Wilbur Voliva

Wilbur Voliva
c. 1921
Born	10 March 1870(1870-03-10) Fountain County, Illinois
Died	11 October 1942 (72)  Chicago, Illinois
Alma mater	Union Christian College, Merom [Indiana] (1889-1894)
Affiliations	Christian Catholic Church of Zion
Spouse(s)	Ida [Emanuelson]

Wilbur Glenn Voliva (March 10, 1870 - October 11, 1942) was an American evangelical and political leader, successor of John Alexander Dowie as General Overseer of the Christian Catholic Church of Zion (from 1906) and leader of Zion, Illinois. Voliva was noted in the popular press for his broadcast proponency of Flat Earth theorem and proclamations of apocalyptic prophecy.

Selected Bibliography

• Voliva, Wilbur Glenn (19??), Doctors and Drugs, Surgeons and Knives, Zion City, Ill.: Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion 
• Voliva, Wilbur Glenn (1912), The Times of Restoration of All Things, Zion City, Ill.: Zion Printing and Publishing House 
• Voliva, Wilbur Glenn (1919), The Mask Torn Off Rodney B. Swift, Representative of the Eighth Senatorial District of the State of Illinois, Ringleader of the Anarchists of the Illinois State Legislature at Springfield Who Propose to Investigate Voliva and His Religion... The Story of Swift's Indictment... The Story of Poor Widow Lottridge, Zion City, Ill.: Zion Pub. House 

Voliva was also editor-in-chief and a contributor to the Leaves of Healing and Final Warning church magazines.

Press Coverage

1900s-1910s

• CT (27 Jan. 1906), "BOW TO DOWIE'S WILL. REMOVAL OF OVERSEER SPEICHER ANNOUNCED IN ZION. Followers of Church Hear Leader's Orders Read and Accept Them Silently and Without Demur — Deposed Lieutenant Says He Will Not Leave the Community, but Is Willing to Take Any Lot That May Befall Him; Voliva May Succeed Him.", Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL): 2, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35290547/rise-of-voliva-john-speicher-removed/ 
• LAT (8 Feb. 1906), "DOWIE'S DEPUTY-GENERAL. Wilbur Glenn Voliva Will Rule the World of Zion Under 'Elijah II's' Orders", Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA): 5, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380194347 
• AM (5 Apr. 1906), "'Prophet' Dowie Deposed.", Altoona Mirror (Altoona, KS): 2, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/423691991, "At a meeting Sunday of 5,000 adherents of the Christian Catholic church at Zion City, of which John Alexander Dowie is the founder and first apostle, Dowie's authority was repudiated and Wilbur Glenn Voliva, who for some time has been conducting the affairs of the church, was elected in his stead." 
• AM (29 Nov. 1906), "AUTOCRATIC VOLIVA. Dowie's Successor Demands That He Be Recognized as Overseer for Life or He Will Wreck Zion.", Altoona Mirror (Altoona, KS): 2, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/423699054 

1920s

• Cameron, Douglas (1 Dec. 1929), "Mrs. DOWIE ARISES TO SMITE VOLIVA: Founder's Widow Returns To Zion to Check Power Of Millionaire Preacher", Daily News (New York, NY): 5, 26, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/431504509/ 

1930s

• Miller, Jay Earle (Oct. 1931), "$5,000 for Proving the Earth is a Globe", Modern Mechanics and Inventions: 74, http://blog.modernmechanix.com/5000-for-proving-the-earth-is-a-globe/  — [on Voliva's theory and his public challenge to any to refute him.]
• AP (4 Sep. 1934), "Voliva Predicts Chaos in 'Flat' World in 1935", Daily News (New York, NY): 49, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23222846/daily-news/ 

1940s

• AP (12 Oct. 1942), "Wilbur Voliva 'End of World' Prophet Dies - Religious Sect Leader Also Maintained Steadfastly World Was Pancake", Morning Call (Allentown, PA): 1, 2, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57355416/wilbur-voliva-end-of-world-prophet/ 

Reading

• Schadewald, Bob (2015), "Voliva and Zion", The Plane Truth, cantab.net/users/michael.behrend, https://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/ebooks/PlaneTruth/pages/Chapter_08.html