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The Holy Rollers
11 Plays6 days ago
In 1903, a charismatic preacher named Edmund Creffield arrived in Corvallis and quickly drew followers into a secretive, emotionally intense movement that would soon be labeled the “Holy Rollers.” As devotion deepened, families were torn apart and shocking allegations of control, manipulation, and “spiritual purification” ignited fear across the community. The conflict reached a violent climax in 1906 when George Mitchell shot Creffield in Seattle, only to be killed days later by his own sister, Ruth Mitchell, in an act of revenge. What began as a search for faith ended in murder, madness, and tragedy, raising haunting questions about how far belief can go before it turns dangerous.
⚠️ Content Warning: This episode includes references to abuse, trauma, and death. Listener discretion is advised.
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Transcript
Introduction to Beneath the Evergreens
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Beneath the Evergreens, where murder, mysteries, and mayhem lurk in the shadows of the Pacific Northwest. I'm Jess. And I'm Anna. From haunted forests and unsolved disappearances, to true crime cases buried deep in the moss and the mist, we're digging into the dark secrets hiding under the evergreens.
00:00:21
Speaker
Each episode will explore real cases and eerie encounters, and the legends that keep the Pacific Northwest up at night. So grab your flashlight, lock your doors, and join us beneath the evergreens.
00:00:56
Speaker
Welcome to episode 27. We are here. We're loving life. We are We are. I'm excited to be here. Are you excited to be here? I'm so excited to be here. I'm going to be real honest with you, Anna.
00:01:09
Speaker
Oh no. April Fool's was on Wednesday. And so I really wanted to make this a fake episode.
00:01:18
Speaker
And gotcha. I wanted to do it. I wanted to do fake cryptid that had to do with Starbucks ah coffee grounds and Seattle underground. But I decided that I was going to do a real story for you. I appreciate that.
00:01:35
Speaker
To be honest, I probably would not have gathered that it was a fake story. That was the goal. I was going to tell you at the end. But today for you, instead of a fake story, I have a real story that and includes somebody getting tarred and feathered. Oh.
00:01:50
Speaker
Which is wild. I don't think I would enjoy that. No. That sounds pretty pretty horrible. I think actually that's the point is that you don't enjoy it. That's why people do it.
00:02:02
Speaker
So. Jesse figures out torture. ah Today on Beneath the Evergreens. Breaking news.
00:02:15
Speaker
Oh, man. Let's get into it, shall we? Let's do it.
00:02:21
Speaker
In 1903, the quiet college town of?
The Rise of Edmund Crefield
00:02:24
Speaker
Corvallis. Home. Home to now.
00:02:29
Speaker
home to what is now Oregon State University, became the center of a religious firestorm that would shock the Pacific Northwest. Ooh, I'm intrigued. Yes.
00:02:41
Speaker
This is going to be the story of Edmund Crefield. and the Brides of Christ Church. Have you this before? I have not.
00:02:52
Speaker
I was in the mood for a culty story, though. You texted me earlier this week. I was like, oh, I'm i'm stoked. This is really good. So it's a rise fueled by belief and a collapse marked by obsession, violence, and death.
00:03:07
Speaker
Wow. So to understand Edmund, we're going to have to go back in time to the Salvation Army. So this is like way back. This isn't even in the Pacific Northwest. This is actually over across the pond in London's East End.
00:03:25
Speaker
I don't think I said that at all correctly. Really dumb question, but I'm only aware of the Salvation Army as we like know it today, like the thrift stores and like yeah the buckets and stuff.
00:03:37
Speaker
Can we talk together quickly about the history of the Salvation Army? Oh, we're about to get into it. Because i had no idea of what the Salvation Army truly was. And now I regret every purchase I've ever made at a Salvation Army.
00:03:51
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So in 1865, William Booth founded the Salvation Army in the slums of London's East End. He was trying, he wasn't trying to build like a traditional church though. He really was wanting to build a movement for Jesus.
