USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and Its Centennial Celebration, Volume II > Part 37
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THE HARMONY SOCIETY
Germany, especially Würtemberg, in which George Rapp, the founder of this Society was born. has been the fertile soil for the growth of religious sects holding peculiar tenets in regard to the social relations and property rights. The name is legion of the extravagant and mystical coteries which have sprung up in the
volunteers for special bounties. for the support of the families of aiment soldiert. for the Christian, Sanitary, and Subsistent Commissions for the fortification of Pittsburgh. for the relief of the freedmen. fur the sugsort of soldiere' widows, and the education of their orphan children * Their contributions for them and kindred objects would sirven! to many thousands of dollars." The Hurman, Success, by Aurusi Williams, U.D. VI Js-4.
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German lands. to flourish for a little time and perish obscurely. as i of others not so erratic which had a longer term of life. The causes of this tendency were various. The philosophical spirit of the Germans was partly responsible for it-a spirit which. although "cabin'd, cribb'd. confin'd" by laws of church and State, broke through all bars and hindrances and sought for the naked truth in politics and in religion. The sorrowful condition of the people in the period following the Thirty Years' War had much to do in furthering these developments which held out to the poor the hope of betterment; and the wide-spread indifferent- itm and formalism in religious matters which characterized the times led to a reaction among the thoughtful and earnest. pro- ducing a desire for something more strenuous and satisfying. something demanding more devotion and self-sacrifice. In the Palatinate and Würtemberg especially (the regions from which came the greatest number of emigrants to America), the social and economic conditions were intolerable, the people being taxed to death to support the luxury of petty principalities always striving to ape the magnificence of the court of the Grand Monarch. Thus on every hand were influences tending to create erratic and extravagant socialistic and religious move- ments. Pennsylvania became a favorite land of promise and asylum to these persecuted or restless sects. German "Friends" or mystics came here in large numbers through the influence of William Penn; Herrnhuters or Moravians, the Mennonites, the Schwenkenfelder, the Tunkers or Dunkers, and others arriving at different times through a period of over two hundred years. Like these in some respects, very unlike in others, was the little colony of George Rapp, which came from Würtemberg in 1804, and first ‹ettled in Butler County the following year, later coming to Economy.
No part of the history of Beaver County possesses more human interest than that pertaining to this singular society, an interest at once romantic, religious, and sociological, and we shall therefore devote as much space as possible to an account of its origin and growth and its peculiarities. The following article, by Agnew Hice, Esq., of the firm of Hice & Hice, the senior member of which, the Hon. Henry Hice, has for years been counsel for the Society, was written specially for this work and gives an outline of its history:
Economy Seen from Left Bank of the Ohio,
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"Like all organizations of its class, the Harmony Society had its origin in the hardness and oppression of the conditions which surrounded its founders and which developed in them those qualities of character which made possible its successful formation and continuation.
" In the latter part of the eighteenth century there was in many parts of Germany much dissatisfaction with the condi- tions existing in the church, and in a portion of Würtemberg this dissatisfaction seems to have taken a strong hold on many persons, and manifested itself by the gathering of people about various leaders who presented to them a more devout and pious life, and among these leaders were Michael Hahn and George Rapp.
"George Rapp, born October 28, 1757, was the son of Adam Rapp, a vine-dresser of moderate means, residing at Iptengen, Oberamt Maulbronn, Kingdom of Würtemberg, and had such limited education as his means could afford. In 1783 he was married to Christina Benzinger, who bore him a son, John Rapp,' the father of Miss Gertrude Rapp, who died at Economy in 1889; and a daughter, Rosina, who died in 1849.
"When about thirty years of age George Rapp began to speak to a number of friends who assembled at his house for religious instruction; and the number of his hearers increasing and his influence becoming broader, caused a decided opposition from the clergy, and this opposition became a violent persecu- tion, which caused the Separatists, as they were called, to look abroad for a refuge; and after the selection of a site for his followers at Zelienople, Butler County, Pennsylvania, a large number left Germany to find a home in the American wilderness.
