Background
William Dorrell was born on March, 1752 in Yorkshire, England.
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
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William Dorrell was born on March, 1752 in Yorkshire, England.
Dorrell was illiterate.
Perhaps owing to the fact that Dorrell himself could neither read nor write, his name appears not only as Dorrell, but as Dorrel, Dorril, Dorriel, and Dorral, the last being; the spelling in the record of his intended marriage.
As a youth he joined the British army, served through three campaigns in Ireland, and came to America with Gen. Burgoyne.
After the latter s surrender in 1777, he was one of those who disappeared from the army and made their home in this country.
He lived in Petersham, Warwick, Northfield, and finally in Leyden.
Although illiterate, he seems to have had an appearance and natural gifts which enabled him to exert a strong influence upon people.
Professing to have received a “revelation, ” he began to preach, and by 1794 had a number of followers.
As time went on these were joined by others, not only from Leyden, but from surrounding towns, many of them people of respectable standing.
Originally his principal doctrine was that man should not eat flesh or cause the death of any living creature.
Accordingly his followers abandoned the use of leather, wore wooden shoes, and used rope for harnesses and tow for cloth.
Disregard of conventional institutions and the disgraceful behavior of the Dorrellites at their gatherings brought them into disrepute.
The death-blow was given the sect when a certain Captain Ezekiel Foster, hearing Dorrell say at a largely attended meeting of his followers that “no arm of flesh can harm me, ” proceeded to pummel him till he renounced his doctrines.
He continued to live in Leyden for nearly fifty years, falling into the habit of intemperance, and becoming a charge upon the town.
He finally starved himself to death in his ninety-fifth year, by refusing to eat, declaring that he had lived long enough, and that if he continued to eat he would never die.
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
As other revelations came to him he declared that each generation has its messiah, and that he was the messiah of his; that he might be worshipped as God united to human flesh; that no human arm could harm him; that the only resurrection is that from a state of sin to the spiritual life; and that those who are so raised are no more responsible to civil law, or bound by the covenant of marriage.
Dorrell was over six feet tall, of muscular form, and ruddy countenance.
He had a vigorous mind; an exceptional memory, being able to quote copiously from the Bible simply from hearing it read by his wife; and fluency of speech.
In 1779 Dorrell married Molla Chase, daughter of Henry and Abigail Chase of Petersham, the marriage intention being filed November 23.