Shared Reads: Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

                It was a Patron who extracted a promise to me to read Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin Press, 2009).

“Isn’t Thomas Pynchon supposed to be this great author?” He asked.

“I think so.” I hazarded, knowing Thomas Pynchon to be a famous, well-respected author as opposed to an infamous, disreputable one.

“Well, I started reading this,” he said, holding up a copy of Inherent Vice, “and I just couldn’t finish it. It got maybe a quarter of the way through before I gave up. You read it and tell me if it’s as awful as I think it is.” Thus began months of avoiding reading Thomas Pynchon. Even when I ran into the adjective “Pynchonesque” used twice in one week, surely a sign from the Heavens, I avoided reading Thomas Pynchon. Finally, my conscious continually nagging at me, I picked up Inherent Vice and began to read. I don’t know exactly how awful the Patron thinks it is but it is pretty bad.

The Protagonist of this novel is a stoner PI named Doc Sportello who shares a duplex office building in Los Angeles with a Doctor Feelgood named Dr. Buddy Tubeside; just one example of the absurd, unbelievable names the absurd, unbelievable characters sport throughout the book.  A little more than halfway through I began to suspect the entire story might just turn out to be the fantasy life of an autistic child.

Doc Sportello comes off like a man unstuck in time and it was a big maddening trying to figure out exactly when this novel is supposed to take place. The jacket blurb situates the action at “the tail end of the psychedelic 60s” while the Boston Globe places the action in the Spring of 1970. However, events are mentioned that don’t take place until 1971 and late in the book Sportello receives a check and a message instructing him to be on the lookout for, “your exclusive invitation to the Grand Opening of the new and totally reconceptualized Kismet Lounge and Casino, sometime in the spring of 1972.” 

Still, the timeline remains fuzzy. A character tells Sportello that he’s just read for a part on The Brady Bunch where Jan’s a brunette, an episode that first aired January 5, 1971 and he gets into a prolonged discussion of a Gilligan’s Island episode that aired the night before and new ring Ginger was sporting in it when Gilligan’s Island was cancelled in 1967. At one point it was mentioned that the trial of Charles Manson was about to start when the Manson trial opened July 24, 1970.

Pynchon uses references meant to evoke an era but they are too general to really evoke anything specific. Sure, a person might get the Archie’s 1969 hit Sugar, Sugar stuck in their heads just like they might get It’s a Long Way to Tipperary or Bitter Sweet Symphony stuck in their heads but it just isn’t evocative of California circa 1971. A fleeting mention of Thai Stick, a phrase this Reader hasn’t heard used since 1979, does more to capture the flavor of an era than all the outlandish made-up lyrics and tortured acronyms with which the author litters his prose. That the author sometimes drops in a phrase to the effect of, “like it was done back then,” at the end of a sentence just further serves to yank the already struggling Reader right out of the narrative flow.

The use of Charles Manson is quite illustrative. Manson casts a shadow over the narrative representing the dark side of Hippiedom and the impending end of an era but Manson would have been more effective if bolstered by Altamont and any of the other perceived Hippie Freak Serial Killers such as Herbert Mullin and the Zodiac who were springing up like weeds among the flower children and cast such a haze around California in the late sixties and early seventies. Manson didn’t stand alone.

Another annoying literary tic is a tendency toward futurism. Early on Sportello’s Aunt Reet, a real estate agent, waxes rhapsodic about the future potential of computers while another of the marginal detective’s marginal acquaintances has been conveniently given a computer that can access all sorts of records, including hospital admissions. Another acquaintance shows off his new remote control to his black and white television while the entire novel ends with Sportello musing about a future with telephones in automobiles and dashboard computers.

Inherent Vice is cast as a mystery but there really isn’t much mystery to it.  Sportello often wanders off in a marijuana induced haze and the effects of the herb on such an experienced user such as Sportello also rings false as do the random characters who all feel compelled for no good reason to lay pages of exposition on the PI. Then there are a smattering of cringe-worthy sex scenes that seem heavily influenced by the film version of Terry Southern’s Candy. There are a couple of instances where Sportello is conveniently knocked out and others where mystical visions and remembrances of Ouija Boards past take him where he needs to be. Add to that a ship that smuggles Heroin while also running a posh drug rehab clinic, possibly in cahoots with the LAPD and soon the Reader feels as Sportello must have when someone laced his joint with PCP.

