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The self-castrating devotees of Inanna in ancient Mesopotamia are evidence enough that religious fanatics can demonstrate their faith in uncommon ways, but surely few have done so as appallingly as Second Adventist (not to be confused with Seventh Day Adventist) Charles Freeman of Pocasset. In 1879, Freeman was certain that he was receiving revelations that demanded a great sacrifice. Recalling the tale of Abraham and Isaac, he concluded that he must sacrifice one of his own children. His wife Harriet was not especially pleased by this proclamation, and attempted to change his mind, but no argument succeeded. When in the middle of the night Freeman awoke to announce that God had given him the name of the victim—Edith, her father’s favourite—the tearful Harriet assented upon being assured that this was the will of God.
On 01 May 1879, having sent his elder daughter out of the children’s room, Freeman prayed over Edith, hoping that she would sleep through what was to come—or that his hand might be stayed at the last moment by God, just as Abraham’s was said to have been. Edith opened her eyes; and since no divine hand held him back, Freeman stabbed his five year old daughter. She had just the time to say ‘Oh, Papa’ before she died.
After suffering ‘a good deal of agony of mind’, Freeman came to feel at peace, certain that he had proven his piety. He called a meeting of his co-religionists, wrapping up his rambling sermon by revealing his daughter’s corpse. Freeman reassured the shocked assembly that in three days the girl would be resurrected. And reassured they were. Edith’s grandmother insisted that there was no need to tell the murdered girl’s sister Mildred about any of this, since Edith would be back in three days anyway. The other Adventists all went home and continued with their daily lives, Freeman’s secret presumably safe with his fellow church-goers.
The next day Freeman and his wife were arrested for filicide. News of the crime, and the community’s apparent approval of it, caused a wave of public fury. Pulpits bristled with denunciations of Adventism and fanaticism, and the New England Adventist Association quickly dissociated itself from the Pocasset congregation. Freeman remained unconcerned, certain that he would be vindicated when God resurrected his daughter on the third day.
The day of Edith’s anticipated resurrection came and went with nary a stir from her still form. In lieu of a resurrection there was a burial—accompanied, to be sure, by some mutters about God breaking his promises. At the grave side, Alden Davis, the new leader of the Pocasset Adventists, jumped onto a nearby grave and began to give a speech eulogising the murderer, until the cries from the crowd of ‘Choke him!’ and ‘Bury him in the open grave!’ led to something of a brawl over Edith’s coffin.
Freeman was found insane and therefore incapable of standing trial, but he rejected that diagnosis. He was “the spirit of Truth,” he proclaimed. “I represent Christ in all his parts, prophet, priest and king. All good is represented in one person, and that person is me. I feel sure that my name will be honoured above any other name except Jesus.” As for Edith, “I feel perfectly justified. I feel that I have done my duty. I would not have her back.” To Freeman’s surprise, he was immediately committed to the State Lunatic Asylum.
It took four years for Freeman to acknowledge the horror of what he had done, at which time he finally stood trial. Found not guilty by reason of insanity, he returned to the asylum, where he remained until he was set free some years later as representing no further danger. And there he vanishes from view.
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