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RELIGIOUS FANATACISM

Milestones Vol. 10. No. 4--Fall 1985

A remarkable instance of religious fanatacism is given in an occurrence which took place here in the spring of 1846 when a man from Ohio, named Keil, proclaimed himself as the Christ, and announced that he would be crucified on a certain day. This man was in no way connected with Count de Leon, though the popular tradition has always represented him as one of the followers of the Count. The Crucifixion was actually arranged for in all its details, the cross being made and the hole for it dug on the hillside just above the present P & LE Railroad trestle to the west of the town of Monaca on the farm of George Frank and later the estate of Dr. W.G. Taylor's heirs. It was on a warm Sunday morning, the town was crowded with people, and the excitement was intense. But the false Christ disappointed the multitude, and with some of his disciples who had been seceders from the Harmony Society, fled to Oregon, where he died.

(Bausman's History of Beaver County, 1904 P.799-800)