King of the Harem Heaven

The Amazing True Story of A Daring Charlatan Who Ran A Virgin Love Cult In America

Anthony Sterling

• Publisher: Phocion Publishing
• Year: 2019
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781789128659
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

King Of The Harem Heaven, first published in 1960, is the fascinating, although likely somewhat sensationalized story, of the House of David religious cult and its leader, Benjamin Franklin Purnell. Based in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the group also owned a large tract of land on High Island in Lake Michigan, and eventually developed a number of successful enterprises including farms, timber, a vegetarian restaurant, amusement park, roadside service station, and a motel. Notable was their having several baseball teams, the "Flying Rollers," famous for their long hair and beards (they did not believe in cutting their hair) which toured the U.S. and played against other semi-pro teams. The group was rocked by scandal when members alleged that leader Purnell, while enforcing celibacy among the members, was engaging in sex with the women—including underage teenagers—of the group, and also for massive financial irregularities. Legal battles ensued, ending only upon the death of Purnell in December 1927.

Four

Gentlemen of the jury,” Assistant Prosecutor Oscar M. Springer opened for the State of Michigan, “the defendant in this case is charged with a serious crime—the offense of carnally knowing a girl between the ages of 14 and 16 years. The alleged offense was committed in the City of Detroit, February last, upon the person of Bernice Bickle—a little girl, a mere child.

“Bernice, as you will see, is a beautiful girl. We shall establish that Prince Michael Mills first met her when she was playing the piano and singing at a revival meeting held in her uncle’s home in Sarnia. And when the long-haired, bearded Prince first beheld her girlish figure and her ruby lips and her big blue eyes, we shall prove, his lustful and lascivious nature was aroused and he at once began to plan to patch his prey.”

Watching the young state’s attorney at work, Ben Purnell relaxed confidently in his seat. The last stage of his dethronement plot against the Israelite ruler was in good hands. Newspapers had mentioned this would be Springer’s first really big case, certainly his first against an adversary as formidable as the famous Colonel John Atkinson; and even now, Prosecutor Samuel W. Burroughs was sitting in, shepherding the strategy, ready to help the moment he was needed.

Oscar Springer went on to point out that, from the beginning, it had been Prince Michael who’d forced the acquaintance—that Bernice, according to her own sworn statement, considered him a fraud and a funny-looking old man. Springer mentioned letters Mills had written to Bernice and her parents, money he’d sent in an attempt to bribe her to come to Detroit. He cited the mention of the Bickle girl in practically all of the Prince’s business correspondence at the time, concluding that he obviously had Bernice on the brain. He went on with a detailed description of the various means of persuasion that had led to the actual seduction.

“He told her he had to sow seed in her body for the purpose of casting out evil. She refused. He asked if she was willing to obey him. No, she wept, not like that. He jumped up in a rage and shouted that the Lord would have a willing people. The next night he quoted the Bible to her by the hour, along with this Flying Roll book of his. He told her he was pure, and that to the pure all things were pure. He asked her then if she was not a little tease and pulled up her nightgown. She jerked it back down. A man of thirty-five, he kept this up until this child of fifteen could fight him off no longer.

“Naturally, for a girl of such tender years, intercourse was painful. When she flinched and cried, he ordered her to hold still and told her that once her seal was broken, intercourse would be a pleasure. Afterwards, she sobbed that she was bleeding. And what did the illustrious Prince say to this?

“‘Praise God,’ he lectured her, ‘for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.’

“Why do I dwell on this point? Because, gentlemen of the jury, it is proof positive from the man’s own lips that Bernice Bickle was a pure and chaste girl before she fell into this villainous clutches!

“Scientists tell us that we do not get more than half of the heat-producing properties from wood and coal; the other half is lost in ashes or goes off in gases and smoke. So it is with the prosecution of criminals. A great many of them escape by means of legal technicalities. There is not a lawyer in the entire State of Michigan able to discern a legal flyspeck quicker than the learned counsel for the defendant, the famed Colonel Atkinson. And so I must ask you, gentlemen of the jury, to be careful, to pay strict attention to the evidence as it comes in, and to pay attention only to the evidence. Thank you.”

