the evil spirit inside him had left and 410 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: had spread far and wide into the world. She settled 411 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: back in her seat and offered the reporter one last 412 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: bit of advice for his readers. Those who remained devoted 413 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,360 Speaker 1: to her had no need to worry, though. As long 414 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: as they remained free, they would continue to seek out 415 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: more men of evil, and if they found them, that 416 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:53,919 Speaker 1: each be put to death. Until then, she cheerfully urged 417 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: readers should brew a strong cup, of which Hazel t 418 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,920 Speaker 1: There's more to this story. Stick around after this brief 419 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 1: sponsor break to hear all about it. His outfit was colorful. 420 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: The green military frock coat was made from the finest cloth, 421 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:23,240 Speaker 1: lined with silk, patterned with gold braids and of all 422 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:27,320 Speaker 1: things frogs. His black silk vest matched the black leather 423 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,480 Speaker 1: cap inverted like a cone. His sash was a deep crimson, 424 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 1: and his pantaloons, a type of close fitting pant fastened 425 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: at the calf, were either green or black. The choice 426 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 1: depended on the weather, as did his footwear, either sandals 427 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:46,080 Speaker 1: or meticulously polished Wellington boots. As eye catching as it was, 428 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: none of those were as important to him as the 429 00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:52,000 Speaker 1: fine double edged sword he wore, and even that paled 430 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: compared to the iron rod he carried, the rod he 431 00:27:55,400 --> 00:28:00,679 Speaker 1: believed was instrumental in ruling the world. Orphan at seven 432 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 1: and raised by strict elders of the Presbyterian Church, Robert 433 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,720 Speaker 1: Matthews spent a brief stint as a shopkeeper, a husband, 434 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: and a father, but all that held him back from 435 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:15,240 Speaker 1: what he considered his true calling and pursuit spiritual perfection 436 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:19,920 Speaker 1: and religious truth. He preached to anyone whould listen, mostly 437 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: about doomsday. Customers and then employers found his outbursts and 438 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:27,959 Speaker 1: fits of violent rage more than a little frightening, which, 439 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,360 Speaker 1: as you might guess, made earning a living difficult. Lack 440 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,240 Speaker 1: of employment kept his family in poverty, though he was 441 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: adamant that it was his wife's fault, not his, not 442 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: just regarding the jobs either. She was his undoing for 443 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 1: everything that went wrong, and he kept a rawhide strap 444 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: to beat her with. He was certain his wife was 445 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:52,160 Speaker 1: filled with evil spirits. He had tried to join an 446 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: evangelical Christian church in Argyle, New York, but like the 447 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: customers and employers, the congregation there found his laziness, fits 448 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 1: of rage and violence abhorrent. On June eighteen thirty, he 449 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: was arrested for disrupting service. After his release, he moved 450 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: to Manhattan, leaving his family behind. He preached on street corners, 451 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: asking people to address him as the prophet Matthias. His 452 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: message was that of a male dominated kingdom of God 453 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,200 Speaker 1: with him as the king on earth. He had learned 454 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:28,440 Speaker 1: of another prophet, though one with a large following so, 455 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: on the first Saturday in May of eighteen thirty two, 456 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: Matthias paid him a visit at his apartment on Fourth Street. 457 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 1: That's where Elijah Pearson the Tish Bite lived with his servant, 458 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: a formerly enslaved woman named Isabella Bomfree. Soon enough, Pearson 459 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: became convinced that he was Matthias's John the Baptist, paving 460 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: the way for someone greater than himself. The following Sunday, 461 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: Pearson gave a sermon to his followers, then turned them 462 00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,800 Speaker 1: all over to Matthias, and the hand off couldn't have 463 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 1: been more timely. Soon, Pearson's health began to deteriorate. He 464 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: found himself experiencing nervous fits that only worsened over time, 465 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 1: But Matthias wouldn't allow doctors to treat him, insisting that 466 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,760 Speaker 1: Pearson's problem was an infestation of demons that must be vanquished. 467 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 1: Pearson never preached again, fully surrendering his pulpit to Matthias. 468 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: Determined to set up in his own style, Matthias convinced 469 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: one follower named Benjamin Folger to give him a plot 470 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 1: of land just north of the Hudson River. He led 471 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: his followers to the parcel and christened it Mount Zion. 472 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:39,280 Speaker 1: There he assigned sexual partners as casually as dolling out shores. 473 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: Matthias moved in with Pearson and on July thirty four, 474 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: fed him two plates of blackberries for his dinner. Immediately, 475 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: Pearson fell violently ill. Once more, doctors were turned away, 476 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: both men stating that only prayer would save Pearson. That night, 477 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 1: Matthias left Pearson lying in his own vomit and excrement, 478 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: and by morning the man was dead. Pearson was autopsied, 479 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: and doctors determined that he had been poisoned. Matthias, having 480 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 1: quickly been abandoned by his followers, found that only two 481 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: remained loyal, Benjamin Folger and Isabella bomb Free. In fact, 482 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 1: when Matthias was arrested, it was Isabella who helped secure 483 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,000 Speaker 1: lawyers for him, but Folger had other plans for Isabella. 484 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 1: He spread rumors that she had once tried to poison 485 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: his coffee, trying to throw suspicion on her. Angry Isabella 486 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:39,320 Speaker 1: retaliated by filing a slander suit against him. Foulger didn't 487 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: worry about it much. He was confident that no white 488 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: male jury would believe the word of a black woman. 489 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,320 Speaker 1: But he was wrong about that. Isabella one, and the 490 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:50,720 Speaker 1: court granted her a hundred and twenty five dollars, which 491 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:55,680 Speaker 1: is roughly four thousand today. During Pearson's murder trial, one 492 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:59,240 Speaker 1: of the doctors unexpectedly withdrew his earlier statement of poison, 493 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:03,160 Speaker 1: claim ing had found no such evidence of arsenic. Without 494 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:07,440 Speaker 1: enough proof against him, Matthias was ultimately released. He quickly 495 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: fled New York and headed west. Isabella, however, stood her 496 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,880 Speaker 1: ground and stayed in New York, and she was used 497 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 1: to fighting for herself. The lawsuit against Fulger hadn't been 498 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: her first either. She had previously sued her former owner, 499 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,960 Speaker 1: a man who had illegally sold her son, Peter. A 500 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: white family helped intervene, and together they took the man 501 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,520 Speaker 1: to court to win her son back. The case made 502 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: her one of the first black women to take a 503 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:36,560 Speaker 1: white man to court and win. In eighteen forty three, 504 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 1: Isabella found a different spiritual calling. She became an activist 505 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 1: for women's rights and a staunch supporter of the abolition 506 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 1: of slavery, and along the way, she changed her name, 507 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 1: a name that just about every history book includes. Sojourner 508 00:32:52,640 --> 00:33:02,760 Speaker 1: Truth American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode 509 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: was written by Michelle Muto with researcher Robin Miniter, and 510 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers 511 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: Aaron Minky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more 512 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,640 Speaker 1: about the show, visit grim and mil dot com. For 513 00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart 514 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.