00:04:07
Speaker
He didn't want a congregation, but he wanted a military force for Jesus. Hence the literal name of Salvation Army. Oh my. Yeah. That's cool.
00:04:19
Speaker
Yes. And so this salvation, this congregation or military force essentially was assembled by William Booth, who I kept confusing with the guy who killed Abraham Lincoln, jo which was a fun, fun little thing that was going in my head for a very long time. He started he started the Salvation Army and then promptly he assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
00:04:45
Speaker
It went back in time, I think. Because 1865, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah? I don't know. When was Lincoln? Okay. I have reason ask. My history knowledge is not great.
00:04:56
Speaker
It's probably exponentially better than mine. My pronunciation definitely is. Wow. Okay. Let's...
00:05:10
Speaker
The members of the Salvation Army weren't called believers. They were called soldiers of Christ. And this organization had a military hierarchy. So you had a general, which was like your global leader of congregations, kind of like the diocese, I think. I'm not really too familiar with that. But yeah, so global leaders, generals. Then you have your officers, which are the ministers and leaders of the actual church. And then there's the soldiers, which would be the ordinary members.
00:05:38
Speaker
To become a soldier, so just to essentially be part of this church, you have to publicly confess your your faith. So not publicly like in church. like yeah You have to go to the streets.
00:05:51
Speaker
And just like yell. And yell your confession that you are in love with Jesus. um You have to sign a commitment to moral living. So you're not allowed to do any alcohol, no gambling, no vices of any sort.
00:06:05
Speaker
And you have to like sign a contract essentially. And you have to so dedicate yourself to spreading Christianity. What that means is going to the streets again and proselytizing, like screaming on the side of the road that Jesus is our savior kind of situation. And they took this so seriously that you even were required to have a uniform.
00:06:28
Speaker
Interesting. So dark coats, bonnets for women, so you can ensure your hair and then caps for men. And this kind of served two purposes. These uniforms is to, you know, stand out immediately in public because everyone is wearing the same, like they're all in uniforms and then they're all coming out and like yelling about Jesus and how he's going to save you.
00:06:48
Speaker
Maybe, i don't know. And then accountability is also there because, you know, because you wear a uniform and you wear it all of the time. This represents that no matter where you go, you're dedicated to your Christianity and you're, you're essentially,
00:07:05
Speaker
doubling down wherever you're it's it's a lot kind of like the mormon faith i would say when they have like their specific garments that they can wear and that like yeah it's how you prove yeah yeah yourself so unlike traditional churches like i said the salvation uh army took their religion into the streets by the 1890s their services often included brass bands playing hymns in public squares marching processions through the towns open air preaching to crowds which actually sounds kind of cool I mean, yes and no. Like we have that today, but it's like those weird guys at stadiums, like outside of big events, like preaching to crowds.
00:07:46
Speaker
That is alarming. I never really know how to take that or how to interact with those people. Yeah, I just kind of ignore and walk by. That's what I try to do. Don't make eye contact. Yep. Yep.
00:07:58
Speaker
New converts were encouraged to share personal testimonies
Crefield's Influence and the Brides of Christ Church
00:08:02
Speaker
publicly, which means like you have to share your past sins oo publicly and like how how you came to find Jesus.
00:08:12
Speaker
And then express emotion freely. So you should be crying, shouting, and even collapsing during conversations about your Christianity, which is, could you imagine you're you're going to a Mariners game and one of those people are on the side of the road screaming about Jesus and then all of a sudden they just collapse?
00:08:30
Speaker
Very off-putting. ah That would be i would be ah trauma. That would be trauma. So to supporters, this was a powerful and authentic faith, but obviously to everyone else who is not part of the church, this just looked like utter chaos and someone who potentially has lost their mind.
00:08:48
Speaker
But by the 1890s also, the Salvation Army had firmly established itself in across washington or across the United States. And Oregon and Washington were also one of the heavier states.
00:09:02
Speaker
Interesting. The heavy alert heavy alert heavier populated states. In towns like... Corvallis. Dallas.
