The Hermits of the Wissahickon
Pennsylvania
In sixteen ninety-four, a German mystic named Johannes Kelpius led a small band of followers to the banks of the Wissahickon Creek, drawn by William Penn's promise of religious freedom. They called themselves the Chapter of Perfection, though locals came to know them as the Hermits of the Wissahickon. The group was remarkable for its time: they wrote poetry, practiced astronomy and botany, built one of the earliest pipe organs in the colonies, and welcomed Native Americans and all ethnic groups into their community.
They believed the millennium was imminent and they intended to be ready. The community held together as long as Kelpius lived. When he died in seventeen oh eight, his followers gradually dispersed.
The creek and woods they chose remain, though the mystics who once awaited the end of the world here are long forgotten.
