We Are Called by the People Sanctificationists[i]
In Belton, Texas, a small town nestled in the heart of Texas, there is a lovely museum dedicated to the history of Bell County. On any given day, a group of children on a class trip or history enthusiasts trying to acquire more knowledge about Bell County visit the museum. One exhibit in particular receives a lot of attention from the general public. This exhibit is dedicated to a group of women who created their own utopia, even though they were persecuted by other citizens of Bell County. The group was called the Woman’s Commonwealth of Belton, but the town’s people referred to the group as Sanctificationists.
Martha McWhirter founded the Woman’s Commonwealth. Martha White, was born in Jackson County, Tennessee, in 1829. At the age of sixteen White joined the Methodist church. Very devout in her beliefs, White became an active member within her home church in Tennessee. Expected to marry like most frontier women, White promised her mother she would wait until she was sixteen to marry, an acceptable age in the Victorian era.[ii] In 1845 White married George McWhirter. After ten years of marriage, the McWhirters made the decision to move to Belton, Texas. They brought with them three children: Emma, Ada, and John.[iii] McWhirter ultimately gave birth to twelve children in all. Only six children lived to adulthood.
While in Belton, McWhirter and her husband remained heavily involved in the Methodist church. One of McWhirter’s daughters, Emma, later recalled some of the childhood stories of her mother. The telling of these stories always included sternness in McWhirter’s demeanor, reflecting her strict church background. She appeared to be forthright and to the point. She never minced words. Amongst the citizens of Belton, McWhirter was likely viewed as an ordinary married woman, in 1860. Belton’s opinion of McWhirter eventually changed. After experiencing a few deaths within her family, including a child, Martha fell into depression. Church members would tell McWhirter she had so much to be thankful for. She would reply that God was a “hard master” to serve, and she had begun to grow weary of Christianity.[iv] McWhirter
was convinced that God was punishing her for some reason.
In August 1866, as McWhirter walked home from church, she heard a voice. The voice, she later remembered, asked her to question herself and the church she attended. After hearing the voice McWhirter suffered from a sleepless night. The following morning McWhirter remained unsettled by the voice she heard. She arose the next day and realized she heard the voice of God. He explained to her what it meant to be "sanctified." She considered this experience an “inward baptism”.[v]After this experience Martha professed herself sanctified. Being sanctified entailed a few different facets, although she never wrote down the beliefs of her new faith. She was recorded during a divorce proceeding explaining her beliefs. The person who received the sanctification usually had “dream visions”. In these dream visions, God would communicate with the person. Also, a sanctified person was not allowed to be sexually active with a person who was not sanctified; however, it was the sanctified spouse’s job to be the perfect spouse.
Martha stated, “Our religious faith does not teach that it is sinful for a believer to live with an unbelieving husband as his wife, if they were already married, when the wife become sanctified. It is taught by us to be good obedient wives & Mothers and to discharge their duties as such perfectly.”[vi] This declaration proved to be troublesome for some of the local husbands. McWhirter held weekly prayer groups at her home and the homes of other women. After her sanctification, a noticeable shift defined their prayer requests. Although continuing to show enthusiasm about God and his word, the prayer meetings turned into an outlet for disgruntled wives to speak out against their husbands. Their prayer requests began to pertain to their marriages. These women prayed for patience to deal with their husbands “whose niggardliness regarding household and pocket money kept women beholden for every small necessity.”[vii] The wives also prayed for help with the domestic violence they experienced in their homes. The women wanted to receive the sanctification that McWhirter said she experienced. The group of women added sanctification on to their growing prayer list. Most of the women involved in the prayer group received sanctification, and they became sisters. Unfortunately the husbands were not pleased with their wives’ prayer groups. Husbands were very vocal in expressing their dislike of the prayer meetings being held in their house, and forbade their wives to allow the group into their homes. So, they eventually moved their meetings to Union Sunday School hall. George McWhirter was the superintendent of this particular school, but due to Martha’s new ideas, the women broke away from the Union Sunday School, and created their own Sunday school, the Methodist Sunday School. The American south during the Antebellum period was considered a male-dominated society. During this particular time period, women were denied many opportunities for independence within marriage. The general understanding of social mores within marriage was that the husbands provided the income towards the household, while the wife’s primary focus was to maintain the household. Husbands provided wives with an allowance, at an amount that the husbands deemed fit. The women then spent that allowance on the general upkeep of everyday occurrences within the household. This particular arrangement within a marriage proved common, but it was not the only type of marriage. Yet financial independence in the antebellum period remained extremely uncommon among women and wives. “By Law they had no property apart from their husbands and no security.”[viii]
The husbands began to become very abusive towards their wives when they continued to attend McWhirter’s prayer meetings. The sisters came to the conclusion that they needed to improve their financial status. So they began selling eggs and milk. By doing this the women were able to establish a steady income.[ix] Eventually they began to take in laundry. This significantly increased the women’s income. Their husbands’ hostility had increased over time. Their wives’ commitment to celibacy hurt them a great deal; however, their financial independence was far too much for them to bear. On one particular day a sister was doing laundry in her home, and her husband became violent. She received quite a beating. She fled to McWhirter’s home. McWhirter allowed the sister to reside there and work for a monthly income. Eventually, all the
sisters fled the homes of their abusive husband, sometimes with their children. They took refuge in McWhirter’s home. These married women went from living with men to living with only women, and it appeared as if they were very happy amongst each other.