There are a couple of pages where Sportello mentions how this could bring down the administration of California’s Governor, Ronald Reagan only to have another character rip him for even allowing the sacred name of Reagan to pass through his lips. For a moment the Reader can imagine a novel where all the Golden Fang nonsense does relate back to Ronald Reagan and his California Kitchen Cabinet, including the completely perverse Alfred Bloomingdale, but, alas, this is not the novel Thomas Pynchon chose to write. Instead we have a convoluted tale of law enforcement officials consensually overdosing a drug addict with pure heroin and then inexplicably taking him to a hospital to revive him in the nick of time in order for the now presumed deceased addict to act as a mole in various organizations law enforcement entities had an interest in all while letting the supposedly dead drug addict remain in the area playing gigs.

The entire novel lacks depth and nuance, not to mention cohesion, and there is no better example of this than our hero, Doc Sportello. Living on the Beach in a surfer’s Mecca, Sportello’s love of surfing, which we never see him indulge in, and esoteric surf music, which unfortunately we do, comes off as unbelievable as the young D.A. he’s dating and her Ally McBeal length suits. 

    

Inherent Vice is supposedly part of a “literary triptych” that includes The Crying of Lot 49 (1966) and Vineland (1990) but for this Reader Inherent Vice must stand or fall on its own merits and those merits are such that they disincline me from further exploration of Mr. Pynchon’s oeuvre but that me and you might have a different opinion. Inherent Vice is available at the Owen County Public Library. Check it out!

~ Laura Wilkerson

   Genealogy Department, OCPL

Some Great Young Adult Books

This is not a "Top 10" or anything of the sort, just a few books that I read, and enjoyed in the past few months, all of which can be found here at the library.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor

"Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged      strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. 
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low. 
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war. 
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?"  ~ From the author's website.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a well imagined, well executed story that is not only beautifully written, but captures the reader making it nearly impossible to put down.   The ending will have you wishing desperately for the next book in what is slated to be a trilogy.


The Name of the Star, by Maureen Johnson 

While we are on 'first books of a series', let me introduce you to the Shades of London, new series from acclaimed author (and Twitter phenomenon) Maureen Johnson.   

"The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.
Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn’t notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities." ~From the author's website.

The Name of the Star was full of surprises and believable characters.  Emotions run the gamut from laughter to tears and nail-biting tension.  Johnson has a knack for making you feel what each character is feeling.  

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

"Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn't believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit - more sparkly, more fun, more wild - the better. But even though Lola's style is outrageous, she's a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.

When Cricket - a gifted inventor - steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door."

Lola and the Boy Next Door is at times fun, and heartbreaking at others.  It is a good old-fashioned love story with many modern twists.  It is so easy to picture Lola and Cricket helping Lola's Dad baking pies for a big order, and traveling about San Francisco that I almost feel like I've been there.  

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

Last one, for today, is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale The Worn-Out Dancing Shoes.  Also known widely as The Twelve Dancing Princesses, it is the story of twelve royal sisters who are compelled to dance their shoes to tatters each night, though they are locked in their room, and the young soldier who eventually unlocks their secret. 

The author has built on the original story and given it a history, folklore, and depth all its own.  The mysterious underground kingdom where the princesses dance the night away with their pale other-worldly princes is given realism, as is the cause and cruelty of their curse.  

In the main character Galen, George has given us one of my favorite heroes.  He is a soldier with tragedy in his past, yet he is not only handsome and brave, but also witty, clever, and handy with a set of knitting needles.  Historically, apparently, it was common for men, especially soldiers to knit.  Often knitting his own socks and scarves and things was the only way a soldier kept warm and dry.  The author even includes knitting patterns in the back of the book, as well as on her website. 

Note:  I forgot to sign this, as I usually do.  Oops.  
~ Jennifer Frye: Youth Services Program Coordinator

Spencer and the Rose Parade

                Few people watching the fantastic pageantry of the annual Rose Parade yesterday would connect the event to Spencer, Indiana but without one particular Spencerian, Calvin Fletcher Jr., there would be no Orange Grove Avenue to parade down.

