Charles Sanson: The Zion City Free Love Cults

Charles Sanson was the leader of one of the multiple "free love" cults in Zion City that emerged shortly before the death of John Alexander Dowie. Sanson was among the "prophets" seeking to gain Dowie's empire as his health was failing, and was able to gain converts to his unusual sect. His goal was to have 144,000 wives — regardless of whether or not they were married. In some cases, current husbands were "spectators". His sect became known as the "Adam and Eve Free Love Cult of Zion City".

In February of 1907, Sanson was accused of living immorally with a nineteen-year-old Amanda Block from Racine, Illinois. He declared that he had been "joined to her by God", but was not "married by earthly ties".Sanson had a history of similar sex cults. Sanson bragged of having "spent a few months in over twenty-seven of the leading jails in the United States" and "eighteen months in the Seattle insane asylum". He joined the "Home of Jehovah" cult in Indiana where he ran into legal troubles. Sanson then attempted to join the "free love" colony of Mary Crosby and the Crosbyites, but when not accepted as a prophet with a "message from God", focused his energy towards creating a sect of his own in Zion.

After Sanson's arrest, Lucy Crosby and many of the other free-love-cultists fled Zion. Sanson was eventually convicted and sentenced to six months in jail. He informed his converts that he was using the trial as an opportunity to "preach" to the courts. Some of his converts attended the trial to speak in his defense. One follower claimed that Sanson's free love doctrine had "restored" the "sweet spirit" in their marriage. Sanson's only defense was that the case was not one for an earthly jury.

You can learn this and more on william-branham.org

Charles Sanson:
https://william-branham.org/site/research/people/charles_sanson