00:09:14
Speaker
Yes, I have to have Anna say it for me because every time I try to say it comes out wrong. But like also different ways of wrong. Like it's not really the same way. you of course. I just i just changed not change where the emphasis is. But not never in the correct way.
00:09:32
Speaker
Oh, it's smaller towns like Corvallis. Their presence was especially noticeable. Residents were used to quiet Sunday services, very reserved. You dress up in your Sunday best. You kind of go to a ah church. Then afterwards you, you know, eat a good meal and you go home and you maybe read your Bible again. Very quiet life.
00:09:53
Speaker
Well, suddenly they're confronted with loud music in the streets. groups of marching groups of people marching and singing down the streets shouting about their salvation public testimonies in the streets could you imagine no being from a small town you go to like this one chapel yeah everyone goes there it's community you have a quiet service then you leave and then you go outside and all of a sudden there's a brass band with people in petticoats yeah no very very alarming i'd imagine
00:10:27
Speaker
reactions were mixed some saw it as as inspiring others were very deeply unsettled i think i would be in the deeply unsettled category but i don't know sometimes i wonder if i could be fandangoed into something like this uh if i had to guess yes but i do think you would come to your senses eventually eventually or i would just like you know Get so involved. And then three months later, be like, actually, this isn't for me.
00:10:55
Speaker
is where, so this is 1903 You did it. That's right. I can do things. So 1903 it's, it's late 1903. And man named Edmund arrives Oregon and,
00:11:08
Speaker
that's right i can do things um so nineteen ah three it's it's late in nineteen three and this man named edmund arrives an organ And he kind of starts to integrate himself into the Salvation Army.
00:11:25
Speaker
Okay. So a little background on Edmund. He was born in Germany in the 1870s. I don't know the exact date. Immigrated to the United united States just before 1900.
00:11:36
Speaker
nineteen hundred And he was part of the European wave of immigrants seeking opportunities and religious freedoms. And he became highly involved in the Salvation Army in 1900 and then essentially was sent because he was a officer. He was sent to Oregon to essentially be a preacher for this particular congregation. Okay.
00:12:00
Speaker
um and he by the time he reached this place he already had a ah really big reputation of being someone who has who's very charismatic okay so he was an officer and and very charismatic he has a name for himself for almost putting people under spells when he does preach oh and like he he's just has this vibe where he can like it enrapture you when you're when he's when he's preaching okay And so by December 1903, Creffield, Edmund, was actively preaching in Corvallis.
00:12:34
Speaker
Corvallis. Corvallis. Damn it. Corvallis. So by December 1903, Edmund was actively preaching Corvallis under the Salvation Army banner.
00:12:45
Speaker
At first, he fit right in. Okay. Okay. He was all about the Salvation Army. He really highly encouraged emotional expression, public testimony. He gave very passionate deliveries.
00:12:57
Speaker
But even with the kind of chaos that is the Salvation Army, Edmund stood out. He kind of pushed people to excess, which is kind of crazy to think about. Yeah.
00:13:09
Speaker
Like if you're already encouraging people to essentially be talking to someone and have a seizure... how Like how, how much, like, that's a lot. You got a lot going on. Yeah. yeah And so witness later described his sermons as unusually long, sometimes continuing for hours without a single pause. Oh my God.
00:13:28
Speaker
Which is me essentially. Yeah. physically intense pacing and shouting and gesturing dramatically if someone did something that he didn't like he would point them out in the crowd and kind of like public shame type situation did you ever see um the most recent uh knives out movie yes that's what i'm imagining that the the priest in that one yes exactly like that where he's just like kind of this ah captivating figure but if you do him dirty you're yeah gotta be honest shit's actually fun yeah what did you think of that movie i thought it was pretty good I like a good whodunit yeah overall I liked it I didn't i think i the first one's still my favorite though first one's my favorite the third one I liked but I felt like they needed to land the fucking plane you know what I'm saying like it took too long yeah it was too long
00:14:25
Speaker
But the preacher, the one that came, the younger one, who smoking hot. Yes. yes ah Psychologically gripping. He's also so physically intense.