Calvin Fletcher Jr. was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on September 30, 1826. He was of eleven children; nine sons and two daughters, born to Calvin Fletcher Sr. and his wife, Sarah Hill. Calvin Jr. graduated from the County Seminary in Indianapolis and then spent three years at Brown University in Rhode Island before returning to Indiana and taking up the life of a farmer.

Fletcher Jr. married in Emily Beeler in 1849 and for the next twenty years the couple resided in Marion County where Fletcher Jr. worked as a farmer, stock-trader and nurseryman and busied himself establishing statewide agricultural and horticultural societies.

During the Civil War, Emily worked as a nurse while Calvin worked building badly needed turnpikes in Indiana. After the war he became involved with the syndicate that Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad. It was while acting as contractor and agent for General Ambrose Burnside on this project when he first became acquainted with Owen County and in June, 1869 he moved here permanently, building a beautiful white stucco mansion for his family in the town of Spencer.

In 1873 the Fletchers were attending a dinner party at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Elliot in Indianapolis when Mrs. Elliot began complaining that the unusually harsh winter had killed all her prize caladium. Others at the party joined in with complaints about the cold weather exacerbating various aches and pains when Mrs. Thomas suggested that they should all up and move to California. In fact, Mrs. Thomas proclaimed, if no one wanted to go with her she would go on her own.

The others at the party decided Mrs. Thomas was onto something and in the Spring of 1873 the group drafted an agreement to purchase a thousand acres in Southern California where they planned to grow wheat, plant vineyards, hedges and build nurseries in anticipation of the group emigrating there.

The financial panic of 1873 delayed the implementation of these plans but in November, 1873 the group formed the San Gabriel Orange Grove Association and purchased 4,000 acres of prime valley land. Calvin Fletcher Jr., was named Chief Surveyor and on January 27, 1874 divided lots were sold in parcels of 15, 30 and 60 acres with the smallest investors being allowed first choice of lots. It was Calvin Fletcher Jr. who gave Orange Grove Avenue its name. It was Dr. Thomas Elliot who found Pasadena's permanent name, asking a friend for an appropriate Chippewa phrase with the friend coming up with Pasadena, a loose translation that stands for “Crown of the Valley.” Calvin Fletcher Jr. also planned the water works in Pasadena, standing in the rain for an entire day plotting flow charts to make sure that water would “flow toward the mountains.” In 1889 community leaders decided to stage a small village fete which has become a massive American tradition. Owners of local resorts teamed with members of the elite Valley Hunt Club to decorate their buggies with flowers and parade down Orange Grove Avenue to a town wide picnic and then send photos of the event to friends and family back East in order to show those shivering souls that even in the dead of winter Pasadena could cover the town, and everything in it, in roses.

Calvin Fletcher Jr. and his family never moved to Pasadena. In September of 1874 the Fletcher Family sailed for Europe where they stayed for the next three years while Calvin Fletcher worked on problems of aquaculture in small ponds. In 1877 he returned with his family to his mansion in Spencer which boasted 40 rooms and 18-inch thick walls and gorgeous grounds planted with Tamarack trees and a formal maze hedge to the south of the home.

Calvin Fletcher Sr. had once recorded in his diary that his namesake son had been acting “rash as usual” and even called in a phrenologist who felt the bumps on the boy's head and declared him “calculated to be a businessman.” By the late 1880s the younger Fletcher had run into financial difficulties and talked about turning his impressive Spencer home into a Sanitarium to capitalize on the natural mineral springs that ran through the property but nothing ever came of the plan.

When Calvin Fletcher Jr, died in 1903 the Fletcher Mansion was sold to E. Chubb Fuller, publisher of The Agricultural Epitomist who ran it as an experimental farm with, “a well selected orchard, a vineyard, several gardens and extensive greenhouses.” The farm became renowned for its herd of thoroughbred Portland China pigs, their Shropshire and Highland Blackface sheep, various poultry and waterfowl, Angora goats and 100 of the “finest Scotch collies in America.”

