Robert Matthews

Robert Matthews was born in the Scottish community of Coila inside of Cambridge, New York, in 1788. He was brought up in a strict Calvinist "Anti-burgher" tradition that the Scots brought over from Scotland. The religion stressed egalitarianism, but also patriarchy. Matthews married Margaret and had several children. He ran a successful store for a time, but a series of bad business decisions brought him to the brink of bankruptcy. This trying time, along with the death of several of his sons, led Matthews to begin to receive prophetic visions. He became convinced he was God's prophetic agent on Earth and that he had to prepare the world for God's arrival. He adopted the name Matthias, claimed he was the embodiment of the Spirit of Truth which had existed for thousands of years, and began to preach all over New York.

He duped wealthy merchant Elijah Pierson into...