Every Year About This Time…-Every year about this time, during Halloween, someone shows up at Koreshan to see, or talk about, or experience(?) the paranormal. Are there ghosts at the Park? I suppose it is all done in good fun, although some take it quite seriously. Others, hpefully most, not so much. Our purpose on this site is to […]
The 1921 Hurricane Revisited-[The main part of this article is a re-posting from October 2014] As Florida braces for hurricane named “Milton”, there has been a great deal of talk about the 1921 hurricane known as the “Tampa Bay Hurricane” or the “Tarpon Springs Hurricane”. The direction that this hurricane took is different from the projected track of […]
Koresh and Waco – Cyrus and David-It has been nearly five years since I’ve posted, and I never really intended to do so, but I’ve been reading with some sense of what I want to call “amusement”, but this is not an amusing subject. I’m talking about the recent discovery that the Branch Davidians in Waco Texas probably used some of […]
Koreshan “Monthly” Features-I realized that almost 20 years of work is located in this “blog”, which wasn’t available back in the mid-1990’s when I started working at the Koreshan State Historic Site, now known at the Koreshan State Park. Since that time, the holdings of the Park have been moved to Florida Gulf Coast University, which is […]
July 2016- In this posting we want to highlight and publicize some of the other sites and resources that are available for studying the Koreshan Unity. In this day and age of “Googling” everything, it is nice to know that there are some solid resources available. One of the irritating things about “Googling” a subject […]
June 2016 – Page-3-From the Koreshan Archives — About a month early, but in this post we find the birthday of a Koreshan who rarely gets mentioned, but one who contributed a great deal to the cause of the Unity. I’m speaking of Nancy Cornelia Hawes Critcher She was born July 26, 1842, (please note that our genealogy […]
June 2016 – Page 2 – Frank Lewis-In this post we take a closer look at Frank S. Lewis, husband of Anna Welton Lewis, who was also the sister of Rose Welton Gilbert. Frank, as far as we can tell, was never a believer, although as time passed after the death of Dr. Teed, I would suggest that there weren’t too many […]
June 2016-With this first posting of the month, I want to, once again, mention another Koreshan, but in this case, the post will be a bit disconnected becasue, ironically, this person seems to have been lost to most Koreshan history. Or, perhaps she “left” Koreshan history… Mary Mills, secretary to “Victoria” an early Koreshan was very […]
May 2016 – Page-3 – Peter Blem-In the “whatever happened to”, or perhaps in this case, “who is…” department we want to take a close look at another member of the Unity. This time it is Peter Blem (1880-1936). Peter Christian (or Kristian) Blem was born in Svaneke, Denmark, the child of Jeppe Hansen Blem and Anine Kirstine Ipsen. The town […]
May 2016 – Page-2-In our last posting, we looked at the life of “Bertie” Boomer. In this posting we are looking at another member of one of the “Charter” families of the Koreshans, the Andrews family, and in particular, Annie Ray Andrews, the daughter of A.W.K. Andrews and Virginia Harmon Andrews. Annie Ray was one of those “second […]
May 2016-Many Koreshans have sunk into obscurity. One can go through the Rahn Membership List and see many, many names of people that we know very little about. On the other hand, some of the earliest members of the Unity and their families are well know. One of those would be Bertha May Boomer, known to […]
April 2016 – Page-3-This post ran in 2012. Since 2016 is an election year, we thought it fitting to revisit an election year in Koreshan history. The year was 1906 which became, in some ways, a turning point for the Koreshans. The whole notion of taxes, representation etc. has obviously continued 110 years later… In his 1978 article […]
Revisionist History and Strange Stories-Having been involved with Koreshan history for over 20 years, I’ve always found it interesting to see and hear what some people are saying. The story of Cyrus Teed, a.k.a. Koresh and the Koreshans have been told many different ways. For example, the Koreshans themselves put Koresh up as some kind of martyr after his […]
April 2016- — In 2009 when the “College of Life” began the process of transferring photographs from their archives to the State Archives, the State Historic Site helped with the process and thus the State Historic Site was allowed to copy many of the photographs for local interpretation and use. It was exciting since most of the […]
March 2016 – Page-3-We never tire of posting articles from the Community Current Events column, or, as it was known in 1916, “Current Events in Our Community Life”. This one, from April 1916 describes life in the Unity in the early part of the last century, within eight years of the death of Cyrus Teed. Here is the […]
