Society of the Woman in the Wilderness
Although the Plymouth Brethren were among the first to introduce doomsday ideas to the United States, by the time a group of German immigrants under the leadership of Johannes Kelpius arrived in Philadelphia in 1694, their ideas were dated. In Revelation 12:6 a lady runs into the wilderness and is fed by God; this verse served as the inspiration for their moniker.
They intended to establish a society of their own in a remote area and wait for the end of the world to occur before the year was through, as implied by what they said. Since they believed that the number 40 had spiritual significance, they kept their ranks at forty persons, which made them a close-knit community by necessity.
Additionally, they chose Wissahickon Creek as their new home after figuring out that it was located at a longitude of 40 degrees. They also constructed a 40-foot-tall tabernacle, which was exceptionally challenging to complete with the equipment at the time and only using wood as a building material. They kept an eye on the heavens from their numerically significant tabernacle, looking for signals that the end was near.
It must be acknowledged that not everyone in a cult of dread is a depressing drone. The sect was actually quite progressive by Colonial American standards. They brought the first telescope and established the first observatory in the American colonies. They produced popular music that has been played for many years. The forty of them happily assimilated into the local Lutheran communities in the decades after 1694. Too bad more cults aren't as friendly.