00:14:36
Speaker
And then he would hold audiences in silence, pushing them into emotional release. So he would make them sit there in silence and like stand over them and do all this stuff. And if someone breathed wrong, he would like so point at them. And then he was essentially like trying to break people. Oh my God.
00:14:54
Speaker
Some attendees even left saying they felt like really overwhelmed. They would get into panic attack mode, like going to church. They would feel super dizzy. And some would say they felt like they were being pulled into something beyond their control.
00:15:08
Speaker
good Lord. Yes. And so he seemed to focus on specific individuals, like I said before, but the individuals he always chose were almost exclusively women. Right.
00:15:22
Speaker
particularly younger women. Okay. He would maintain prolao prolonged eye contact, speak directly to their personal fears or guilt or spiritual anxiety.
00:15:34
Speaker
Because of course, they're his he's he's their preacher. yeah And so they're confessing their sins and like giving their testimonies. And so he's able to get all of this background about what their fears are and he's using it against them.
00:15:47
Speaker
And then he also framed himself as someone who could guide them into purity and salvation. Which I hate. Yeah. And so by the early 1904, January, February, concerns really began to surface in the church, um first at Qualley and then more openly. And the Salvation Army leaders had people come and observe Creffield. they actually found that he was pushing emotional expression further than was normal, like causing people to like have out-of-body experiences essentially. Yeah.
00:16:22
Speaker
Which is not good. He's encouraging longer and more physically intense meetings. And then he's allowing or even provoking extreme reactions like shaking, collapsing, crying.
00:16:33
Speaker
But the biggest concern wasn't just the behavior. It was the shift in focus. So instead of attention towards God, the scripture and the Salvation Army's mission, he was specifically increasing attention towards himself and as if he was a spiritual leader situation.
00:16:54
Speaker
Well, this, you know, obviously led to the leadership of within the Salvation Army. having concerns and since they were getting more and more feedback saying hey this guy's you know disruptive he's encouraging uncontrolled emotional outbursts you got to get him out of here so they you know pulled in the Salvation Army's military style structure and said hey you got to get out if you can't work within our chain of command and you can't abide by our mission statement and you have to leave yeah so he did
00:17:26
Speaker
He left. He was expelled, actually. But the problem was, is he already had quite a following. Oh. And so when he left, he said, bet.
00:17:40
Speaker
And he not only left with his dignity intact because he said, this is just me being a martyr. He spun it as if people don't understand that I am a godly figure and God speaks through me.
00:17:52
Speaker
ah And this, and I know that this is the case because now I'm like on my martyrdom error yeah era at this point. He built this core group of devoted followers. He established emotional authority all over them, all over them.
00:18:06
Speaker
That's right. All over them. He also... He created a sense that offers something more powerful than traditional religion. And that really appealed to specifically people that maybe had crises of faith or something like that. He was the one that said, I can bring you back into salvation. And so he started what was called the Brides of Christ Church.
00:18:30
Speaker
Okay. So are there, is there anything about that name that would alarm you? I, I'm just, it's screaming like polygamy to me.
00:18:43
Speaker
why Why? are they going to be brides? You seem to have this fascination with young women. And I don't like this. Correct. You go to the front of the class. Because the majority of this church that he started, a.k.a. the cult, was women who had to commit themselves to God in multiple different ways, which we will get into. Oh, no.
00:19:08
Speaker
So instead of taking this church in and prophetizing like the Salvation Army going to the streets with big brass bands, he went underground, which is never great. Yeah.
00:19:19
Speaker
Not how you really get a ah good, like, I don't know, like well-behaved, well-intentioned church. Underground. 1,000%. So he rather than preaching in public halls, like I said, he began holding small invitation-only gatherings inside private homes.