March 2016 – Page-2-More of “Whatever Happened To?” This time we want to feature a member of Cyrus Teed’s own family. We hear some about his parents, but rarely about his brothers and sisters, save Emma Norton Teed who lived in the Community for most of her adult life, dying in 1950. But this is about Cyrus’ younger […]
March 2016- — The photo above gives us a rare look at the Art Hall. Compared to the current view, it looks a little lonely out there! The building, was restored about 8 years ago. It was built about 1905. It was the center for cultural, social, educational and religious activities of the Koreshan settlement. Theatrical productions, […]
February 2016 – Douglas Arthur Teed-Sunday, February 21st is the anniversary of the birth of Douglas Arthur Teed, the son of Cyrus Teed. Most people familiar with the Koreshans, and anyone who has ever visited the Art Hall, has seen the many paintings by Douglas Arthur. Douglas Arthur was, for all intents and purposes, abandoned by his father, Cyrus, in […]
February 2016 – Black History Month-February is “Black History Month”. We wanted to mention that there were, in fact, some African Americans who were members of the Koreshan Unity even though very little is known of them. Throughout the years it has been said that laborers who built the canals on the Unity grounds were mostly black. That may or […]
February 2016 – Madame Diss Debar-In her book, The Allure of Immortality, Professor Lyn Millner wrote: “One day, an exciting guest arrived at Beth-Ophrah, an ample woman in an elegant black dress that gathered at the neck. Her two scarves–one orchid, one white–flowed nearly to her waist, and her bleached hair was pinned neatly back, revealing a mysterious scar that […]
January 2016 – Page-4- Victoria Gratia, a.k.a. Annie Glassen Ordway has always been a bit of a mystery. Being in a leadership role within the Unity, and even crowned Empress by Teed, Victoria seemed to drop from favor soon after the death of Dr. Teed. This indicates that her “popularity” (if we can use that word), never really amounted […]
January 2016 – Page-3-As we continue into January, we want to continue, in a way, to look at some of the personalities of a number of prominent Koreshans. Perhaps the most prominent, at least from the view of a historian, was Claude C. Rahn. Claude was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1885. His family was one of the […]
January 2016 – Page-2-It has been mentioned here, and in other places that the Koreshans, at least most of them, truly believed in their religion — in Cyrus Teed — in all Koreshan doctrines. It is easy, in 2016, to make light of their beliefs. We think of them as being somehow crazy or, at least, misguided fools. […]
January 2016 – Auld Lang Syne-Happy New Year! We want to begin this new year by looking back… “Auld Lang Syne”, which is loosely translated as “old long since”, or “long long ago”. What that means in Koreshan history is that there is really no dividing line, as though it all ended with the death of Cyrus Teed. The Koreshans […]
December 2015 – Page-3- — As we approach the end of another year, it is always good to look back and get an idea of what life was like in the “Unity”. We rely on the monthly publication of the “Community Current Events which was published in the “Flaming Sword” beginning in 1916. Unfortunatley we do not have a […]
December 2015 – Page-2-From the Koreshan Archives: December is the last month of the year,but for the Koreshan State Historic Site, December celebrates one of the
December 2015-This month I’d like to explore further, the documents mentioned in the new book by Professor Lyn Millner, The Allure of Immortality. One of the criticisms of Cyrus Teed was that he was a charlatan. He may have been, but there is no real proof of this, only hearsay and media reports. Of course, the […]
Thanksgiving…-It is unclear if the Koreshans celebrated Thanksgiving in the same way that we do. More than likely, it was just another day, much like Christmas. Special days, but not much celebration. After the death of Cyrus Teed, life in the Unity began to change. Sure, there was still some expectation of the return of […]
November 2015 – Page-2-Anyone with any knowledge of the Koreshan would know the surname “Andrews”. The first of these was a man name A.W.K. (Abie) Andrews. He was, perhaps, the first follower of Cyrus Teed (Koresh). According the Claude Rahn’s “A Brief Outline of Dr. Cyrus R. Teed…”: “…From Utica Dr. Teed moved to Binghamton N.Y. with his […]
November 2015-Well, I said I was ending the monthly feature… I changed my mind, especially after the realease of Lyn Millner’s new book, “The Allure of Immortality” which gives more energy to the study of Koreshan history. So, this month I want to take a look at some of the documents that were included in Professor […]
October 2015-Don’t forget the new book scheduled for publication on the twentieth of this month, entitled “The Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet”, written by FGCU Journalism professor, Lyn Millner. This is the most thorough and comprehensive look at Cyrus Teed and the Korehsans in a long long time. […]
