The Watch Tower and the Koreshan Unity

(With grateful thanks to Bernhard who originally provided key information for this article and Lyn Millner of the Florida Gulf Coast University for the leads on Koreshanity and Pittsburgh in her entertaining book: The Allure of Immortality – An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet. Expanded from an article published elsewhere, with permission.)

 

            During the times of CTR’s ministry and the founding of the Watch Tower Society there were individuals once in association who then left for pastures new. The reasons were many. Some, like John Paton took the “ransom for all” doctrine to an extra level and became a Universalist. Some had personal issues as discussed in A Conspiracy Exposed (1894). There was a split with Ernest Henninges in Australia 1909 (see Yearbook 1983).

            In nearly all cases, while a modern reader may not agree with what they did, they can at least understand what happened. But the oddest defections occurred in a little known scenario from the latter half of the 1890s – the move of three men, James Augustus Weimar, Ulysses Grant Morrow and Henry Nicholas Rahn to join a fairly new religious movement called The Koreshan Unity.

            The Koreshan Unity was founded by Cyrus Reed Teed (1839-1908). Teed studied medicine and practiced what today would be viewed as fringe therapies including alchemy and medical electricity. An encounter with electricity in 1869 rendered him unconscious and when he came around he believed he’d had a vision telling him he was the Messiah. He now had a mission to redeem mankind through his scientific knowledge. As part of his new calling he changed his name to the Hebrew version of Cyrus, namely Koresh. (Around a hundred years later another prophet called Vernon Howell would rebrand himself as one David Koresh and die at Waco). The original Koresh, Cyrus Teed, promoted a unique theology that included reincarnation, celebacy for certain levels of hierarchy and a version of communism. Perhaps his most unusual teaching was that the earth is hollow and humans live inside it with the sun like a giant battery in the middle. (One wonders if Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the Tarzan books, got his idea for his Pellucidar series from reading Koresh.)

            The new movement with its Messiah formed several small communes that eventually came together as a collective version of New Jerusalem in the Florida town of Estero around 1894. At its peak the community had around 250 inhabitants, and was well organized and self-sufficient. They published a magazine called The Flaming Sword. They also got involved in local politics with their own political party, although not very successfully.

 

Teed aka Koresh died in 1908, as a possible result of injuries sustained in a 1906 fight between his commune and outsiders. Having claimed he would be raised to heaven, his followers kept vigil over his body until the public health people stepped in and insisted on burial. His tomb was then destroyed in a hurricane in 1921 and his coffin, a zinc bath, washed out to sea and lost. A few fragments of Teed were found in a search of the beach, which were stored in the Estero Post Office - which then burned down in 1938. Words like bizarre come to mind.

            After Teed’s death, the Koreshan Unity slowly declined. Their magazine ran until 1949, when a fire at their printing works ended production. The last official member of the commune died in 1981. The historical remains of the venture are now a State Park.

            Quite how any Watch Tower adherents became involved is not known, nor can we be sure who was first and who followed. But they included a Society director and also someone mentioned in fairly recent Watchtower literature.

            The key year was 1895. Teed/Koresh increasingly entered the consciousness of Pittsburgh residents in the newspapers of that year. The Pittsburgh Press for 14 March 1895 carried a satirical cartoon (not attempting a likeness) and poked fun at Koreshan belief.

The next month, Teed/Koresh visited the area in person and a local group of supporters was formed. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for 23 April 1895:

            Teed’s spokesman on this occasion was a Mr. Morrow (to whom we will return later). The New Jerusalem in Estero was described and Morrow explained Koreshan theology for the reporter, including that “none but celebates could become part of the elect sons of God.” Unsurprisingly the reporter sounded out Mrs. Morrow. When interviewed, she confessed she “hoped in time to become perfect enough to live a celebate life.”