"On July 4, 1804, the ship Aurora landed three hundred of his followers at Baltimore, and soon after the ship Atlantic landed a similar number at Philadelphia, and in February of 1805 these persons gathered at what is now Harmony, in Butler County, and the Harmony Society was formally organized by entering into a written contract, which, although since modified in a few particulars, is and always has been essentially the basis of the Harmony Society.
1 A foolish story of John Rapp having been killed for refusing to separate from his wife when the practice of celibacy was adopted by the Society was published at an early date in the Philadelphia North American and in the Atlantic Monthly. He was an affectionate and well-beloved son, and died in 1812, five years after the adoption of celibacy by the community. His death was due to consumption .- Editor.
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"This contract does not establish a religious organization, but is strictly a contract establishing property rights and the correl- ative rights and obligations of its members in the community. The Harmony Society has no established creed and is not a church.
"As a contract regulating property rights, the peculiarities of the contract are these:
"First: Community of Goods maintained by the vesting of the title to all property in the Society or trustees for it, so that the enjoyment thereof is had by virtue of membership in the Society and not by virtue of ownership of the property.
"Second: The control of the property and regulation of the conduct of the members by a system of Superintendence or government, supposed to be modeled after that existing in the days of the Hebrew Patriarchs.
"The Society from a very meager beginning in 1805 acquired considerable means, and in 1814 determined to go to Indiana, where the greater fertility of the soil attracted them, and in that year they bought twenty-five thousand acres of land in Posey County, Indiana, and established the town of New Harmony, to which place they removed, being at that time about seven hundred in number. At New Harmony the surroundings brought upon them a scourge of malaria which caused the death of many, so that in 1825 they returned to Beaver County and established the town of Economy, where they have ever since resided.
"The town of Economy was built soon after the purchase of the lands (which now constitute Harmony township, in Beaver County), and improvements in the way of orchards, vineyards, and factories had been made.
"The first successful manufacture of silk and silk velvet west of the Allegheny Mountains was conducted by the Har- mony Society at Economy. The manufacture of cotton and woolen goods was also pursued at Economy as well as the mak- ing of wine, whisky, and lumber.
"The lands purchased by the Society at Economy and now owned by it were purchased from the estate of Ephraim Blaine,'
1 This was Ephraim Lyon Blaine, the son of James Blaine and grandson of Colonel Ephraim Blaine famous in the Western annals during the Revolutionary period. He was the father of the celebrated Maine statesman James G. Blaine. In one of our illustrations is a picture of the house in which James and Ephraim Lyon Blaine lived on the Sewickley
0
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Street Scenes in Economy.
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William Vicary, James McCulloch, William Bryan, William Scott, and the Bank of United States, and are included in tracts numbered eleven to twenty-one of the Second District of De- preciation lands.
" The business dealings of the Society have been conducted by Frederick Rapp, who died July 5, 1834; George Rapp, who died August 7, 1847; R. L. Baker, who died January 11, 1868; Jacob Henrici, who died December 25, 1892; and John S. Duss, the wife of the last named being now the sole trustee of the Society.
"The business operations of the Society have extended over much of western Pennsylvania. In Warren, Venango, and Forest Counties, they produced oil and lumber. In the northern part of Beaver County they mined coal, and one time produced oil by the distillation of coal and shale.
"In 1859 the Society purchased the tracts of land now em- braced in the borough of Beaver Falls, and at that place car- ried on and aided various manufacturing and other interests.
"The extent of their operations in Beaver County may be measured from the fact that the records show over twenty-five hundred conveyances from them.
"In Allegheny County the Society engaged in the coal busi- ness; they aided in the construction of bridges and railroads, taking a special interest in the building of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railroad.
"For those who may wish to look into the history of this Society, the following references are given:
"The Harmony Society at Economy, Pa., by Aaron Williams, D.D., 1866.
"Communistic Societies of United States. By Charles Nord- hoff, 1875.
"Much information, historically, may also be gathered from the litigation of the Society, as shown by the reported cases.
"Numerous magazine articles have also been written, with about the usual proportion of truth and fiction contained in such articles."
