The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1900-12-19
NEW SECT MAKES POOR
iNFATUATloN OF AN OHIO WOMAN
FOR THE "RoLL FLYERS"

Heaven" In q wilderness.
One Of the strange-t stories in the
history Of the State Is revealed In a
dozen and one lawsuits which have
been instituted In and ong the fam
fly Of Ephraim Shanabarger. who, a
few years ago, was one Of the wealth.
est men in Wood County. but is now an
outcast without sufficient ready mon
ey to buy for himself a bed, says the
Bowling Green lOhio) correspondent
Of the Chicago Record
How shanabarger became a pauper
is also revealed TO some extent in the
various legal entanglements into which
the man. now sevenry-two years Of
age. has been nsynged, either by him
self on some member Of his family. A
strange religious infatuation on the
part Of his wife accounts for it all.
Epmaim Shanabarger came early to
Wocd County and took a large tract Of
land. He was Industrious, as was his
wife and four sons and IA a short time
they began to accumulate money and
more lands Shanabarger seemed to
be possessed Of a magic touch and all
OF the things which ne handled seemed
to turn TO money. They built for
themselves fine home near Cygnet
on one Of their farms in this county
and there they were content TO live
and till the soil
Some years ago oil was found be-
meath their lands and in a short time
the fluid was pouring forth by the
hundreds barrels. at the same time
turning hundreds upon hundreds Of
dollars into the Golfers of the family.
A strange religious sect sprang up in
the neighborhood and the wife and
sons became affiliated with this sect.
With the coming Of this religion to the
members Of the family came trouble
and IN fortune TO Ephraim Shanabarg-
er Business ventures proved unfrult-
ful and disaster followed disaster. StilI
the wife hung to the strange religion
which had been discovered by a per
son considered an adyenfurer by all
save believers He claimed 10 have
found the teachings advocated by him
and believed BY a dozen or more, in a
roll shown to him IN a dream. The
roll was found In the hollow OF a tree.
WHAT RoLL REVEALED.
This roll revealed to him story Of
the destruction Of the world by fire.
together with all its people. save a
few. who would be gathered upon
tract OF waste'land in a desolate coun-
try The members Of this singular
sect were rldlcnled by the people Of
the neighborho0d, who called them
roll flyers"
Finally after long stady OF the al
legged charts and rolls, one Of the so
ciety had pointed out to him the spot
where this piece Of land lay 1t was
IN Texas and thither the members Of
the society went Finally a tract Of
land about five miles from Livingstone
was thought TO be that referred to in
the charts and here they stopped. Mrs.
shanabarger accompanied them on
this pilgrimage, leaving her husband
to follow the new prophet. No other
members OF the society had any money
and the support Of the entire colony
virtually rested upon her shoulders.
AS the religious ardor Of the roll |
flyers" increased, the we-lth OF the
Shanabargers decreased, though oil IN |
large quantities still gushed forth. ever
and anon a piece Of land would have |
to be disposed of to get funds with |
which to keep alive the people in the
heaven" as they called it.
A church was hewn out Of the logs |
found convenient and a few huts were
erected by the angel habitants Of the |
place. This was the only sign Of i'm
provement about the country, as the /
land is generally considered Of no
value whatever for the raising Of
crops or fer other money-making pur-
poses. Gradually the old mans prop /
erty continued TO slip away from his |
grasp and ready money began to grow
more scarce. at the same time the
demands from heaven increased.
THE HEAVEN" WAS EXCLUSIVE.
Lawsuits wee begun by the wife for
partition Of the prope " in order
that she might be able 10 get hold Of /
more money with which 10 sustain the
people Of the sacred spot No one
outside Of those who inhabited the /
strange place were permitted to enter
It. and n r. Harrington. an attorney
from Bowling Green. Ohio. who went
there to get deposltlons Ia order that
the wife might be able to set up a
claim FOR her share Of the property. /
was the first outsider admitted. This /
was done only that the heaven" |
might be longer kept up. Mr.. Harring- |
ton found the rudely constructed huts
and church as above stated. He also /
found there fourteen people. all OF
whom believed they had definite
knowledge Of the time Of the destruc-
tion Of the world by fire. They never
leave the place except to get supplies /
for their maintenance. These are pur-
chased at Livingstone OF some other
town within several miles.
From that time lawsuit after law |
suit followed In rapid succession and /
until rnronffr 1hora vrrnr.a hale "a 1,-a., /