He turned to the bench where Circuit Judge Edward D. Kinne presided. “The People call Bernice Bickle.”

As Ben Purnell watched the girl nervously take the stand and give a timid-voiced response to the oath, he saw quite obviously what had prompted Prince Mike. Bernice’s lips weren’t ruby, as Springer had insisted; they were, in fact, near-white and drawn very thin now. But her eyes were certainly big and blue. And her figure was far more than girlish.

“How old are you, Bernice?” the assistant prosecutor asked pleasantly.

“Fifteen.” Her voice was low.

“When did you first meet the defendant, Michael Mills?”

“Last November.”

“Where did you meet him?”

“At my uncle’s house.”

“I read you the opening line of a letter and ask if you can identify it: ‘Well, dear Bernice, come to me. You are commanded by the living God of Abram, Isaac and Jacob to come and place yourself in Obedience to Michael, his son.’”

“He wrote that to me.”

“Did he also write letters to your parents?”

“Yes.”

“Were your parents followers of Michael Mills?”

“They were Israelites. He was the Prince. They showed me in my Bible where a great prince named Michael would stand up for the children of Israel and deliver them from trouble.”

“That’s in the Twelfth Chapter of the Book of Daniel, isn’t it?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Did your parents then bring you to Detroit?”

“They sold our house and moved there.”

“And you continued to live with them?”

“No. They found a house to rent and sent me to live at Prince Michael’s house.”

“In the house at thirty-seven Hamlin Avenue?”

“Yes, he said I had to come and be the tenth piece in the God-Head.”

“I see. And how many pieces did the illustrious Prince have living with him at the time?”

“Objection!” Colonel Atkinson rose to his feet in righteous anger.

“The term is Prince Michael’s, not mine, but I’ll withdraw it,” Oscar Springer shrugged. “Who else was there, Bernice?”

“Well...there was Mrs. Mills and Eliza Court.” The young girl counted on her fingers as she tried to remember. “And May Webster and Mary Ellen Rowlinson and Carrie Bendry and Emma Butler and Alice Court. That’s all, I guess.”

“How many beds were in that house?”

“Four.”

“Just four? Each in a separate room?”

“Yes.”

“Where did you sleep the first night?”

“With Mrs. Mills and May Webster.”

“That was the twenty-first of December, was it not?”

“Yes.”

“And the next night?”

“I slept with Mary Ellen Rowlinson.”

“And the night after that?”

“They sent me to Prince Michael’s room.”

“Was he there?”

“Not at first. I went to bed early. Then he came in and sat down on the side of the bed.”

“What did he say to you?”

“He talked about music and different things like that.”

“What did he do after that?”

“He got undressed and got into bed.”

“Did he say anything about Satan at that time?”

“Objection!” Colonel Atkinson boomed again. “Counsel is leading the witness!”

“Overruled,” Judge Kinne decided.

“Did he say anything about Satan, Bernice?” the assistant prosecutor repeated.

“He said that Satan sowed tares, but the Son of Man sowed the good seed.”

“The Son of Man?”

“He said he was the Son of Man and had been cleansed by the fire coming out of his hands and out of his hair.”

“What did you say in answer to him?”

“I said no.”

“Why did you say no?”

“Objection!” Colonel Atkinson was on his feet once more. “Counsel is calling for a conclusion on the part of the witness.”

“Overruled,” the judge told him.

“May I have an exception, your honor?”

“You have an appropriate exception.”

“Now, Bernice,” Horace Springer went on, “why did you say no?”

“Because I didn’t understand it at all and I didn’t want him to.”

“When you refused to submit to him, what did he say to you? Did he say anything about obedience?” Another objection was overruled.

“Yes, he said I had to obey him in everything.”

“When was the next time you were sent to his room?”

“I think it was about three weeks after that.”

“Did h...

Table of contents

• Title page
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Publisher’s Foreword
• Introduction
• Author’s Profile
• Acknowledgments
• One
• Two
• Three
• Four
• Five
• Six
• Seven
• Eight
• Nine
• Ten
• Eleven
• Twelve
• Thirteen
• Fourteen
• Fifteen
• Epilogue