Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-10-01
scuWEINFt-RT GONE.

The recent dealt, Of Jacob Schwein-
furth recalls the career of Il notorious
fanatic who. for a time, succeeded In
deceiving a number of persons. or late
years, however. comparatively little has
bene heard of him. He seems to have
died in obscurity, somewhere in Chtca-
go. on the Goth of July. But ne had
changed his name, and his death, ac-
cording to an article in the Chicago
Record Herald, escaped general notice.
until 1t was accidentally discovered
that Furth was the once famous
Schwcinfurth.
This pretender was stock-hroker,
until he decided to Join tho followers Of
Mrs. Beellnan. the frec-love advocate
When thla woman died, thirty years
ago, schwcinfurt became the leader of
the deluded flock and he soon orSan-
lied them into what he called a .'heaI
ven" This was in Chicago. From the
windy city Schwelnfurt moved his coll
ony to Il farm. whose owner, Mr.. We'll
don had been converted, near Rockford.
To this "hehven' strangers We're at
tracted. Many remained permanently
and schweinfurt called his organization
the Church triumphant" Then he
claimed to be the Christ, and his fol-
lowers were angels. However. all
was not harmony in tho heaven" at
Rockford and schweinfurt tried to
establish another in Minneapolis. He
a ~, to ,spI 40
gradually scattered.
His last years he spent MS u stock
broker He married n divorced wife of
Congregational minister, and made
Rockford his home until about three
years ago. Upon his return to Chica-
go 1t was rumored that he intended
again Opening a local "heaven.". With
his 1vifc and two children. he moved to
the North Side home. where no lived
until his death.
The story of Schweinfurth, and still
more that of Mrs. Bcekman. who was
his master, furnishes sad illustration
of how easily some people ARE led
astray. Mrs. Hceleman. was tho wife. Of
n minister and when he took sick. she
filed the pulpit for him. At first she
read sermons prepared by her husband
but she soon composed her own, and
1T turned ont that she held the inter-
est of the congregations. People not
only liked Mrs. Beekman's shallow and
repetitious sermons; they counted them
as containing moro than human Wis
! d5m. Her platitudes and inaninites
| were treasured and repeated and fiat
| tered past all belief. she had a pleas
| ant personality, a soft voice, n persua-
| size manner, and q bearing which Just
pcrceptibly accented tho fact of SEX. and
| these characteristics. in the Judgment
| Of an minimizing crowd. nade Mrs.
| Bcekmans sermons or1icles of wisdom.
| At first her admirers said she had been
| wonderfully led of the Spirit: then that
| sho possessed the Spirit In a. wonderful
degree, and finally that in her the Spirit
which was in Jesus was again ncar-
| nate.
| Blinded by nattory and led by fiat
| tcrers shc gradually camo TO believe
| tina, she was the Christ, She pored
over the Bible texts referring to woman.
She read that the Seed of Woman
should bruise the serpent's head; what
| Woman, and what Seed. II not the seed
| OF truth. "The Seed Is tho Word OF
God" Then, she turned TO Revelation,
and found there the Woman STANDING
IN the sun and clothed with the moon.
Little ,hy little her faith formulated it,
| self. christ had come agnin. and this
! time in, the form OF a woman. In timo
all prctcnse of II united homo was nban-
| doned. Mrs. I3cekman withdrew her
followers to9a hail.. and there wor-
SHIPPED God and herself. Her husband.
broken hearted but helpless. held to
| the remnant Of his church, l53
Mrs. hickman appointed twelve anos-
ties: one she called Peter, and as. she
wanted twelve and had no use for Ju-
das. she made George Jacob Schwein-
furtl her. John the Baptist.
|! Mrs. hickman had taught her follow
ers thatTshc was immortal; d so when
she died d there was great confusion.
Then schweinfurt stepped In. He aIl-