D. M. Bennett

Derobigne M. Bennett and his sister, Letsy Ann, were admitted as Shakers in New Lebanon, New York, in 1834.New Lebanon Church Family Vital Records, Western Reserve Historical Society Shaker ms. III:B-14b. 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.Derobigne Bennett and Isaac Newton Youngs, Journal of Inspirational Meetings (1840-1841), Western Reserve Historical Society Shaker ms. VIII:B-138. 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.Isaac Newton Youngs, Domestic Journal of Daily Occurances (1834-46) [New Lebanon], New York State Library, Albany, New York, Manuscripts and Special Collections, Shaker Collection

After leaving the Shakers, Bennett evolved into a "freethinker", founding The Truth Seeker newspaper with his wife Mary Wicks Bennett in 1873.{{cite web |title= D. M. Bennett |first= Roderick |last= Bradford |url= http://mysite.verizon.net/vzentr3r/thetruthseekerdmbennett/id11.html |access-date= 2011-09-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121018003128/http://mysite.verizon.net/vzentr3r/thetruthseekerdmbennett/id11.html |archive-date= 2012-10-18 |url-status= dead }} In 1878, Bennett wrote that "Jesuism", rather than Pauline Christianity, was the gospel taught by Peter, John and James.{{cite book|title= The Champions of the Church: Their crimes and persecutions| first =D. M. | last = Bennett |chapter-url= https://archive.org/stream/championsofchurc00benn#page/84/mode/2up |page=84| chapter =The Progress of Jesuism| year =1878 | publisher =New York, D. M. Bennett }}

On 1 September 1873, D. M. and M. W. Bennett released the first tabloid edition of The Truth Seeker. Its masthead announced its purpose:

{{Blockquote|

Devoted to: science, morals, free thought, free discussions, liberalism, sexual equality, labor reform, progression, free education and whatever tends to elevate and emancipate the human race.

Opposed to: priestcraft, ecclesiasticism, dogmas, creeds, false theology, superstition, bigotry, ignorance, monopolies, aristocracies, privileged classes, tyranny, oppression, and everything that degrades or burdens mankind mentally or physically.{{cite journal|title=Truth Seeker Journal |journal=A Truth Seeker Supplement|issn=0041-3712|url= http://www.truthseeker.com/journals.htm |access-date= 2012-11-06|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121111003532/http://www.truthseeker.com/journals.htm|archive-date=2012-11-11|url-status=dead}}

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File:The D.M. Bennett Monument in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.jpg

D.M. Bennett is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, 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.{{cite web | work = Theosophy forward |title= Truth Seeker D.M. Bennett|date= 24 December 2009|url= http://www.theosophyforward.com/index.php/theosophy-and-the-society-in-the-public-eye/152-truth-seeker-d-m-bennett.html}}

United States Postal Inspector Anthony Comstock 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 11 months, during which his health greatly suffered. Despite a strong campaign in his favor for President Rutherford B. Hayes to pardon him, Hayes declined, pardoning the actual author (Ezra Heywood) instead.[http://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/11/d-m-bennett-pardon-campaign/ D.M. Bennett Pardon Campaign, Church and State UK]{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

• [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000230506 An Open Letter to Jesus Christ] (1875)
• [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008616803 The World's Sages, Thinkers and Reformers] (1876)
• [https://archive.org/details/thirtydiscussion00benn Thirty Discussions, Bible Stories: Essays and Lectures] (1876)
• [https://archive.org/details/interrogatoriest00benn Interrogatories to Jehovah] (1878)
• [https://archive.org/details/championsofchurc00benn The Champions of the Church: Their Crimes and Persecutions] (1878)
• [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100719398 Answers to Christian Questions and Arguments] (1880)
• [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005227961 The Gods and Religions of Ancient and Modern Times] (1880)
• [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008642809 A Truth Seeker in Europe] (1881)
• [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001270971 A Truth Seeker Around the World] (1882)
• [https://archive.org/details/semiticgodsbible00benn The Semitic Gods and the Bible ] (1912)

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

{{Reflist}}

• Bradford, Roderick (2006). D.M. Bennett: The Truth Seeker (New York: Prometheus Books). {{ISBN|1-59102-430-7}}
• Jacoby, Susan (2004). Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism (New York: Metropolitan Books). {{ISBN|0-8050-7442-2}}

• [http://vimeo.com/10514808 D.M. Bennett: The Truth Seeker] (2009) - 1 hour video documentary by Roderick Bradford
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20121111003532/http://www.truthseeker.com/journals.htm The Truth Seeker]
• [http://www.green-wood.com/burial_results/index.php Green-Wood Cemetery Burial Search]

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Category:1818 births

Category:1882 deaths

Category:American critics of religions

Category:Freethought writers

Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery

Category:19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)

Category:19th-century American male writers

Category:Former Shakers