A Sermon Interrupted
A man claiming to be a preacher invades a local church, leading to a struggle and arrest.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Frank Johnson, who had previously served two terms in the Steilacoom asylum, was arrested and lodged in the county jail on a charge of insanity after invading the Congregational church at East X and Twenty-eighth streets. Johnson attempted to deliver a sermon in the style of John Alexander Dowie from the pulpit. He resisted arrest, holding firmly to a Bible throughout the struggle with Detective Sullivan, Sergeant Pipkin, and members of the congregation. It was later discovered the Bible contained the name 'Frank Jacobus,' though his true identity remains a mystery.
“With a Bible in his hand, Johnson fought desperately, and even when he was overcome and landed in the patrol wagon he held firmly to his Bible.”
This incident reflects the era's brutal intersection of mental health struggles and the criminal justice system. While 'insanity' charges were common tools for removing people from public spaces like church sanctuaries, the lack of support systems often left vulnerable individuals to cycle repeatedly between jail and asylums.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.