August 2015-This month we want to return to Chicago and the “WHERE” of the Koreshans. Chicago is important in that this is where the Unity made its real start — where it all began, even if it faltered at times. Lyn Millner, Journalism Professor at Florida Gulf Coast University is publishing a new and comprehensive book […]
July 2015-In addition to the post for July (below), I also wanted to make folks aware of a new book coming in October. The book is entitled “The Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet”, written by FGCU Journalism professor, Lyn Millner. This is the most thorough and comprehensive look […]
June 2015- — June reminds us the the ‘season’ is definitely over. Hurricane season has officially begun and the hot days, and humid nights drag on for then next six months or so. This month’s posting is a “repeat” from June of 2011. Next month we hope to be back with a new post. This month marks the […]
May 2015-This month we are looking at a member of one of the “Charter” families of the Koreshans, the Andrews family, and in particular, Annie Ray Andrews, the daughter of A.W.K. Andrews and Virginia Harmon Andrews. May 6 would mark Annie’s 130th birthday. She was born in Binghampton New York, the family home of the Andrews […]
April 2015- — April is the month of the Lunar Festival as well as many other important dates in the Koreshan calendar. April 4th marks the birthday of Virginia Harmon Andrews, the wife of Dr. A.W.K. Andrews. She and her husband were one of the first followers of Dr. Teed. A visitor to this website sent us […]
March 2015-This month we want to feature the birth of Koreshan John Sargent, but also we want to feature an item that has been in the archives for a long time, but has now been studied and re-typed, cleaned up, etc. etc. Park volunteer, Dr. Joan McMahon worked on Marie McCready’s, “Memories, Memories- Days of Long […]
February 2015-FEBRUARY — Here is a sample, dating back 75 years, from the February 1940 edition of the Community Current Events column from the Koreshan publication, The Flaming Sword. Community Current Events February 1940 By Rose Gilbert BROTHER ALLEN ANDREWS made a trip to Bonita Spring’s to visit Mr. and Mrs. Charles Codwise, who were friends […]
January 2015-HAPPY NEW YEAR!! — January brings us a number of prominent Koreshans. Perhaps the most prominent, at least from the view of a historian, was Claude C. Rahn. Claude was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1885. His family was one of the first to join the Unity in Estero. Thanks to Claude’s efforts we have […]
December 2014-In November of 2012 the News-Press printed a timeline for the Koreshans. Since it has been about 120 years since they first arrived in southwest Florida, here is a link to that timeline. In the past we’ve looked at the “other” side of the Koreshans and the factions that sprung up after the death of […]
November 2014-Everyday life in the Koreshan Unity… Here is the December 1922 (describing life in November 1922) “Community Current Events” in its entirety. With the mid-term elections taking place, it is interesting to look back at some issues from 1922. CURRENT EVENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY Some Political Issues Decided; an Enjoyable and Varied Program “Was Given […]
October 2014-Cyrus Teed died in 1908. He did not rise from the dead or transmute or anything else. However, the faith of those who followed him was, in many ways, phenomenal. They continued to hope for something that would show that what he had said about his return was true. In the meantime, his body was […]
September 2014-[This is a re-posting from September 2013] One of the purposes of this website is to look closer at the lives, beliefs and practices of the Koreshans. In the two decades that I have been here, I’ve found a lot of misconceptions and historical fallacies. One of the things I’ve found about the Koreshans is […]
August 2014-From the Koreshan Archives — AUGUST This month we want to repeat the entry from this same month in 2009, which marks 2014 as the 105th anniversary of the marriage of Annie Glosson Ordway and Charles Graves. Since there is so little known about Annie Ordway’s background, we wanted to repeat the post. On August […]
July 2014-From the Koreshan Archives: — July brings us the birthdays of two people, one of whom never became a Koreshan, as far as we know, and the other, a Koreshan, but more importantly a pioneer. First, one of the brothers of Cyrus Teed (Koresh), Charles Jackson Teed. Charles was the fourth child of Jess Teed and […]
June 2014-— June reminds us the the ‘season’ is definitely over. Hurricane season has officially begun and the hot days, and humid nights drag on for then next six months or so. This month marks the birthday of Jesse Sears Teed, father of Cyrus, but instead of featuring those ‘known’ Koreshans, we thought we would, once again […]
May 2014-From the Koreshan Archives: — This month we are looking at a member of one of the “Charter” families of the Koreshans, the Andrews family, and in particular, Annie Ray Andrews, the daughter of A.W.K. Andrews and Virginia Harmon Andrews. May 6 would mark Annie’s 135th birthday. She was born in Binghampton New York, the […]
April 2014-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 […]
March 2014 – More from the Dark Side:-In the October 2012 Posting, we featured an article about what we termed, the “Dark Side”, that is, some of the sideshows that went on in or around the Koreshan Unity. We’ve also mentioned previously that there were any number of people, groups and beliefs that attempted to subvert, take over or change the Koreshan […]
February 2014-FEBRUARY 2014 [The archives database has been updated – As of January 30, 2014] This month, I want to return to a closer look at some of the offshoots of the Koreshan movement after the death of Cyrus Teed. I have no doubt in the “faith” of many Koreshans and how, over time, that faith […]
January 2014-Happy New Year!! Here is, yet another, Community Current Events column that ran in the Flaming Sword. I cannot stress enough how it is an excellent source for those everyday things that occurred in the Unity. With the dawning of this new year, we wish to present the very first Community Current Events column, which […]
The End of 2013…-I wanted to slip this into the site before the end of 2013, only because it once again, gives us some insight into the everyday life inside the Unity. These two articles appeared in the Flaming Sword which would have described events that occurred in December 1926, and 1933 — 87 and 80 years respectively. […]
December 2013-From the Koreshan Archives: — December 2013 — The monthly publication of the “Flaming Sword” included the column entitled Community Current Events. If you are a regular visitor here, you know that the “Community Current Events” gave a lot of insight into daily Koreshan living. Here is an excerpt from the December 1938 column, which was news […]
November 2013-Please Note: The Archives database has been updated as of October 28, 2013. There are a more scanned images as well as additions to the database itself. Click on the link in the right column to view. Look under “Inside Links“. Peter Bender Material digitized. In 2005 a local Fort Myers woman donated a few […]
October 2013-Please Note: The Archives database has been updated as of October 28, 2013. There are a more scanned images as well as additions to the database itself. Click on the link in the right column to view. Look under “Inside Links“. From the Koreshan Archives: — October 2013 — October brings us the busiest month of the […]
September 2013-One of the purposes of this website is to look closer at the lives, beliefs and practices of the Koreshans. In the two decades that I have been here, I’ve found a lot of misconceptions and historical fallacies. One of the things I’ve found about the Koreshans is that they sometimes (and Cyrus Teed in […]
August 2013-This month we take a little closer look at Douglas Arthur Teed, the only son of Dr. Cyrus Teed (Koresh). Here is part of the article from Wikipedia Douglas Arthur Teed was born on February 21, 1860 to Fidelia M. Rowe and Cyrus R. Teed, in New Hartford, New York. At age nine, his father […]
July 2013-I know that we have, on numerous occasions, reprinted the “Community Current Events” column that appeared in the Flaming Sword from 1916 on. The monthly column opens for us a different and interesting way of looking at life in the Unity. You can walk through the grounds of the Historic Site, but there is no […]
June 2013 – Lazy days of summer…-As the rainy season sets in, here is how community events were described in June of 1936 – 77 years ago. From the “Community Current Events” column – The Flaming Sword, June 1936 AFTER a visit of several months at the Unity, Leroy H. Bubbett left by train for his home in Chicago, much improved […]
Time Marches On…-Cyrus Teed once said that some day Estero will be home to 10 million people. He may have been right, but they aren’t Koreshans… Time Magazine and Google have partnered to take millions of photographs from the Landsat satellite, animate them and show a timeline from 1984 up to 2012. Here is how the Estero […]
Another View (continued) – May 2013-In our last post we showed a panoramic view of the Unity grounds, as taken from the Printing House, located on the southeast corner of what is now US-41 and the Estero River. In this post we would like to show you a few more “new” views of the Unity which were recently donated. It […]
Another View-We are always happy to receive donations for the archives. We recently received an envelope containing some pictures and clippings from the granddaughter of Edward Albert Wilhelm Koester Two of the photos showed a view, (taken from the Printing House, which was located on the southeast corner of the intersection of the Estero River and […]
