American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem [Review]

In this riveting account, Jane Fletcher Geniesse tells the story of Horatio Spafford and his Norwegian-born wife Anna, who arrived in Jerusalem in 1881 as leaders of a small group of Chicagoans known as the "Overcomers." The group's ostensible goal was to witness the second coming of Christ, though the Spaffords themselves had another purpose. Horatio had squandered $100,000 of his own and others' money; he was fleeing from debt and the law. In time, Anna Spafford presided over the creation of a Jerusalem commune that became known as the "American Colony," even though many of those who joined were Swedes.