Joseph Morris : And the Saga of the Morrisites Revisited

LeRoy Anderson in 1981 first published, under the title For Christ Will Come Tomorrow, his definitive study of a charismatic, millenarian prophet and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Most High. He told there of a Mormon posse's 1862 attack on the Morrisite compound, killing Joseph Morris, and of the continuing Morrisite movement, which survived into the mid-twentieth century. In this newly revised edition, Anderson revisits his subject by referring to more recently discovered documents, considering other scholars' continuing work on Morris's sect and related subjects, and examining a 1980s messianic sect that claimed a direct connection to the Morrisites. New documentary sources include a holograph "History of George Morris," written by Joseph Morris's brother, which Anderson quotes at length. What was once a little-studied subject has since received attention from a number of scholars. Anderson references such current work on Mormon schismatic movements and broader subjects, much of which drew on his work. Perhaps the book's most interesting and unintended influence was on that obscure 1980s messianic sect, in Montana, which learned of Morris through Joseph Morris and the Saga of the Morrisites. LeRoy Anderson returns to his definitive study of a charismatic, millenarian prophet and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Most High he founded in northern Utah. In 1862, a Mormon posse attacked the church's compound and killed Joseph Morris. His Morrisite movement survived into the mid-twentieth century. Recently uncovered new sources, including a memoir written by Morris's brother, and current scholarship on Mormonism, schismatic movements, and the Morrisites enrich and inform Anderson's new edition. Of particular interest is the story of a messianic sect that picked up the Morris mantle in the 1980's Montana after reading an earlier edition of this book. --