00:19:38
Speaker
So making a VIP experience, if you will. And at first these meetings seemed harmless and intimate and like, you know, more like a Bible study, you know, a handful of people gathered in the the living room, the lights were dimmed low. They would sing hymns very softly, long, quiet prayer sessions. It it created a sense of like exclusivity, like almost as if we are, we are the chosen ones. Like look how intimate we are. We're all like-minded. We're all working towards God in the same way. It really was like this bonding experience. Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:16
Speaker
But as the weeks passed, the tone really shifted and meetings grew longer, often stretching late into the night. So it started at like 4 p.m. and like end at 11, which is a very long time. Yeah.
00:20:30
Speaker
It also alternated between ah complete and utter silence and extreme emotional outbursts. Oh, my. Which is not great. And then more isolation was also introduced as the time went on. Outsiders, including family members, were discouraged or specifically excluded. If you didn't have an invitation, if you didn't get your little invitation in the mail, you weren't coming in.
00:20:54
Speaker
Oh, what the heck?
Cult Practices and Community Tensions
00:20:56
Speaker
Which doesn't seem very godly, but that's neither here nor there, I guess. Yeah. Witnesses later described the rooms filled with whispered prayers, like just above whispers, that would turn into wailing cries.
00:21:11
Speaker
um Participants being forced to kneel for hours at a time. oh Could you imagine? That's literal torture. My knees can take that. great And then after being on your knees for hour, he would force them into bursts of movement at a moment's notice, forcing them to shake or collapse or roll all over the floor.
00:21:37
Speaker
It got to the point where people would come with their invitations just at dusk and they wouldn't leave the house until dawn. Oh my God. hmm.
00:21:51
Speaker
So at the beginning, Edmund's message was very familiar to Christian ideals, repentance, salvation, spiritual reverse but in spiritual rebirth. But in May 1904, his teachings began to change quickly and dramatically. He essentially had a new identity, and he really leaned into this, I am essentially the only way you can get to God.
00:22:19
Speaker
I am the pathway there. It's me. Then there's God. And if you want to get to God, you have to become a bride of Christ. So it's like he was singing this whole thing up when he first started, yeah quite honestly.
00:22:34
Speaker
And so he made it instead of like, oh, it's a name. He made it literal. You had to become his wife in order to get to Christ. And to be his wife, you had to essentially, you know,
00:22:49
Speaker
Sleep with him to show your purity and devotion. Of course. Of course. And you had to strip away your earthly identity, which means any family you have, not family no anymore. Any statuses that you had in society, not anymore. Any reputation that you used to have or you used to hold on to, like you were really good with horses or something like that. No, you had to leave it at the door.
00:23:12
Speaker
You could not bring that in with you and you couldn't participate in those things anymore. Oh, man. Yes. And so as more people got more and more involved with this cult, they completely detached from the world. And keep in mind, this is a very small community. Loyalty to family and this community is a huge like this is how this world works. And he is breaking people away from that. He continually came up with this when, when family members would come to the door and try to pull their daughters. Cause that's the majority of people that are in this out of these, out of the situation, he would frame it as, see, they're just an obstacle to your spiritual purity. They're sources of corruption for you. If you listen to them, you're just going to become like another, what's the name for norm? Whatever. It doesn't matter. I will look it up later.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah, sources of corruption, and they're they're just normal human beings. they They don't have the secrets that we have to be able to unlock yeah everything. So this you know really drove a wedge in the community. The community was like...
00:24:21
Speaker
What is going on here? Like something, something weird is happening. We hear, we see people go into this house at dusk and then we're, the lights are on the entire night. They don't leave till dawn and then it'll be completely silent silent. And all of a sudden we'll hear these like screams at the top of their lungs coming from this house. Like what is going on? People are alarmed, which valid, very valid. Yeah.
00:24:44
Speaker
I find it interesting that families would even like allow their young girls to be like going to this strange man's house at night. Yeah. And then be turned away at the door. Yeah.
00:24:56
Speaker
Like that's, that's yeah so weird. I don't like it. um But even with that, even with these concerns, there was a rapid growth from May to June of 1904. And essentially what Edmund had his followers do was talk to their friends. And if you know you were a woman between the ages of 16 and 30 and you had friends, you should invite them into this religion. A couple of families, there's two well-known, um the Hurt family and the Mitchell family.
