Jacobina Mentz Maurer, believed by some to be a prophet, led a conflict that was eventually quelled by the Brazilian military, and its leaders either killed or arrested and imprisoned.

Next, wheat mills were built, a soap factory, tools, workshops, cutting of stones, and a huge number of shoes.

Jacobina Mentz, a local inhabitant, who had suffered from epileptic attacks since childhood, then she was seen as the victim of a disorder of the nervous system, aggravated by elements of religious nature.

Her grandparents, Libório Mentz and Ernestina Magdalene Lips,[4] immigrated from Germany, escaping religious persecution to which the Muckers were subjected to after their leaders lost a libel case.

Initially, the word of these trances and the corresponding herbal medicines remained locally known, but over time, though, news traveled, and people came to the Maurer's house for healing of the body and the mind.

This attitude irritated the religious members and a large part of the community that was not following Mentz and split the community: those who joined Jacobina were known as Mucker (because they were effectively rolling in the muck with their "false saint") and those who were against Jacobina were known as Spotter (a slang word for spy, or a combination of Portuguese and German slang, for stuttering informant).

Among those against Jacobina were Karl von Koseritz, the founder of the Deutsche Zeitung (German Newspaper) of Porto Alegre and diverse Lutheran priests.

The clashes led to the arrest of the leaders of the movement by local police, who were later released at the request of the President of the Province of Rio Grande do Sul.

On December 10, 1873 João Maurer, along with two other members, went to then Brazil's capital, Rio de Janeiro, to deliver a petition to the Emperor Pedro II, complaining of police harassment, beatings and insults to the moral heritage of other settlers.

[citation needed] On May 24, 1874 a great religious service was held in Ferrabraz, where Jacobina announced the end of the world and ordered the extermination of 16 families.

[citation needed] On 19 July 1874, according to military records, provincial and imperial troops, supported by locals, attacked the Maurer's house was and set it on fire during a meeting.