In
1878 Dr. Teed was admitted to membership in the North Family of Shakers at
Lebannon, New York. His contact with the Shakers and the Harmonists laid a
foundation for his own communal group. During this time, he also practiced
medicine in Binghampton, Trout Creek, Connorsville, and Deposit in Delaware
County. By August 20, 1880 he was back in Utica and by the end of the year he
had established a communal home in Moravia and was running the family mop
business. Members of this first group were his mother, father, his sister
Zanetta, his sister Emma, her husband, and a few others.
After
two years the mop business failed. The communal home also began to receive
criticizism when Mrs. Ellen M. Woolsey left her husband in order to join the
group. It became necessary for Cyrus to leave Moravia and begin practicing
medicine again. Over the next six years, due to continued financial troubles
and religious persecution, the group migrated to Syracuse, New York, then to
New York City before finally settling in Chicago. It was there that Teed began
to realize his dream. By 1892, at their communal home called “Beth Ophra,” the
Koreshan Unity had grown to a membership of 110. Some followers also formed a short-lived community in San
Francisco, 1891-1892. Small church groups also existed in other towns.
Even
so, Teed had aspirations of building “The New Jerusalem” where he expected his
followers to grow to 10 million!
In
1893, Koresh was riding a train from Pittsburgh to Chicago following a speaking
engagement when a fellow traveler told him about a development for sale on Pine
Island in Southwest Florida. Rail passes were available for those interested
and Teed was able to get three. On December 6, 1893 he boarded the train from
Chicago to Punta Gorda, accompanied by Annie Ordway and Berthaldine Sterling
Boomer. They met a Mr. Whitehead who showed them the property at St. James
City. The $150,000.00 price tag was too much for the Koreshans. They
regretfully returned to Chicago. But before they left, Teed left copies of the
Flaming Sword, a Koreshan publication, at the cable station at Punta Rassa,
near Ft. Myers. Gustave Damkohler came to pick up his mail and read the Flaming
Swords. Apparently intrigued, he wrote Koresh and invited him down to Estero.
Tune back in next week to learn about the Koreshans' visit to Estero.
