The Raven Branch — full timeline
1969 — the founding vision
Alexander Ravenhold survives a car accident. A raven stays at the wreck until help arrives, which he later describes as being shown the roots beneath the world.
1994 to 1998 — the branches fill in
Chapters open in Meridian, Chattanooga, Montgomery, Miami, Dallas and Baton Rouge. Members join one by one, among them Deacon Wade, Amelia Drana, Annette Baker and Cooper James.
Sep 1995 — the November Feast thread
A recovered bulletin board post shows Ravenhold, posting as Our Father, calling members to the annual Feast. Cooper is mentioned by rank, described as a Mover.
1997 — rules get written down
Ravenhold compiles a handbook of regulations for all branches, and the group sets up its own broadcast channels for sermons and feast announcements.
1999 — Daryl's Diner goes public
The group's diner sim is published commercially through a shell company, giving outsiders their first ordinary looking entry point into the fellowship.
c. 2001 — Operation Blackbird opens
The FBI's Jackson field office and the Lauderdale County Sheriff begin a joint, eighteen month investigation into the group's finances.
2002 — Cooper James dies
After a year of growing distant, Cooper dies at home at thirty six. His death is later filed as a suicide. His eleven year old daughter, Hailey, is the one who finds him.
Dec 21, 2002 — the arrest
Ravenhold is taken into custody outside the Blackbird Diner and charged with wire fraud, racketeering and obstruction. Two named associates, a recruiter and a head of security, are still at large.
Winter 2002 — the case file closes
A joint task force accounting lists Cooper James and five other members as deceased, with Wendy and Hailey James recorded as surviving family.
Days later — Ravenhold's death
About a week into his hold at the state penitentiary, Ravenhold is found hanged in his cell, witnessed by Hailey. He leaves a carved message referencing Daryl's Diner.
2005 to 2006 — Hailey's diary
Now a young teenager, Hailey keeps an online journal working through her father's death, being publicly known as a cult member's daughter, and the loss of a close friend the following year.
2013 — the diary goes quiet
Hailey's last recorded entries mark the page as offline. It stays untouched for over a decade.
2026 — the diner is found again
Ravenhold's own closing note names 2026 as the year Cooper's widow rediscovers Daryl's Diner through her daughter's site, the framing for why this site is live now.
Source: mississippibranch.neocities.org