The Battle-Axes of Free Love Valley

The Battle-Axes of Free Love Valley

Quite a few years ago, I had written a rather lengthy article about Theophilus R. Gates and the Battle-Axe sect he founded that made its home in North Coventry township, copies of which found their way onto a number of other folks' sites, often without proper credit being given. In the years since then, I have done a bit more research into this rather unusual group and, in the interest of setting some of the records straight, have created a section devoted to this rather bizarre sect. While there have been many articles written about the Battle-Axes over the year, quite a few of them are woefully short on documentation. Hopefully, this section will provide a bit more meat on the topic. My original article follows below.

 

In Futhey and Cope's History of Chester County, a short article appears that attracted my attention the first time I saw it. It reads as follows:

Battle-Axes: The Williamson Connection

Though Theophilus Gates is credited with the founding of the Battle-Axes, it was his second-in-command, and first convert, Hannah Williamson, who was more prominently featured in the group's history, as she was, apparently, far more vocal in her beliefs than Gates. She was his natural successor after his death, and eventually she simply disappeared from the scene, though the various writings about her tend to disagree on just when she left the area. And  virtually none of them give any indication about her own heritage, other than to say that she came from a West Chester Quaker family.

Charles Coleman Sellers wrote about Gates and his followers in 1930 and his book, Theophilus, the Battle-Axe is often quoted as a reference on the group. Hannah is the most often mentioned, but Sellers notes that her sister Lydia and her brother Gideon were Battle-Axes as well. A fourth sibling would likely have joined as well, but she was too sickly to leave home.[bib]808[/bib]

Sellers' description of Hannah is interesting:

Members of the Cult

Charles Coleman Sellers provided a listing of the members of the Battle-Axes as follows[bib]808[/bib]:

 

The names of those whom reliable tradition associates with the Gatesites are placed in italics. Of the others, all but Aaron T. Morton were involved in the trials of 1843.

Samuel Bard

Rebecca Stubblebine De Frain - the wife of Washington De Frain.

Washington De Frain.

_______ Garber - A farmer on one of the hills of southern Berks. He spoke only "Dutch". Daniel Stubblebine married a Garber.

Mary Gates - the wife of Theophilus Gates.

Aaron Taylor Morton

Ann Rinehart - the wife of Samuel Rinehart.

George Rinehart.

Samuel Rinehart. George and Samuel Rinehart were brothers.

Elizabeth Snyder - Elizabeth had a son by George Rinehart, only one, according to tradition, of a number of illegitimate children born to the Battle-Axes. Later, she married Samuel De Frain of Cedarville, a good churchman, with whom she lived happily for the rest of her life..

The Miracles of Hannah Williamson

A writer from the Reading Eagle visited Free Love Valley one September day in 1878 and described his experiences at length. The article from the Eagle was copied to a paper in Denison, Texas, the text of which is posted below. Note that he calls her Hannah Williams, not Williamson, but it is very obvious that this is simply an error in the report.