So far Mr. Hice. We may add to his sketch some further particulars that are of interest.
Bottom. The house was removed to its present position in Economy after the sale above noted. See interesting reference in Gail Hamilton's Biography of Fames G. Blaine, pp. 49-59 .- J. H. B.
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The Society has had six written contracts or articles of agree- ment drawn up. The first, the substance of which has been retained in all the others, was made at Harmony, Butler County, Pa., February 15, 1805; the second in 1821 at New Harmony, Posey County, Ind .; the third in 1827 at Economy, Pa .; and the others at the same place in 1836, 1847, and 1890. It is not now known who were the legal counsel who drew up the first two contracts. That of 1827 was prepared by John H. Hopkins, Esq., an attorney who afterwards entered the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and who rose to be its senior bishop. The contract of 1836 was possibly drawn up by Hon. Daniel Agnew, though it is not certainly known. The next, that of 1847, was one of the most important, being rendered neces- sary by the death of George Rapp, the founder.1 He having held the whole property of the Society in trust for it, an adjust- ment of the affairs of the Society to the new conditions created had to be made. The reorganization was made under the legal advice and assistance of Daniel Agnew of Beaver, and Walter Forward of Pittsburg. The contract of 1890 was the work of Hon. Henry Hice of the law firm of Hice & Hice of Beaver. For some time previous to 1863 Richard P. Roberts, Esq., of Beaver, had been counsel for the Harmony Society; and Mr. Hice, a former student of his and then his partner, assisted him in many matters of business pertaining to the Society. On the death of Roberts, who was killed in the battle of Gettysburg, Mr. Hice, knowing the affairs of the Society intimately, was con- tinued as its legal adviser in Beaver County. N. P. Fetterman, Esq., of the Allegheny County bar, held the same position rela-
1 On the death of George Rapp, August 7th, 1847, the whole Society signed again the Articles of Association adopted March 9, 1827,* putting in two Trustees and seven Elders to manage and regulate all matters as had been done by George Rapp. The Trustees from that date to the present have been the following:
R. L. Baker
Jacob Henrici 1847-1868. R. L. Baker died January 11, 1868.
Jacob Henrici
1868-1890. Jonathan Lenz died January 21, 1890.
Jonathan Lenz
Jacob Henrici Ernest Woelfel
1890- Ernest Woelfel died July -, 1890.
Jacob Henrici
John S. Duss
1890-1892. Jacob Henrici died December 25, 1892.
John S. Duss
Samuel Seiber
1892-1893. Samuel Seiber resigned July 6, 1893.
John S. Duss
Gottlieb Riethmuller 1893-1897. Gottlieb Riethmuller died February -, 1897. John S. Duss, Sole Trustee 1807-1003. John S. Duss, resigned May 12, 1903. Susie C. Duss, Sole Trustee. May 12, 1903 -.
* For these articles in full see The Harmony Society at Economy, Pa., by Aaron Wil- liams, D.D., Appendix D.
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tive to its business in that county. Mr. Hice was also em- ployed in the business of the Society in Warren County, Pa., where it had important interests. Hice & Hice are still the legal advisers of this body.
The property of the Society at Harmony in Butler County was about four thousand acres. The town was about one mile from Zelienople, and a contest arose between the two places over the location of the proposed post-office and the post-road to be laid out from Pittsburg to Lake Erie. This contest resulted in favor of Harmony.
It is of interest to note that the lands of the Society at New Harmony, Ind., were bought by Robert Owen, the founder of English socialism. He paid for the whole property $150,000, a very low price, and immediately undertook to establish at New Harmony a socialistic community, which failed in 1827.
