At the start of the twentieth century a man in his mid-thirties named Edmund became disenchanted with the Salvation Army, because in his words they weren't religious enough. This is somewhat of an interesting statement given that the Salvation Army of the time was much more into beating drums and yelling about hell than it is today. Thoroughly disgusted by their half assery, Edmund decided it would just be best if he started his own religion. Setting up shop in Corvallis, Oregon, Edmund began preaching his new brand of Christianity, called the Brides of Christ, which quickly attracted members of many prominent families around town. The Brides of Christ weren't one of those quiet and demure sects. No, members spent hours screaming and rolling around on the ground, wearing nothing but what amounted to thin white bathrobes, working themselves into a delirious frenzy. For some strange reason, Edmund's new church was comprised mostly well to do women, which probably had nothing to do with the fact that it gave them the perfect opportunity to do something else with their lives besides household chores and catering to the every whim of the men in their lives.
As is to be expected, things got weird fast. First Edmund ordered his congregation to cut themselves off from unbelievers, causing many wives, mothers, and daughters to separate themselves from their families. Then he ordered them to burn all of their worldly possessions, which in the ensuing bonfire apparently included a couple of cats and dogs. This was followed by the entire congregation barricading itself in a house for months, screaming, rolling around on the floor, and doing god knows what else. The men of Corvallis, upset by this chain of events, tarred and feathered Edmund and ran him out of town. However, he soon after returned, now legally married to a woman named Maude, one of his parishioners. By this time, tales of Edmund sleeping with more than just his new wife started to circulate, and a warrant was issued for his arrest for adultery, which back then could land you in jail. After a statewide manhunt, which ended with a dirty Edmund found living under a porch, the holy man was sent to jail for two years. Most of his followers were put in insane asylums, because only a crazy woman would join a sex cult rather than spend her days cleaning house and cooking meals.
When Edmund got out of prison, he re-gathered his flock, most of whom had since been freed from the asylum, and told them that he was the new Jesus and that god would punish the world for imprisoning him. As luck would have it, the San Francisco earthquake happened a few days later. Edmund then told his flock that he needed to sleep with all of them in a purification ritual to prepare one to the be the new Mary, which is confusing given that he thought he was Jesus. However, having seen Edmund destroy San Francisco, his followers just kind of went with it. Edmund then led his cult in an exodus from Corvallis to the Oregon Coast. It was at this point that things began to get ugly. One of the angry husbands tracked the Brides of Christ to the coast and tried to shoot Edmund with a revolver. The revolver didn't go off, increasing Edmund's stature. However, not quite having the same faith in himself as his followers, Edmund then chose to escape to Seattle, taking only his wife Maude and Esther, the woman he had chosen to be the new Mary, with him. The rest of the women were left to starve and freeze on the beach.
Edmund's luck ran out in Seattle. Esther's angry brother, George, tracked the trio down and shot Edmund in the head in broad daylight, killing him instantly. George was arrested, but was later acquitted based on the ruling that it should be okay to shoot someone if they fuck every woman in your family and aren’t actually Jesus. Laws were different back then. However, George did not get to enjoy his freedom for long. His sister Esther, a little angry about not getting to be the new Mary, shot him in the head in broad daylight. An unrepentant Esther was declared legally insane, along with Maude for good measure, and the two women were sent to the asylum. Both women later killed themselves. The rest of the flock, somewhat embarrassed, returned home to pretend that none of it had ever happened, spending their days cleaning house and cooking meals.
Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Creffield#/media/File:Creffield-Edmund.jpg