McWhirter experienced a great change. She went from a devout member of the Methodist church to a social pariah. Her change was drastic, and had it not been for her revelation, many of the women of Bell County would not have been a part of a very successful women’s utopia.
Endnotes
[i]Haymond v. Haymond, Martha McWhirter’s testimony, No.
3037, Dist. Ct. of Bell., Texas (October 17,1887)Hereinafter cited as: Haymond
v. Haymond
[ii]“The Life and Spiritual Experience of Martha
McWhirter,” 9 March 1901, Woman’s Commonwealth Archive, Dolph Briscoe Center
for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Hereinafter cited as: The
Life and Spiritual Experience of Martha McWhirter
[iii]
Diane Howard, “Setting the Record Straight: Story of the Sanctified
Sisters”(1999)
[iv]“The Life and Experience
of Martha McWhirter”
[v]“The Life and Experience of Martha McWhirter”
[vi]Haymond v. Haymond
[vii]Eleanor James,”The Sanctificationists of Belton: A Woman’s Community in Belton,” The American West Volume II, No.3(Summer 1965),69. Hereinafter cited as: “A Woman’s Community in Belton”
[viii]“A Woman’s Community in Belton”
[ix]Jane A. Sokolow and Mary Ann Lamanna, “Women and Utopia: The Woman’s Commonwealth of Belton, Texas,” Southwestern
Historical Quartely 87. No 4 (1984), 392.
Bibliography
Haymond v. Haymond, Martha McWhirter’s testimony, No. 3037, Dist. Ct. of Bell., Texas (October
17,1887) Hereinafter cited as: Haymond v. Haymond
“The Life and Spiritual Experience of Martha McWhirter,” 9 March 1901, Woman’s Commonwealth Archive, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Hereinafter cited as: The Life and Experience of Martha
McWhirter
Diane Howard, “Setting the Record Straight: Story of the Sanctified Sisters” (1999)
“The Life and Experience of Martha McWhirter”
“The Life and Experience of Martha McWhirter”
Haymond v. Haymond
Eleanor James,”The Sanctificationists of Belton: A Woman’s Community in Belton,” The American West Volume II, No.3(Summer 1965),69. Hereinafter cited as: “A Woman’s Community in Belton”
“A Woman’s Community in Belton”
Jane A. Sokolow and Mary Ann Lamanna, “Women and Utopia: The Woman’s Commonwealth of
Belton, Texas,” Southwestern Historical Quartely 87. No 4 (1984), 392.
Martha McWhirter founded the Woman’s Commonwealth. Martha White, was born in Jackson County, Tennessee, in 1829. At the age of sixteen White joined the Methodist church. Very devout in her beliefs, White became an active member within her home church in Tennessee. Expected to marry like most frontier women, White promised her mother she would wait until she was sixteen to marry, an acceptable age in the Victorian era.[ii] In 1845 White married George McWhirter. After ten years of marriage, the McWhirters made the decision to move to Belton, Texas. They brought with them three children: Emma, Ada, and John.[iii] McWhirter ultimately gave birth to twelve children in all. Only six children lived to adulthood.
While in Belton, McWhirter and her husband remained heavily involved in the Methodist church. One of McWhirter’s daughters, Emma, later recalled some of the childhood stories of her mother. The telling of these stories always included sternness in McWhirter’s demeanor, reflecting her strict church background. She appeared to be forthright and to the point. She never minced words. Amongst the citizens of Belton, McWhirter was likely viewed as an ordinary married woman, in 1860. Belton’s opinion of McWhirter eventually changed. After experiencing a few deaths within her family, including a child, Martha fell into depression. Church members would tell McWhirter she had so much to be thankful for. She would reply that God was a “hard master” to serve, and she had begun to grow weary of Christianity.[iv] McWhirter
was convinced that God was punishing her for some reason.
In August 1866, as McWhirter walked home from church, she heard a voice. The voice, she later remembered, asked her to question herself and the church she attended. After hearing the voice McWhirter suffered from a sleepless night. The following morning McWhirter remained unsettled by the voice she heard. She arose the next day and realized she heard the voice of God. He explained to her what it meant to be "sanctified." She considered this experience an “inward baptism”.[v]After this experience Martha professed herself sanctified. Being sanctified entailed a few different facets, although she never wrote down the beliefs of her new faith. She was recorded during a divorce proceeding explaining her beliefs. The person who received the sanctification usually had “dream visions”. In these dream visions, God would communicate with the person. Also, a sanctified person was not allowed to be sexually active with a person who was not sanctified; however, it was the sanctified spouse’s job to be the perfect spouse.
