Matthew 24:4-5
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
George Schweinfurths's "Heaven" Cult in Rockford
By 1890 the city’s lone bridge across the river (the State Street bridge) had become a bottleneck for the increasing traffic between the east and west banks. In that year the Morgen Street Bridge was built and the construction of the present girder bridge on State Street was begun. The city had 130 miles of sidewalks and more than 100 miles of streets, 14.5 miles of which had been “opened and turnpiked” within a year. Except for a short strip of 1730 feet of woodblock laid in 1889 on East State Street, these thoroughfares had no modern paving.
In 1890, however, 1,775 feet of West State Street and 3,770 feet of South Main Street were paved with cedar blocks. In the connection the Morning Star said: There is no need for a single individual in Rockford to be out of work. The contractors who are paving South Main Street are kept back because of their inability to hire a sufficient force. So if you are out of a job and want work, call today and good wages will be given you.
Three days later the block paving from the Chicago and Iowa (now the Burlington) Railroad station north to Elm Street as afloat because of a cloudburst. Two houses drifted down Kent Creek and smashed into the Winnebago Street viaduct. Ten bridges across Kent and Keith creeks were destroyed and others were damaged to the extent of $15,000. The total losses suffered by Rockford and Illinois Central Railroad Company was estimated at $3000,000.
The responsibility for this misfortune was assumed by red-bearded George Jacob Schweinfurth, prophet and “Second Christ” of the Beckmanites, a religious cult that had gained considerable prominence in the Middle West. When interviewed by a reporter, Prophet Schweinfurth solemnly declared that he had visited the cloudburst upon Rockford as punishment for the city’s sinfulness and it’s scornful attitude toward his cult.
Schweinfurt’s “heaven”, the headquarters of the cult, was located on the Weldon farm six miles southwest of Rockford, near Winnebago. Here, surrounded by a court of “angels’ selected from among the most comely feminine converts, the self-proclaimed “Christ reincarnated” performed “miracles”, preached his strange doctrines, and ruled his little flock in regal style. Schweinfurth averred he had inherited the divine spirit from its previous possessor, Mrs. Dora Beekman, wife of J.C. Beekman, pastor of the Second Congregational Church at Byron, Illinois.
In 1873, Mrs. Beekman had experienced revelations which convinced her that Christ had been reincarnated in her form. Inspired by this fancy she left her husband and went to Alpena, Michigan, to establish a church and seek converts. Schweinfurth, then a young Methodist preacher in Alpena, became her principal convert and returned with her to Illinois. In 1882 Mrs. Beekman and Schweinfurth converted the Weldon family and took over the large farm with its spacious dwelling and fine farm buildings to establish a small colony and the seat of their new religion.
Mrs. Beekman died in 1883, and although the cultists were disappointed when she failed to arise from the dead in three days, their faith remained firm when Schweinfurth explained that Mrs. Beekman’s spirit had passed into his body. Once established as the new Messiah, Schweinfurth proved himself to be a businessman as well as a prophet. He remodeled the house and out-buildings, which still bear vestiges of red paint that he selected for their adornment, outfitted the house with the finest furniture, and stocked the farm with purebred cattle and horses.
For nearly twenty years Rockford was alternately amused and shocked by stories of the scandalous events enacted at “heaven”. Non-believers who lived on farms in the neighborhood of “heaven” declared that the behavior of the “angels” was frequently at variance with angelic tradition. Missionaries of the cult attested to miracles performed by their leader. Members of the colony openly avowed that the red-haired children of several of the loveliest of the angels were sired by the Holy Ghost. Schweinfurth dressed in the height of fashion and drove spirited horses on his frequent visits to Rockford.
At the Weldon farm he headed a colony of about twenty-five persons, most of whom were merely workers who enjoyed no special privilege and lived on dry bread and mush. The favored members of the flock and the prophet himself, ate the best of foods. Twice each week the “angels” donned flesh colored tights to dance and stage tableaus authored by Schweinfurth. Some of the tableaus were biblical in character, others historical, and still others purely Schweinfurthian.
The prophet’s Sunday sermons were recorded by stenographers and typewritten copies were mailed to the lesser “heavens” where they were read the following Sunday. To Rockford’s embarrassment, the cult attracted nation-wide attention. Typical of the character of the articles published is that in the Chicago Daily Tribune of May, 29, 1892, describing the ceremony at “heaven” which welcomed Schweinfurth home from his missionary tours: “The woods were scoured and stripped of every blossoms, florists at Rockford were called on for elaborate displays. One hour before he was expected, the prettiest damsels, decked in gala attire, carpeted the road for a mile with flowers. The heavenly host met him two miles from the house, unhitched the horses from the carriage that bore his sacred person, and attaching a rope covered with evergreen, hauled him to the abode that was lonely when he was away. Cheers rent the air as the procession moved over the flower-strewn road. Old Deacon Weldon was standing on the front step and as soon as a halt was called, the deacon advanced with stately step and placed a gilt paper crown over Schweinfurth’s pompadour and stentoriously shouted ‘Hail, thou mighty King, thou the Almighty God.’
Then the true revelry broke loose. All the pretty girls in short dresses, very short ones too, danced until they could dance no more. Fiddlers fiddles, an angel who expected to be chief harper in New Jerusalem harped until several strings broke. The welcome ended in a grand feast that evening, at which wine flowed like water--for Schweinfurth and his favorites--the rest of the poor devils ate dry bread and cold mush. “ In the late nineties (1890’s) Schweinfurth was brought into court and accused of taking money and property from coverts who were required to surrender all their worldly goods to the cult. Found guilty, he was forced to return most of the real estate he had accumulated. In 1900 he disbanded his flock and moved to Rockford, engaging in the real estate business for several years. Later he moved to Chicago where he died in 1910.
--(compiled by WORKERS OF THE WRITER'S PROGRAM of the WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION in the State of Illinois--1941)
About the same time the new Swedish Lutheran churches were being built on 6th Street, a religious sect called the Beekmanites moved to a farm southwest of Rockford, and soon gave the county nationwide notoriety.In 1877 the wife of Rev. J.C. Beekman, a pastor of the Congregational church at Byron, in neighboring Ogle County, became possessed of religious vagaries. One of these was that Christ at his second coming had become reincarnated in Mrs. Beekman. She died in 1883 and even though she failed to rise from the dead on the third day, here followers’ faith was not shaken.One of here followers was George Jacob Schweinfurth, a former Methodist minister from Michigan who had been converted by Mrs. Beekman.The followers transferred the “membership” to Schweinfurth.The “Church of the Redeemed” or “The Church Triumphant,” as the sect was called, moved into Winnebago County in 1882, and by 1887 there were 300 followers. There were churches as far away as Kansas City and Buena Vista, Colo.Schweinfurth came under fire on immorality charges about 1890 and renounced the cult altogether in 1900. His following disintegrated and he died in obscurity 10 years later.
