The Kingdom of Matthias: A Story of Sex and Salvation in 19th-Century America
A curious 19th-century American episode is examined in this fluid, well-contextualized and dramatically detailed account. From the 1820s to the 1840s, explain historians Johnson ( A Shopkeeper's Millenium ) and Wilentz ( Chants Democratic ), the country was awash in religious revivalism, a reaction by those bypassed by the industrial revolution. In 1832 Elijah Pierson, a New York merchant and religious reformer turned self-proclaimed prophet, met Matthias, born Robert Matthews, an outcast in churches who declared his own visions. Matthias took over Pierson's pulpit, preaching an apocalypse that promised no economic oppression for the worthy who survived. Matthias, however, lived extravagantly, and stole a follower's wife. Pierson's mysterious death in 1834 led to Matthias's arrest for murder and generated much publicity in the fledgling scandal-hungry New York City penny press. Matthias, found guilty on a lesser charge, later disappeared. His story, the authors note, influenced Herman Melville, and shows parallels with other outsider religions and cults. An ex-slave who was Pierson's servant and Matthias's disciple went on to achieve lasting influence under the name Sojourner Truth. Illustrations not seen by PW.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.