1906 Facts and Stats and How the Holy Rollers Stack Up
Number of reported murders in America: 230,
two of them involved the Holy Rollers, including Edmund Creffield’s murder
(thus our interest in all things 1906.)
A Ballot Initiative passed in
Oregon for funding for the "Insane Asylum,
Penitentiary, Deaf-Mute, Blind" and other schools.
Number of
patients in the Oregon Asylum in 1906: possibly 2,000, about 3.5% of the state’s
population.
Number of Holy Rollers that
were at one time committed to Asylum or the Boy’s and Girl’s Aid Society: 10
Average number of times a month
most women washed their hair: once ... and to think many Holy Rollers were committed to the asylum because they let their hair hang down instead of being up in a bun.
At 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, an 8.25
earthquake struck San Francisco causing fires that destroyed 75% of the city. Edmund
Creffield took credit for the devastation.
Percentage of American adults who
could read and write: 20%
Percentage of Holy Rollers who
could read and write: 100%
Percentage of American adults
that had graduated from high school: 6%
Number Holy Rollers who had: at least one.
Sophia Hartley was about to graduate from college.
Average hourly wage
and income: 22¢ per hour and between $200 and $400
per year, so the $350 reward for
Creffield’s capture was a significant sum of money.
Value of Capital
Stock of Lewis Hartley’s Great Eastern Mining Company: $1,250,000.
Percentage of households that had
at least one full-time servant or domestic help: 18%
Number of Holy Rollers who had servants:
presumably at least two, Cora and Sophia, wife and daughter of Lewis Harley.
Number of Holy Rollers who were servants:
two, Attie Bray and Florence Seeley.
Percentage of American homes with
telephones: 8%
Number of Holy Roller Homes with
telephones: at least one. O.V. Hurt’s house had a phone before Creffield
entered their lives, but it was
disconnected while Creffield stayed there. He claimed he had a direct line to
God, so what more did they need?
Number of cars on the 144 miles
of paved roads in America: 8,000
Most popular American car: The $500 Ford Model N
Number of Holy Rollers with a car: one, James K. Berry who drove the
first car in Corvallis, a $600 Oldsmobile
Car the president, Teddy Roosevelt, drove:
a Cadillac.
Whom the Holy Rollers voted for: at least
one, O.V. Hurt presumable voted for Roosevelt since he had once been Republican Party State Committeeman.
The five leading causes of death:
Pneumonia, influenza, tuberculosis, diarrhea, heart disease and stroke.
The 12th leading cause of death
in America: suicide.
Number of Holy Rollers who committed
suicide: 2
Average life expectancy: 47
years, so it really wasn’t a stretch when then 48-year-old Edwin Baldwin said
to a young man that he was old with, “at
best, only a few more years to live,” and therefore he, not the young man
should kill Creffield.
Number of prisoners in the
Oregon State Penitentiary: 373. Edmund Creffield was released from the there on
December 13, 1905.
Percentage of all births that
took place at home: 95
Percentage of homes with a
bathtub: 14%
Height of the world’s tallest
structure: The Eiffel Tower measuring 1,063 feet.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine
were available over the counter at pharmacies. Pharmacists claimed, “Heroin
clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and
bowels, and is, in fact a perfect guardian of health.”
Finland became the first European country to give women right to vote
An Oregon Ballet Initiative
failed that would have given women the right to vote.
U.S. Population in 1900: 76,212,168
U.S. Population in 1910: 92,228,496
Estimated U.S. Population in 1906:
85,821,964
Oregon’s Population in 1900 was 413,536
Oregon’s Population in 1910 was 672,765
Estimate Oregon Population in 1906: 569,074.
Portland, Oregon’s population
in 1900: 90,426, making it the 40th largest
city in the U.S.
Seattle’s population in 1900: 80,671,
making it the 48th largest city in the U.S.
If you have some interesting trivia about 1906,
please let me know what it is, and I might add it to the list.
Thanks!!
Chapters from
Holy Rollers: Murder & Madness in Oregon's Love Cult
Part 1: The Seduction
Chapter 1: Trust Me, Brothers And Sisters
(Life Before Creffield [B.C.])
Chapter 2: God, Save Us From Compromising Preachers
(Creffield's Preachings)
Chapter 3: The Flock
(Profiles of the Holy Rollers Were)
Chapter 4: The Holy Rollers
(Things Start to Get Wild on on Kiger Island)
Chapter 5: Housecleaning
(There's a Sacrificial Bonfire)
Chapter 6: Community Concerns
(Officers Visit)
Chapter 7: Esther, The Chosen One
(Creffield Plans to Marry 16-Year- Old)
Chapter 8: Tar and Feathers
(The Men of Corvallis Act)
Chapter 9: Sane People Don’t Go Bareheaded
(Holy Rollers are Committed to the Asylum)
Chapter 10: More Beast Than Man
( Creffield is Arrested)
Chapter 11: God Will Plead Creffield's Case
(Creffield in Court)
Chapter 12: Scandal
(Shocking Testimony at the Trial)
Chapter 13: Calm Before the Storm
(The Holy Rollers Resume their Lives)
Chapter 14: Giving Up The Ghost
(Men are Gunning for Creffield)
Part Two: The People V. Creffield
Chapter 16: The Widow Creffield
Chapter 19: An Inherited Streak of Insanity
Part Three: The Madness
Chapter 23: Seeking Reconciliation
Chapter 24: Another Holy Roller Page One Murder
Chapter 25: What Can Papa Do For You?
Chapter 26: Human Life is Too Cheap In This Community
Chapter 30: The Final Chapter
(What Happened to Everyone Afterwards)
The Epilogue
(Heaven's Gate)
Newspaper Articles about Creffield & the Holy Rollers
1897-1903: B.C. (Before Creffield)
October to December 1903:Holy Rollers Burn Furniture & Pets
January to March, 1904: Holy Rollers Tarred and Feathered
April to June 1904: Holy Rollers are Committed to the Asylum
July 1904: Creffield is Found & Arrested
September 1904: Creffield's Trial
April 1906: Men are Gunning For Creffield
May 1906: Creffield is Murdered, Murderer is Considered a Hero
May 1906: Holy Rollers Found Starving Near Heceta Head
June 1906: George Mitchell's Trial Begins
July 1906: Hurt Testifies of Debauched Wife and Debased Sisters
July 1906: Esther Mitchell Kills Her Brother
August to October 1906: Seattle Prepares for another Big Trial
November 1906: Maud Hurt Creffield Commits Suicide
April 1909-August 1914: Esther Leaves the Asylum
1953 Stewart Holbrook's Murder Without Tears
1951Startling Detective Magazine, Nemesis of the Nudist High Priest
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