Frank Sandford

Who was Frank Sandford?

Frank Weston Sandford was the founder and leader of an apocalyptic Christian sect, informally called "Shiloh" and eventually known officially as "The Kingdom." Sandford was early attracted to premillennialism, the Higher Life movement, the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and divine healing; and in the 1890s, he created a communal society in coastal Maine whose members "lived on faith" rather than being gainfully employed. Considered by former members and many neighbors to be a crank and an autocrat who insisted on unquestioning loyalty, Sandford—who had identified himself with the biblical Elijah and David—was convicted of manslaughter in 1911 and served seven years in a federal penitentiary. His absence retarded the growth of his small sect; but it survived, in attenuated form, into the 21st century.