Kingdom of Matthias

by

Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Kingdom of Matthias makes teaching easy.
Benjamin Folger is a wealthy, well-respected businessman in New York City. He’s deeply involved in the evangelical religious movement, which aims to reform Christianity so that it focuses less on obeying the male head of household and more on personal salvation and motherly love. Benjamin holds frequent prayer meetings at his home. Through these meetings, he becomes acquainted with Elijah Pierson and Elijah’s strange friend Matthias, who claims to be a prophet ushering in a new religion. Benjamin joins their cause and hands over financial control of his estate to Matthias. The group all move to Benjamin’s upstate home and begin their cult, “The Kingdom of Matthias,” which Benjamin funds with ongoing business deals. Things start to go sour for Benjamin when he notices that his wife Ann Folger is romantically interested in Matthias. Matthias takes Ann as his own wife, leaving Benjamin forlorn. Benjamin begins sexual relationships with several other women in the cult (notably Isabella Laisdell and Catherine Galloway) but he struggles to get over Ann. Eventually, he complains about his unhappy situation to some local villagers and causes a local uproar. In the aftermath, Ann and Benjamin rekindle their relationship, Matthias is arrested, and Benjamin attempts to sue Matthias for defrauding him. Knowing that he was an active member who personally funded the cult, Benjamin solicits editor William Leete Stone to publish articles that paint himself and Ann as helpless victims who were corrupted by the household servant, a Black woman named Isabella Van Wagenen. Isabella is appalled by Benjamin’s accusations, and she successfully sues Benjamin for slander. Despite this setback, Benjamin eventually succeeds in reintegrating himself into his former evangelical church community and resumes his life as a successful businessman.

Benjamin Folger Quotes in Kingdom of Matthias

The Kingdom of Matthias quotes below are all either spoken by Benjamin Folger or refer to Benjamin Folger . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Patriarchy, Family, and Society Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1: Elijah Pierson Quotes

Frances Folger and her friends were perfectionists […] to them, all time was holy, and women and men were being judged every day.

Related Characters: Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Sarah Stanford (Sarah Pierson), Frances Folger
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:

Elijah and Sarah prayed with the Holy Club for three years, and in 1828 Elijah began talking with the Holy Ghost. He had always been a man of prayer, and had always asked God for help when he had to make some decision. But it was only in 1828 that God began answering him in English.

Related Characters: Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Sarah Stanford (Sarah Pierson), Frances Folger
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3: The Kingdom Quotes

But with Ann’s ascendance in Matthias’s affections, [Isabella Van Wagenen] coupled her faith with her own notions of what was going on, notions that had to do less with divine patriarchy than with devilish lust.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Catherine Galloway
Related Symbols: Cult
Page Number: 118
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4: The Downfall Quotes

The bulk of the Kingdom’s household drudge work now fell on Isabella Van Wagenen, who was especially peeved that Mother and Father rose late in the day, which threw her back in her chores.

As life in the cult (or, as the cult members call it, the “Kingdom”) falls into a rhythm, it becomes clear that Isabella Van Wagenen—a Black woman who functions as the cult’s household servant—bears the brunt of the domestic labor. Other cult members, like Matthias (who informally refers to himself as “Father”) and Ann (who starts going by “Mother” after she begins a relationship with Matthias) barely do any work at all. They sleep all day and keep shifting more work onto Isabella’s shoulders. The cult is a patriarchal environment, and Isabella’s plight exposes how such environments tend to marginalize and oppress people who are undervalued. The cult’s most powerful white man (Matthias) and white woman (Ann) effectively exploit the only Black woman (Isabella Van Wagenen). Matthias organizes the cult to recreate the “traditional” way of life he experienced as a child in a rural community run exclusively by father-figures (patriarchs). Many situations that unfold in the cult thus symbolize dysfunctional aspects of patriarchal societies. Here, Isabella’s frustrations show that such environments tend to disenfranchise, marginalize, and exploit women of color the most. Isabella’s plight thus serves as a subtle commentary on the racism and sexism in “traditional” American society.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Catherine Galloway
Related Symbols: Cult
Page Number: 128

There is too much changing of wives here […] l have a nice little woman, and I should not much like to lose her.

