by Jesus Christ." Beilhart made no attempt to solicit members for his commune and sometimes rejected applicants when he felt they were not fit candidates. As a result, the commune only attracted about a dozen residents, mostly from outside the area. The group did not beg or in any way disturb their neighbors. Beilhart preached in Chicago and elsewhere, but was not known to proselytize strongly. While the group typically kept to themselves, their mysterious nature led to misconceptions and suspicion in the press. Specifically, the birth of Beilhart's niece, Evelyn, was cause for concern as her mother, Mary Beilhart (Jacob's sister), was not married to the child's father, Ralph E. Galbreath (cousin of Ohio State Librarian Charles Burleigh Galbreath and State Senator Asher A. Galbreath). Dubbed the "Love Child", this birth prompted newspapers to characterize the group as a free-love society of promiscuity. The arrival of "Blessed" Katherine Herbeson, a teenager from Chicago, also gave concern. It was reported in the press that "Blessed" was either held against her will or brainwashed by the society. Her father and brother came and 'rescued' her and she was forced to leave the society against her wishes. Additional negative publicity occurred when Beilhart objected to his wife's petition for alimony. In 1904, numerous newspaper articles and editorials were written, mostly in Chicago, about the society. Those articles were often sensationalist and tended to put the society in a bad light. The views of the society, particularly those against marriage and promoting free love, were not accepted well in the small Ohio village of Lisbon. In fact, a local newspaper reprinted a warning that had been distributed in the community: "Wanted – Fifty good women, over twenty and under fifty years of age; also fifty good honest-hearted men with families, to meet upon the Square when called upon, and go to the Spirit Fruit farm and tell them to take their departure at once or take the consequences, as tar is cheap and feathers plentiful." In June 1904, Beilhart invited the public to an 'open house' where he attempted to explain the motives and beliefs of the society. Over 400 people attended the gathering. Among them, it has been claimed, were Clarence Darrow and Elbert Hubbard but this has not been documented, although Beilhart is known to have visited Hubbard in East Aurora and Darrow was a frequent visitor to the society during