The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-01-07
Raised Front Dead
Remarkable Case in Religious
Community in Maine.

NC "eeh fd4seQ from the dead after she
had been. in the sight of the radiance of
heaven. She belongs to a peculiar sect.
A New YORK Herald writer. dating his
letter from Temple of the Church of the
Living God. Shiloh, Maine, says:
If the testimony of all the one hundred
and fifty inmates of the temple is to be
believed, the Rev. Frank w. SANFORD,
chief of the Holy Ghost and Us school.
and leader Of the worlds evangelization
movement, with its headquarters here,
has raised from the dead Miss Olive A.
Mills, who has been for some time a
dweller at the temple.
The testimony given concerning the al
legged miracle is earnest, interesting and
impressive, if only for the reason that
the students at Shiloh are taught that
the most absolute veracity must be a
part of their Christian life
People in this section who have been
watching the progress OF affairs on the
Durham sand hill are at loss to under
stand how this latest manifestation at
Shiloh shall be characterized. Be it I'M
derstood that the Shiloh Temple is 10
Gated in the farming township of Dur
ham, and on the highest elevation in the
place-a great, sandy, bare poll. The scat
tered population about is composed of
hard-headed Yankee farmers The ev-
ents Of the last four or five years on the
hill are almost too much FOR their cred
ulity, and yet in the next breath after
expressing doubts as to sbme things they
viii tell the listener that they have
found Mr.. Sanford and his disciples the
best citizens the town has had. They
pay their bills promptly; they feed the
hungry. All are welcome at the temple
The persons who dwell there devote
themselves TO life based upon all the
precepts of the Bible to the letter. The
farmers have had opportunity to watch
the doings, for though little has been
said about the movement until recently.
the work has been going on for seven
years. New Years day the seventh an
niversary of the date when Mr.. Sanford.
an evangelist, gave way all his possess
sions, abandoned his parish in New
Hampshire and started out in the world
without the least idea of where he was
to lay his head.
In the seven years he has built the
great temple without passing the con-
tribution box, has erected a children's
building near by-a structure Of stone
and has completed and equipped a So, 900
brick building that is called Bethesda"
and which is used as a hospital for the
healing Of the persons by the power of
God.
In this building Of Bethesda was
wrought the alleged miracle that has at
tracted such wide attention When a
bare outline of the story had been pub
lished in the local papers and had made
the rounds Of the press, the mail for
Shiloh (the temple has a postofiice of its
own)) increased to hundreds of letters
daily. People all over the United States
have been asking for additional facts and
seeking confederation.
Il have been unable to reply to these
letters" said Mr.. Sanford to a cores
pondenL. ''They have poured in upon me
In such numbers that a dozen writers
could not keep up with the replies Fur
thermore, my sense of responsibility in
this matter will not allow me to dismiss
1t with a brief word of reply. 1 depre-
cate the first publication Of the matter,
for I knew that I should incur the
charge Of charlatanry. I was talking the
matter over with a friend one day and
IN that way an outline of the case got
into the papers. As I feared. the affair
has created wide misrepresentation as to
the purpose of the movement and as 20
the character of Shiloh. Some people
appear TO think that I am in business
now as q cure ALL and propose to anti
cipate a great deal of the duty that is
reserved for the Angel Gabriel A man
In the west for instance. writes tear
ful letter to ask if / will not come there
and raise his wife from the dead. She
has been in the grave since last August.
In order that I may answer at once
all the queries that have been addressed
TO me, 1 will give our side of this mat
ter. and with the assurance that every
fact is true TO the best Of our knowledge
and belief. Those who know me under
stand that I would not trife with facts
in the relation of holy things to the ex-
tent of even one untruthful statement.
''To those who do not know me and
the nature of work here I win say that
would rather see Shiloh's Temple RACED
TO the ground than Intentionally misrep-
resent this affair in one detail
''To start with I will say that no re-
rcFt Of The affair to this time has put
the truth strongly enough If I doubted
that Olive \. Mills was raised from the
dead and restored to us quick and IN
perfect health. I should be denying one of
the great workings Of God I VIII not do
that even for fear of what the world viii
say of our story I have nothing to hide
nothing to apologize for. First of all.
understand me. Don't say that Sanford
raised this woman from the dead. or that
Sanford erected these buildings God Al
mighty did it. and Sanford is only a
poor tool
''This Olive A Mills Is a woman aged
about forty years. She has been che of
our best workers, true and devoted wo-
man. While she was ut Shiloh her
health was not good at times. but she
kept about and even assisted in painting
the outside of the temple.
Finally. we got il ready TO dedicate,
and people from all about hocked there.
Right in the midst of the preparations TO
receive the visitors Miss Mills became
3Tl. Then one came running to me from
the hospital building. Bethesda. saying,
Miss Mills is dead"
Understand the blow her death at that
time would have dealt this work. Hos
tile critics were already attacking our
hospital on the ground that We have no
regular worldly practioiRg physician
there. A death at the very time we were
defeating the whole work and ali the
temple of God. and on the eve Of my
5enart,,~a To England TO institute the