Related Characters: Mr. Thompson (speaker), Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Isabella Laisdell (Matthias’s daughter) , Catherine Galloway , Elizabeth Thompson
Related Symbols: Cult
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:

On July 28, Matthias, Elijah Pierson, Ann Folger, and Catherine Galloway sat down to supper. At the end of the meal the Prophet spooned out plates of blackberries that he and Pierson had picked that day. Ann Folger ate only two berries. Catherine finished her plate, and Elijah wolfed his down and had another. Matthias had none at all. […] About four o’clock the next afternoon, Elijah […] suddenly collapsed. […] Matthias forbade any doctors or medicine to aid Elijah, and Elijah agreed: prayer and prayer alone could relieve his affliction. […] In the morning, Ann Folger told the waking disciples that Pierson was dead.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Catherine Galloway
Page Number: 138-139
Explanation and Analysis:

What a devilish shame it is […] that a woman wants two or three men.

Related Characters: Catherine Galloway (speaker), Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger
Related Symbols: Cult
Page Number: 142
Explanation and Analysis:

Finally, Ann came downstairs for breakfast one morning and quietly addressed Benjamin as “husband.” […] Folger leaped at the situation and offered to pay any sum of money to make Matthias leave.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger
Page Number: 142-143
Explanation and Analysis:

Privately, [Benjamin Folger] instigated a rumor that Isabella [Van Wagenen] had tried to poison him and his family on the morning when she served up the undrinkable coffee. […] On Western’s advice, she initiated proceedings against Folger for slander, and gathered up signed testimonials attesting to her trustworthiness from several of her former masters and employers.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Margaret Wright (Margaret Matthews), Henry B. Western
Page Number: 147-148
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

I have got the truth and I know it, and I will crush them with the truth.

Related Characters: Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) (speaker), Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Catherine Galloway , William Leete Stone
Page Number: 167-168
Explanation and Analysis:

Isabella confirmed all of [Vale’s] hunches about the Kingdom’s sexual arrangements, and much more besides. […] He was well aware that the black servant Isabella’s word, on its own, would not stand up against the Folgers’, given public prejudices. And so whenever possible, he supplemented her narrative with “white evidence” from his interviews and from the public record.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , William Leete Stone , Gilbert Vale
Page Number: 169
Explanation and Analysis:

And so the world would come to know her as the ex-slave Sojourner Truth.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis:
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Kingdom of Matthias PDF

Benjamin Folger Quotes in Kingdom of Matthias

The Kingdom of Matthias quotes below are all either spoken by Benjamin Folger or refer to Benjamin Folger . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Patriarchy, Family, and Society Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1: Elijah Pierson Quotes

Frances Folger and her friends were perfectionists […] to them, all time was holy, and women and men were being judged every day.

Related Characters: Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Sarah Stanford (Sarah Pierson), Frances Folger
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:

Elijah and Sarah prayed with the Holy Club for three years, and in 1828 Elijah began talking with the Holy Ghost. He had always been a man of prayer, and had always asked God for help when he had to make some decision. But it was only in 1828 that God began answering him in English.

Related Characters: Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Sarah Stanford (Sarah Pierson), Frances Folger
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3: The Kingdom Quotes

But with Ann’s ascendance in Matthias’s affections, [Isabella Van Wagenen] coupled her faith with her own notions of what was going on, notions that had to do less with divine patriarchy than with devilish lust.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Catherine Galloway
Related Symbols: Cult
Page Number: 118
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4: The Downfall Quotes

The bulk of the Kingdom’s household drudge work now fell on Isabella Van Wagenen, who was especially peeved that Mother and Father rose late in the day, which threw her back in her chores.

