Departures of note

In 1853, John Murray Spear, a former Universalist minister, retreated with a handful of followers to a wooden shed atop High Rock Hill in Lynn, Massachusetts, to construct a machine he called the 'New Motive Power.' Spear claimed the device was guided by 'The Association of Electrizers,' a group of spirits including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, and Benjamin Rush. He compared the machine to Jesus Christ, intending it to power the world with supernatural energies and usher in a utopian era. After nine months of construction using copper, zinc, and magnets, Spear and an unnamed woman, referred to as the 'New Mary,' ritually birthed the contraption in an attempt to give it life. The attempt failed, and the machine was later destroyed by hostile Christian neighbors in rural upstate New York.

Spear was born in Boston in 1804 and studied theology under Hosea Ballou, becoming a minister in 1830. He was active in social reform, petitioning for women's rights, labor reform, and the abolition of the death penalty. A prominent abolitionist, he organized the first Universalist antislavery convention and helped oversee the Underground Railroad in Boston. He also ran a prison reform newspaper, The Prisoner's Friend, with his brother Charles.

In 1852, Spear broke all ties with the Universalist church and turned to Spiritualism. He claimed contact with the spirits of historical figures, though evidence indicates he occasionally faked signatures dated beyond the lifetimes of the deceased to gain authority. His business card advertised his services as a spiritual healer and lecturer, offering to examine disease, delineate character, and sketch the capacities of young persons.

In 1872, Spear claimed to have received a message from the Association of Electrizers urging him to retire from the ministry. He died in October 1887 in Philadelphia and was buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery.