The New York Times, 24 Sep 1899

LYNCH'S SANCTIFIED BAND

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A Religious Sect Found in Some of the Southern States

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THEIR FLOATING HOMES

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Strange Doctrines of a Creed Claimed to have Come Through Revelation -- Bigamy Practiced by Them

Beaufort, N.C. Sept. 23 -- The Sanctification Band, members of which are popularly known as Lynchites, is a sect of religious fanatics possessing unique peculiarities.  Their camping grounds are the waters along the coast of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, where they move from place to place in floats modeled, they say, after the original ark of Noah.  The followers of this strange faith scour the coasts and strive to convert to their belief hundreds of ignorant fisherman and low-country farmers, preaching what they call "holiness" and declaring themselves "as good as God".

The sect originated in 1887.  A few dozen members of a Methodist Episcopal church on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, demanded from the general organization of the church that a "holy" man be sent to their congregation to preach.  A minister was sent down to take charge of the flock, but these "holier than thous" bolted.  A man named Joseph B. Lynch led the seceders as they marched from the church in a body, and within a few days he had organized a new order under the name of the "Sanctified Band".  His chief assistant was Sarah Collins, with whom he set to work on a crusade to convert to the faith such simple persons as could be attracted by the doctrines set forth in their creed, an elaborate and bombastic document purporting to have originated from the "pen of God".  So successful were the efforts of the crusaders that their converts soon numbered many hundreds.

In 1895 it was decided to extend the new religion beyond the neighboring coasts, and Lynch hit upon the idea of building large arks.  This resulted in sending hoards of the fanatical worshipers to the various bays and sounds along the Maryland and North Carolina shores.  Joseph B. Lynch, who kindled this flame, and by whose name his followers were to be known, is a native of Virginia and a member of the same class among which the seeds of his doctrines have taken root.  In the discipline that he issued he begins with a revelation, claimed to have come to him from heaven.  After this introduction, the government of the Sanctified is outlined.  It declares baptism to be unlawful and only the "sinless" may become members of the church, being subject to immediate ejection upon a relapse to their original state.  As a matter of fact, it is said that no member has ever been turned out for this reason, since a confession of sin is necessary before one can be declared a sinner.

Ministers are not paid officials among the Lynchites, because, they say, "Christ was not paid".  Women must preach as well as men.  For everything they do, these people have a Biblical reason.  No remark can be made, however extraneous to religious matters, but they will venture some answer from the Bible, the whole of which seems to be at their tongues' ends.  Their one cry is "holiness".  A favorite expression with them is "We are the people", this being the usual beginning of every harangue.  They think themselves incapable of wrong and beyond the power of sin.

Such being the tenets of the Band, the effect of the system upon superstitious ignorance has led to gross immorality and vice.  It is generally thought that the founder of the sect at first acted conscientiously, although many accuse him of having  labored for his own personal gain from the beginning.  One law of his creed declares that any one joining the Holy Band must renounce the ties of home and desert all kindred who will not renounce the world.  As a result, wives have left their husbands and children, and husbands have left large families without means of support in order to join the people of the arks.  When any one comes into the circle he must take a "holy wife", whether married or not.  In some cases dispensations have been granted, allowing a man to remain with his lawful wife in order to evade the law, but he must at the same time have a holy comrade on board the floating tabernacle.

This feature of the Lynchites' worship has made them hateful to all law-abiding citizens, and numerous efforts have been made to bring them to justice.  None of these attempts, however, has succeeded, and every locality in which they have landed bears witness to atrocities of every description.  Mothers seek in vain to recall their husbands and fathers, who have wandered off woth a "holy consort", and men whose wives have deserted them look for a remedy with no result.  The eastern shores of North Carolina, in particular, show evidences of the fanatical sect's influence, and the different church organizations of the country are beginning to exert themselves to crush its evil influences.

They object to paying debts.  "Christ paid no bills", they say; or if their creditor is a "sinner", they simply refuse to speak to him, professing by signs to believe it a sin to hold conversation with a non-believer.  They refuse to converse with any one who wears black.  Thus there are many ways in which they escape intercourse with the world, and all of their religious scruples are brought to bear when they come in contact with the law.  Many of the Lynchites are sincere, and believe that they have found the true faith.  On the other hand, there are members who join the organization for the deliberate purpose of leading a life of immorality and dishonesty under the shelter of a religious creed.  The arks in which the members make their homes are like floating barns, although the owners declare the plan of architecture to be the exact counterpart of one given by God to Noah.  Inside the likeness to a barn is more marked than without.  Men, women, and children are huddled together.  The inmates spend their time reading and shout the Bible, sermons being in order from anybody who receives an impulse from above.  From morning until night there is a continuous frenzy of devotional fervor.

Beside this continual worshipping the Sanctified Band has regular services, on water and on land.  On the arks, a large deck is provided for special exercises, and on land the proceedings are always carried out in the open air.

An inhabitant of eastern North Carolina who witnessed one of these services described it as follows:

"The place was a large shady grove, in the center of which stood a rough, wooden platform.  Around were benches without backs in circles. Here was seated a mass of humanity too heterogeneous for description.

"The older women sat around with babies in their arms, dipping snuff and discussing religion.  Either seated among the women or standing on the outskirts in groups, the men were chewing tobacco and drinking, or some of them were chatting with young girls and looking about for a prospective 'holy wife'.  The whole sight was a pitiful one.

"As soon as any brother or sister saw fit, the services began.  One after another the 'holy ones' preached and prayed and sang, and with each new speaker the enthusiasm of the congregation increased, until the meeting wound up in a hubbub of frenzied wails and groans, leaps and dances.

"'Why do you leap?' I asked one of the women.

"'Because Naaman was a le(a)per' was the reply.

"Biblical facts are distorted so as to answer any and every inquiry, and the unlearned masses fall victim to these, as they think unanswerable facts."