DeRobigne Mortimer Bennett (December 23, 1818 – December 6, 1882), best known as D. M. Bennett, was the founder and publisher of ''

Truth Seeker ''The Truth Seeker'' is an American periodical published since 1873. It was considered the most influential Freethought publication during the period following the Civil War into the first decades of the 20th century, known as the Golden Age ...

'', a radical freethought and reform American periodical.

Biography

Shaker Life

Derobigne M. Bennett and his sister, Letsy Ann, were admitted as Shakers in New Lebanon, New York, in 1834. Living in the Church Family's First Order, he worked as a shoemaker, boys' caretaker, herbalist, physician, and scribe, writing part of the Journal of Inspirational Meetings in 1840 before his questioning nature became evident. His life with the Shakers ended in 1846 when he eloped with Mary Wicks at the same time his sister Letsy Ann Bennett eloped with John Allen, all four of them slipping away from the Shaker village unnoticed.

Freethinker

After leaving the Shakers, Bennett evolved into a "freethinker", founding the ''Truth Seeker'' newspaper with his wife Mary Wicks Bennett in 1873. In 1878, Bennett wrote that "

Jesuism Jesuism is a belief system considering itself to be the true representation of the teachings of Jesus and contrasts itself from the teachings of mainstream Christianity.Owen J. Flanagan. ''The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World.'' ...

", rather than

Pauline Christianity Pauline Christianity or Pauline theology (also Paulism or Paulanity), otherwise referred to as Gentile Christianity, is the theology and form of Christianity which developed from the beliefs and doctrines espoused by the Hellenistic-Jewish Ap ...

, was the gospel taught by

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

. On 1 September 1873, D. M. and M. W. Bennett released the first tabloid edition of ''Truth Seeker''. Its masthead announced its purpose: ''Truth Seeker'' was extreme for its times, and it persists to this day though in self-resuscitating form. D. M. Bennett is interred at

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. His monument, erected by his fellow freethinkers, is covered with his statements. Bennett was the subject of the biography ''D. M. Bennett: The Truth Seeker'' (2006) by Roderick Bradford and a 2009 documentary.

Obscenity prosecution

United States Postal Inspector

Anthony Comstock Anthony Comstock (March 7, 1844 – September 21, 1915) was an anti-vice activist, United States Postal Inspector, and secretary of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV), who was dedicated to upholding Christian morality. He o ...

had Bennett arrested on December 10, 1878, for mailing '' Cupid's Yokes'', a free-love pamphlet. Bennett was prosecuted, subjected to a widely publicized trial, and imprisoned in the Albany Penitentiary for thirteen months, in which his health greatly suffered. Despite a strong campaign in his favor for President

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...

to pardon him, Hayes declined, pardoning the actual author (

Ezra Heywood Ezra Hervey Heywood (; September 29, 1829 – May 22, 1893) was an American individualist anarchist, slavery abolitionist, and advocate of equal rights for women. Philosophy Heywood saw what he believed to be a disproportionate concentration of ...

) instead.D. M. Bennett Pardon Campaign, Church and State UK
/ref>

Publications

''An Open Letter to Jesus Christ''
(1875)
''The World's Sages, Thinkers and Reformers''
(1876)
''Thirty Discussions, Bible Stories: Essays and Lectures''
(1876)
''Interrogatories to Jehovah''
(1878)
''The Champions of the Church: Their Crimes and Persecutions''
(1878)
''Answers to Christian Questions and Arguments''
(1880)
''The Gods and Religions of Ancient and Modern Times''
(1880)
''A Truth Seeker in Europe''
(1881)
''A Truth Seeker Around the World''
(1882)
''The Semitic Gods and the Bible''
(1912)

References

# ''Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery: New York's Buried Treasure'' by Jeffrey I. Richman

External links

D. M. Bennett: The Truth Seeker
(2009) - 1 hour video documentary by Roderick Bradford

Green-Wood Cemetery Burial Search
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, D. M. 1818 births 1882 deaths American secularists Freethought writers Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century American male writers Former Shakers