The Market Revolution had allowed Elijah’s mercantile firm to prosper and thrive in the competitive market (i.e. existence of Erie Canal). Despite being successful, he was alone and "his passage from youth to manhood deferred and confused" (20). To fill up that void, he turned to religion. He met Sarah Stanford, who later became his wife and his source of "domestic and spiritual development" (26). However, he became so involved in religion such that it dictates his lifestyle – diet and cloth-wears. When