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.
September 21, 1904: Holy Rollers go in and Out of the Asylum
Corvallis Times 9/21/1904 p3
--Mrs. O. V. Hurt was brought
from the asylum Sunday for a week or two at home in the hope that the change
may be beneficial. In many respects her condition is improved. In case of continued
improvement, she will remain at home.
Brownsville Times 9/30/1904
Edwin Creffield, the “Holy
Roller,” who is serving a two-years sentence in the penitentiary, has been
assigned a position in the stove foundry.
Corvallis Times 10/1/1904 p3
--Mrs. O. V. Hurt was
returned to the asylum Wednesday, having been accompanied on the trip by her
husband. In some respects her condition is slightly improved, but it was deemed
better, on various accounts to take her back to Salem for further treatment.
Corvallis Gazette 10/4/1904 p3
Mrs. O. V. Hurt was taken
back to the asylum at Salem on Wednesday. In some respects her condition is
improved, but not as much as was hoped for. For various reasons it was deemed
advisable to keep her at the asylum, where she will have good care and special
treatment.
Brownsville Times Fri 10/7/1904 p1
Mrs. O. V. Hurt, the
Corvallis victim of Holy Rollerism, has been recommitted to the asylum for the
insane at Salem. She is again persisting in doing the insane things which are
part of the so-called faith of the followers of Creffield.
Corvallis Times 10/5/1904 p4
--Mrs. Hartley, one of the
unfortunate victims of Creffieldism, disappeared from her home in this city
about two o’clock Monday morning. She left a note explaining her purpose not to
return. She took along an extra supply of clothing. As soon as she was missed,
a search was instituted, and while it was yet in progress at about 10 o’clock
that forenoon, she returned home. She had apparently faltered in her purpose,
and returned voluntarily.
Corvallis Gazette 10/7/1904 p5
--Mr. and Mrs. Warren B.
Hartley arrived from Bohemia Tuesday, and will remain for a couple of weeks
visit with relatives.
--J. K. Berry handles a fine
line of guns and ammunition.
--All kinds of repair work
done at J. K. Berry’s
Corvallis Times 10/12/1904 p3
--Maud Hurt has been seriously ill in the asylum at Salem for several days. Her father was called Sunday to the bedside, and has since been in telephonic communication with her physicians. At last accounts she was not improved
.
Corvallis Gazette 10/14/1904 p3
O. V. Hurt informs us that while there is no material change in the condition of his daughter, Maud, who is sick in Salem, the physicians regard her condition as somewhat more favorable for her ultimate recovery.
Evening Telegram (Portland) Fri 10/14/1904 p12
“Holy Jumper” Has His Wife
California Man Says He Will “Make
Some News Soon.”
[Telegram Coast Special.]
REDLANDS, Cal., Oct. 14.-- R.
B. Hinton arrived in Redlands late yesterday in pursuit of his wife who eloped
from Los Angeles in company with a man named Bradford, who is a member of the
peculiar sect of religious worshipers known as the “Holy Jumpers.” Hinton’s troubles
lead back to last April, when his wife deserted him at Lake Charles, La., to
join the “Jumpers.” Hinton tracked he to Los Angeles, and then the couple made
peace and lived together for several months.
On Tuesday last the woman
again ran off with Bradford and came here. Hinton Called at the home of a local
“Holy Jumper,” where his wife is stopping, but the door was slammed in his
face. For hours afterward he stood in front of the place exhibiting a revolver
and swearing vengeance.
“I was a fool to let that
fellow off with his worthless life when I had him in Los Angeles. He begged so
hard for his life that I let him go. I’ll make some news this time,” he said.
Corvallis Times 10/22/1904
--Maud Hurt is seriously ill
in the asylum at Salem. Telephonic word from the bedside to her father Thursday
was to the effect that she is not yet out of danger.
Corvallis Times 11/19/1904
For Cement Sidewalks
And Crossings--No More wooden Walks to be Built in
Certain Limits if Ordinance Passes.
