The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-20
Five Members of the Sect of
Parham Arrested
Charged With Torturing a
Woman Till She Died.
TO CAST OUT A DEVIL.
They Jerked and Twisted HeI
Limbs About.
Had Been Warped by Rheum-
atism for 20 Years.

| Chicago. Sept 2e-Five persons, mem
besr of the sect of Parhamites, are un-
der arrest in Zion City accused of tor
turing to death Mrs. Letitia Green
| haulgh, "a years old. a cripple for 20
years, in order to show belief in the re-
ligion they profess
Those arrested are Walter and Jennie
Greenhaulgh, the son ard daughter of
the woman; Harold Mitchell. Mrs. Har-
old Mitchell and Mrs Smith. Mrs.
Greenhaulgh had been for twenty years
an invalid. suffering from paralysis and
rheuma tiSm-
The sect of Parhamites was founded
about year ago by Charles F. Parham
and numbers about 200 persons. Its
members originally belonged to Dowie's
church and they believed in the gift of
tongues. and especially in diabolicaI
possession of tie body by evil spirits.
The condition of Mrs. Greenhaulgh
convlrced her son and daughter and
the three persons arrested with them,
and they determined to exercise the evil
spirit The five knelt by the bedside,
and after prayer commenced their work.
The arms of Mrs. Greenhaulgh stiffep-
ed by rheumatism. We're jerked and
twisted about in order that the devil
might be driven out The cries of the
aged woman were considered to be those
of an evil spirit and were greeted with
triumphant shouts. After course of
this violent treatment Mrs. Green
she could not use her limbs but became
inca pable of making any motions. Her
neck was twisted and for some time this
treatment was kept up
Walter Greenhaulgh testified at the
coroner's inquest that Mitchell and his
wife recently had a vision" in which
Mitchell was ordered to quit work and
devote his time to casting out demons
from the sick Young Greenhaulgh de-
clared that his mothers consent was
obtained before the trea tmenr was conf
menced- He declared that hypnoticc
passes were made before his mothers
/ face. and then followed the muscular
force which, he said was strongly re-
sisted by the demons
! Mrs Smiths parI in the treatment,
according to the testimony before the
coroner's jury, consisted in raising Mrs.
GreenhauIgh's head, and holding her
while Mitchell and his wife attempted
to straighten out the woman'ss limos
which had been twisted by years Of
/ rheumatism.
/ GreenhauIgh broke down and cried
( for some time his mother bore the
treatment bravely, but at last the
! agony became SO great that she could
not restrain herself and she shrieked,
'.Oh Lord, help met" a number of
I times. According to Greenhaulgn
Mitchell declared that her cries must
not be heard by outsiders. and he put
his hand across her mouth to smother
/ them The five worked over the VIC
tim until she died shortly before noon.
After that according to Greenhaulgh,
Mrs. Smith became the leader in a
/ resurrection scene. In this efforts
were made to restore the oead woman
to life. When these had failed the
announcement of her death was made.
The case is being further investigated
today by the authorities of Lake eoun-
ty in which Zion City is situated.
Charles Parham, whose religious
cult is mentioned in the Chicago dis
patch, is a man of considerable note
in Topeka He originated a peculiar
religious belief. and with some of his
followers established himself in the
big brick castle a mile west of wash
burn college which was erected Is
years ago by a man named Stone
1t was while this religious organ
ization was holding forth at Stones
castle that it received the gift Of
tongues" The converts claimed that
by divine assistance they were enabled
to converse in all sorts of foreign
languages and they jabbered much
unintelligible stuff which no one was
! able to prove was not the real thing
The Parhamites held forth in To-
peka about ten years ago, and finally
| left with the expectation of going
around the world in missionary work.
Parham finally drifted to Chicago
with the remainder of his flock. and
seemed to engraft himself upon the
DOwfe movement