April 2013 – Tamiami Trailblazers-April marks the 90th anniversary of the automotive trek across Florida’s Everglades, known as the Tamiami Trailblazers. This group of men, which included four Koreshans — Alfred Christiansen, Frank Lewis, Charles Hunt and Allen Andrews. Frank Lewis kept a diary of sorts. This included a day by day account of the trip. In 1973, during […]
March 2013-From the Koreshan Archives: — This month, we want to let you know of a valuable new addition to the archives. It isn’t an “original” document, but a photocopy taken from microfilm. The Clerk of Courts in Lee County was about to dispose of some old microfilm and it so happens that this reel contained […]
Construction-We have featured, in the past, articles about the road construction on US-41, in December 2011 and again in January 2012. The modern day equivalent of the saga of US-41 continues. The highway that runs in front of the Historic Site has seen a lot of change over the years. From a dirt path, to […]
February 2013-“THE PLANT HAS BLOSSOMED!” Thus began the “Community Current Events” column in the December 1925 issue of the Flaming Sword, the monthly journal of the Koreshan Unity. What were they talking about? Perhaps the entry of the Unity into the 20th century, the opening of the “electric light plant” which provided electric light for many […]
January 2013-So much of what we have in the archives deals with life in the Koreshan Unity as it happened here in Estero. After the death of Dr. Teed in 1908, many members of the unity began to roam a bit. This is not to say they left the Unity for good, but they either traveled, […]
Koreshan Photographs, Articles and Clippings-In case you hadn’t noticed… There has been a lot of activity of late with regard to the Koreshans. First some printed articles. In the November issue of Gulfshore Life Magazine, our friend Lyn Millner had an article entitled Koreshans-The Legacy and the Questions The magazine’s online edition does not include the article, but you […]
December 2012-Over the past couple of months we’ve looked at the “other” side of the Koreshans and the factions that sprung up after the death of Dr. Teed. This month we want to take a look, not so much at the factions, but at life inside the Unity. That is, life as it was “really” lived. […]
November 2012-More from Edgar and others… Last month we wrote about Edgar S. Peissert and his claim to be some kind of “new” Koresh. This month we want to explore a little further into the various groups that seemed to spring up after the death of Teed. One of the interesting things about all this is […]
October 2012-From the Koreshan Archives: The “Dark” Side… The Koreshans were, for the most part, a group of dedicated and committed individuals who ,in my opinion, firmly believed in their teachings, whether it be Teed’s rising from the dead or the hollow earth. But there are always some persons or group of persons who use the […]
September 2012-With the often mentioned road construction that continues, and will continue for the next year or so, I thought it appropriate to do a re-run of a post from 2007. — September brings the “beginning of the end” of the hot summer season, but the early beginning of the influx of our “seasonal” visitors. That […]
Some new features…-I’m always looking for ways to add or enhance the information presented here. Today I changed the “Genealogy” link in the “Inside Links” section in the right column of this website. It is still pretty much the same data, but it is now presented in a more compact and more precise way. Just click on […]
August 2012-From the Koreshan Archives: — This month we look closer at the background of Annie Glosson Ordway Graves. On August 29, 1909, Annie, known to Koreshans as “Victoria Gratia” , married Dr. Charles Graves, the Koreshan dentist and former Mayor of Estero. This came after the two were basically drummed out of the Unity after […]
Even More Maps…-Once again, Lyn Milner, in her research, has created a map of Cyrus Teed’s “New York Days”. Here is is: View Teed’s New York Days (all dates approx) in a larger map
July 2012-From the Koreshan Archives: July brings us the birthdays of two people, one of whom never became a Koreshan, as far as we know, and the other, a Koreshan, but more importantly a pioneer. Then, we take a look at a copy of the “American Eagle” from 1906. First, one of the brothers of Cyrus […]
More Maps-As I mentioned in the June monthly post, I was re-publishing an entry from 2009 in which I featured a Google Map showing some of the Koreshan locations in present day Chicago. Lyn Millner, a friend of the archives, FGCU professor, who has begun work on a book about the Koreshans, contacted me with a […]
June 2012-From the Koreshan Archives: — This month we are taking a different approach. First, I am repeating a post from June of 2009 and instead of featuring a particular picture or person from the Koreshan past, we want to feature something from the present. Everyone knows about the place where the Koreshans settled, in Estero, […]
May 2012-May brings us a number of important birthdays for the Koreshans. One intriguing figure is James Russell Price who would be 165 years old. Doctor Price was born in Bedeque, Prince Edward Island, Canada on May 21, 1847. He was the child of Richard and Catherine Price. The Price family moved to the United States […]
