Kingdom of Heaven

The Kingdom of Heaven, one of the most unusual groups in Mormon history, was established by William W. Davies (b. 1833). Davies was a British Methodist who converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and migrated to Utah in 1847. He became dissatisfied with the church leadership, and in 1861 joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Most High, founded by the prophet Joseph Morris (1824–1862). Davies was present at the Morrisite settlement on the Weber River in June 1862 when Morris was killed by the militia. In subsequent years he associated himself with the Church of the First Born (Prophet Cainan) and migrated to Montana. Eventually he settled at Deer Lodge Valley, where a number of the followers of George Williams (1814–1882; also known as the Prophet Cainan) resided.

When Williams moved to Montana in 1868, Davies had departed. In 1866 Davies had a vision that convinced him that he had been chosen as an instrument through which God would speak His will to humanity. He was directed to begin the millennial Kingdom of Heaven near Walla Walla, Washington. With 40 followers, Davies migrated there in 1867, purchased 80 acres, and established a communal life. The group was joined over the next few years by a few additional converts, including John Livingston, one of the original apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Most High.

In the Kingdom of Heaven, reincarnation and the designation of the true identity of some of the more illustrious residents became central to the life of the group. Davies claimed to be Michael the Archangel, a reincarnation of Adam, Abraham, and King David. Following the birth of his son Arthur on February 11, 1868, Davies revealed that he (Arthur) was Jesus Christ returned. Soon after the announcement, the size of the community doubled. A second child, David, was revealed to be none other than “God, the Eternal Father of Spirits.” Both children were believed to be incarnate members of the Godhead, which, among various factions of the Morrisites, consisted only of God the Father and Jesus Christ.

The colony survived for a decade, but a series of events in 1879–1880 led to disaster. First, Davies’s wife died. Then, in the winter of 1880, both of the divine children died of diphtheria. The disgruntled members of the community turned on Davies; one sued him and received a $3,200 judgment. The Kingdom’s land was sold to satisfy the judgment and court costs. The loss of the land effectively destroyed the Kingdom of God. Davies moved to Mill Creek, Washington, with a few followers, remarried, and proclaimed that the daughter born to his second wife was the reincarnation of his first wife. A short time later he abandoned all semblance of rebuilding the Kingdom and moved to San Francisco, where he died in obscurity.