House of David (commune)

==History==

In 1888 the Purnells discovered a group of preachers extolling a man named [[James Jershom Jezreel]] as the Sixth Messenger. Jezreel had published a series of sermons in three volumes (842 pages) titled ''[[House of David (commune)#Further reading|Extracts from the Flying Roll]]'' (1879-1881). While the preachers were in Richmond, Benjamin and Mary joined their group, known as "the Visitation Movement", which was started by a woman named Joanna Southcott, the First Messenger (Angel), in 1792.  While studying the writings of Jezreel they noticed that he said that the Seventh and last Messenger was soon to be on the scene, allegedly mentioned in [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 10:7. On March 12, 1895, the Purnells announced that the spirit of [[Shiloh (biblical figure)|Shiloh]] had grafted with them to become the seventh and last messenger.

The House of David was formed by Benjamin and Mary Purnell in 1903 after settling in Benton Harbor, Michigan.<ref name=SBtribeFactFiction/> Prior to that, the Purnells lived in [[Fostoria, Ohio]] and had two children, one of whom died in a fireworks factory explosion at the age of 17. The Purnells were looked down upon by residents of the city when they decided to forego the funeral due to their beliefs of not having anything to do with the dead.<ref name=SBtribeFactFiction/>

Purnell, a native of Kentucky, published a book entitled ''The Church Ages'' in which he claimed to be the seventh and final messenger of the church ages, as foretold in the book of Revelation. A similar teaching had been promoted a decade earlier by [[Charles Taze Russel]] concerning himself may have been an influence on Purnell.<ref name = "dfp">{{cite news|url=https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/john-carlisle/2016/11/13/house-of-david-benton-harbor/93069448/|title=Benton Harbor remembers cult destroyed by sex scandal|publisher= Detroit Free Press|author=Carlisle, John|date=November 13, 2016}}</ref>

The House of David colony soon had several hundred members. In 1907, the House owned about 1,000 acres, on which the colony harvested fruit from a dozen orchards and cultivated grain. The commune had its own [[cannery]], carpenter shop, coach factory, tailor shop, and steam laundry. They also owned and operated their own electricity plant, providing lighting to the community. It had three brass bands and two orchestras, and a [[zoological garden]].<ref>Coolidge, Orville W. (1906).  [https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury00cool ''A Twentieth Century History of Berrien County Michigan''], p. 241.  The Lewis Publishing Company.</ref>

Accusations arose in the 1920s towards Benjamin F. Purnell by 13 young women testifying, under oath to the courts, that they had sexual relations with the patriarch while still minors.  As soon as this became public knowledge, the ''[[Detroit Free Press]]'' and other newspapers ran critical articles about Purnell. The news brought national attention to the group. The trial was lengthy, with over 300 witness testimonies and 15,000 pages of documentation. In the end, Purnell was convicted of fraud, but not convicted on the sex charges. Purnell was sick with [[tuberculosis]] during the trial and died in 1927, before he could be sentenced.<ref name = "dfp"/>

The sensation created by the trial caused a division in the group. One group, headed by Mary Purnell, remained together and in 1930 were given half of the land next to the original commune. There they rebuilt and reorganized the New Israelite House of David, better known as Mary's City of David; as of 2017, it maintained a handful of members, who kept the premises open to the public.<ref name=Madden/>

A second faction maintained the original commune, the Old House of David led by Judge T. H. Dewhirst, had 350 members in 1935, 24 of whom were clergy, and in 1955 had 150 members with 10 clergy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_1106.asp|title=House of David- Religious Groups - The Association of Religion Data Archives}}</ref> (As of 2010, the group was reported to have three surviving members.<ref>{{cite news |first=Denise |last=Perry Donavin |title=House of David film to premiere
 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/southbendtribune/access/2125810121.html?FMT=ABS |work=[[South Bend Tribune]] |date=2010-08-28 |access-date=2011-01-06 }}</ref>) Dewhirst's faction believed that Mary Purnell had no right to usurp authority over the community, as it was led by his own self-appointed council of elders.