April 2012-Since 2012 is an election year, we thought it fitting to revisit an election year in Koreshan history. The year was 1906 which became, in some ways, a turning point for the Koreshans. In his 1978 article in Florida Historical Quarterly, Elliott Mackle wrote: The removal of Unity headquarters to Estero was in fact a […]
March 2012-The American Eagle The “American Eagle” is not so much a reflection of Koreshan history as it is a reflection of what the Koreshans did, or were interested in. When publication began on June 7, 1906, what the Koreshans were doing then, or rather, attempting to do was to influence the elections of 1906. Teed […]
February 2012-From the Koreshan Archives: FEBRUARY • Note: The ‘online’ archives database has been updated and now includes more scanned items than ever before. This project continues as we hope to have everything digitized at some point… — I’ve published this photo before… probably a number of times, but it never ceases to amaze me! Anyone who […]
Ghost Walk-Here is some information from the “Official” Koreshan State Park website about the upcoming “Ghost Walk”. You can take a look at ALL the upcoming events by visiting the Official Web Site of the Koreshan State Historic Site. The “Ghost Walk” has become one of the most popular events of the year. Here are the […]
January 2012 – More Construction…-Last month we described some of the history of US-41 as it relates to the Koreshans and to Estero. This month, we want to look back at more of that history. The “American Eagle” carried a front page article in their April 1978 issue, entitled “We The People: Highway 41 – the TAMIAMI TRAIL – […]
December 2011 – Construction…-We’ve mentioned it here before, but this year there is MAJOR construction on US-41 which has a major impact on business in the area as well as on the State Park. How this all relates to Koreshan history goes back to the very beginning when the “Trail” was nothing more than that. In the intervening […]
November 2011-Everyday life in the Koreshan Unity… Here is the December 1922 (describing life in November 1922) “Community Current Events” in its entirety. CURRENT EVENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY Some Political Issues Decided; an Enjoyable and Varied Program “Was Given Thanksgiving Night BY D. J. RICHARDS December 1922 ————————————— THE COUNTRY’S ATTENTION has been riveted during the […]
October 2011-From the Koreshan Archives: OCTOBER Just as last month marked the birth of one of the lesser known Koreshan, this month marks the birthday of one of the most prominent Koreshans — “Professor” Ulysses Grant Morrow, the man who “proved” the Cellular Cosmogony. The KSHS Archives has numerous references to Prof. Morrow. He was born […]
September 2011 – “Then and Now”-For those who have ever visited Estero, there is an area that, although owned by the State, is not part of the Historic Site. For our wonderful volunteers, it is known as the “Volunteer Village”. But once upon a time it was a working trailer park. Many people have always related Florida with trailer parks. […]
Road Construction-As we (once again) experience road construction near the Koreshan State Historic Site, we thought it would be a good idea to look back. For anyone who is around these parts of late, you know what we mean. US-41 is undergoing extensive construction, and will be doing so for some time to come. I want […]
August 2011-This month we want to feature the woman for whom our major collection was named, Cora Stephens. The Stephens collection is in the hands of the State of Florida despite the Koreshans… Not the present day “College of Life”, but the Koreshans of 1950. Let me explain. For any number of reasons, the Koreshans believed […]
July 2011-This month I want to explore the Teed family. We usually only hear about Cyrus, but Jesse Sears Teed and Sarah Ann Tuttle had eight children who lived into adulthood. This month we feature the fourth child, Charles Jackson Teed who was born on July 3, 1843 in Moravia, New York. We don’t know what […]
June 2011- — June reminds us the the ‘season’ is definitely over. Hurricane season has officially begun and the hot days, and humid nights drag on for then next six months or so. This month marks the birthday of Jesse Sears Teed, father of Cyrus, but instead of featuring those ‘known’ Koreshans, we thought we would, once again […]
May 2011-From the Koreshan Archives: — This month the Koreshans go digital!! On April 13, 1930, a crew from Fox Movietone News came to Estero to film Allen Andrews explaining the Cellular Cosmogony. As far as we know, this film was never used in any of the “Movietone” newsreels and did not appear in theaters. These […]
April 2011- — This month, I want to repeat a previous post, mainly because I want to highlight the differences between the ‘real’ and the ‘ideal’. Koreshans preached equality of the sexes, but they also had to live in a world which (at the time) did not even allow women to vote. So, this month we look […]
Teed Photos-Recently, the Koreshan Unity temporarily donated some pictured of Cyrus Teed. Most of them are views of Koresh that we’ve never seen before, especially a ‘bearded’ Teed. Here is one of those: This photo was taken in Chicago, probably not long after Teeds arrival in the city. Peter Hicks, former ranger and historian at the […]
Douglas Arthur Teed-Monday, February 21st is the anniversary of the birth of Douglas Arthur Teed, the son of Cyrus Teed. Most people familiar with the Koreshans, and anyone who has ever visited the Art Hall, has seen the many paintings by Douglas Arthur. Douglas Arthur was, for all intents and purposes, abandoned by his father, Cyrus, in […]
Self Guided Tour and Other Items-These days, when the weather is ‘bearable’ here is Southwest Florida, it is always nice to get outdoors. The Official web site of the Koreshan State Historic site offers a self-guided tour of the Koreshan gardens. The file required a PDF reader. You can view the tour by Clicking Here There are a number of […]
February 2011-From the Koreshan Archives: — February brings us a photograph that we did not see until just a few years ago. This photo is the Art Hall. The building, which has been restored, was built about 1905. It was the center for cultural, social, educational and religious activities of the Koreshan settlement. Theatrical productions, lectures […]
In the News (1953)-In my last posting, I mentioned some sources for Koreshan research. I mentioned the misnomer of the website Old Fulton New York Post Cards. Here is an example of the interesting things that can be found online. This article (you must have a PDF reader to view it) is from the Binghampton New York Press, […]
Researching the Koreshans-There are any number of sources for researching the Koreshans, Cyrus Teed and others. Some of these online databases charge for access, but there are a good number of sources that are free to use. I recently ran across a couple of places where you can search for old newspaper articles. The first is the […]
January 2011-Happy New Year!! January brings us a number of prominent Koreshans. Perhaps the most prominent, at least from the view of a historian, was Claude C. Rahn. Claude was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1885. His family was one of the first to join the Unity in Estero. Thanks to Claude’s efforts we have a […]
Christmas 1943-There isn’t a whole lot mentioned in the materials that we have about Christmas. As usual, we rely mostly on the “Community Current Events” column which was published monthly in the “Flaming Sword”. Even though the Koreshans looked to Cyrus Teed as some sort of new messiah, they still claimed to be Christians. As I […]
Life In The Unity-Anyone driving down US-41 is bound to see the “New Store”, which is probably the most visible part of the Historic Site, at least from the outside. One of the store’s most interesting occupants was Franklin Jacke. Franklin’s life has been chronicled on this website previously. Here is a copy of a postcard that Franklin […]
December 2010-This month we take a look at life in the Koreshan Unity, long after the death of Cyrus Teed. There isn’t a whole lot of specific information about the beliefs and attitudes of the Koreshans during this time, but it seems clear that even though the “official” line still maintained the belief of the imminent […]
November 2010-From the Koreshan Archives: — November — November brings us to the birthdates of two of the most prominent Koreshans, at least with regard to the present day State Historic Site. November 12 is the 160th birthday of Berthaldine Sterling Boomer,one of the very first followers of Dr. Teed. Her name also figures prominently in […]
Estero Historical Society-This article is from the Fort Myers News Press The Estero Historical Society will have its monthly meeting at 2 p.m. Monday (October 11) at the Estero Community Park’s Recreation Center, 9220 Corkscrew Palms Blvd. (off the south side of Corkscrew Road a mile east of U.S. 41). Information on upcoming events and progress on […]
October 2010-From the Koreshan Archives: — October 2010 — October brings us the busiest month of the year with regard to the Koreshan story. The premier event is, of course, the birthday of Cyrus Teed, a.k.a. Koresh who was born in Delaware County New York on October 18, 1839. Quoting former Ranger, Peter Hicks, who’s biography of Dr. […]
September 2010-From the Koreshan Archives: — This month marks the birth of one of the lesser known members of one of the most prominent Koreshan families — the Bubbett family. James and Evelyn Bubbett had three children. Their youngest, Laurence (Laurie) was president of the Unity during the time when things were coming to an end. His […]
August 2010-From the Koreshan Archives — AUGUST This month we want to repeat the entry from this same month last year. 2009 was the 100th anniversary of the marriage of Annie Glosson Ordway and Charles Graves. Since there is so little known about Annie Ordway’s background, we wanted to repeat the post. On August 29, 1909, […]
Digitizing the Art Collection-One of the latest projects conducted here at Koreshan State Historic Site has involved our extensive art collection, primarily the work of Douglas Arthur Teed. Douglas Arthur was the son of Cyrus Teed, the founder of the Koreshan Unity, and was a highly trained and quite well respected American Impressionist whose work spans locations in […]
Hedwig Michel-This past weekend the Fort Myers News Press featured a story about Hedwig Michel. I thought it would be important to make a few corrections to the stories and perhaps make some observations. First, in the “Tropicalia” article the author said: Some of the group’s members grumbled about this German whirlwind, but she stormed on. […]
July 2010-From the Koreshan Archives — This month we find the birthday of a Koreshan who rarely gets mentioned, but one who contributed a great deal to the cause of the Unity. I’m speaking of Nancy Cornelia Hawes Critcher She was born July 26, 1842, (please note that our genealogy pages show her birth in 1841. […]
New Virtual Archives-Today we launch an updated version of the Virtual Archives. The link in the right hand column of this website will take you there. (Koreshan State Historic Site Archives). We use a software package called “Past Perfect” and the company that makes this software came out with a new version. With this version they changed […]
June 2010-From the Koreshan Archives: — June’s calendar isn’t quite as busy as previous months, however, the major calendar item this month is the birthday of Jesse Sears Teed, father of Cyrus. Jesse has been featured here before, so, instead of highlighting him again, we chose a somewhat obscure Koreshan who, although his time with the […]
Daily Life of Koreshans-Although Dr. Teed died in 1908, the Koreshan Unity continued for over 50 years. The beliefs of Koreshanity were still there, but it was probably more the notion of communal living that kept them going into the 1960’s. Members would sometimes leave the Unity only to return some time later. The ‘Community Current Events’ column […]
May 2010-From the Koreshan Archives: — This month we are looking at a member of one of the “Charter” families of the Koreshans, the Andrews family, and in particular, Annie Ray Andrews, the daughter of A.W.K. Andrews and Virginia Harmon Andrews. May 6 would mark Annie’s 131st birthday. She was born in Binghampton New York, the […]
April 2010-APRIL — April is the month of the Lunar Festival as well as many other important dates in the Koreshan calendar. April 4th marks the 161st birthday of Virginia Harmon Andrews, the wife of Dr. A.W.K. Andrews. She and her husband were one of the first followers of Dr. Teed. A visitor to this website […]
Cyrus Teed – Civil War Doctor??-One of the things that the Koreshans (or, perhaps those “post” Koreshans) always said, was the Cyrus Teed was a surgeon during the Civil War. Since we mentioned John Sargent, a Civil War Veteran, in our Monthly Feature for March, and since this question always comes up, I thought we would put this question to […]
March 2010-The month of March brings us to Springtime in Florida. This month celebrates the birth of John Sargent who was born 164 years ago… According to the Membership List, compiled by Claude Rahn,
February 2010-FEBRUARY — Here is a sample, dating back 70 years, from the February 1940 edition of the Community Current Events column from the Koreshan publication, The Flaming Sword. As mentioned in previous months, the Community Current Events column which appeared monthly (for the most part) from 1916 on gives us an insight into the daily […]
Whatever Happened To?-We recently received a link to the website of the Alpine Historical Society in Alpine California. One of their notable residents was Marguerite Borden Head, a former member of the Koreshan Unity who, by the early 1920’s, had become the librarian of the town of Alpine. Her son, Vic, writes of his mother, Marguerite, who […]
Franklin Jacke (1875-1936)-Franklin Jacke was born on January 12, 1875 in Woodland Wisconsin. He had what could be termed a “tragic” life because of the fact that he suffered physically as a hunchback and eventually took his own life on March 31, 1936. According to the late Evelyn Horne, “Franklin came to the Koreshan Unity at Estero […]
James H. Bubbett-January 8th marks the 166th anniversary of the birth of James H. Bubbett, one of the early Koreshan pioneers. Born in Washington County Pennsylvania in 1844, James eventually ended up in Quincy Illinois, and then Chicago, which is where it is believed that he took an interest in Cyrus Teed and Koreshanity. According to Marie […]
January 2010-Welcome to the new Unofficial Koreshan State Historic Site website . Beginning this month we will be using this “blog” format. This will enable us to post Koreshan “news” more than once a month and also maintain all postings in an “archive”. — January brings us a number of prominent Koreshans. Perhaps the most prominent, […]
