"It's no secret that America is fascinated with cults and their scamming, grifting leaders. Viewers flock to TV series like Wild Wild Country, The Vow and Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, and elevate con artists like the Tinder swindler and Elizabeth Holmes as antiheroes who've found loopholes in American society and business. Paddison tells Harris' story from its beginning in upstate New York, at the time a hotbed of self-proclaimed seers and prophets, including Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism."
"In a packed public lecture in San Francisco, Chevaillier talked of "Edenic baths given by opposite sexes to each other," and of forced sexual relations in the colony: "Husbands and wives are separated, old men are given to comely young women, and young men to old women, according as Harris directs." For his part, Harris characterized Chevaillier's campaign as "simply the revenge of a scorned, detested, and infuriated female.""
Thomas Lake Harris founded religious communes in 19th-century America, including Mountain Cove and Fountaingrove, attracting followers such as Laurence Oliphant. The communities practiced unorthodox sexual and spiritual rituals, including alleged 'Edenic baths' and coerced partner exchanges directed by Harris. Local critics and defectors publicized these practices through newspapers and public lectures, igniting scandal and press-driven campaigns that undermined the communities. Harris dismissed accusations as revenge but ultimately departed for England, Wales, and Manhattan, where he died after claiming to have found a secret to eternal life. The episodes anticipate modern viral cancellation dynamics mediated by contemporary platforms.
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