House of David

The House of David (formally The Israelite House of David) is a religious group founded in Benton Harbor, Michigan, in March 1903. It was co-founded by spouses Benjamin Purnell (1861–1927) and Mary Purnell (1862–1953). The Purnells claimed to be the successors to Joanna Southcott (1750–1814), an English woman who had built a following as a self-described religious prophetess. The community flourished in the 1910s, but declined and split in various factions in the 1920s, after Benjamin Purnell was accused of sexual immorality. Today, only a handful of members remain. History In 1888 the Purnells discovered a group of preachers extolling a man named James Jershom Jezreel as the Sixth Messenger. Jezreel had published a series of sermons in three volumes (842 pages) titled Extracts from the Flying Roll (1879-1881). While the preachers were in Richmond, Benjamin and Mary joined their group, known as "the Visitation Movement", which was started by a woman named Joanna Southcott, the First Messenger (Angel), in 1792. While studying the writings of Jezreel they noticed that he said that the Seventh and last Messenger was soon to be on the scene, allegedly mentioned in Revelation 10:7. On March 12, 1895, the Purnells announced that the spirit of Shiloh had grafted with them to become the seventh and last messenger. The House of David was formed by Benjamin and Mary Purnell in 1903 after settling in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Prior to that, the Purnells lived in Fostoria, Ohio and had two children, one of whom died in a fireworks factory explosion at the age of 17. The Purnells were looked down upon by residents of the city when they decided to forego the funeral due to their beliefs of not having anything to do with the dead.