The Fletcher Mansion served as the administrative offices and printing press for the Epitomist untill the venture failed after the death of Mr. Fuller and the property was sold to Gordon B. Tanner who, in turn, sold it to Ephraim T. Barnes. Ironically, Mr. Barnes used the property to establish the largest Dahlia farm in the world, originating over 1,000 new hybrids of the flower whose rhizomes must, in central Indiana, be dug up and stored every winter, becoming known as “The Dahlia King” and “The Luther Burbank of Dahlias.” People came from all over the world to see Mr. Barnes' Dahlia Farm which he named the National Cooperative Show Gardens.

Ephraim T. Barnes died in 1933 after several years of ill health and the Fletcher Mansion went into steep decline. In 1981 it was purchased by Jim and Sally Vance who had originally stated their intentions of restoring the house and using it as a family home but, finding the structure too far gone to salvage, tore it down in October of 1990 in order to build a bigger home for their business. Today the Mansion's footprint is the parking lot for that business, Boston Scientific, a concern that manufactures medical devices.

Back in 1874 an acre in Pasadena would have set you back $100.00, or about $19,000 in inflation adjusted dollars. Maybe the phrenologist and Calvin Fletcher Sr. was right, Calvin Jr. was “calculated to be a businessman,” as even a quarter acre vacant lot in Pasadena would sell for well over $200,000 today but “rash as usual” for not seeing the deal through to its profitable conclusion.

Calvin Fletcher Jr. once stated in response to a direct query that, “the ambition of his life had been to become a fair representative of the average American citizen, which he considers the best standard of manhood in every sense of on earth, as far as his observation extends. He believes firmly that ultimately American ideas will prevail throughout the earth.” So perhaps today while we enjoy the phantasmagorical floats and marching bands as they make their way down Orange Grove Avenue we pause to spare a moment to think of the man responsible for laying out the town and naming the street, Mr. Calvin Fletcher Jr., of Spencer, Indiana and perhaps raise a glass of water in his honor.

Owen County History Book Sale

Just in time for the Holidays the Owen County Historical and Genealogical Society has placed the 1884 and 1994 History of Owen County books on sale now through the end of December. The 1884 History of Owen County, regularly $35.00 is now on sale for $30.00. The 1994 History of Owen County, regularly $45.00, is currently on sale for $40.00. Buy both volumes for $65.00 and save $15.00 off of the regular price. Books are available for purchase in the Genealogy Department of the Owen County Public Library. Cash, checks and money orders accepted. Checks and money orders should be made payable to OCHGS.

November is National Diabetes Month

By Amy Morgan

As someone who has had Type 1 Diabetes for over 21 years, I thought I should mention that November is National Diabetes Month. This is a campaign sponsored by the American Diabetes Association, The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and several other groups to raise awareness about the condition. 

Though some people may not know it, there are actually multiple types of Diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association’s website, “every 17 seconds, someone is diagnosed with Diabetes,” and there are approximately “26 million children and adults living around the world with Diabetes.”

While many people have Diabetes, there are different types of the condition, each of which is very different and require their own treatments. If you would like to learn more, you can stop by the library to check out our collection of Diabetes books, or go on the web. Three of my favorite websites include www.diabetes.org, which is the official website of the American Diabetes Association; www.jdrf.org, the official page for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; and www.sixuntilme.com, which is a blog by Kerri Morrone Sparling, who not only grew up with Type 1 Diabetes, but is also a freelance writer and Diabetes Advocate. 

If you would like to know more, feel free to ask. I am by no means a professional, but I can share my experiences.

Local Players on the House of David Basketball Team

            Last week we learned what happened to the religious organization, House of David. Today we will find out what happened to the three young men from Spencer, Ollie troth, Red Johnson and Wayne Payton, who played on the House of David barnstorming basketball team.

            We first find mention of Red Johnson, whose given name was Floyd, in a 1932 newspaper article headlined Shot By Father. The story reads:

            Floyd (Red) Johnson was accidentally shot Monday by his father, Otis Johnson, while hunting southwest of Spencer. The two were about 75 feet apart and two of the shot penetrated the body, one entering just above the heart and the other in one hip. The doctor probed for the shot in the breast but failed to locate it. Young Johnson was up town Monday night, still very nervous from the shock. 

            The next and last mention we find of Red Johnson is in his father’s 1948 obituary where he is listed as living in Clinton, Illinois.

