The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-03-22
THE ANGEL DANGERS
IIuntsman Mnason Leaves
His Strange Band of
Disciples.
HAPPY VALLEYS WILD FANATICS
They Believe in No Marriage Law,
Are Opposed to Meat Eating
and Are Hated.

tOuS Ianallc1SI1 mas lCllS ROoAt~
munity about Park Ridge, N. J.-has Just
packed up his few traps and fiea 10
scranton, Pa. with the intention or seek
ing new fields for the planting OF ms
weird Biblical beliefs. The man Is known
as Huntsman Mnason. He calls himseif
the Saviour and claims that the LORD
speaks through him, and that Whatever
he says is the voice of the Gospel. AT
the place in New Jersey where ne mas
lived for the past five years ne nj SIX
converts, four women and two men,
Three of the women were old, ana the
fourth was a young girl, attractive anu
pretty. One of the men was known as
John the Baptist" and the other was
called "Silas the Pure Mnason was the
chief of the band, and he lordad it over
the Others with a power as absolute as II
he really were what he claims to be.
The people in the surrounding country
always spoke of them as The Angel
Dancers" and unpleasant stories were
told OF Mnason's queer influence over the
women. Time after time efforts We're
made to drive them out of the
hood. but without success. Mnason IS a
verv shrewd man, and when the law was
evoked he was generally able to Wrigsie
himself free by the exercise OF some legal
tecbnica1ity. Except for his shrewdness 1T
might nave benn possible to have MN
confined on the INSANITY plea, put the
people who disliked him the most ae-
knowledged tina he was an unusually
clever man.
The strange people lived on what was
known as the Storms farm, about three
miles from Park Ridge, q suburb less
thar twenty miles from New tofk. INC
It's isolation was one of the causes of the
prolonged stay OF the obnoxious. sect IN
that neighborhood. AS 1T was, frequent
threats were made OF tar 2 h featn Mps e LOT
pnly laughed them to scorn; MnaSon
called the farm Happy Valley" The
]neighDorss r eaElaa Il 1HfEFS sH AsEs
storms, a weak old man with a wife
ard daughter, the latter named AMI N Macy;
and he became a member of the Storm
family. Prior to Mnason's advent IN the
had dse dIspIayed an almost morbid interest
in religious matters. Shortly after Nina
sons appearance the two men who att
i flst a me two twas old 9ne women rnse The names Of
the latter are Jane Howells n Mrs.
In a short time Mnason became the
real head of the household. OLD man
combined. was showed into the back
ground, and his wife and daughter treat
ed him with no more consideration dna IN
house, and fear Of bodily M-treatment
kept rf 1is m9us ban slos sad H for p Psis he s0i Rss
a amissary se os the De devi T. So he did
urged him to the whole crowd ar
rested, but his fear of openly disgraclng
his wife and daughter held him back.
many previous attempts. the peogle had
Mnason, John the Baptist. and Silas the
Pure arrested or the charge Of keeping a
fenced to one years Imprisonment at the
State Penitentiary in Trenton At the
fnsaa the fa d two . son ffeir ident Il a ana Served ed
their sentences as John Doe and RICHARD
Roe. During their Imprisonment Mary
Storms ip bar' and ne on Ia 4he release 10 eee 81 the
three men last September they all re-
turned to the farm and the orgies of the
angel dance were continued Win more
aoaha TaE Ell HuN VS. 5 LETTER:
Mnason's idea Of himself Is a mb3db ~
sent to Presiding Judge James NJ Van
Allen the day he left for Scranton. Judge
Van Allen was the official who senfencea
him to the year in prison. This Is the
AFTER taking my departure from thee,
81 l Hosts Hlif the Holy One Of israel, in a
still voice. spake unto me as I went on
my way. down the street to taks the
ton. Pa. The still, small voice of the
God of Israel spake unto me, saying;
".Thou son of man. write unto, Van
word, Saying il is written whatsoever
thou hast met unto others shall be me-
unto thee
asAg thou, o ruler. met unto those my
servants Ia the court Of injustice and in
and sg,fsie most high God, SO I win stop thy
course. N the world of thy natural LIE,
and thou shalt be removed
Moreover, the word OF the LORD , VOC
saith the Lord God Almighty unto the
ruler in the midst of Israel. an angel OF
the Lord God. the most hign; tas1 rufsdn
because thou wouldst not give God the
glory. and the worms will eat thy flesh
an 9.1,h thou aa shalt the slyf f,o g9 tas so 81 israel,
+he most high unto thee. For the mouth
Of the Lord hath spoken it NAsoN.
Mnason and his converts always spoke
to strangers in this imitation Biblical
way. Mnanson used to wear his hair so
long that it hung down on his s hon Id Ere
Mnanson does not believe in any mar
riage law, and all of his disciples must
believe as he does. He also lays down
the law against the eating OF meat. He
and his band subsisted entirely on po-
fure called buttermilk pap. This diet
gave all of them a peculiarly pallid look.
AMnanson is a vigorous man, though, and
as he now wears his hair and beard
close-cropped. he is not so eccentric
looking T Il H'l ANaEL DANCES.
The Angel Dances often took place at
meal time. A. resident of Park Ridge WIG
was invited to become q disciple OF the
Church Of the Living Cod, supped at
described the performances to the writer.
No other outsider has ever witnessed the
spectacle. This is the way the dance was
FINALLY, when Mnason had eaten
enough he seemed to make up his mind
that something was wrong -Ine dsvil
away At his old Jane Howells got up
and began to prance around the table as
Fast as she could. Jump over It! shouted
Mnason. She put her hand on John the
Baptist's shoulders n sailed over the
table, almost without toucnnng a olsn;
us again, until she had covered fourteen
lans. During all this time the others
were clapping their hands spraising the
Lord, and squirting the old woman Z pre-
newed efforts. She got wilder and wilder.
and finally jumped upon the table ano
dishes. She stepped on q big cake and
sIn the meantime old man Storms, who
had no yet finished eating, GRABBED some
ssbuttermilk pap and fled The old wo-
man kept up dancing among the vege-
iii ~ than Then she SAT down by