If an ordinance now pending
in the city council becomes law no more wooden sidewalks can be constructed
within a large area in Corvallis. The ordinance prescribes the materials to be
used, both in sidewalks and crossings shall be of Portland cement, sand and
gravel of the usual proportions. On Main Street they are to be ten feet wide
and on others five and six feet in width. It is understood that the walks
around the Farra residence were taken as a mode. The latter are six feet wide
on the north side and five on the west. The cost is said to have been $55 for
100 feet of the five-foot walk and $66 per hundred feet for the walk six feet
in width.
The pending ordinance fixes
limits in which the cement pavements are to be used for all renewals, as
follows: Beginning at the blacksmith shop east across the street from Wade’s
store and thence north on the east side of Main to the corner diagonally across
the street from the old Salvation Army Hall, thence west to the J. H. Simpson
residence, thence south to Mrs. Burnett’s residence, thence west to the college
grounds, thence south to Jefferson street and east along the south side of
Jefferson to the B. W. Wilson corner, thence south a block and east along the
south side of Adams to the place of beginning.
The ordinance has passed the
second reading, and will probably come up for final action at the December
meeting of the council.
Corvallis Times 11/26/1904 p3
--Maud Hurt has about
recovered from her late serious illness which covered a period of ten weeks. She
is restored in mind and Thursday returned to her home in the city. Other
Creffield victims at the asylum are much improved and some of them are expected
home shortly.
Corvallis Gazette 12/2/1904 p5
Frank Hurt is expected home
this week, and his wife is expected to arrive next week when they will take up
housekeeping in Corvallis.
Corvallis Times 12/10/1904 p2
An Ended Chapter
All the Creffield Victims Restored, and all at
Home---Hypnotism did it.
Mrs. Frank Hurt and Miss
Attie Bray arrived Thursday from Salem and are now at the Hurt home in this
city. All the members of the family are again at the fireside, fully restored
in mind, and fast regaining bodily strength. Almost the unanimous testimony of
each is that in the present reunion there is apparent awakening from a long
nightmare a fact that confirms the view that many have long held, that it was
hypnotic influence that was responsible for the manifestations of religious
zeal during recent months. Those in best position to know are fully convinced
this is the correct theory, and those who passed under its influence and
suffered from it, were helpless under the will of a mind that in some way held control
of their acts. Such things be in the world, and it is not of the remarkable
that the influence suggested is responsible for all that has transpired.
Of those recently at Salem,
Miss Hartley is the only one left at the hospital, and she is expected home
before a very long time. All of the others are fully restored, and the end of
the unfortunate chapter is here.
Corvallis Gazette 12/13/1904 p3
The bridge across the gulch
opposite the residence of O. V. Hurt in south Corvallis was re-floored and
otherwise strengthened last week.
Corvallis Times 12/17/1904 p4
--Frank Hurt has been
seriously ill with appendicitis for several days. He was somewhat improved
yesterday, and his physician hoped that the necessity for an operation had been
averted.
Corvallis Times 2/4/05 p4
--Mrs. J. H. Worell, who has
been visiting her sister, Mrs. Charles Everett, left Wednesday for her home in
Portland.
Morning Oregonian (Portland) 3/13/05 p1
Coated With Tar
Holy Roller at Goldendale Suppressed. Ordered To
Leave Town. Former Portland Dentist Rouses Wrath of Public. Wild Exhortations
of the Free Lance Preacher Had Also Attracted Many Prominent Citizens in His
Meetings.”
GOLDENDALE, Wash., March
12.--(Special.) Dr. Kaywood, said to formerly have been a dentist at Portland,
Or., now a Holy-Roller preacher who has been holding meetings at the Free
Methodist Church, was the recipient of a liberal coat of tar and feathers this
evening at 7 o’clock. Just after services had commenced a crowd of about ten
young men entered the little church on Broadway Street and took the minister
out of his pulpit and hustled him out into the street. There they were met by
about 40 more men and the preacher was taken on a swift trot to the bridge on
Little Klickitat River.
