"apostles Of The Lord"

"APOSTLES OF THE LORD"

Convicted of Trying to Cheat Farmer Curtis.

SON IN LAW RUSHTON

Of Manchester Comes to The Rescue and Sends Four Dirty Apostles to Prison.

Herbert Rushton, of Manchester, in this county, must breathe easier now Four members of a religious sect, claiming to be Apostles of God, were found guilty in the Lenawee circuit court Thursday of conspiring to gain control of the property of Thomas Curtis, a wealthy Rome farmer, Rushton's father-in-law. Rushton is the man who saved his father-in-law's property by setting the machinery of the law in motion, by applying for a guardian to be placed over him to prevent him disposing of his property and turning the proceeds over to a strange religious sect from Delray.

Last April the sect appeared at Curtis' farm and told him that the Lord had directed them to his house, that the saints were to be the judges of the world, and that Curtis was to be the saint for that particular district. They talked to him for some time, showing him Bible texts to prove their doctrine. In order to do the Lord's will, Curtis must lay down all and forsake all. After staying two days and attempting to get $200, they went away. He gave them $50 and went to Toledo with them. Some of the family became sick and Curtis was written that it was because he had given $50 when the Lord had asked for $200. He sent them $150.

In June eight members of the sect came out to the farm and quartered themselves on Curtis. They were very dirty and wore very ragged clothes, spent most of the time talking religion and praying, got down on their faces and groaned and rolled around. They got most of the members of the Curtis family under their influence, including Rushton's wife. They taught the doctrine of spiritual marriage. They got about $400 out of Curtis and had him at the point of selling his farm and turning over all the proceeds. The Curtis family at the trial showed that they were still under the dominance of the sect. The four men arrested, tried and awaiting sentence are Theodore Bird, Theodore Williams, Charles Ray and Jay Lawrence.