Beaver Island Michigan

Don't know if anyone else noticed this or would be interested:

House of David Church Pew Bracket, High Island Ruins

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :B:SS:US:1

was this found on private property or state land? anyone know? If it was on private property was the owner of the property notified this was taken off their property. If it was taken off of state land, aren't their laws against taking items like this off of state land? Just curious.

Here is the description from Ebay Posting. The minimum bid is $3.50.


Description (revised)



Item Specifics - Antique Furniture
Product: Bench Age: 1900-1950
Style: Rustic, Primitive Original/Reproduction: Original
Region of Origin: American










This church pew bracket is from the ghost town settlement of the House of David, on remote and now uninhabited High Island, part of the Beaver Island Archipelago in Northern Lake Michigan. The item was found near 45.43.989 N by. 85.39.354 W, near a recently discovered ruin that was once a substantial house and the left over pole and rock foundation of what is believed to have been the settlementâ??s church.



The Pew bracket stands 30.5 inches high, is about 12 in wide with the seat folded up, 20.5 in wide with the seat down. The item is balanced enough to stand-alone. There is a well-defined number 1 impressed in the upper support. There is a brake near the inboard edge of the seat support, the small broken piece is still held in place with the slat rod. This artifact could be made into a nice little bench seat, photos are just to suggest one way to display, or it would hang well on a wall. Wt is over 10lbs, Shipping quote is mainland US only. All others inquire



The House of David of Benton Harbor, Michigan, was a turn of the century millennium cult whose charismatic and powerful leader, Ben Purnell, obtained High Island in 1912 and started a settlement to farm and timber the island. By the early 1920â??s several hundred people made High Island their home and there were many substantial buildings, along with a large timber yard and dock large enough for commercial freight. In 1927 Purnell fell into a sex scandal, but died before going to trail. Dieing was an even greater faux pa for Purnell as the true believers were to be immortal till the world ended. The cult splintered and fell apart after that and the High Island Settlement was left large to ruin by the 1930â??s. This church seat, with its prominent number 1, was most likely placed at the front of the congregation, and therefore it is quite plausible that it was used by Ben Purnell himself.

I sent the seller a question on ebay to see if it came off of private or state property? people will try to sell anything on ebay to make a buck. I know I'm one of them. lol. If they respond I will post it here.

This was his responce--

Hi there,

High Island is owned by the state of Michigan and open to the public except for a small beach that is restricted during the chick raising season of the Plied Plover.

The bracket was left as refuse by the island's past owners, and we didn't get permission from the state to remove it, as we don't when we pick up garbage on the beach. However, you do make a point, If the state wanted they might be able for press me for their share of the salvage. But I don't think that would affect the buyer of this item. If I make $20 and they ask for $8 I'll have to give it to them.

Regards,

Bob

Interesting.

His listing is categorized as: Antiques > Furniture > Benches, Stools > Post-1900 Also listed in: Antiques > Other Antiques

But in his response to you he compares the removal of it to the removal of refuse?

jim

Warning alarms about this are going off like crazy.

You people are CRAZY!!!!!! I was there in the ruins of that building over 35 years ago and it was flat!! If someone found ANYTHING there it is theirs to keep, or perhaps we could leave it to the mound diggers 75 years from now who are searching for the remains of MICHIGANDERS, and others, who could afford to live in this state before they were taxed out of town!!! The honorable State of Michgan ABANDONED us all when they pulled their conservation/fire officer out of here more than 20 years ago and continue to tax us for parks and you name it without representation!! That piece of desk, pew, bench or whatever it is should be of value to whomever picked it from the ruins and took the initiative to do anything with it, or it would melt into the ground beyond where it was lying at the time of discovery. For the record, Warren Townsend, the man who taught me how to curse, owned that island and sold it to the honorable State of Michigan many years ago for 55,000 dollars and they have done a GD thing with it since. So much for taxation without representation!! And that is all you folks have to worry about, there is not a crisis but a disaster going on in this state. The UAW and the MEA are taking us down, lets get a grip!!

I think you have it wrong you are the crazy one

I completely agree, everything is going very well!

Wow Rich! Didn't you just take a vacation?

Having read all these posts I'm finding it curious that the person on eBay considered this pew to be from the House of David church when "The House of David maintained nothing that could be called a church in either Benton Harbor or on the island. Its religious services, at least on High Island, were unstructured meetings..." (from Island Life; Island Toil: The House of David on High Island" by Ramon Nelson. It seems to me it's possible that since "in 1953 (Warren Townsend)) ...the new owner burned the tumbled remains of the House of David settlement" ibid that is this could be a relic of the Catholic church that was on the island for the Native Americans. Just a thought. Townsend purchased the island in 1953 for ten thousand dollars and when his idea of raising cattle there didn't work out he sold it in 1957. According to Nelson "There were no formal religious leaders for the community other than Mary and Benjamin Purnell, neither of whom ever came to the island. Services therefore were much like informal social gatherings at which the principal conversation was discussion of the writings of Benjamin Purnell, led by anyone who cared to speak." I find it extremely interesting that the person on eBay didn't thoroughly check out the history of the island. Anyhow, that's my two cents worth, with inflation is probably more like .16 cents

"You people are CRAZY!!!!!!"

"The UAW and the MEA are taking us down, lets get a grip!!"

Rich, you seem to be the worst violator of the rules that you posted to keep this forum civil and courteous - Is this a case of:

1. Don't do as I do, do as I say!

or

2. It's my forum and I will do as I GD please!!

????

Phyllis: I completely agree with you on the church aspect of The House of David. I also have a copy of "Island Life, Island Toil" and on Page 162 Plate #86 there is a picture of the fallen church taken in 1947. If you check the auction picture, it looks strikingly identical, even though 60 years have past since that picture was taken. This is undoubtly the same ruins, which would make it the church that He reffered to earlier in the book.

Either the pew was from this church and not associated with the House of David OR it isn't truly a pew seat and was just a regular chair that may have been moved over time or even sold by the house of david members to the Natives. Many of the remaining inhabitants from The house of David needed to raise money to leave the island in the late 1920s and may have sold furnishings to do this.

-John Crabtree