From the Koreshan Archives:
APRIL
— Last month we looked at some of the struggle, by some, to replace Dr. Teed by claiming the mantle of his leadership. This month, we look at some correspondence of Annie Ordway, also known as Victoria Gratia. Victoria (and many others, including Koresh), considered herself the rightful successor to Cyrus Teed (Koresh). Teed proclaimed her the “Pre-Eminent”. He gave her the name “Victoria Gratia Koresh”. When Teed died in 1908, Victoria was in Washington D.C. attending to Koreshan business. She immediately returned to Estero and arrived back on December 26th. The New York Times reported that she immediately ordered his body interred (NTY-December 27, 1908). This apparently caused an uproar among the faithful and within no time at all, Victoria was replaced by the Board of Directors. She relocated to Sanford Florida and on August 29, 1909 she married Addison Graves, the Koreshan dentist. He died on May 31, 1922 and on the anniversary of Teed’s birth in 1920, [see pencilled date on the image – 1919 appears to have been added even later] she wrote a proclamation offering to return to the colony at Estero. Page-1 of that document is presented below. Page-2 can be accessed via the link below the image. The document consists of eleven pages in total. It is made up mostly of references to Teed’s writing about the role of Victoria.
Click here for Page-2 of this document
Of course, the majority did not accept this offer, or perhaps they never even considered it, and Victoria eventually moved to St. Petersburg Florida where she died on January 8, 1923.
Victoria, a.k.a. Annie Ordway was born Annie Grace Glossen in Boston, on April 10, 1844. She was married to David Ordway and at some point left her husband, presumably to join Dr. Teed’s movement.