            There was no mention of CTR and the Bible Students at this stage, but that was soon to change. Teed was back in town in June. The Pittsburgh Daily Post for 17 June 1895 reviewed his speech at the Pittsburgh Opera House the night before, attended by about 500. It was on the front page of the paper and Morrow was again much in evidence. The newspaper byline dismissed this as “rather a small crowd,” but commended Teed’s skill:

            “Dr Teed is rather an impressive platform orator, He possesses a vigorous form, a strong, expressive face, and a deep, powerful voice, all of which help wonderfully in the control of an audience.”

            Within just a few weeks the issue between the teachings of Koresh and Zion’s Watch Tower became very public. The Chicago Daily News for August 12, 1895, had a special report from a correspondent in Pittsburgh, dated August 11, 1895. (Teed was still based in Chicago at this point). In the best yellow journalism style, it carried the heading: “Ready to Talk Two Hours or Weeks – Long-winded debates by the Rival Messiahs of Pittsburgh.”

            The text read:

            “Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug. 11. (Special) – A war has broken out between rival Messiahs. Dr. Cyrus R. Teed of Chicago, the renowned Koresh, and C.T. Russell, leader of the Russellites of Allegheny City, cannot agree, and the charges and countercharges that are made range all the way from points on religion and science to accusations of indecent conduct.

            Teed’s Florida colonization scheme looks like a winner and the Russellites have been flocking to the banner of Koresh in such numbers as to alarm their former chief. He issued a circular the other day that brought Teed here today. Koresh made reply in the shape of a challenge to Russell to debate the whole question of Messiahism. He is willing to make it a debate of two hours or two weeks.”

           No debate as such ever happened, but the story was picked up in detail by the Pittsburgh Press for August 14, 1895.

            CTR provided a lengthy written statement for newspaper, which, apart from some theological arguments, they appear to have printed in full. Much of it features the first of our three defectors, Augustus Weimar, which the paper calls the Rev. Mr. Weimar.

            Before considering the newspaper account, first, a little background for James August Weimar (1855-1919).

James August Weimar’s photograph from “The Mysteries and Revelation”

            Weimar came from Germany to the States and became interested in the Watch Tower message in 1888. He was a minister of the German Baptist congregation in Meriden, Connecticut at the time. By 1889 he was a Watch Tower evangelist mentioned in the pages of Zion’s Watch Tower. He continued to be mentioned in connection with his support for CTR’s work up until 1895. During 1895 he was a director of the Watch Tower Society, replacing J B Adamson on January 5, 1895, and being replaced by E C Henninges on January 4, 1896.

            At some point in 1895 Weimar found his new spiritual home with the Koreshan Unity. The Flaming Sword published an attack on CTR and Millennial Dawn in its July 1895 issue. It started on the front page and ran to three pages in total. It attacked his position on the ransom as a “corresponding price” and dismissed his theology as “modern Christianity gone to seed.” This attack was followed by a reprint of a Nelson Barbour article from Herald of the Morning for November 1891 in The Flaming Sword for September 1895, which sneered at CTR’s ransom theology as that of a “commercial man” and “commercial gentleman.” As noted above, there was already a branch of the Koreshan faith meeting regularly in Allegheny.

            It came to a head with what Weimar called AN ALL-DAY CONFERENCE with CTR. We don’t know exactly when it happened, but writing as “Augustus” Weimar reported on it in The Flaming Star for April 1896. He called it “A dispute I had with the compiler of Millennial Dawn, concerning Koresh (whom I believe to be the true Messiah of this age) and his literature.” Weimar insisted that Koresh had wonderful widsom and understanding, and could understand ancient languages fully, better than any recognized lexicographer, even though he’d never had any lessons… He went on to insist that Koresh understood all the prophecies of Old and New Testaments, and (quote) “that to him all the mysteries of the physical and the anthropostic microcosm were open secrets.” The interview did not end well. According to Weimar, CTR said “THAT IS OF THE DEVIL” and Weimar said “Goodbye Mr Russell” and left.

            More detail of the split is found in the aforementioned Pittsburgh Press for August 14, 1895. CTR’s letter to the newspaper gave the following details as he saw them:

            “It is true that J.A. Weimer has been working in the office of “Zion’s Watch Tower” as a compositor for some years, working piecework, at 40 cents per M., and averaging about $14 per week, and I learn that it is true that Mr. Teed has offered him $18 per week of 36 hours.

