Murdering Holiness: The Trials of Franz Creffield and George MitchellUBC Press, 2003 M09 15 - 360 pages Murdering Holiness explores the story of the "Holy Roller" sect led by Franz Creffield in the early years of the twentieth century. In the opening chapters, the authors introduce us to the community of Corvallis, Oregon, where Creffield, a charismatic, self-styled messiah, taught his followers to forsake their families and worldly possessions and to seek salvation through him. As his teachings became more extreme, the local community reacted: Creffield was tarred and feathered and his followers were incarcerated in the state asylum. Creffield himself was later imprisoned for adultery, but shortly after his release he revived the sect. This proved too much for some of the adherents' families, and in May 1906 George Mitchell, the brother of two women in the sect, pursued Creffield to Seattle and shot him dead. The authors take us into the courtroom for the trial that made headlines across North America, as Mitchell was acquitted of murder. Though the formal plea was insanity, the defence built its case on the "unwritten law" that justified killing to protect or avenge family honour. Based on court records and archival sources, this case study includes a detailed examination of the trial, the media's response to it, and the dramatic aftermath, and sheds light on the rise of ardent religion in the Pacific Northwest, the justice system in Seattle, and the role of the press in influencing public opinion. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
The Creffield Sect in Corvallis 1903 | 7 |
Driving Out the Sect The Triumph of the White Caps 19031904 | 35 |
Sensualist Practices Prescribed and Ordained as Coming from Heaven Sex and the Creffield Sect | 57 |
Disciplining the Sect Invoking Insanity Law 1904 | 76 |
Revival and Revenge January to May 1906 | 94 |
Seattle Prepares for Trial May and June 1906 | 105 |
Justifiable Homicide and the Unwritten Law Seattle Debates the Mitchell Case | 121 |
The Trial of George Mitchell Part 2 The Unwritten Law | 158 |
And the Evil That Men Do Lives After Them The Death of George Mitchell | 192 |
The Law Maud Creffield and Esther Mitchell | 206 |
Epilogue | 233 |
The Creffield Sect Membership | 245 |
Notes | 247 |
Bibliography | 325 |
341 | |
Other editions - View all
Murdering Holiness: The Trials of Franz Creffield and George Mitchell Jim Phillips,Rosemary Gartner No preview available - 2003 |
Common terms and phrases
13 July 26 June acquitted adultery Albany Herald Argus asylum Attie Bray attorney August BCHM believed Benton County BGAS Records Blethen brother committed Corvallis Gazette Creffield and Brooks Creffield sect crime criminal December Donna Starr Esther Mitchell evidence File Florence Seeley followers Frank and Mollie Frank Hurt Frater Gardner George Mitchell Girls History holiness movement Holy Rollers Hurt's Ibid Insane Record insanity defence January judge jurors jury kill Creffield King County later lawyers Lincoln County lived Louis Hartley Mackintosh Maud Creffield Miller Mitchell's trial Mollie Hurt murder newspapers November O.V. Hurt October Oregon Journal Oregon Statesman Oregonian Pacific Northwest Perry person Portland Post-Intelligencer Press prosecution Quotations religion religious reports Salvation Army Sandell Sarah Hurt SC-KC Seattle sect members September 1906 sexual sister Smith Island Sophia Hartley Star story Superior Court Telegram testimony told University unwritten law vigilantism Waldport Washington witnesses women WSA-PS