00:25:29
Speaker
The daughter of the Hurt family, Maude, later married officially Edmund. And then the Mitchell family, the daughter was one of the most loyal, I don't want to say mistresses, but she was essentially his second in command. There was a lot of that going on. He was the head and yeah. Gotcha.
00:25:52
Speaker
And most of the recruiters, um, recruitees, as I said, were women between the ages of 16 and 30. They were all fairly educated from stable homes. They were all involved, all involved themselves initially from curiosity, like giggles about, oh my gosh, this place is crazy. Let's go visit it. It'll be like a fun little experience. But then Edmund apparently was so captivating that they just kept coming back. And then he used this like tactic of,
00:26:18
Speaker
guilt. And if you truly want to be saved, you have to do these things. And by July, 1904 daughters were refusing to come home. Participants were not only just spending nights. Now they were spending all of their time at this house.
00:26:33
Speaker
And then everyone that was in his congregation were increasingly hostile towards outsiders. Like you weren't allowed in. If you came on the property, they would like start screaming at you. Like they were really locked in.
00:26:49
Speaker
And to be honest, the men of the town were starting to get pissed. They're like, what are you doing with our daughters? What are you doing with our sisters? What are you doing with these women? Like you're having them come in.
00:27:02
Speaker
and again, this is 1904. So like having sex outside of marriage, deeply frowned upon. And they knew something weird was going on. And so they decided what they were going to do since they couldn't get this man to relinquish his control on his followers.
00:27:21
Speaker
They decided to essentially kidnap him. And take him into, this is in October. So in October, 1904, they pick kidnapped him. They took him into a field, stripped him naked, and tarred and feathered him.
00:27:43
Speaker
Oh my God. And this was supposed to be, you know, their way of saying, let our daughters go. Like you, you've, you've spent your time here. You've done whatever you need to do. You need to get out before things get worse.
00:27:59
Speaker
But instead of leaving town, he ran back to, his women essentially. And they continued this behavior where they actually became nicknamed the Holy Rollers because they literally would roll around or pray on the ground. Like faith, they would lay face down on the ground and pray for hours at a time, up to 12 hours. And then when they got like the religious, whatever, they would start rolling all over the ground And then, you know, the the community is like, what the hell? Like you literally, you literally were tart and feathered and you're not, and you're still gonna be here and you're still gonna do this. And then this is when there was this sexual panic that came out because this spiritual purification that was happening,
00:28:47
Speaker
was destroying reputations. It was causing you know public outrage. Multiple women were pointed out as having sexual relations with this. And it kind of blurred the length the the lines between faith and exploitation. And it came out that one of the women actually that participated in this you know purification is what he called it, but essentially sex, was married.
00:29:11
Speaker
And i don't know if you recall, but-
00:29:17
Speaker
that is a That's a felony in 1904. Oh, man. Yes. Because of this, it allowed for Edmund to be arrested and formally charged with adultery because he, too, remember, was married to Maude.
00:29:35
Speaker
So because the one lady was married and then he was married, that was considered adultery, which allowed him to be arrested in December of 1904. Let me see. Formal charges in 1904. December 1904, authorities formally charged Edmund with adultery. At this time, this was a serious criminal offense, especially under these circumstances because he was a priest. So they're supposed to hold themselves to a higher standard.
00:29:59
Speaker
Attorney was saying that he exploited his followers because, you know, he was abusing his authority. um And then also public scandal was affecting the entire community. And so they were trying to shut it down. But ah rather than immediately facing the charges, Edmund decided to disappear. So for a time, he was on the run.
00:30:19
Speaker
And yeah, so that's exciting. And rumors were spreading throughout the town that his followers were actually hiding him and that they were protecting him and keeping him secret and also like giving him escape routes from the place where he was being housed.