As life in the cult (or, as the cult members call it, the “Kingdom”) falls into a rhythm, it becomes clear that Isabella Van Wagenen—a Black woman who functions as the cult’s household servant—bears the brunt of the domestic labor. Other cult members, like Matthias (who informally refers to himself as “Father”) and Ann (who starts going by “Mother” after she begins a relationship with Matthias) barely do any work at all. They sleep all day and keep shifting more work onto Isabella’s shoulders. The cult is a patriarchal environment, and Isabella’s plight exposes how such environments tend to marginalize and oppress people who are undervalued. The cult’s most powerful white man (Matthias) and white woman (Ann) effectively exploit the only Black woman (Isabella Van Wagenen). Matthias organizes the cult to recreate the “traditional” way of life he experienced as a child in a rural community run exclusively by father-figures (patriarchs). Many situations that unfold in the cult thus symbolize dysfunctional aspects of patriarchal societies. Here, Isabella’s frustrations show that such environments tend to disenfranchise, marginalize, and exploit women of color the most. Isabella’s plight thus serves as a subtle commentary on the racism and sexism in “traditional” American society.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Catherine Galloway
Related Symbols: Cult
Page Number: 128

There is too much changing of wives here […] l have a nice little woman, and I should not much like to lose her.

Related Characters: Mr. Thompson (speaker), Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Isabella Laisdell (Matthias’s daughter) , Catherine Galloway , Elizabeth Thompson
Related Symbols: Cult
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:

On July 28, Matthias, Elijah Pierson, Ann Folger, and Catherine Galloway sat down to supper. At the end of the meal the Prophet spooned out plates of blackberries that he and Pierson had picked that day. Ann Folger ate only two berries. Catherine finished her plate, and Elijah wolfed his down and had another. Matthias had none at all. […] About four o’clock the next afternoon, Elijah […] suddenly collapsed. […] Matthias forbade any doctors or medicine to aid Elijah, and Elijah agreed: prayer and prayer alone could relieve his affliction. […] In the morning, Ann Folger told the waking disciples that Pierson was dead.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Catherine Galloway
Page Number: 138-139
Explanation and Analysis:

What a devilish shame it is […] that a woman wants two or three men.

Related Characters: Catherine Galloway (speaker), Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger
Related Symbols: Cult
Page Number: 142
Explanation and Analysis:

Finally, Ann came downstairs for breakfast one morning and quietly addressed Benjamin as “husband.” […] Folger leaped at the situation and offered to pay any sum of money to make Matthias leave.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger
Page Number: 142-143
Explanation and Analysis:

Privately, [Benjamin Folger] instigated a rumor that Isabella [Van Wagenen] had tried to poison him and his family on the morning when she served up the undrinkable coffee. […] On Western’s advice, she initiated proceedings against Folger for slander, and gathered up signed testimonials attesting to her trustworthiness from several of her former masters and employers.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Elijah Pierson (Elijah the Tishbite) , Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Margaret Wright (Margaret Matthews), Henry B. Western
Page Number: 147-148
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

I have got the truth and I know it, and I will crush them with the truth.

Related Characters: Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) (speaker), Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , Catherine Galloway , William Leete Stone
Page Number: 167-168
Explanation and Analysis:

Isabella confirmed all of [Vale’s] hunches about the Kingdom’s sexual arrangements, and much more besides. […] He was well aware that the black servant Isabella’s word, on its own, would not stand up against the Folgers’, given public prejudices. And so whenever possible, he supplemented her narrative with “white evidence” from his interviews and from the public record.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger , William Leete Stone , Gilbert Vale
Page Number: 169
Explanation and Analysis:

And so the world would come to know her as the ex-slave Sojourner Truth.

Related Characters: Robert Matthews (Prophet Matthias), Isabella Van Wagenen (Sojourner Truth) , Benjamin Folger , Ann Folger
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis: