One of the collections within University Archives and Special Collections is Communal Studies.  The Communal Studies collection began in conjunction with the Center for Communal Studies, which promotes the study of contemporary and historic communal groups, intentional communities and utopias.

The key word is intentional.  These communities were/are deliberate attempts to live communally, with shared goals and economies.  The Shakers are probably the best known communal group, but the original impetus for a communal group may vary widely. This current blog is going to explore the Israelite House of David, founded by the couple seen below.

“Also known as Christian Israelites, they saw themselves as the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. They believed their coming together, an event called the ‘ingathering,’ would usher in the birth of the god-child Shiloh, triggering the apocalypse. In keeping with Benjamin and Mary’s teachings, during its early years the sect’s members were discouraged from mixing with outsiders, lived in sex-segregated housing, and were celibate, pacifists, and strict vegetarians. Followers worked in the colony’s various businesses and gave to the collective their property, wealth, and earnings. The colony grew rapidly from a handful of members to a thousand by the start of World War I.”

Benjamin was born in 1861 in Fleming County, Kentucky and raised in a deeply religious family.  Mary was born in 1862 in Nickelsville, Virginia, and the couple married in 1880.  Later in that decade, Benjamin read a book entitled The Flying Roll that set him on his new path. It was written by James White, aka James Jershom Jezreel, based on his beliefs about the second coming of the Messiah. The Biblical book of Revelation talks about the signs that will predict this second coming. These signs are brought by a series of messengers, with the seventh messenger heralding the imminent return. Jezreel believed he was the Sixth Messenger.

In 1892 the Purnells moved to Detroit to join a colony headed by Michael Mills, who claimed to be the Seventh Messenger.  Mills soon fell afoul of the law and was sentenced to prison.  Benjamin came to believe that he was the true Seventh Messenger, the Shiloh.  He and his family traveled for some seven years, preaching his beliefs to all who would listen, eventually settling in Fostoria, OH, where by 1903 they had fully established the Israelite House of David.

Tragedy struck the family when the only daughter was killed in an explosion of a fireworks factory. Eager to leave Fostoria behind, they moved to Benton Harbor, MI in 1903 with five others and resettled the Israelite House of David there. They traveled to Australia in 1904 to spread their message and returned with 85 new members. By 1907, membership exceeded 700.

Probably the most interesting thing about the community how it promoted itself and less about its beliefs. Many religious communal groups seek to withdraw from the world, to maintain their “purity” by insulating themselves from outside influences. “Not so the House of David. The Israelites welcomed the public with open arms. … The colony’s openness to the public earned it world-wide fame. The Israelites won renown in the outside world less through their religious message than with their rather flamboyant secular endeavors. People who knew little or nothing of the Israelite theology recognized the House of David name because of its amusement park and traveling baseball teams.” (Myers, p. 11)

The team played a particularly crowd-pleasing game, perhaps a bit like today’s Savannah Bananas. There was, of course, the sheer novelty of watching such a “hairy” bunch of guys play baseball, but the team was quite successful. In an exhibition game against the New York Yankees, the House of David pitcher actually struck out Babe Ruth! (Myers, p. 14)

As the following image shows, they also had a basketball team.

The amusement park, named Eden Springs, was another huge hit, drawing in large crowds to its amphitheatre, zoo, aviary, miniature trains, bowling alley, penny arcade, pony rides, midget car racetrack, beautiful grounds, entertainment, and other attractions.

(Six images below courtesy of Hamilton College Libraries Digital Collections/Communal Societies/House of David, Clinton, NY)

As if sports teams and an amusement park weren’t enough to attract visitors, the Israelite House of David also had a number of musical groups, including men’s, women’s, girls’, and boys’ bands. There were also vocal groups, an orchestra, and even a ukulele band with dancers.

Other commercial enterprises included Mary’s Hotel, Mary’s Vegetarian Restaurant, lumber/logging businesses, sales of Silver Queen spring water, and numerous inventions (the sugar ice cream cone and automatic pin setter for bowling alleys, for instance).

All did not remain rosy with the Israelite House of David. Members’ different lifestyle and appearance drew suspicion. In WWI, members were conscientious objectors, but 33 members were drafted anyway and faced ridicule for their pacifist stance, long hair, and vegetarian diet. Many associated its communal lifestyle with Communism. In 1923 Benjamin was charged with several counts of rape. Unhappy members John and Mary Hansel and family “filed suit against the House of David…..alleging that the colony had fraudulently enticed them to join, then wrongfully expelled them and kept their money.” The case was decided in favor of the Hansels. In the midst of all this chaos, Benjamin Purnell died December 16, 1927. Three years later the colony was divided into two groups when Mary Purnell was cut out of its financial affairs and filed suit.  She then headed up the Israelite House of David as Reorganized by Mary Purnell, aka the City of David or Mary’s City of David. She died August 19, 1953.

The Israelite House of David no longer exists as a group of members living communally. As a business entity it is governed by a Board of Trustees who maintain its history through its archives, exhibits, and an oral history initiative. Many of the buildings still stand, but are not open to the general public.

The next two photographs were taken by Dr. Robert Rosenthal, late professor of philosophy at Hanover College. From 1976-2013 he taught a class entitled “Utopias and Intentional Communities” and took his students to visit some of these places. The photographs seen here date to a 2003 visit to the Israelite House of David with his students.

The final set of photographs were taken by Dr. Don Janzen, professor of archaeology and anthropology at Beloit College and Centre College and long time member of the Communal Studies Association. The photographs seen below were taken on 1995 and 2001 visits.

This is but one in a series of blogs on the theme of intentionally living in community.  See the following for more information:

Living in Community….Arthurdale, West Virginia

Living in Community….The Abbey of Gethsemani

Living in Community….the Amana Colonies

Living in Community…Bishop Hill in Illinois

Living in Community….Bethel Colony in Missouri and Aurora Colony in Oregon

Shakers: Isn’t It Ironic?

Saving the Planet (Ecovillages)

Resources Consulted

“The colorful history of Michigan’s House of David.” Article in the Detroit News, March 6, 2018.

Gates, Jim. “Giving the House a Home.”  National Baseball Hall of Fame website

Israelite House of David and Mary’s City of David. Hamilton College Library Digital Collections 

Israelite House of David website

Myers, Robert C. Millennial Visions and Earthly Pursuits: The Israelite House of David. Berrien County [MI] Historical Association, Inc., 1999. (booklet part of MSS 138, the Gerald L. Gutek Collection)