00:30:36
Speaker
But in early 1905, Edmund was found and he was located hiding under a house completely naked. What? Yeah. I don't know why he was naked. Yeah.
00:30:49
Speaker
He was very weak and malnourished because he was living underneath this this house of one of his followers in this very confined space. He was disoriented and you know mentally unstable is what they said.
00:31:02
Speaker
But nonetheless, he was arrested and then he was forced to go to trial. He wasn't allowed to to get out on bail anymore and he was convicted. And so you would think that's where this would stop.
00:31:15
Speaker
Yeah. But unfortunately... His followers continued their devotion, saying that this was, again, just another martyrdom of Edmund, that he truly is a spiritual figure because look how he affects so many people.
00:31:34
Speaker
Oh, my gosh. And they the extended prayer sessions you know got even longer. They would pray for days. I'm talking about women lying face down on the floor, remaining motionless for long periods of time, and then all of a sudden just start screaming and convulsing all over the place.
00:31:56
Speaker
That is so off-putting. Oh, my God. Could you imagine if you're a family member and you see your sister, like... I couldn't, I could not, I could not imagine. no And so this is when families start to like really push back. They're like, what the hell is actually going on They're trying to forcibly remove daughters from the the home of this man, take them to yeah ah mental institutions, like get them out of town. Like they're, they're trying to just erase this guy from their life.
00:32:23
Speaker
yeah And unfortunately it doesn't go well because adultery does not hold a long prison
The Fall of Crefield and Aftermath
00:32:30
Speaker
sentence. So he gets out in 1906 and,
00:32:33
Speaker
And this is where we take another sharp turn because now he's not just the, you know, one person before God. He actually is God. Oh no.
00:32:46
Speaker
And that, so yeah, not a spiritual guide. He's, he's actually God and he's, you know, Jesus reincarnated and his followers, you know, they're already conditioned to see him as uniquely connected to God. So they don't even blink an eye when he says, actually i am.
00:33:05
Speaker
This kind of kicks everything into super drive. Like what was happening before is still happening. They're, they're praying for like 24 hours at a time. Like they're, really locked in. They're rolling all over the ground. They're not eating for days at a time. They're in these moments of silence. And then all of a sudden this burst of activity is happening. And then in 1906, the San Francisco earthquake happens.
00:33:29
Speaker
Okay. Which is not correlated at all to Oregon. But Edmund says, you know, actually, because I am Jesus Christ, I can actually cause world events and like weather events. And so I actually am just so displeased with all of you that I created the earthquake.
00:33:48
Speaker
Oh, my. To which I say, i feel like that's ungodly. Yes. Anyways, so this is where a man named Mitchell gets really pissed the fuck off.
00:34:04
Speaker
His sister, Ruth, is part of this cult and he has been trying to get her out for years. And for years, George Mitchell has been watching women get drawn away from their homes into this cult,
00:34:22
Speaker
Where they're essentially not necessarily sexually abused, but I think when you enter a cult like this and you kind of like buy in, i don't, it's a weird gray area.
00:34:34
Speaker
Yes, you may be consenting, but are you consenting under? yeah like what's your mental state like at the Do you have the capacity to actually give consent? Yeah. And if you're isolating yourself from everyone else in the community, this is the only person, you know, he's saying he's God. You're in these 12 hours of silence. And then all of a sudden you're in these like chaotic. I can only imagine what that would do to your brain. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:34:59
Speaker
Well, George Mitchell was just done watching his family fall apart. He was done watching Ruth become Creffield's most devoted follower. She essentially was like his number two, like the the mistress.
00:35:11
Speaker
And on May 7th, 1906, Mitchell found Creffield in Seattle because they had moved to Seattle at this point. Oh. The encounter was deliberate. He walked up to him face to face.
00:35:24
Speaker
He said something. The crowd didn't hear what he said. But after he said it, Mitchell drew his pistol and aimed at close range, fired and killed Edmund.
00:35:35
Speaker
Oh, oh my God. The shockwave ripped through Washington and Oregon, right? Because they're now in Seattle, started in Oregon. Everyone kind of knows what's going on. it hit the paper and everyone went wild.
