Elijah Pierson was among the first members of Matthias's cult. He was a very unlikely candidate for much membership. In the 1820s he was New York's known religious reformers. He was involved in the Free Church movement and was a passionate evangelical in the Finneyite mode. Elijah and his wife Sarah were the model of domestic bliss, and were united in their passion for reform. Her death sparked Elijah's "madness" that drove him toward Matthias. The Kingdom of Matthias tells the story of Robert Matthews, who later took on the name Matthias the Prophet. A religious charlatan in 1830s New York, Matthews established a "Kingdom" of fanatical followers, causing a nationwide scandal. Elijah grew up in rural New Jersey, rooted in a stern Calvinist …show more content…
Subsequent ancestors settled near Morristown, where Elijah was born in 1786 Matthews' most fervent follower was Elijah Pierson, who was born into a strict Calvinist church upbringing but who quickly got swept up in the evangelical, "perfectionist" movement upon his move to New York as a merchant. Elijah married a missionary woman named Sarah, and together they established a "Retrenchment Society" and other organizations designed to spread the word of God. Elijah's power continued to grow. The Retrenchment Society built a school for poor children, and organized a mission to the Jews. A sister church was formed, the First Free Presbyterian of New York, and Elijah and Sarah started a mission to help prostitutes from the notorious slum neighborhood the Five Points. The couple soon after formed the Female Asylum Society to take younger prostitutes off the streets. They appointed a reformed prostitute named Mrs. Bolton to be matron of the society. Another woman joined the fold, Isabella Van Wagenen, a black servant who claimed to have spoken with God since childhood. Black servant Isabella Van Wagenen received Matthews and brought him to meet …show more content…
Matthews was arrested and tried with murder after two doctors conducted an autopsy and claimed there was poison in Pierson's stomach. However, the prosecution had only a flimsy case, and the jury found Matthews not guilty of murder, but he served four months in prison for beating his daughter. Matthias scandals caught the eye of the penny press and word was put out of his derogatory behavior. The prologue begins with the end of the Prophet Matthias's journey in early November 1835. He lost all his followers, and went to Mormon to settle at Kirtland. Kirtland predates the more famous Mormon territory of Utah that Joseph Smith would establish later. Matthias arrived and introduced himself to Joseph Smith as Joshua, because "Matthias" was infamous in New York. Joseph Smith told him of his visions and how he came to found Mormonism. After lunch, Matthias explained his own religious leanings. To Matthias, the United States was a second Babylon, full of sin and wickedness, and that according to prophecy, the country would be destroyed by God. To me it seems as the author is bringing to the audience attention about sex and