--by George Depew, from Sinnissippi Saga, Nelson, C. Hal, 1968
QUEER MINNESOTA SECT
THEY THINK HEAVEN IS NEAR AN ILLINOIS TOWN
St. Charles, Minn., April 29.--The Beekmanites are very much alive again. Quite a delegation of them have been down to Rockford, Ill., dedicating the temple which has recently been erected there to their prophet, George H. Schweinfurth. They have come back here to St. Charles, which they call Jerusalem, fully imbued with the faith that they are apostles of Christ, (Schweinfurth) sent forth to Jerusalem to convert the Gentiles, as they call all other church denominations. They claim that the locality near Rockford, where his temple is erected, is heaven and that they were in heaven while they were there.
In accordance with the mission that was allotted to these apostles they caused quite a sensation a few days ago when they divided into three delegations of three each and visited the various prayer meeting that were being held that evening and gave their testimony for Schweinfurth. At the Congregational Church Mr. Kidder, the pastor, suspecting their intentions, kept the exercises moving in such rapid succession that the apostles did not have a chance to put in a word, and therefore remained quiet until after the meeting closed, when they turned their attention to the pastor’s wife, using their most powerful arguments and persuasions for her conversion.
The pastor made haste to get his horse and carriage and then took his wife home. This closed the demonstrations for that evening, but there is prospect for more sensational proceedings in the future, as one of the apostles said to-day that it would be their duty to continue to go into the Gentile church and disseminate the new light. Some of the church people are talking of a forcible ejection if the apostles come again.
--The New York Times, April 30, 1889
GEORGE JACOB SCHWEINFURTH
The above picture is an extremely good likeness of George Jacob Schweinfurth, the pseudo-Christ, and it has a history. One of his most intimate followers is an amateur photographer. She lives in the immediate family of the pseudo-Christ, on Weldon farm, near Rockford, Ill., and as a special favor Schweinfurth allowed her to take a portrait of him to be kept simply for himself. No matter by what influence, a print was procured made from the negative of this, the only photograph of Schweinfurth in existence. He takes special pains to present copies being made, and has positively refused to sit for any photographer but the female follower aforesaid.
The above portrait was made direct from a copy of her picture, and is the first authentic likeness of the pseudo-Christ that has appeared. A man that makes the claims and has the wealth and following which Schweinfurth has is a subject of universal curiosity. The reader will be interested to learn that his eyes are light blue, his hair is reddish auburn; his beard, sandy red; his complexion, very fair. Schweinfurth is of medium height and spare form. In manner he is quiet and retiring. The photograph which is the original of the above picture was taken less than three months ago.
Schweinfurth is the head of the community of a sect founded fifteen years ago by Mrs. Dora Beekman, wife of a Congregational minister, who pretended that she possessed the attributes of the risen Lord. The central church of her followers was at Byron, near Rockford. After a curiously changeable career Schweinfurth became on of her followers, and finally head of the sect she founded, which has churches at Chicago, St. Charles, Minneapolis, Paw Paw, Louisville, Leavenworth and Kansas City, and members scattered in many other places. The headquarters at Weldon farm are sumptuously furnished, and the property, which is Schweinfurth’s, is said to be worth half a millions dollars.
The man who claims to be Christ in His second advent and the Almighty God, and who finds many people willing to believe these pretensions, was born at Marion, Marion county, Ohio, of German parents, in 1853. He was variously occupied up to 1873 and 1874, when he taught school near Jackson, Mich. In 1975 he ended his own school days at Evanston, Ill., and in 1876 he went to Francisco, Mich. Later he went to his birthplace, where he made up his mind to be a preacher. He entered the Detroit Methodist conference on trial in 1877. His first and only appointment from a Methodist conference was in 1877 to Alpena mission, Mich. At the conference of 1878, held at Ann Arbor, a committee recommended his discontinuance as a minister on trial. Schweinfurth has never been a Methodist minister. His adherence to the faith taught by Mrs. Dora Beekman brought his progress towards admission to the Methodist ministry to a standstill. Scandalous statements as to Schweinfurth’s relations with his female disciples appear to be unfounded.
--Wisconsin State Journal, 07-26-1889
SCHWEINFURTH DID IT
So He Says--It was His Flood--Unless Repentance Come at Once the Overthrow of the City will be Completed in Due Time
George Jacob Schweinfurth, the later Lord, came to the city Saturday afternoon, sleek and well fed. When he had finished some business he had on hand he drove around to the different points made interesting by the wreck of the previous night and looked at the havoc wrought with evident satisfaction. There is probably no other living person who could view the wreck and ruin with feelings akin to pleasure. But with Schweinfurth it was a matter of business. He had predicted the destruction of Rockford because the people refused to acknowledge his divinity, and here was an opportunity for the bogus savior to make capital that he had never dreamed of in his philosophy. He will not be slow to avail himself of it, and doubtless many persons in whom the sap never stops running will be influences by the sacrilegious rot that he will unburden himself of. He claimed Saturday that he was responsible for the flood and destruction, and that if the people did not at once turn from their sins the havoc next time would be complete and final. It is astonishing, however, that the wicked reporters, who have been holding his whickers up to contumely without ruth or compunction, were allowed to go unscathed, except being compelled to chase around with unwonted activity to get the facts. The substance of his regular Sunday discourse yesterday was directed to the calamity and its warning.
“I am the defender of the truth, and the truth must be established though the heavens fall and every city in the land be washed away. Men revile me, but beloved, when I was upon the earth before it was the same. History and tradition may be explored in vain for a parallel to my character, and this devastating flood, which has fulfilled my prophecy, proves that in the annals of modern greatness I stand alone. The noblest names of antiquity lost their luster in my presence. Called of the Most High, He has endowed me with all the qualities necessary to an illustrious career. I was made, but I made myself virtuous.
“Beloved, have I not triumphantly vindicated my divine claim? I have poured out the vials of my righteous wrath upon the unholy city and its unhallowed people. Unless they repent and believe me I will destroy them utterly. They must confess that my power and glory transcend that of all living en and that of all the great characters o history. Instead of applying the scourge of vindictiveness men must view me as the ornament of the century. Thus may they awaken themselves from total destruction. Rockford has now had an evidence of my supreme power. Let her harken to the warning ere it be too late.
