PORTSMOUTH, O., May 2-- "King" Benjamin Punell was a sheik, it seems, long before Rodolph Valentino was born. His violent protestations of love still ring in the ears of the mountains of ol' Kaintne. And this despite the fact the fires of that love were extinguished some two score years ago. The mountain girl, now a woman of 60 is Mrs. Angeline Brown Purnell Barnett Stephens, first wife of the head of the House of David cult.
Picked Wild Flowers
"Ben and I would walk up into the mountains." she testifies. "He would pick wild flowers and fix them prettily in my hair. then he would whistle and the birds would chirp love songs." That was 46 years ago. Which was 30 years before Ben became " seventh messenger angel of the Kingdom of God,"and took up his abode at the royal palace in Shiloh, near Benton Harbor, Mich.
"Ben was a huckster." Mrs. Stephens continues. He gathered eggs and vegetables in our neighborhood and took them to the Ohio River and sent them to Cincinnati and Louisville. "But he didn't have any more religion than a possum in those days. He would go to church just to see the pretty girls. "Our daughter was only 2 when he left me for another woman. Several years later I heard he had become a wandering evangelist. Then I heard he had divorced me in Indiana.
Knew He'd Be Wealthy
"I always thought he would be wealthy some day, although he was lazy when he was courtin' me, he always told me he could make a lot of money easy. When he was with me, he shaved and had hair cut just like other men." Mrs. Stephens, who says she has been married twice since Purnell quit their home, maintains she has not seen him since he left.
Her daughter, Mrs. Sarah Evans, entertained her father and his second wife in her home here 20 years ago when "King Ben" preached in Portsmouth. Purnell's first wife lives with her daughter and grandchildren. She takes in washing to help make "ends meet."
"King" Ben's Former Wife is found living at Greenup, Kentucky
Article taken from The Clearfield Progress, May 10, 1923
Portsmouth, Ohio - May 10
A dramatic story of how she waited 25 years for "King" Benjamin Purnell "abdicated" ruler of the House of David, to come to their humble home in Greenup, KY., was related in an interview here today by Mrs. Angeline Stephens, his former wife.
Purnell divorced Mrs. Stephens in a little town near here nearly 30 years ago after he had become enamored of Mary Stattard, Mrs. Stephens charged. Mary Stattard, according to Mrs. Stephens, is "King" Benjamin's present wife, "Queen Mary."
"I always thought Ben would come back to me," she said today. "I waited 25 years for him, then two years ago I married again. Ben didn't have any unusual ideas about religion when we lived together. I know he would never have gotten in all this trouble had we remained married."
Mrs. Stephens said she didn't remember the grounds on which their divorce was granted but she was certain Benjamin's religion had nothing to do with it.