            Oliver “Ollie” Jerome Troth died in Jasper, Indiana on December 12, 2009. He was born November 7, 1921 and graduated from Spencer High School where he was a member of the Indiana All-Star basketball team which beat Kentucky in 1940. He must have joined the House of David basketball team shortly thereafter because he served as a Marine during World War II.

            In 1945 Ollie Troth married Mary Jane Corson and went to work at the Joy Manufacturing Company in Michigan City, Indiana which manufactured various types of mining equipment. Ollie retired from Joy Manufacturing, which has since closed its Michigan City plant. In 1994, private developers took over the 600,000 square foot property, located in a residential neighborhood. The developers invested over $5 million in the facility and recruited six companies that employed 600 people before it was sold. Today the largest employer in Michigan City is the Blue Chip Hotel and Casino.

            After retirement, Ollie and Mary Troth became Florida snowbirds before moving to Jasper in 2008 to be near his daughter, Jayne, and her family.

            Wayne Payton’s story is the one we know the most about.

            Wayne Payton had been a standout player for the Spencer High School “Cops.” He was a member of the 1939 Indiana All-Stars team that beat Kentucky that year; Kentucky being the arch-nemesis to Hoosiers everywhere.

            After graduation Wayne worked at the Collier Brothers Creamery and the Bell Telephone Company before hooking up with the House of David basketball team.

            He couldn’t have played with them long. On December 7, 1941, Wayne was in Spencer with another local boy, Robert “LeRoy” Long who played semi-pro basketball with the Delco Brake Company of Dayton, Ohio, when they heard the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. They decided to enlist.

            Wayne Payton was twenty-one years old when he traveled to Indianapolis and enlisted at Fort Benjamin Harrison on January 28, 1942. After basic training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, Fort Benning, Georgia and Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, Wayne Payton was assigned to the 1^st Infantry Division as part of the anti-tank regiment. He landed in England in August, 1942 as part of the first large convoy of American soldiers to land overseas. From there he was ordered to North Africa to fight in the Battle of Tunisia.

            On August 27, 1943, Wayne Payton’s parents received a telegram from the “Commanding General of the North African area” that Wayne had been missing in action since July 11^th. The Payton’s worry was alleviated somewhat when they received a telegram August 31^st from a Miss Mary Jane Royer who reported that she had heard word from LeRoy Johnson that Wayne was alright and for her to “keep her chin up.” Unfortunately LeRoy Johnson was mistaken.

            On Tuesday, September 14, 1943, Mr. and Mrs. Payton received another telegram. This one informed them that their son had been killed in action on July 11, 1943 while serving in North Africa.

            Robert “LeRoy” Long also ended up being reported as missing in action but was found gravely injured with gunshot wounds, “from one side of his body to the other.”

            “They had big, long wooden prongs that ran right through where that shrapnel went through,” Long recalled, “They made a tunnel. The only way to clean it out was to put some sulphur on it and jam it through.”

            In recalling hearing that fateful announcement with his friend Wayne Payton back in Spencer on December 7, 1941 Long reminisces in an interview given to the Spencer Evening World, “Little did we realize what this tragic news would mean to our lives.”

~ Laura Wilkerson
   Genealogy Department; OCPL 

Revisiting the House of David

In organizing the School Folders in the Information Files recently I came across an intriguing photograph of a House of David barnstorming basketball team. The photo dates from approximately 1940 and shows five muscular young men in tank tops and short shorts. Three are bearded and three are from Spencer. All of them are originally from Indiana. The five men were a Mr. Jefferies of Lyons, Indiana, first name unrecorded; Dutch Leonard of Bloomington and the three men from Spencer; Ollie Troth, Red Johnson and Wayne Payton.

            The House of David Commune was famous in its day. It was founded by Benjamin Franklin Purnell and his wife Mary in Benton Harbor, Michigan in March, 1903. Benjamin Purnell had been born in March 27, 1861 in Esculapia, Kentucky. He was the seventh of nine children born to farmers Madison and Sarah Purnell. Benjamin learned to read from the New Testament and when a tent preacher passed through town Madison invited him home so little Benjamin could preach for him.