            “It is true, also, that I had a far better opinion of his education, his reasoning facilities and his heart than to suppose that he would have the slightest interest in the vagaries and absurdities of Koreshanity.

            “It is true, also, that for some time Mr. Weimer has been holding some meetings in some nearby towns along lines which I believe to be biblical. But it is not true that he was either appointed or paid for such service. His car-fare only was supplied from a volunteer fund to which he with others contributed.

            “From this it will be seen that “The Post” was misinformed by the Koreshans when told that I had given Mr. Weimer the “option” of ceasing his investigation into Koreshanity or “leaving the service in which he was employed as a speaker for several out-of-town congregations,” for his was neither paid nor employed, and was in no sense in my service, but voluntarily in the Lord’s service. Nor has there been one unkind word between us, nor one word with reference to his job as a compositor. He, however, settled that by failing to report for work on Monday.

Weimar Saw the Letter

            “As for the ‘printed matter attacking Teed most bitterly;’ about which Teed wanted his people ‘not to be angry’ if they were ‘persecuted,’ it was a ‘typewritten letter, a copy of which was handed to Mr. Weimar more than a week before it was sent, that he might know exactly what we counseled the friends to do respecting his preaching; and I requested Mr. Weimar to indicate any items not considered true, or for any reason objectionable to him.

            “In this letter I assume no control over Teed, Weimar or the gatherings of God’s people. The most offered is reasonable advice, and that in kind and courteous language.

            “It is reported that I declined to discuss differences with Mr. Teed, but this is not the case; for I have never been ‘approached’ on the subject. I surmise, however, that no good could be accomplished for Teed, nor for any as blinded as to consider him greater than Christ. But should it ever become evident to me that any of the Lord’s true sheep need help, I shall not hesitate to show up the hollowness of the blasphemous claims of Koreshanity….

            “…These blasphemous claims are all the proofs that I need that the entire theory is of the devil. I care not for the legerdemain of sophistry by which they were entrapped, and by which they claim to prove God’s word a lie. It is sufficient to me that this is the faith and teachings of Koreshans, who receive it from Koresh, whom they call “The Master,” and before whom they bow…”

            “On the one hand we have all the exceeding great and precious promises of God’s word and our Christian experiences and growth in grace and knowledge for many years, and our realization of our Lord’s presence, and feasting with Him upon the things old and new which He has furnished to His household during the past years of His presence. On the other hand, we have the bombastic claims of a poor fellow being of certainly no more than average ability, who has claimed to be able to make gold for £3 per ton, but who has done nothing but twist a few passages of scripture fulfilled twenty-four hundred years ago by King Cyrus the Mede, whose decree let Israel go free from Babylon, so as to make himself ‘somebody,’ and to practically deny or make void all the remainder of God’s word.

            “I learned of Brother Weimar’s interest in Koreshanity and of his affiliation with its advocates at their homes. Brother Weimar was present; but declares that he is not committed to Koreshanity, but says he is trying it, investigating it, proving it. I showed him in most kindly manner and word some of the absurdities of such a view, and that there was nothing to prove or weigh. It seems to me, and I believe it will seem to some of you all, and to Brother Weimar, when you consider it, that he is at present in no condition to teach others respecting matters of which he is himself in doubt – not yet decided. I advise, therefore, that any appointments already out for Brother Weimar be filled by someone else, and that for the present you excuse Brother Weimar. If desired, I will endeavor to send you someone else for any meetings already appointed or for others.”

            The break between CTR and Weimar was final, and the latter’s connection with Koreshanity would not be just as an observer.

            When Teed died in 1908 it was Weimar who led a vigil over the corpse for several days. He was now viewed as Teed’s doctor, although his speciality was in the fairly new-fangled and unconventional field of osteopathy.

            He stayed a Koreshan believer for the rest of his life. As the three pictures below from 1914 show, Weimar became part of The Flaming Sword editorial committee and also translator of their works into German.