“Beloved, beneath the shelter of my wing the woeful heart may be at ease. The clouds of anguish penetrate this secure retreat. The poisonous breath of calumny and the envenomed tongue of slander here lose their corroding influence. The sympathetic mind, agonized by distress and unable to support the storm of ill-fortune, here sinks into the placid enjoyment of uninterrupted tranquility. Oppressed virtue finds a secure asylum from overbearing greatness, and the upbraiding voice of proud opulence is no longer painful to its object. The distinctions in society, which consign merit to oblivion and raise the worthless from the dust, are here broken and destroyed Unfeeling pride is disrobed of its splendid covering and the gorgeous mantle I torn from the shoulders of the undeserving. The victim of malevolence, who essays in vain to parry the thrusts of unmerited obloquy, finds that in this secure and safe retreat the dagger of contumely wounds not and the thundering voice of ridicule passes harmlessly. Within the fold the whole walk and life of the saint is such that she can welcome with joyous aspect the closing period. We will now rise and sing:
‘Here, Lord, I give myself away
‘Tis all that I can do.’”
--Rockford Daily Register, 06-16-1890
SATAN INCARNATE
SUCH IS SCHWEINFURTH THE FALSE PROPHET
A Den of Sin at Rockford, Ill., Presided Over by One Who Claims to Be the Messiah-The Revelations of an Escaped Inmate
Rockford, Ill, August 10--Disclosures made here today give reasons for hope that “Rev.” Mr. Schweinfurth and his colony of deluded followers may soon be brought face to face with prosecution at the bar of justice. For over a year past a Mrs. Kinnehan has been an inmate of Schweinfurth’s retreat on the Weldon farm. Yesterday afternoon, disgusted with the place, and what she declares to be the disreputable practices indulged in there, she left and came to this city with her little boy, arriving in the evening. Mrs. Kinnehan, on reaching Rockford, went at once to home of a family living on North Second street. She was seen there by the correspondent, and declared that she had seen enough of Schweinfurth and his “heaven” to convince her that no self respecting and sane woman could live there. For some time she had been growing suspicious that all was not right, but within the past few days she made up her mind to leave, and yesterday carried her resolve into execution.
“I have had an experience that will last me a lifetime,: she said. “Schweinfurth, I believe, is Satan in sheep’s clothing, I am convinced that his relations with other women there are of the most unholy nature, and that while the rest are deceived he is a villain, a fraud and a licentious and immoral reprobate.”
“How were your suspicions first aroused?” asked the correspondent.
“The first I thought very strange was that a female inmate went into Schweinfurth’s room nearly every night and remained there some time. He excuse made for it was that he was suffering always from a headache, that his head was so heated he could not sleep, and she attended him, administering cracked ice and cold cloths. She would stay there until early morning, when she would be relieved by her brother. I remarked that if he was the Lord he ought to be able to dispel his head trouble, but he said that his disciples gave him so much trouble that his head was affected.”
“What else did he do that seemed out of the line of propriety?”
“Well, when he was tired in the day he used to go into the room of another woman and he down on her bed. He tried to explain this by saying tat he wanted to get away from the noise.”
Here Mrs. Kinnehan became somewhat confused in manner, and seemed averse to proceeding with her disclosures. After being urged to tell all she knew, however, she added:
“Some time ago I became convinced that one of these women was enceinte. I spoke to Mr. Schweinfurth about it, and after a moment’s hesitation he said: ’it is true. It is the work of the Holy Ghost. If you were entirely redeemed and sanctified you would understand it. There can be no sin in her, and the race is thus propagated without the carnal relation.’ I confess, I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it, even though I tried.”
“Then they did acknowledge without reserve that the girl’s condition was as you suspected?”
“Of course they did. They could not help it. Did we not all have eyes? I would not be surprised to find the child born any moment. Besides that they have a Dr. Smith stopping there whom he brought from Kansas City, I suppose in order that no Rockford doctor need be called, and thus the matter gain publicity.”
“Are there any illegitimate children there?”
“One woman, who has been separated from her husband for years, has two children, a girl aged about three and a boy of four. When I asked her how she came by these children, though husbandless, she said” ’They are the children of the Holy Ghost. They were conceived without sin and born holy into the world’ I didn’t say ‘rats’ to that, though I might have thought it. But I did tell her that such things were beyond my limit of faith. Then she said: “Oh, hush? When such wicked doubts enter your mind don’t give way to them. Simply believe and trust; it’s all that you can do.”
“Did Schweinfurth every make any improper advances to you.”
“No, he knew better. He is a very sharp man. He knew that he had not yet won my soul fully. I went there a year ago in April, and I had reached the time when I must give up my life, my soul, my all to him; when I must have no thought of my own, no will of my own, no aspirations of my own; when, as he teaches, to be fully redeemed I must live only to execute his will and obey his pleasure. Then, as with my opened at last to the infamy of the place, I decided to leave and if possible to get back my husband and live again a life of devotion to my home, my husband, and my child.
“Do you know where he is?”
“I have been told that he is working in a watch factory at Canton, O. I shall write to him tonight, and I do hope he’ll come here and forgive me. He used to send $20 and $25 every month for the support of my child. I gave it all over to Schweinfurth as tithes. I have not a cent and only my clothing.”
“Are there man of these fully redeemed angels in ‘heaven?’”
“There are only two that are claimed to be perfectly holy and sinless. They are the two of whom I have spoken?”
Mrs. Kinnehan went on to describe the drudgery to which all the female inmates except Schweinfurth’s favorites are subjected. She was assigned to kitchen work, and frequently toiled form 7 in the morning till 10 at night. The bogus messiah always had the best of everything at table, but confined his foolish followers to meager rations, telling them they should learn to deny themselves. Mrs. Kinnehan is thoroughly disenchanted ad declared that Schweinfurt’s “heaven” deserves the attention of the police. She is ready to give evidence regarding what she had seen and heard
--Wheeling Register, W.V, 08-11-1890
MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN
WILBUR BALDWIN AND MARY E. HEMSEN UNITED
A wedding ceremony of considerable interest to Rockfordites because of the surroundings in which it took place was that of Wilbur L. Balwin and Miss Mary E. Remsen, solemnized at 'heaven,' on the Weldon farm.
The groom is a Chicago man and comes to this city to claim as his bride Mary E. Remsen, of the Schweinfurth colony. George Jacob Schweinfurth himself secured the license for the couple yesterday and they will have the congratulatoins of all who know them.