            Benjamin Purnell loved to preach and became a child evangelist, travelling across the country delivering sermons. At the age of sixteen Benjamin married Angeline Brown in Virginia. The couple settled in Richmond, Indiana where Benjamin found work as a broom maker. The marriage did not last and by the time Benjamin was nineteen he was back in the road and unattached.

            It was in Aberdeen, Ohio where he met and married Mary Stallard on August 29, 1880. They had two children together.  In 1888 they learned from a group of preachers about a man said to be the Sixth Messenger, James Jershom Jezreel. Jezreel had written a trilogy known as the Extracts of the Flying Roll which prophesized that Eden would be restored and the 144,000 children of Israel would gather in a new Eden in America. Michigan to be exact. Jezreel wrote, “O blessed Michigan, for out of thee shall come a star.”

            Jezreel was following in the footsteps of the First Messenger, Joanna Southcott of Devonshire, England. Born in 1750, Southcott had received “communications of the spirit” in 1792 and pronounced herself the woman spoken of in Revelations, “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.”

            Over the next twelve years Joanne Southcott received revelations that foretold Christ’s return to Earth, the restoration of the Garden of Eden and eternal life for God’s 144,000 elect. At the height of her popularity Southcott attracted over 150,000 follows but in 1814 the 64-year-old virgin announced she was pregnant with the prophesied child, the new Messiah, Shiloh of Genesis, who would rule with the iron scepter. Her due date of October 14, 1814 came and went with no child and it was announced Southcott had fallen into a “trance.” On December 26^th or 27^th, 1814, Joanna Southcott died though her believers lived on.

            In the mid-1880s the Fifth Messenger, John Wroe, instituted Mosaic law and also a custom known as the “Cleansing of the Blood” where the Messenger had the responsibility of de-flowering every female member of the religion before their marriages. When word of this ritual leaked out in Britain they were chased off that island and disbursed to Australia, Canada and the United States.

            By 1890 the largest group of Southcottians was based at the Flying Rolls colony Detroit Michigan led by Michael Mills who proclaimed he was the Seventh Messenger, the Sixth being recognized as James Zerell who had collected all the prophecies of the previous five Messengers into one volume known as the Flying Roll. It was here that Benjamin and Mary Parnell travelled in 1895. The Southcottians of Detroit gave all of their worldly goods to Michael Mills and lived communally in “God’s House” on the grounds of the Colony. In 1894 Michael Mills had a vision that from that point forward that all the wives were to be shared communally with all of the men of the Colony. This was too much for Benjamin Parnell who encouraged Mills’ outraged wife to file for divorce. The resulting scandal ended with Michael Mills barely escaping a lynch mob and in Michigan filing morals charges against him leading to a five year prison term for the former prophet.

            During this period of turmoil Benjamin Purnell announced that he had received a Revelation that Michael Mills was a fraud and, in fact, he, Benjamin Purnell, was the true Seventh Messenger. He and Mary were run out of Detroit by Southcottians still loyal to Michael Mills and spent the next several years as itinerant preachers.

            In 1902, while the Purnell’s were in Fostoria, Ohio, their daughter Hettie was killed in an explosion of a fireworks factory during her first day at work there. She had just turned sixteen. The explosion leveled the factory and killed everyone inside. Hettie was so badly burned that she was only able to be identified by the ring given to her by a friend for her birthday less than two weeks before. The actions of Benjamin and Mary Purnell caused outrage in some segments of the Fostoria population because they did not believe in death and so refused to bury their daughter but upon leaving the place three weeks later they published a notice in the local newspaper thanking everyone for, “the kindness, gifts and support,” shown to them by the Citizens of Fostoria.

            Benjamin and Mary then moved along with five followers to Benton Harbor, Michigan which reported came to Mary in a dream. Once in Benton Harbor they incorporated the Israelite House of David. A wealthy supporter donated land to the group and they soon hooked up with about 200 members of the ‘Flying Rollers’ who had become disenchanted with Michael Mills and the Detroit group. Most of the Purnell’s original followers were from Indiana and Ohio but their ranks expanded dramatically after Benjamin Purnell made a recruiting trip to Australia in 1904-05 among the followers of Messenger James Jezreel.