By this time about 100 men
and boys had gathered there. The preacher was stripped to the waist and several
cans of tar were poured over his shoulders and back. His bald head was also
coated and the tar was daubed on his face.
The contents of several sacks
containing feathers were then plastered all over him. He was then told that if
he did not leave town before 10 o’clock Monday morning he would be lynched.
The crowd then left him, but
he was soon joined by two members of his flock who escorted him to the
residence of I. Hinshaw.
The whole affair had been
planned so carefully and was executed so quietly that the authorities did not
have any chance to act. The preacher went through the ordeal and did not say a
word until the job was through with when he said: “Boys, will you allow me to
talk to you?”
He was promptly informed to
shut up or he would be submerged in the icy waters of the Klickitat.
The affair has caused great
excitement in Goldendale, as many prominent people are mixed up in it. The
animosity toward the preacher is caused by the fact that several women who have
been attending are on the verge of insanity caused by the preacher’s wild
exhortations, and it is also said that he has attacked many prominent people
from his pulpit. On the other hand, his meetings have been attended by many
prominent citizens.
Kaywood, on being interviewed
by an Oregonian representative, said that he had no statement to make regarding
the affair and that he intended to leave Goldendale tomorrow to conduct
meetings elsewhere.
---
A Dr. Kaywood had dental
offices in the Hamilton building in Portland about three years ago. He was a
young man, and came to this city immediately after graduating from a dental
college. While here he did fairly well in his profession, and dentists who
recall him say that his character was then considered of the best.
Morning Oregonian (Portland) 3/15/05 p1
In Coat Of Tar. Dr. Cawood (sic) Preaches to
Congregation
In Church After Assault. Buttons His Coat Over the
Feathers. He Is Now In Portland. Persecution of Paul, the Apostle, the Theme of
His Sermon After the Attack Mad on Him.
(In a Box)
PREACHES IN COAT OF TAR AND
FEATHERS
Shirt-less because he dare
not put underwear over the tar and feathers which had been bestowed upon him in
Goldendale, but with coat buttoned to the chin, a fringe of down between face
and throat, Dr. E. E. Cawood preached to his little congregation on the evening
of the assault. for his text he took verses from the seventeenth chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles, the theme of his sermon being the persecution which Paul
met when preaching at Thessalonica.
Dr. Cawood, who arrived in
Portland last night, asserts that he will not prosecute his assailants. He
remained in Goldendale, he declares, until Monday morning, having completed his
new assignment on the preceding Sunday night, and will now attend the mission
in Portland.
___
Dr. E. E. Cawood, the tarred
and feathered preacher from Goldendale, arrived on the boat last night from the
Dalles. He left the boat at Vancouver, Wash., and immediately came to the Olive
Branch Mission on First Street where a meeting of the elders of the Free Methodist
Church was in progress for the purpose of investigating the affair at
Goldendale. His wife came from Sunnyside, and amid tears and sobs, she listened
to the story of the persecutions as he told it to the faithful few in the
mission chapel.
“Saturday afternoon three men
came to my room an informed me that they had decided to forbid me preaching in
the town of Goldendale,” said Dr. Cawood. “One of them was the Prosecuting
Attorney of the county, and another was his brother. Both are pillars of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, but had never listened to my sermons. They had
listened to the talk of the rowdies of the town and had been convinced that
several people had got religion in an unorthodox way. This was not according to
their method, and they decided to stop me. I paid no heed to their warning, but
preached to a crowded house Saturday night and Sunday morning. That afternoon
the same crowd waited upon me again, and told me that I should not preach
again.
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY’S VISIT
“Just as I was preparing to
go to the church there was a loud rap at the door, and Isaac Henshaw, with whom
I was staying, told me the Prosecuting Attorney (Part of the article is cut
off)
... his influence over one
woman after she had showed unmistakable signs of insanity.
Chapter of Holy Rollers where these articles are some of the sources:
Chapter 13: Calm Before the Storm
***
September 16, 1904: Creffield is Guilty
March 22, 1905: Prison Life Of Joshua 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)