--Rockford Republic, April 18, 1900
(NO HEADLINE)
George Jacob Schweinfurth, of Rockford, Illinois has for about fifteen years claimed that he was the Messiah. We once saw a letter from his quoting the Scripture, “I that speak to thee am he,” which he applied to himself. He has recently confessed his error in part, and in part he explains that others claimed him to be the Messiah, which he disclaimed. But now his caprice has carried him over to Mrs. Eddy and the enormous error of Christian Science. When men are without true religion they go from one ereror to another, but Christian Science is self-condemned and contradictory.
--from the Christian Conservator, date unknown
(NO HEADLINE)
About eighteen years ago, or in June, 1890, came the "Schweinfurth cloudburst." when over 3inches of rain fell in less than twenty-four hours. It was at this time much damage was done by the rain, and the "Messiah" was prominent in these parts. He had been before the public prominently and declared some great happening would befall the people, not for their good. A few days later came the heavy rain and this was dubbed the "Schweinfurth cloudburst" and it certainly did much damage
--Rockford Morning Star, 06-04-1908
By 1890 the city’s lone bridge across the river (the State Street bridge) had become a bottleneck for the increasing traffic between the east and west banks. In that year the Morgen Street Bridge was built and the construction of the present girder bridge on State Street was begun. The city had 130 miles of sidewalks and more than 100 miles of streets, 14.5 miles of which had been “opened and turnpiked” within a year. Except for a short strip of 1730 feet of woodblock laid in 1889 on East State Street, these thoroughfares had no modern paving.
In 1890, however, 1,775 feet of West State Street and 3,770 feet of South Main Street were paved with cedar blocks. In the connection the Morning Star said: There is no need for a single individual in Rockford to be out of work. The contractors who are paving South Main Street are kept back because of their inability to hire a sufficient force. So if you are out of a job and want work, call today and good wages will be given you.
Three days later the block paving from the Chicago and Iowa (now the Burlington) Railroad station north to Elm Street as afloat because of a cloudburst. Two houses drifted down Kent Creek and smashed into the Winnebago Street viaduct. Ten bridges across Kent and Keith creeks were destroyed and others were damaged to the extent of $15,000. The total losses suffered by Rockford and Illinois Central Railroad Company was estimated at $3000,000.
The responsibility for this misfortune was assumed by red-bearded George Jacob Schweinfurth, prophet and “Second Christ” of the Beckmanites, a religious cult that had gained considerable prominence in the Middle West. When interviewed by a reporter, Prophet Schweinfurth solemnly declared that he had visited the cloudburst upon Rockford as punishment for the city’s sinfulness and it’s scornful attitude toward his cult.
Schweinfurt’s “heaven”, the headquarters of the cult, was located on the Weldon farm six miles southwest of Rockford, near Winnebago. Here, surrounded by a court of “angels’ selected from among the most comely feminine converts, the self-proclaimed “Christ reincarnated” performed “miracles”, preached his strange doctrines, and ruled his little flock in regal style. Schweinfurth averred he had inherited the divine spirit from its previous possessor, Mrs. Dora Beekman, wife of J.C. Beekman, pastor of the Second Congregational Church at Byron, Illinois.
In 1873, Mrs. Beekman had experienced revelations which convinced her that Christ had been reincarnated in her form. Inspired by this fancy she left her husband and went to Alpena, Michigan, to establish a church and seek converts. Schweinfurth, then a young Methodist preacher in Alpena, became her principal convert and returned with her to Illinois. In 1882 Mrs. Beekman and Schweinfurth converted the Weldon family and took over the large farm with its spacious dwelling and fine farm buildings to establish a small colony and the seat of their new religion.
Mrs. Beekman died in 1883, and although the cultists were disappointed when she failed to arise from the dead in three days, their faith remained firm when Schweinfurth explained that Mrs. Beekman’s spirit had passed into his body. Once established as the new Messiah, Schweinfurth proved himself to be a businessman as well as a prophet. He remodeled the house and out-buildings, which still bear vestiges of red paint that he selected for their adornment, outfitted the house with the finest furniture, and stocked the farm with purebred cattle and horses.
For nearly twenty years Rockford was alternately amused and shocked by stories of the scandalous events enacted at “heaven”. Non-believers who lived on farms in the neighborhood of “heaven” declared that the behavior of the “angels” was frequently at variance with angelic tradition. Missionaries of the cult attested to miracles performed by their leader. Members of the colony openly avowed that the red-haired children of several of the loveliest of the angels were sired by the Holy Ghost. Schweinfurth dressed in the height of fashion and drove spirited horses on his frequent visits to Rockford.
At the Weldon farm he headed a colony of about twenty-five persons, most of whom were merely workers who enjoyed no special privilege and lived on dry bread and mush. The favored members of the flock and the prophet himself, ate the best of foods. Twice each week the “angels” donned flesh colored tights to dance and stage tableaus authored by Schweinfurth. Some of the tableaus were biblical in character, others historical, and still others purely Schweinfurthian.
The prophet’s Sunday sermons were recorded by stenographers and typewritten copies were mailed to the lesser “heavens” where they were read the following Sunday. To Rockford’s embarrassment, the cult attracted nation-wide attention. Typical of the character of the articles published is that in the Chicago Daily Tribune of May, 29, 1892, describing the ceremony at “heaven” which welcomed Schweinfurth home from his missionary tours: “The woods were scoured and stripped of every blossoms, florists at Rockford were called on for elaborate displays. One hour before he was expected, the prettiest damsels, decked in gala attire, carpeted the road for a mile with flowers. The heavenly host met him two miles from the house, unhitched the horses from the carriage that bore his sacred person, and attaching a rope covered with evergreen, hauled him to the abode that was lonely when he was away. Cheers rent the air as the procession moved over the flower-strewn road. Old Deacon Weldon was standing on the front step and as soon as a halt was called, the deacon advanced with stately step and placed a gilt paper crown over Schweinfurth’s pompadour and stentoriously shouted ‘Hail, thou mighty King, thou the Almighty God.’
Then the true revelry broke loose. All the pretty girls in short dresses, very short ones too, danced until they could dance no more. Fiddlers fiddles, an angel who expected to be chief harper in New Jerusalem harped until several strings broke. The welcome ended in a grand feast that evening, at which wine flowed like water--for Schweinfurth and his favorites--the rest of the poor devils ate dry bread and cold mush. “ In the late nineties (1890’s) Schweinfurth was brought into court and accused of taking money and property from coverts who were required to surrender all their worldly goods to the cult. Found guilty, he was forced to return most of the real estate he had accumulated. In 1900 he disbanded his flock and moved to Rockford, engaging in the real estate business for several years. Later he moved to Chicago where he died in 1910.