Martha stated, “Our religious faith does not teach that it is sinful for a believer to live with an unbelieving husband as his wife, if they were already married, when the wife become sanctified. It is taught by us to be good obedient wives & Mothers and to discharge their duties as such perfectly.”[vi] This declaration proved to be troublesome for some of the local husbands. McWhirter held weekly prayer groups at her home and the homes of other women. After her sanctification, a noticeable shift defined their prayer requests. Although continuing to show enthusiasm about God and his word, the prayer meetings turned into an outlet for disgruntled wives to speak out against their husbands. Their prayer requests began to pertain to their marriages. These women prayed for patience to deal with their husbands “whose niggardliness regarding household and pocket money kept women beholden for every small necessity.”[vii] The wives also prayed for help with the domestic violence they experienced in their homes. The women wanted to receive the sanctification that McWhirter said she experienced. The group of women added sanctification on to their growing prayer list. Most of the women involved in the prayer group received sanctification, and they became sisters. Unfortunately the husbands were not pleased with their wives’ prayer groups. Husbands were very vocal in expressing their dislike of the prayer meetings being held in their house, and forbade their wives to allow the group into their homes. So, they eventually moved their meetings to Union Sunday School hall. George McWhirter was the superintendent of this particular school, but due to Martha’s new ideas, the women broke away from the Union Sunday School, and created their own Sunday school, the Methodist Sunday School. The American south during the Antebellum period was considered a male-dominated society. During this particular time period, women were denied many opportunities for independence within marriage. The general understanding of social mores within marriage was that the husbands provided the income towards the household, while the wife’s primary focus was to maintain the household. Husbands provided wives with an allowance, at an amount that the husbands deemed fit. The women then spent that allowance on the general upkeep of everyday occurrences within the household. This particular arrangement within a marriage proved common, but it was not the only type of marriage. Yet financial independence in the antebellum period remained extremely uncommon among women and wives. “By Law they had no property apart from their husbands and no security.”[viii]
The husbands began to become very abusive towards their wives when they continued to attend McWhirter’s prayer meetings. The sisters came to the conclusion that they needed to improve their financial status. So they began selling eggs and milk. By doing this the women were able to establish a steady income.[ix] Eventually they began to take in laundry. This significantly increased the women’s income. Their husbands’ hostility had increased over time. Their wives’ commitment to celibacy hurt them a great deal; however, their financial independence was far too much for them to bear. On one particular day a sister was doing laundry in her home, and her husband became violent. She received quite a beating. She fled to McWhirter’s home. McWhirter allowed the sister to reside there and work for a monthly income. Eventually, all the
sisters fled the homes of their abusive husband, sometimes with their children. They took refuge in McWhirter’s home. These married women went from living with men to living with only women, and it appeared as if they were very happy amongst each other.
McWhirter experienced a great change. She went from a devout member of the Methodist church to a social pariah. Her change was drastic, and had it not been for her revelation, many of the women of Bell County would not have been a part of a very successful women’s utopia.
Endnotes
[i]Haymond v. Haymond, Martha McWhirter’s testimony, No.
3037, Dist. Ct. of Bell., Texas (October 17,1887)Hereinafter cited as: Haymond
v. Haymond
[ii]“The Life and Spiritual Experience of Martha
McWhirter,” 9 March 1901, Woman’s Commonwealth Archive, Dolph Briscoe Center
for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Hereinafter cited as: The
Life and Spiritual Experience of Martha McWhirter
[iii]
Diane Howard, “Setting the Record Straight: Story of the Sanctified
Sisters”(1999)
[iv]“The Life and Experience
of Martha McWhirter”
[v]“The Life and Experience of Martha McWhirter”
[vi]Haymond v. Haymond
[vii]Eleanor James,”The Sanctificationists of Belton: A Woman’s Community in Belton,” The American West Volume II, No.3(Summer 1965),69. Hereinafter cited as: “A Woman’s Community in Belton”
[viii]“A Woman’s Community in Belton”
[ix]Jane A. Sokolow and Mary Ann Lamanna, “Women and Utopia: The Woman’s Commonwealth of Belton, Texas,” Southwestern
Historical Quartely 87. No 4 (1984), 392.
Bibliography
Haymond v. Haymond, Martha McWhirter’s testimony, No. 3037, Dist. Ct. of Bell., Texas (October
17,1887) Hereinafter cited as: Haymond v. Haymond
“The Life and Spiritual Experience of Martha McWhirter,” 9 March 1901, Woman’s Commonwealth Archive, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Hereinafter cited as: The Life and Experience of Martha
McWhirter
Diane Howard, “Setting the Record Straight: Story of the Sanctified Sisters” (1999)
“The Life and Experience of Martha McWhirter”
“The Life and Experience of Martha McWhirter”
Haymond v. Haymond
Eleanor James,”The Sanctificationists of Belton: A Woman’s Community in Belton,” The American West Volume II, No.3(Summer 1965),69. Hereinafter cited as: “A Woman’s Community in Belton”
“A Woman’s Community in Belton”
Jane A. Sokolow and Mary Ann Lamanna, “Women and Utopia: The Woman’s Commonwealth of
Belton, Texas,” Southwestern Historical Quartely 87. No 4 (1984), 392.