00:35:50
Speaker
The media framed it as a bri a brother just trying to reclaim his family. Because his sister was so and involved with this man, she couldn't actually see him for what he truly was. And so when he went to trial, the jury essentially said, hey, you were justified in this.
00:36:07
Speaker
You were acting to defend your family's honor. He wasn't a criminal. He was just a man trying to protect his family, which is the most 1906 defense yeah I've ever heard. Absolutely. Yeah. so the jury, guess what they returned?
00:36:22
Speaker
Not guilty or? Correct. Okay. Not guilty. That's not where the story ends. Of course not. Ruth being such a devout follower is devastated that her, you know, Jesus reincarnated person
00:36:41
Speaker
is dead. And she sees her brother now as not the savior or hero that has released her from the clutches of this man, but instead, you know, the devil reincarnate.
00:36:54
Speaker
So she confronts George and shoots him. And kills him. She killed her own brother? She killed her own brother. Oh my god.
00:37:05
Speaker
Yes.
00:37:08
Speaker
Maude for a while tries to continue on with the cult. So the cult is still going strong. But unfortunately while Ruth's trial is going on Maude ends her life.
00:37:21
Speaker
Oh, oh my God. Because she couldn't live without Edmund and without having contact with him. So she ends her life. Meanwhile, Ruth is, you know, put to trial. And instead of, ah you know, having the fence like her brother had, which is just trying to save her her family, the The jury is seeing this woman who, you know, was so in love with this man. Why could she be in love with this man? So she actually was committed by reason of insanity. Oh.
00:37:54
Speaker
So she was found not guilty by reason of insanity. And so she was committed to a mental institution where she lived, um continuing her life. But ah from all accounts, she was permanently altered. Like she still was praying to God, like doing all this crazy stuff.
00:38:09
Speaker
Hmm. Yeah. And so after, you know, Maude lost her life and after Ruth got put away and then obviously Edmund was murdered. You know, that collapsed the cult, thank God. However, a lot of people say that the women that were part of this cult were forever changed, just like Ruth. They never really could gain their their true faith back. And they kind of just lived quiet lives.
00:38:36
Speaker
There was a lot of, you know, mental instability in these women. Some followed Maude's path and others were able to, you know, find their way back with their families. But it forever changed kind of their landscape of their life. Um, and it just kind of brings up to question where is the line between faith and control and how slippery that slope can be. Yeah.
Reflecting on Faith and Mysteries
00:39:00
Speaker
That's my story for you. That was such a good story. Thank thank you so much. Yes. That was fascinating. i I love a good cult story mostly because like, I can't quite imagine it, but I always find it fascinating. And I feel like I haven't heard as many stories about like older, older cults like that.
00:39:19
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like older cults like that, they really do hide behind the veneer of like religion yeah and religious further fervor. Yeah, yeah. I feel like they're not quite as, i don't know, like wacky as some of the modern day cults. Like they're like wacky in different ways, I guess.
00:39:39
Speaker
And then ah it baffles me that this guy was literally tarred and feathered. Yes. Do you know how much... And you still stayed? You doubled down? Yeah. I mean, i imagine you just, like, loved that power. Like, loved, like, being in control of all of these women.
00:39:55
Speaker
Yeah. so I I could not... how do you peel that off doesn't that peel off your skin yeah they didn't have like like dawn that you can just like put ah like put on yourself to help ah ah ah you like like body hair too yeah like all over like he was naked and they dipped him essentially like drenched him in tar look best waxing you'll ever get No, thank you. Hard pass. All right.
00:40:31
Speaker
That's it for today's dive into the dark corners of the Pacific Northwest. If you love the stories or shivered a little, be sure to subscribe and follow so you don't miss what's lurking beneath the evergreens next time.
00:40:42
Speaker
Thanks for joining us on Beneath the Evergreens. We appreciate you diving into the mysteries with us. Until next time, keep your eyes open and your doors locked.