--(compiled by WORKERS OF THE WRITER'S PROGRAM of the WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION in the State of Illinois--1941)
About the same time the new Swedish Lutheran churches were being built on 6th Street, a religious sect called the Beekmanites moved to a farm southwest of Rockford, and soon gave the county nationwide notoriety.In 1877 the wife of Rev. J.C. Beekman, a pastor of the Congregational church at Byron, in neighboring Ogle County, became possessed of religious vagaries. One of these was that Christ at his second coming had become reincarnated in Mrs. Beekman. She died in 1883 and even though she failed to rise from the dead on the third day, here followers’ faith was not shaken.One of here followers was George Jacob Schweinfurth, a former Methodist minister from Michigan who had been converted by Mrs. Beekman.The followers transferred the “membership” to Schweinfurth.The “Church of the Redeemed” or “The Church Triumphant,” as the sect was called, moved into Winnebago County in 1882, and by 1887 there were 300 followers. There were churches as far away as Kansas City and Buena Vista, Colo.Schweinfurth came under fire on immorality charges about 1890 and renounced the cult altogether in 1900. His following disintegrated and he died in obscurity 10 years later.
--by George Depew, from Sinnissippi Saga, Nelson, C. Hal, 1968
QUEER MINNESOTA SECT
THEY THINK HEAVEN IS NEAR AN ILLINOIS TOWN
St. Charles, Minn., April 29.--The Beekmanites are very much alive again. Quite a delegation of them have been down to Rockford, Ill., dedicating the temple which has recently been erected there to their prophet, George H. Schweinfurth. They have come back here to St. Charles, which they call Jerusalem, fully imbued with the faith that they are apostles of Christ, (Schweinfurth) sent forth to Jerusalem to convert the Gentiles, as they call all other church denominations. They claim that the locality near Rockford, where his temple is erected, is heaven and that they were in heaven while they were there.
In accordance with the mission that was allotted to these apostles they caused quite a sensation a few days ago when they divided into three delegations of three each and visited the various prayer meeting that were being held that evening and gave their testimony for Schweinfurth. At the Congregational Church Mr. Kidder, the pastor, suspecting their intentions, kept the exercises moving in such rapid succession that the apostles did not have a chance to put in a word, and therefore remained quiet until after the meeting closed, when they turned their attention to the pastor’s wife, using their most powerful arguments and persuasions for her conversion.
The pastor made haste to get his horse and carriage and then took his wife home. This closed the demonstrations for that evening, but there is prospect for more sensational proceedings in the future, as one of the apostles said to-day that it would be their duty to continue to go into the Gentile church and disseminate the new light. Some of the church people are talking of a forcible ejection if the apostles come again.
--The New York Times, April 30, 1889
GEORGE JACOB SCHWEINFURTH
The above picture is an extremely good likeness of George Jacob Schweinfurth, the pseudo-Christ, and it has a history. One of his most intimate followers is an amateur photographer. She lives in the immediate family of the pseudo-Christ, on Weldon farm, near Rockford, Ill., and as a special favor Schweinfurth allowed her to take a portrait of him to be kept simply for himself. No matter by what influence, a print was procured made from the negative of this, the only photograph of Schweinfurth in existence. He takes special pains to present copies being made, and has positively refused to sit for any photographer but the female follower aforesaid.
The above portrait was made direct from a copy of her picture, and is the first authentic likeness of the pseudo-Christ that has appeared. A man that makes the claims and has the wealth and following which Schweinfurth has is a subject of universal curiosity. The reader will be interested to learn that his eyes are light blue, his hair is reddish auburn; his beard, sandy red; his complexion, very fair. Schweinfurth is of medium height and spare form. In manner he is quiet and retiring. The photograph which is the original of the above picture was taken less than three months ago.
Schweinfurth is the head of the community of a sect founded fifteen years ago by Mrs. Dora Beekman, wife of a Congregational minister, who pretended that she possessed the attributes of the risen Lord. The central church of her followers was at Byron, near Rockford. After a curiously changeable career Schweinfurth became on of her followers, and finally head of the sect she founded, which has churches at Chicago, St. Charles, Minneapolis, Paw Paw, Louisville, Leavenworth and Kansas City, and members scattered in many other places. The headquarters at Weldon farm are sumptuously furnished, and the property, which is Schweinfurth’s, is said to be worth half a millions dollars.
The man who claims to be Christ in His second advent and the Almighty God, and who finds many people willing to believe these pretensions, was born at Marion, Marion county, Ohio, of German parents, in 1853. He was variously occupied up to 1873 and 1874, when he taught school near Jackson, Mich. In 1975 he ended his own school days at Evanston, Ill., and in 1876 he went to Francisco, Mich. Later he went to his birthplace, where he made up his mind to be a preacher. He entered the Detroit Methodist conference on trial in 1877. His first and only appointment from a Methodist conference was in 1877 to Alpena mission, Mich. At the conference of 1878, held at Ann Arbor, a committee recommended his discontinuance as a minister on trial. Schweinfurth has never been a Methodist minister. His adherence to the faith taught by Mrs. Dora Beekman brought his progress towards admission to the Methodist ministry to a standstill. Scandalous statements as to Schweinfurth’s relations with his female disciples appear to be unfounded.
--Wisconsin State Journal, 07-26-1889
SCHWEINFURTH DID IT
So He Says--It was His Flood--Unless Repentance Come at Once the Overthrow of the City will be Completed in Due Time
George Jacob Schweinfurth, the later Lord, came to the city Saturday afternoon, sleek and well fed. When he had finished some business he had on hand he drove around to the different points made interesting by the wreck of the previous night and looked at the havoc wrought with evident satisfaction. There is probably no other living person who could view the wreck and ruin with feelings akin to pleasure. But with Schweinfurth it was a matter of business. He had predicted the destruction of Rockford because the people refused to acknowledge his divinity, and here was an opportunity for the bogus savior to make capital that he had never dreamed of in his philosophy. He will not be slow to avail himself of it, and doubtless many persons in whom the sap never stops running will be influences by the sacrilegious rot that he will unburden himself of. He claimed Saturday that he was responsible for the flood and destruction, and that if the people did not at once turn from their sins the havoc next time would be complete and final. It is astonishing, however, that the wicked reporters, who have been holding his whickers up to contumely without ruth or compunction, were allowed to go unscathed, except being compelled to chase around with unwonted activity to get the facts. The substance of his regular Sunday discourse yesterday was directed to the calamity and its warning.
