The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1901-08-09
THOUGHT THEY WOULD
NEVER DIE
a Glimpse Of a Religious
Sect Which Existed Years
Ago in Massachusetts


to stopping. IS Of far more interest
than one would think from casual
glance out Of the ca- window But
the place that should be seen is not in
Athol proper. or IN Ahol Center or
in the meeting house tha. lies between
and is bone OF contention over which
the two villages have fought for a
long time. T. lies on the stage road
between Athol and Petorsham, on one
OF the Petersham hills.
Twenty years ago there was a thriv.
ing community on the spot he AS
sociation Of Adonishomo-me meaning
the Lord Is here" Now It is only
memory known to a few long-lived
persons Almost fifty years ago, IN
1855, to be more exact two Worces-
ter women. Sarah j. Hervey and Caro-
line p. Hawkes., founded the sect
which later became known as the
'Howlandites" or "Fullerltes." ana
still later under the corporation name
of Adonishomo The two women had
hoped for some divine manifestation
or revelation, and had gone to a camp.
meeting az Groton TO see whether
their hopes would be realized At that
meeting they heard a man whom they
later described as talking in tongues
He proved TO be Frederick T. How
land. Quaker residing in New Bed.
ford The women decided that he was
the man for their enterprise. The
three formed an association in the
faith Some two years later Mr.. Her.
vey died without becoming a member
After eight more people from Athol
had joined among them Leonard G.
Fuller and his wife, the community
formally incorporated as a temporal
association. For time they lived at
Fuller's house at the south end Of
Pleasant street in Athol and in Au-
gust of 1864 moved 20 a farm at Pet
ersham.
One Of the principal Adonl-shomo
tenets was disbelief In death In
other things they much resembled the
Adventists, with the difference that
they held the reign Of Christ under ,he
new dispensatlon would be spiritual
and not personal The judgment dey
IN their opinion, had already began.
The Lords day would be in the 7060th
year at the beginning of the new dis
pensation. At tina, time the holy
dead would be raised The man OF
common" salvation would experience
resurrection. He of special saliva
ton would not die. This belief was
somewhat tested by the death OF
prophet" Howland, who was killed in
a runaway However. they held it to
the last. even when death had left but
a few OF them.
For their diet the people OF the com
munty used farinaceous food chiefly.
They drank water and herb tea. Flesh
they abhorred, for in their belief the
conditions existing ia the Garden of
Eden We're ultimately 10 be restored.
Things that grew in the ground they
would not eat because the ground was
cursed. Those that wanted to marcy
had 10 leave the community. They
wore no lewelry and only the plainest
clothes although the worlds people"
are reported as saying that the How
landites dressed as expensively as
anyone and with as much pride as
anyone. Tier Sabbath day was from
6 o'clock o. ms Friday until the same
hour Saturday The religious exer-
cisos lasted from 10 o'clock until 3.
There were no regular services, each
member speaking as the spirit moved
him. by maklng apple sauce and put
ting up pork they made considerable
money just how much has never been
known. The sect is now entirely ex-
tinct
No man who desired to live forever
could have chosen a more ideal site
than the place where the building of
Adonishomo stood From the hill one
can see fields, forests. mountains.
Greyloek, the lofty peak OF Massachu.
sets, can be seen some seventy miles
away, Then there Is Mount Grace
and much Of Vermont and the noun
tains still beyond IN the hazy There
lived the people who hoped never to
die and there, IN the midst Of beauty,
they died