Creffield and the Holy Rollers made page one headlines from 1903 to 1907. When I was researching Holy Rollers: Murder and Madness in Oregon’s Love Cult I spent months transcribing hundreds of articles. I’m not sure why I was so obsessive. Maybe it was my way of immersing my self into a cult without joining one. Anyway, I’m posting them all for those who are really interested in the story, or are interested the history of journalism, or are interested in how a scandalous story played out in the "media" in a by gone era. Since I no doubt made typos and unconsciously corrected papers' typos, these web pages should not be cited in anything serious (e.g. your dissertation). For such projects they should only be used as starting points and you should refer to the original sources. If you want a shorter version of the story, buy my book. Enjoy.
August 6, 1904: Creffield Believes in Satan and Eternal Punishment
Corvallis Times 8/6/1904 p2
A Dangerous Man
Creffield is in the hands of
the Portland authorities. Private information is that there is ample evidence
to bring him within the full liability of the penalty for adultery. The offense
was committed while the man posed as a vicegerent of Heaven, a man of God, a
leader of a religious sect. The sanctity of religion was used as a cloak and
means for his wicked purpose. The offense against man is infinitesimal compared
with the offense against all churches and church people. Great and damnable as
it is, however, it is one of the least in the manifold methods and wide extent
of his offending. The presence in the insane asylum of his victims, the care
necessary to keep others out of the asylum and the sorrow these things all mean
to affected families represent an aggregate of wrongdoing of which the public
has no conception and the law neither measure nor penalty. The estrangement of
members of a family from each other, accomplished in part, perhaps, by exercise
of occult influence, in part by threats of what terrible penalty, here or
hereafter, God may inflict upon a wife who recognizes her own husband and in
part by the influence a keen and wicked mind may lean to exercise over weaker
ones, all this is the work of a devil incarnate, which Creffield is. Murder,
arson, theft, bigamy, burglary, riot, and the ordinary crimes are, trifling in
their effects on society, compared to the wickedness of Creffield. There is no
excuse for him, no palliation of his offense, no room for him where there are
decent folk to be pestered, misled and ruined by his practices. His place is
the penitentiary, and for the sake of the sane and insane, here and elsewhere,
it may be hoped that the law and the courts will send him there to stay the
limit.
Evening Telegram (Portland) 8/6/1904 p14
Material Hell Says “Apostle”
Creffield Believes in Satan and Eternal Punishment. Formerly
Headed a Sect Holding Service at The Dalles.
Though the Holy Roller
religion of Edmund Creffield contains many new things, it omits the modern
doctrine that there is no material hell and that Satan does no exist in form.
“There is a hell and a devil.
The body, soul and spirit of wicked people will be punished in a material hell.”
With a look of reverence on
his face, Edmund Creffield confined in his cell at the County Jail repeated the
above sentence with deepest earnestness.
Creffield would not talk very
freely today. He seemed filled with a fear he would say too much, and a
religious objection to discussing things that might put his beliefs in a wrong
light. He had not been directed by heaven to speak, he said.
“I might talk for a long time for publication, but it would do the people no good. My labors would be a failure. You know I said yesterday that I did nothing except as directed to through a message from on high. It is the Holy Ghost that directs me.
“If the people ought to know
my doctrine, the spirit will tell me, and then I will write you what our
doctrine is.”
In speaking the name “Holy Rollers”
that has been applied to his religion, Creffield said he did not know where
that name had come from. He said “The people gave that to us.”
Creffield has an obstinate
nature. He does freely what he likes, but there is no persuading him to do a
thing against his will.
Creffield was at one time a
believer in the Roman Catholic faith, but he will not say why he has forsaken
the religion of his mother.
From passages in the Bible,
which he quotes freely and without hesitation, he reasons that, like the
apostle of old, he has been given power from on high and now he is an “interceder”
between heaven and earth. He thinks no one can be saved unless filled with the
power of the Holy Ghost.
WORKED AT THE DALLES
Creffield was at the Dalles
two years ago, and opened the Penal Mission at that place in connection with
the Star Lodging House. He stayed there about six months. Many of the followers
of the International Apostolic Holiness Union of the Dalles were followers of
his at that time.
He had about 20 followers at
The Dalles, and their meetings were always characterized by a great amount of
noise. He had some trouble with one of his associated and left the place, going
to the Willamette Valley.
Members of the International
Apostolic Union now holding meetings in the Dalles claim that Creffield was too
radical in his teachings, and they have renounced the more radical of his
ideas, but continue to teach doctrines which are still far removed from the
teachings of any established church. some of his former followers at the Dalles
claim that he was an expert at hypnotism, and practiced it a great deal. They
also believe that his followers at Corvallis who have gone insane are under his
spell.
Oregon Daily Journal (Portland) 8/6/1904 p2
Heavenly Talks In County Jail
Henry (sic) Creffield,
self-styled “Joshua” the high Holy Roller apostle has been kept busy at the
county jail in the last few days, so he asserts, holding conferences with the
Lord. He says he has received information from on high that there is a material
hell and that when the wicked depart this life their bodies, as well as their
souls, are tortured.
The apostle has employed a
great deal of his time in marking a copy of the Bible. In view of his claims to
the priesthood, the following from Malachi ii:7, which has been encircled with
a pencil mark, is interesting:
“For the priests lips would
keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for his is the
messenger of the lord of the hosts.”
While in the municipal court
last Wednesday, Creffield was asked by a newspaperman to write a brief account
of his religious views. He promised to do so, but when he reached the county
jail changed his mind. He said he had been advised by the Lord, while riding
from the police wagon, not to write the article as requested.
What seems to bother
Creffield a great deal is the failure of the Lord , according to his statement,
to reveal to him what will be the outcome of the charge against him. He is
growing fleshy and helps the other inmates sweep out the corridor in which he
is imprisoned.
Chapter of Holy Rollers where these articles are some of the sources:
Chapter 11: God Will Plead Creffield's Case
***
August 5, 1904: He Does Nothing Unless Directed by God
August 9, 1904: No Flowers For Creffield
***
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
***
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)