“I am the defender of the truth, and the truth must be established though the heavens fall and every city in the land be washed away. Men revile me, but beloved, when I was upon the earth before it was the same. History and tradition may be explored in vain for a parallel to my character, and this devastating flood, which has fulfilled my prophecy, proves that in the annals of modern greatness I stand alone. The noblest names of antiquity lost their luster in my presence. Called of the Most High, He has endowed me with all the qualities necessary to an illustrious career. I was made, but I made myself virtuous.
“Beloved, have I not triumphantly vindicated my divine claim? I have poured out the vials of my righteous wrath upon the unholy city and its unhallowed people. Unless they repent and believe me I will destroy them utterly. They must confess that my power and glory transcend that of all living en and that of all the great characters o history. Instead of applying the scourge of vindictiveness men must view me as the ornament of the century. Thus may they awaken themselves from total destruction. Rockford has now had an evidence of my supreme power. Let her harken to the warning ere it be too late.
“Beloved, beneath the shelter of my wing the woeful heart may be at ease. The clouds of anguish penetrate this secure retreat. The poisonous breath of calumny and the envenomed tongue of slander here lose their corroding influence. The sympathetic mind, agonized by distress and unable to support the storm of ill-fortune, here sinks into the placid enjoyment of uninterrupted tranquility. Oppressed virtue finds a secure asylum from overbearing greatness, and the upbraiding voice of proud opulence is no longer painful to its object. The distinctions in society, which consign merit to oblivion and raise the worthless from the dust, are here broken and destroyed Unfeeling pride is disrobed of its splendid covering and the gorgeous mantle I torn from the shoulders of the undeserving. The victim of malevolence, who essays in vain to parry the thrusts of unmerited obloquy, finds that in this secure and safe retreat the dagger of contumely wounds not and the thundering voice of ridicule passes harmlessly. Within the fold the whole walk and life of the saint is such that she can welcome with joyous aspect the closing period. We will now rise and sing:
‘Here, Lord, I give myself away
‘Tis all that I can do.’”
--Rockford Daily Register, 06-16-1890
SATAN INCARNATE
SUCH IS SCHWEINFURTH THE FALSE PROPHET
A Den of Sin at Rockford, Ill., Presided Over by One Who Claims to Be the Messiah-The Revelations of an Escaped Inmate
Rockford, Ill, August 10--Disclosures made here today give reasons for hope that “Rev.” Mr. Schweinfurth and his colony of deluded followers may soon be brought face to face with prosecution at the bar of justice. For over a year past a Mrs. Kinnehan has been an inmate of Schweinfurth’s retreat on the Weldon farm. Yesterday afternoon, disgusted with the place, and what she declares to be the disreputable practices indulged in there, she left and came to this city with her little boy, arriving in the evening. Mrs. Kinnehan, on reaching Rockford, went at once to home of a family living on North Second street. She was seen there by the correspondent, and declared that she had seen enough of Schweinfurth and his “heaven” to convince her that no self respecting and sane woman could live there. For some time she had been growing suspicious that all was not right, but within the past few days she made up her mind to leave, and yesterday carried her resolve into execution.
“I have had an experience that will last me a lifetime,: she said. “Schweinfurth, I believe, is Satan in sheep’s clothing, I am convinced that his relations with other women there are of the most unholy nature, and that while the rest are deceived he is a villain, a fraud and a licentious and immoral reprobate.”
“How were your suspicions first aroused?” asked the correspondent.
“The first I thought very strange was that a female inmate went into Schweinfurth’s room nearly every night and remained there some time. He excuse made for it was that he was suffering always from a headache, that his head was so heated he could not sleep, and she attended him, administering cracked ice and cold cloths. She would stay there until early morning, when she would be relieved by her brother. I remarked that if he was the Lord he ought to be able to dispel his head trouble, but he said that his disciples gave him so much trouble that his head was affected.”
“What else did he do that seemed out of the line of propriety?”
“Well, when he was tired in the day he used to go into the room of another woman and he down on her bed. He tried to explain this by saying tat he wanted to get away from the noise.”
Here Mrs. Kinnehan became somewhat confused in manner, and seemed averse to proceeding with her disclosures. After being urged to tell all she knew, however, she added:
“Some time ago I became convinced that one of these women was enceinte. I spoke to Mr. Schweinfurth about it, and after a moment’s hesitation he said: ’it is true. It is the work of the Holy Ghost. If you were entirely redeemed and sanctified you would understand it. There can be no sin in her, and the race is thus propagated without the carnal relation.’ I confess, I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it, even though I tried.”
“Then they did acknowledge without reserve that the girl’s condition was as you suspected?”
“Of course they did. They could not help it. Did we not all have eyes? I would not be surprised to find the child born any moment. Besides that they have a Dr. Smith stopping there whom he brought from Kansas City, I suppose in order that no Rockford doctor need be called, and thus the matter gain publicity.”
“Are there any illegitimate children there?”
“One woman, who has been separated from her husband for years, has two children, a girl aged about three and a boy of four. When I asked her how she came by these children, though husbandless, she said” ’They are the children of the Holy Ghost. They were conceived without sin and born holy into the world’ I didn’t say ‘rats’ to that, though I might have thought it. But I did tell her that such things were beyond my limit of faith. Then she said: “Oh, hush? When such wicked doubts enter your mind don’t give way to them. Simply believe and trust; it’s all that you can do.”
“Did Schweinfurth every make any improper advances to you.”
“No, he knew better. He is a very sharp man. He knew that he had not yet won my soul fully. I went there a year ago in April, and I had reached the time when I must give up my life, my soul, my all to him; when I must have no thought of my own, no will of my own, no aspirations of my own; when, as he teaches, to be fully redeemed I must live only to execute his will and obey his pleasure. Then, as with my opened at last to the infamy of the place, I decided to leave and if possible to get back my husband and live again a life of devotion to my home, my husband, and my child.
“Do you know where he is?”
“I have been told that he is working in a watch factory at Canton, O. I shall write to him tonight, and I do hope he’ll come here and forgive me. He used to send $20 and $25 every month for the support of my child. I gave it all over to Schweinfurth as tithes. I have not a cent and only my clothing.”
“Are there man of these fully redeemed angels in ‘heaven?’”
“There are only two that are claimed to be perfectly holy and sinless. They are the two of whom I have spoken?”