            If I have deciphered the theology correctly, one of their beliefs was that hell was sort of something inside a person. This allowed for a swipe at Pastor Russell. From the same 1914 volume:

            There is no author given for the article in question. However, an article carrying Weimar’s name in this same volume shows that he was one of the inner circle who practiced celibacy. It should be noted that Weimar’s wife divorced him way back in 1898, citing his membership as a reason.  

            At some point he published a book entitled The Divine and Biblical Credentials of Dr. Cyrus R. Teed (Koresh). It was republished as recently as 1971 as Koreshanity, the New Age Religion. Weimer died in 1919 and was buried in the Koreshan Unity Cemetery in Estero, Florida.

            The second name with Watch Tower connections is Ulysses Grant Morrow (1864-1950). In the above reproduction from a 1914 Flaming Sword magazine, we can see that Dr. J. A. Weimar translated into German a publication from the English by a Prof. Morrow.

            Ulysses Grant Morrow was born in Kentucky in 1864, and like many others was named after the Civil War General, then a hero on the Union side. He married and had two children. He moved to Iowa where he published and taught his own stenography system. Then at some point he relocated to Allegheny.

Ulsusses Grant Morrow’s photograph as used in Find a Grave

            For the clue that links Morrow to Zion’s Watch Tower, we must travel forward to March 1936 when The Flaming Sword attacked him and accused him of plagiarism. The Koreshan Unity and Morrow had parted company many years before. But the article in passing takes us back to 1895. The writer (one Allen Andrews) states: “I have known Ulysses G. Morrow for more than 40 years and for a considerable period was a co-worker with him…Away back in 1895 Ulysses G. Morrow (then a member of the C.T. Russell sect) was living in Allegheny, Pa.”

            There is one mention of a Brother Morrow in the pages of Zion’s Watch Tower, in the issue for November 1891. CTR had been away on a trip to Britain and on his return to Allegheny he wrote: “Brother Bryan and Morrow, a delegation of welcome, met us at the depot.” On getting to the actual Bible House, there was a service of welcome conducted by Brother Weimar and Sister Ball read a poem. Brother Bryan would be Elmer Bryan, soon to leave in the 1894 disagreements. Sister Ball would be Rose Ball, later Ross Ball Henninges. Brother Weimar we have already met, and it is probable that Brother Morrow was Ulysses G.

            The 1936 attack on Morrow mentioned he was associated with CTR back in 1895, but if so, he obviously had a foot in two camps. In The Flaming Sword for May 1895, Morrow wrote a letter stating he had a file of their magazines going back to 1892, and addressed his letter to: KORESH, THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT – DEAR MASTER AND SHEPHERD. The letter stated his conversion to “hollow earth” belief (from a previous “flat earth” belief) and announced that his own magazine would henceforth promote the Koreshan system.

            So there in Allegheny, right under the nose of The Bible House, Morrow went to work. As noted above he appears to have been the spokesman for Teed in his April 1895 visit, and regular meetings at Morrow’s Allegheny home for the “Branch Assembly of the Arch-Triumphant” were announced in The Flaming Sword from July 1895 onward. He also produced a new paper called Salvator – Scientist which started in September that year.

 

            Morrow did not stay in Allegheny long. He soon relocated to the newly formed Koreshan commune in Estero. He took over editorial duties for The Flaming Sword which swallowed up the Salvator – Scientist. He also invented a special piece of equipment called a Rectilineator that could be used in a straight line on a beach to establish the curve of the earth. In 1897 at Naples Beach, not far from the Estero commune, they conducted an experiment which convinced them even more that the earth’s curve was concave, not convex – so yes, mankind really was inside a hollow earth with the sun as a giant battery in the center. It was blindingly obvious.

            Morrow lived until 1950 and his son lived on until 1988. One wonders how they coped with “hollow earth” belief as the years went by, especially into the era of rockets and space travel.

            The third member of our trinity of Watch Tower defectors was Henry Nicholas Rahn (1858-1933) who has actually been mentioned by name in recent Watchtower literature.

