Elijah Pierson

Elijah Pierson was a successful New York business man who is best known for his later involvement with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Matthews_(religious_figure). He was born in Morristown, New Jersey and was raised as a religious perfectionist, believing in God's direct interaction in the world in correlation to individual or collective sins. He remained unmarried, working on Pearl St. as a merchant, until his 30s when he met Sarah Stanford. The two were married and became heavily involved in mission work. Their marriage was short lived, she died from overworking herself. During her funeral, Elijah attempted to raise her from the dead. His distress over the will of God helped Robert Matthews persuade him to help fund his 'Kingdom.' On July 28, 1834 in Sing Sing, New York, after eating a couple plates of blackberries Elijah died of poisoning. Robert Matthews was accused and the case became extremely popular in the local penny presses.