Mrs. Kinnehan went on to describe the drudgery to which all the female inmates except Schweinfurth’s favorites are subjected. She was assigned to kitchen work, and frequently toiled form 7 in the morning till 10 at night. The bogus messiah always had the best of everything at table, but confined his foolish followers to meager rations, telling them they should learn to deny themselves. Mrs. Kinnehan is thoroughly disenchanted ad declared that Schweinfurt’s “heaven” deserves the attention of the police. She is ready to give evidence regarding what she had seen and heard
--Wheeling Register, W.V, 08-11-1890
MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN
WILBUR BALDWIN AND MARY E. HEMSEN UNITED
A wedding ceremony of considerable interest to Rockfordites because of the surroundings in which it took place was that of Wilbur L. Balwin and Miss Mary E. Remsen, solemnized at 'heaven,' on the Weldon farm.
The groom is a Chicago man and comes to this city to claim as his bride Mary E. Remsen, of the Schweinfurth colony. George Jacob Schweinfurth himself secured the license for the couple yesterday and they will have the congratulatoins of all who know them.
--Rockford Republic, April 18, 1900
(NO HEADLINE)
George Jacob Schweinfurth, of Rockford, Illinois has for about fifteen years claimed that he was the Messiah. We once saw a letter from his quoting the Scripture, “I that speak to thee am he,” which he applied to himself. He has recently confessed his error in part, and in part he explains that others claimed him to be the Messiah, which he disclaimed. But now his caprice has carried him over to Mrs. Eddy and the enormous error of Christian Science. When men are without true religion they go from one ereror to another, but Christian Science is self-condemned and contradictory.
--from the Christian Conservator, date unknown
(NO HEADLINE)
About eighteen years ago, or in June, 1890, came the "Schweinfurth cloudburst." when over 3inches of rain fell in less than twenty-four hours. It was at this time much damage was done by the rain, and the "Messiah" was prominent in these parts. He had been before the public prominently and declared some great happening would befall the people, not for their good. A few days later came the heavy rain and this was dubbed the "Schweinfurth cloudburst" and it certainly did much damage
--Rockford Morning Star, 06-04-1908
MISS WELDON'S "HOLY CHILD"
Apostle Whitney Talks About the Latest Addition to Schweinfurth's Family
C. C. Whitney, the Minneapolis apostle of George J. Schweinfurth, has been seen and asked to explain the recent occurrence in Schweinfurth's household in Rockford, "the child born to Mary Weldon."
In reply Mr. Whitney said, "It was conceived by the holy ghost and born without sin. Miss Weldon is one of the redeemed."
"But did the holy ghost act through Mr. Schweinfurth?"
"That I am not prepared to say. The ways of God are inscrutable, but what I do say is we are no freelovers. We believe that absolute chastity should be the attribute of both sexes. We live perfectly pure, chaste lives."
"But how about man and wife, don't the members of your church who are married live together and raise children?"
"No, they do not. Any married couple bringing forth children would be considered guilty of adultery."
"But how about Miss Weldon?"
"That is different. She is one of the redeemed. The 'sanctified,' as St. Paul put it. None but the redeemed can bear children. These children are pure because they are conceived by the holy ghost, just as Jesus Christ was nearly 1,900 years ago."
"But how do you know Miss Weldon is redeemed or sanctified?"
"Because the spirit has announced that fact. It told her so three years ago when Mr. Schweinfurth was in Alpena, Mich."
"How many members of your church are redeemed?"
"I could not state positively, perhaps twelve or fifteen."
"Are any of them men?"
"None except Mr. Schweinfurth. Of course he is, as he is the son of God. The same spirit dwells in him that dwelt in Jesus Christ."
"Then do you claim that Mary Weldon was not approached by Mr. Schweinfurth and that he is not the physical father of her child?"
"I don't claim anything about which I don't know, but I know that child was conceived by the holy ghost."
"Do you think Miss Weldon would have borne that child if she had not seen a man for a year or two previous?"
"I do. I believe Miss Weldon to be, as she says she is, perfectly chaste."
"How, then, will the race be perpetuated?"
"By the holy ghost."
"The holy ghost will beget all the children when everybody is redeemed?"
"Yes, most certainly."
"What will man's function be? Wouldn't such an arrangement be considered rather partial?"
"I can't say as to that. All this is very mysterious. We can't divine God's purpose."
—Sioux Valley News, Correctionville, Iowa, Aug. 28, 1890, p. 1.
Apostle Whitney Talks About the Latest Addition to Schweinfurth's Family
C. C. Whitney, the Minneapolis apostle of George J. Schweinfurth, has been seen and asked to explain the recent occurrence in Schweinfurth's household in Rockford, "the child born to Mary Weldon."
In reply Mr. Whitney said, "It was conceived by the holy ghost and born without sin. Miss Weldon is one of the redeemed."
"But did the holy ghost act through Mr. Schweinfurth?"
"That I am not prepared to say. The ways of God are inscrutable, but what I do say is we are no freelovers. We believe that absolute chastity should be the attribute of both sexes. We live perfectly pure, chaste lives."
"But how about man and wife, don't the members of your church who are married live together and raise children?"
"No, they do not. Any married couple bringing forth children would be considered guilty of adultery."
"But how about Miss Weldon?"
"That is different. She is one of the redeemed. The 'sanctified,' as St. Paul put it. None but the redeemed can bear children. These children are pure because they are conceived by the holy ghost, just as Jesus Christ was nearly 1,900 years ago."
"But how do you know Miss Weldon is redeemed or sanctified?"
"Because the spirit has announced that fact. It told her so three years ago when Mr. Schweinfurth was in Alpena, Mich."
"How many members of your church are redeemed?"
"I could not state positively, perhaps twelve or fifteen."
"Are any of them men?"
"None except Mr. Schweinfurth. Of course he is, as he is the son of God. The same spirit dwells in him that dwelt in Jesus Christ."
"Then do you claim that Mary Weldon was not approached by Mr. Schweinfurth and that he is not the physical father of her child?"
"I don't claim anything about which I don't know, but I know that child was conceived by the holy ghost."
"Do you think Miss Weldon would have borne that child if she had not seen a man for a year or two previous?"
"I do. I believe Miss Weldon to be, as she says she is, perfectly chaste."
"How, then, will the race be perpetuated?"
"By the holy ghost."
"The holy ghost will beget all the children when everybody is redeemed?"
"Yes, most certainly."
"What will man's function be? Wouldn't such an arrangement be considered rather partial?"
"I can't say as to that. All this is very mysterious. We can't divine God's purpose."
—Sioux Valley News, Correctionville, Iowa, Aug. 28, 1890, p. 1.
From: http://www.thealpenanews.com/page/content.detail/id/508482.html?nav=5002
Speer: Not a real message of Christianity April 2, 2010 Bill Speer
Michigan was back in the national news this week with the arrest of a quasi-Christian militia group whose members allegedly had plans of killing police officers.
