"In 1834 and 1835 Matthias was one of the first penny-press sensations in American history—the main protagonist in a deeply disturbing scandal that received unprecedented national attention."
Prologue, pp. 10-11

"In evangelical homes the primary moral teachers were no longer fathers who laid down the law; they were loving mothers who prayed with their children and taught them right from wrong."
Elijah Pierson, Part 3, p. 22

"The Bowery Hill community was not, as some of New York's more conservative Christians were beginning to mutter, a dumping ground for religious lunatics. On the contrary, it was a scouting expedition at the edges of a new experimental evangelicalism that had gripped a large segment of New York's up-and-coming merchant families."
Elijah Pierson, Part 5, p. 33

"Every day of the year, especially communion days, brought reminders that [Robert Matthews] might eventually gain a secure place as an independent household head within the community...