Any information on Bethel Religious Sect in WA state 1800's ?

Answer 1

It's my guess that you are referring to the movement of the Bethel German Colony (first based in Missouri) through Washington State to Oregon, where it became the Aurora Colony.

Here's a brief history of its founder, William Keil, and below is a link to some more information.

William Keil (1811 - 1877) is best known as the founder of Utopian Societies in Bethel, Missouri and Aurora, Oregon established in the nineteenth century.

Influenced by German Lutheranism, pietism, and revival Methodism, Keil's theology was never formalized and remains somewhat unclear. Keil was born in contested territory on the border of Prussia and Germany in 1811 and raised by German Lutheran parents. He emigrated to the United States as a young man, apparently after receiving a mystic text from a gypsy. Initially, he settled in New York and worked as a tailor, his family trade. Within a year, he and his German wife moved to western Pennsylvania where Keil gained a reputation as a mystic and healer.

Keil was influenced by revivalism and utopianism, which were popular in western Pennsylvania during the 1830's, and soon converted to Christianity and renounced mysticism. After becoming a successful christian preacher and building a large congregation, Keil and his followers moved to Bethel, Missouri in 1844 and started a Utopian commune. This colony was considered successful but many of its members, again led by Keil, moved to Oregon between 1853 and 1856 to start a new settlement, which became known as Aurora Mills. Keil died in 1877, leaving a power vacuum that led to the dissolution of the colony in 1883.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Keil"