The group, called Hutaree, was definitely more a militia group than a Christian-based one as far as I'm concerned. And, it's exactly the kind of attention Christianity often times receives that gives people a bad impression of religion.
From what I understand of the group its members did believe in an anti-Christ someday coming to the earth and a battle would ensue with that person. However, according to the U.S. Attorney who filed charges against them, "what we were focused on here is their conduct, not on their religion. And what they have talked about is being very anti-government."
Unfortunately, it isn't the first and won't be the last time evil people use their persuasive skills to dupe innocent citizens under the false pretense of religion. Actually, history shows a similar swindle occurred here in Northeast Michigan back in the late 1800s.
The key characters involved were Dora Beekman, the wife of a Rev. L. C. Beekman who was minister of the Congregational Church of Byron in Ogle County, Ill., and George Jacob Schweinfurth.
Dora Beekman supposedly had a vision one night in a dream that she was the manifestation of the second coming of Christ. As her story spread she developed followings around the Midwest, including Alpena - where a church was constructed. The church still stands on White Street and is the present day Jewish Synagogue - Temple Beth El.
Overseeing the church and its operations was Schweinfurth. After Beekman's death, Schweinfurth took over the reins of all her church followings and he, also, portrayed himself as the second coming of Christ.
A good bit about the history of Beekman and Schweinfurth can be found in Alpena historian Robert Haltiner's book "Alpena Gleanings and Stones from her Granite Gardens - Part IV." In it, he pulls out out newspaper stories of the day and gleans from another Alpena historian - Ann Taber.
Taber writes: "Heads weren't just turning in Alpena, they were literally spinning those days in the early 1880s when George Jacob Schweinfurth appeared on the streets. He was dressed appropriately in white robe and sandals, and his hair hung below his shoulders ... he had a powerful effect on the ladies."
The Alpena Argus from Oct. 30, 1889, notes after accusing Schwinfurth of being a swindler that "this is a free country, however, and if his followers are so weak-minded as to believe he is the Christ, it is their privilege."
A month later, Nov. 6, they wrote that Schwinfurth was seen on a railroad car wearing a skull cap that was replaced every so often with fresh ice.
"The fellow must have been considerably warm, but he will be a good deal warmer after he dies, according to the belief of many."
Eventually Schweinfurth's interest in the ladies apparently got him into trouble in Alpena, and he was asked to leave. Taber writes "they had discussed such remedies as tarring and feathering, and even lynching, but cooler heads prevailed ... Their suggestion to the holy one was that he leave town immediately, assuring him if he was who he claimed to be it would be no problem - he could just walk on the water if no other means of transportation was available." He left in his own pleasure boat.
Schwinfurth's escapades did not end there, however. He ran into similar situations elsewhere and his accounts show up in the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle.
A New York Times story of May 9, 1989, wrote that the residents of Rockford, Ill., had given him 10 days to leave town or "they would break into the house, take him to the woods, strip him, tar and feather him and roast him alive. They say he is breaking up families."
Unfortunately, it was a sad time in our region's history.
I suggest if you really want to learn the true meaning of Christianity, visit a church of your choosing tomorrow and listen to the Easter message. It it you'll find a message of hope and peace, not deceit nor deception.
Michigan was back in the national news this week with the arrest of a quasi-Christian militia group whose members allegedly had plans of killing police officers.
The group, called Hutaree, was definitely more a militia group than a Christian-based one as far as I'm concerned. And, it's exactly the kind of attention Christianity often times receives that gives people a bad impression of religion.
From what I understand of the group its members did believe in an anti-Christ someday coming to the earth and a battle would ensue with that person. However, according to the U.S. Attorney who filed charges against them, "what we were focused on here is their conduct, not on their religion. And what they have talked about is being very anti-government."
Unfortunately, it isn't the first and won't be the last time evil people use their persuasive skills to dupe innocent citizens under the false pretense of religion. Actually, history shows a similar swindle occurred here in Northeast Michigan back in the late 1800s.
The key characters involved were Dora Beekman, the wife of a Rev. L. C. Beekman who was minister of the Congregational Church of Byron in Ogle County, Ill., and George Jacob Schweinfurth.
Dora Beekman supposedly had a vision one night in a dream that she was the manifestation of the second coming of Christ. As her story spread she developed followings around the Midwest, including Alpena - where a church was constructed. The church still stands on White Street and is the present day Jewish Synagogue - Temple Beth El.
Overseeing the church and its operations was Schweinfurth. After Beekman's death, Schweinfurth took over the reins of all her church followings and he, also, portrayed himself as the second coming of Christ.
A good bit about the history of Beekman and Schweinfurth can be found in Alpena historian Robert Haltiner's book "Alpena Gleanings and Stones from her Granite Gardens - Part IV." In it, he pulls out out newspaper stories of the day and gleans from another Alpena historian - Ann Taber.
Taber writes: "Heads weren't just turning in Alpena, they were literally spinning those days in the early 1880s when George Jacob Schweinfurth appeared on the streets. He was dressed appropriately in white robe and sandals, and his hair hung below his shoulders ... he had a powerful effect on the ladies."
The Alpena Argus from Oct. 30, 1889, notes after accusing Schwinfurth of being a swindler that "this is a free country, however, and if his followers are so weak-minded as to believe he is the Christ, it is their privilege."
A month later, Nov. 6, they wrote that Schwinfurth was seen on a railroad car wearing a skull cap that was replaced every so often with fresh ice.
"The fellow must have been considerably warm, but he will be a good deal warmer after he dies, according to the belief of many."
Eventually Schweinfurth's interest in the ladies apparently got him into trouble in Alpena, and he was asked to leave. Taber writes "they had discussed such remedies as tarring and feathering, and even lynching, but cooler heads prevailed ... Their suggestion to the holy one was that he leave town immediately, assuring him if he was who he claimed to be it would be no problem - he could just walk on the water if no other means of transportation was available." He left in his own pleasure boat.
Schwinfurth's escapades did not end there, however. He ran into similar situations elsewhere and his accounts show up in the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle.
A New York Times story of May 9, 1989, wrote that the residents of Rockford, Ill., had given him 10 days to leave town or "they would break into the house, take him to the woods, strip him, tar and feather him and roast him alive. They say he is breaking up families."
Unfortunately, it was a sad time in our region's history.
I suggest if you really want to learn the true meaning of Christianity, visit a church of your choosing tomorrow and listen to the Easter message. It it you'll find a message of hope and peace, not deceit nor deception.