The Kingdom of Matthias: A Story of Sex and Salvation in 19th Century America

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1994

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue

Part 1, Introduction

Part 1, Sections 1-3

Part 1, Sections 4-7

Part 2, Introduction

Part 2, Sections, 1-4

Part 2, Sections 5-7

Part 3, Sections 1-3

Part 3, Sections 4-6

Part 4, Sections 1-4

Part 4, Sections 5-8

Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Part 3, Sections 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3: “The Kingdom”

Part 3, Section 4 Summary

This section provides background information about Isabella Van Wagenen, who was born a slave in or around 1797 and sold several times before ending up at John Dumont’s plantation. There, she stayed for eighteen years. During this time, she had four children with another slave named Thomas. When Dumont died, his son inherited Isabella but refused to free her and her family when New York emancipated its slave population in 1820. She ran away, only to be caught and sold to Isaac Van Wagenen, who freed her and whose last name she took.

At this point in her life, Isabella experienced a profound vision of God. She devoted herself to religion and joined the Methodist Church. She started working for perfectionist James Latourette, and after joining the African Methodist Church in 1831, she was hired by Pierson's household on Bowery Hill. In 1832, after introducing Matthews and Pierson, she too became convinced that Matthews was a prophet. A year later, when Pierson cut Matthews off financially, Isabella followed Matthews to Mount Zion. Here, Ann Folger, the wife of Matthews’s benefactor, and Matthews developed a romantic interest in each other, taking long walks and carriage rides together and play the piano for hours. Ann made Matthews special clothing and embraced his teachings. Matthews confided in Ann that he had a vision of Ann as Mother of the Kingdom. Isabella witnessed this unfolding courtship and concluded that Ann was a devil in the form of a woman, sent to test Matthews and the Kingdom.

Part 3, Section 5 Summary

Benjamin Folger was unaware of the budding romance between Matthews and his wife Ann, and he spent most of his time in New York City restoring his and Pierson's failing business interests. At this point, Pierson had returned to the fold, and both Folger and Pierson were supporting Matthews financially, purchasing property and patents at his command. Poor financial decisions eventually ruined Folger, and he signed the estate on which Mount Zion existed over to Pierson, who agreed to rent it to Matthews for one dollar a year. When Benjamin Folger returned to Mount Zion, he was informed that Ann was the new church Mother; he was ordered to let Ann and Matthews marry. Although angry, he allowed the marriage to take place in a ceremony at the Kingdom, marrying Ann to Matthews himself.

Part 3, Section 6 Summary

Following Matthews’s instructions, Benjamin Folger went to Albany with a message for Margaret, Matthews’s estranged wife, about the Kingdom at Mount Zion. Matthews requested that she allow their children, twenty-year-old Isabella Laisdell, who had recently married, and their youngest son John to visit. Surprised to learn that Matthews was still alive, Margaret agreed. On the journey back to Mount Zion, Benjamin Folger had sexual intercourse with Isabella who divorced her husband and married Benjamin Folger after being at Mount Zion for roughly one day. The ceremony was conducted by Matthews, who only hours earlier had beat Isabella for her role in the sexual encounter with Folger.

Part 3, Sections 4-6 Analysis

Sections 4 to 6 of Part 3 elaborate on the story of Isabella Van Wagenen, also known as Sojourner Truth. Born into slavery, she emerged as a leader for the abolitionist and women’s rights movements and became known as an outspoken and compelling speaker for equal rights. While her role in these movements is well-documented, the influence of religion in her life is often overlooked. As the authors assert, she was a member of several important religious movements of the time, including the Kingdom of Matthias; she was in fact one of Matthews’s most loyal supporters. Van Wagenen also became involved with the Methodist Perfectionists, the Utopians, and the Spiritualists, and her message of justice and equality is based on her participation in these movements and cults.

The characterization of Benjamin Folger emphasizes the significance of two themes as they relate to his role in the story of the Kingdom of Matthias. Folger’s involvement in the Kingdom provides an opportunity to examine the intersection of the themes of sex and marriage and patriarchy and misogyny. When Folger discovers that his wife and Matthias were having sex, he became angry, as befits a patriarch of a family, but in the same instance, he also revealed his hypocrisy. While he and other men of the Kingdom willingly swapped wives, Folger was unhappy about sharing his wife with Matthews, which caused his commitment to Matthews’s leadership to waver. Ann’s involvement with Matthews quickly soured Folger’s relationship with both Matthews and the Kingdom.

In a patriarchal society like the Kingdom at Mount Zion, women either belonged to their fathers or husbands. The wife-swapping initiated by Matthias was one way he expressed his rejection of Christianity and established total control over his followers. Every member of Matthews’s cult searched for answers to fulfill their spiritual and emotional needs, and as cult leader, Matthews controlled every aspect of their lives, from supper rituals to work assignments to the dissolution of their marriages. Matthews caused jealousy and turmoil inside the Kingdom, and he created rising tensions in the larger community. Matthews’s ruthless exploitation of his followers' personal wealth and their wives led to a chain of events that culminated in his undoing and the Kingdom's destruction.