Henry Nicholas Rahn’s photograph from Koreshan archives

            Henry Rahn and Augustus Weimar obviously had connections. Weimar came from Germany, and was previously a Baptist and at one point was reported to have lived in Baltimore, Maryland. Rahn also came from Germany, and had been a Baptist pastor, and also lived in Baltimore. Both certainly knew each other. Baltimore Baptists and then Bible Students at the same time, they both then became Koreshan Unity supporters at around the same time. They both stayed with the new movement for the rest of their lives.

Rahn was a married man with at least six children. His oldest son was Claude who will enter our story shortly. In the 1880 and 1900 census returns Henry’s occupation was as a clerk.

            The modern reference to Rahn in Watchtower literature is found in the book God’s Kingdom Rules (published 2014) on page 174, in paragraph 13. Rahn is credited with the suggestion used for group meetings that CTR endorsed. The relevant passage reads:  “In the mid-1890’s, after a number of volumes of Millennial Dawn had been released, Brother H. N. Rahn, a Bible Student living in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., suggested holding “Dawn Circles” for Bible study.”

            The original reference comes from the September 15, 1895 ZWT. It is part of an article by CTR recommending how to conduct meetings, and states that Rahn’s suggestion for Dawn Circles dated back to earlier in the decade. The reference reads: “Such meetings for the study of the Word in the light of the now revealed plan of the ages have been termed Dawn Circles. The plan originated with Brother Rahn, of Baltimore, several years ago, and he and the other members of the class report much profit therefrom.”

            Rahn’s name had already occurred several times in the ZWT’s pages by the time of the Sepember 1895 quote. He probably became interested in the Bible Student message in the late 1880s, around the same time as Augustus Weimar. His name occurs in ZWT for May 1892, April 15, 1893, June 11, 1894, and March 15, 1895. Finally, there is the aforementioned September 15, 1895 reference. However, immediately thereafter Rahn disappeared from Watch Tower history. In that year, 1895, he left association with the Bible Students and spent the rest of his life as an advocate of the Koreshan Unity.

            Henry Rahn died in 1933 and his obituary was published in The Flaming Sword for August 1933, page 13: "The sad news has been received from Baltimore of the death, after a long illness, of Mr. Henry N. Rahn, father of Brothers Claude and Frank Rahn, in his seventy-fifth year. Mr. Rahn was a staunch Koreshan and earnestly endeavored to further the Cause in his native city of Baltimore since accepting Koreshanity in 1895. Meetings were frequently held at his house to discuss the doctrine; and whenever KORESH visited Baltimore he was a welcome guest at the hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. Rahn. Mr. Rahn is survived by his wife, five sons and a daughter."

            Rahn’s defection from Watch Tower therefore occurred in the same year he was credited by CTR for suggesting Dawn Circles. Rahn was to remain close to Koresh. On June 21^st 1899, he received the book The Cellular Cosmogony from him. Cyrus R Teed wrote a dedication inside it, to: “H N Rahn, Pastor of the Church Triumphant in Baltimore,” a name used for local meetings there. Teed identified himself as the “Founder of the Koreshan Unity” and considerately added a new alternative date, A.K. 60 – Anno Koresh. He was sixty years old at the time.

 

            We have mentioned above that Teed was seriously injured in a street fight in 1906 between his supporters and local townspeople. Teed was actually at the depot to meet a train from Baltimore that was bringing some of the Rahn family to visit. Both Henry and son Claude were part of the ensuing fracas. Teed was pistol whipped by a town marshall and Claude got himself arrested.

            Although Henry Rahn lived most of his life in Baltimore, son Claude was to live at the Estero commune for some years and wrote a biography of Teed/Koresh. He was also briefly the Vice President of the dwindling Koreshan association. He lived until 1973. Like Morrow’s son, you wonder how he coped with the advancing knowledge of the space age.

            The above then is a story of three men who ceased working with CTR and the Watch Tower and made what appear to be off the wall choices of religious direction. All in all, when examining this history, you get the impression that CTR may have breathed a big sigh of relief when they parted company with the Watch Tower Society.