            From here the House of David prospered. It was a communal society and all of its members assigned all their worldly possessions to Benjamin Purnell who added vegetarianism and celibacy to the list of religious requirements. The House of David built three impressive buildings, one of which, Shiloh, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They generated their own electricity and ran their own printing press. They purchased Michigan’s 3,400 acre High Island where they grew fruits and vegetables they later sold at their fruit and vegetable market which was said to be the largest in the world; as was their state-of-the-art cold storage facility. They opened their own amusement park complete with a miniature railroad along with hotels and vegetarian restaurants. In 1912 they published a vegetarian cookbook. They had a zoo, mineral springs and botanical gardens on their 1,000 acre property. They built an auditorium where Biblical plays were performed. They ran a shipping line and cruise ships, patenting the first cross propeller technology making it harder for waves to tip over cruise ships. They invested in logging. They invented a synthetic stone known as Hydro-stone and the Waffle cone. The invented the automatic pinsetter for use in bowling alleys. At the behest of Welch’s Grape Juice Company they invented a way that grape juice could be stored in cans and in the 1970s their cold storage facility was instrumental in inventing dehydrated Space Meals for use by astronauts. They invented a portable lighting system that allowed sports teams to play outside at night. They sponsored two orchestras and three brass bands that traveled the country playing instruments manufactured at the Colony and they were famous for their semi-pro baseball that barnstormed the country and, to a lesser extent, their basketball teams. Players on these teams were not required to be members of the religion.

            Prospering, the House of David was estimated to be worth over $10 million dollars by the 1920s. Despite the vows of celibacy, the House of David was scrutinized by the police on the look-out for immoral practices. Benjamin Purnell was arrested on morals charges in 1910, 1914, 1920 and 1922. In 1923, the Detroit Free Press published a sensational expose of the sect prompting the State’s Attorney General to Act. The Colony was raided but Benjamin wasn’t found. It was assumed he had fled to Canada but in 1926 a disaffected member, Bessie Daniels, went to the police and reported Benjamin Purnell had been hiding in plain sight. He was arrested in his bedroom at the Colony and 13 women swore under oath that they had sexual relations with the Messenger when they were still minors. Benjamin Purnell was placed on trial and convicted of fraud but died on November 16, 1927 before the charges of sexual impropriety could be heard in Court.

            After Benjamin’s death the House of David split into two factions with about 200 members supporting Judge Harry Thomas Dewhirst, a one-time jurist from California, and Benjamin’s widow, Mary, who soon proclaimed herself “Co-Seventh Messenger.” They managed to reach a settlement with Mary receiving $60,000 and Dewhirst’s faction retaining Shiloh and the rest of the House of David’s assets. Mary bought land directly across the street, naming it the Israelite House of David, or, more simply, Mary’s City of David. Both Houses maintained baseball teams but the Dewhirst team disbanded in the 1930s while the Israelite House of David’s teams played well into the 1950s.

            Mary Purnell died August 19, 1953 at the age of 90. After her death her grandson, Samuel Coy Purnell, sued, claiming Mary owned all the assets of the City of David. A judge ruled that the assets were held communally but still awarded Samuel $700,000 as Mary’s share.

            For a while things still prospered. The House of David added a cannery and a couple of Olds dealerships to its holdings and Mary Purnell built a vacation complex called Paradise Park that attracted so many Jewish visitors that a Synagogue was built on-site.  However, celibacy took its toll. Numbers dwindled and the House of David stopped actively recruiting new members after Benjamin’s death. The zoo disbanded in the 1940s with the animals sent to Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. The industries and amusement park closed by the 1970s and by 2010 only three members remained living, supported in nursing homes by the profits from the House of David’s real estate holdings and the money raised from selling blueberries. Traveling down East Briton Road in Benton Harbor today there is barely a trace of the thriving commune. The tourist courts, the vegetarian restaurant, the athletic fields, the beer garden, the Synagogue, all gone though a museum dedicated to the House of David was opened in Benton Harbor in 1997.

            All may not be lost, however. Mary Purnell prophesized that the gathering of 144,000 elect, 12,000 from each of the Tribes of Israel, would happen when people drive by and say, “Look, there’s where the House of David used to be,” and when the number of members remaining could fit into her closet. It looks like that time might be at hand.

~ Laura Wilkerson
    Genealogy Department