The original purchase of land made by the Harmony Society at Economy amounted to three thousand acres, and after sev- eral additional purchases and sales made at different periods the acreage remains to-day about what it was at the start. A writer of about the year 1843 has this to say of their industrial enter- prises:
They have a large woolen and cotton manufactory, and purchase from sixty to seventy thousand dollars worth of wool and from twenty to thirty thousand dollars worth of other articles from the surrounding country, for manufacture and consumption. . . . Their manufacturing machinery is all propelled by steam. They commenced the culture of the mulberry and the manufacture of silk in 1828, with no other instruc- tion or experience than what they could gather from the publications of that day. The white Italian mulberry and morus multicaulis were both used with success. They have now brought this manufacture to a point not surpassed in this country In 1840 the product of silk was 2,389 lbs. cocoons, yielding 218 lbs. reeled silk; which they wrought into beau- tiful handkerchiefs, vestings, and a variety of other fabrics. They have spared neither trouble nor expense in importing the best machinery from England and France, and in obtaining instruction from foreign artisans.
Although, as stated above, Harmony is in Butler County, and therefore does not properly belong to our history, its story is a part of that of the Harmony Society, and the author ven- tures to reprint here an extract from an article which was pub- lished by him a few years ago after a visit to that town:
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History of Bearer County
*** when one on the latter piace and boris spot :3 quarts did houses
Harmony Santy Ceny Papp . Panie:" Rapp as be was hacer ated
wwwam the ==== > which since bas had so beg and boccracia a harry in Frommy :n. Beaver County.
A few of the landmarks of the community are sent to be seen bere "Papp a Sra: "a little chamber like an anchorite's cell, bolowed see If the rock which crops out on top of a bient by the creek side. where sie and patriarch (he was a sonagenarian when he died, used to sit with its Bible and book one over the peaceful valley and upward to the bearers. waiting & greet the coming of his Lord, which he fully expected to be = his time: the old church, modernized somewhat in its interior arrange- ments: a few quaint old houses, with curious stone work and carvings of forgotten meaning: massively constructed stone wine-vaults. empty 3.T. -these are all interesting to the curious visitor of the serious stadens: If the stone could cry out of the wall and the beam out of the cimber anawer it. there is no doubt but that we should learn some tende. and pathetic stories of the lives of the people who dwelt in these old houses. Who that knows the human heart can doubt that there were hearts wbici broke in this "Brotherhood of Perpetual Separation." Even religious enthusiasm cannot always cure the homesick soul. Memory would oftes week in vain to forget the pleasant. vine-clad hills of the Fatherland, and the many waters of the wide ocean even could not quench the love that was felt for someone left behind.
As we tried to gather information from the present occupants of the former dwellings of the Harmonists, we found but little agreement as to the facts of their history, and were impressed anew with the thought of the case with which the world puts out of mind those who have passed out of its'sight. We realized afresh that
Our years are like the shadows On sunny hills that lie. Or grasses in the meadows That blossom but to die; A sleep, a dream, a story, By strangers quickly told, An unremaining glory Of things that soon are old.
If anything had been needed to deepen such pensive reflections our visit to the old Harmony Society burying ground on the edge of the town would have supplied it. This is a large rectangular space enclosed by a high wall of cut stone with an arched gateway of the same material and
Gorge Kapy.
View of Interce of Harmony tweety Bara Ground a Harmany Bater C. FL. thawing anumictic pre-
M:OU
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History of Beaver County
a gate such as we never saw before. It is an immense monolith, pivoted at the center at top and bottom, so as to swing out or in at any angle to the footstep of the gateway.
An inscription in German on the arch tells that a hundred members of the Society rest here in the earth in the hope of a joyful resurrection, and many other texts of faith and hope in the strong Saxon of Luther's Bible are cut upon the stone. As you swing open the ponderous gate and pass within the enclosure you look in vain for any headstone or mark that you stand among the dead. The ground is sodded and of a uniform level from wall to wall. But there is one exception. Yonder is a large headstone with inscriptions, placed against the left wall and lying on its side. And thereby hangs a tale.
When John, the only son of George ("Father") Rapp, died in 1812, it was felt that the rule of the Society, not to place any mark above the dead, should be set aside in his case, and this stone, with appropriate inscriptions, was made. The old leader at first gave his consent to have it set in place above the body of his well-beloved son, but at length his sense of duty triumphed and he refused to have the rule of the Society broken. Some one has since made the severe enactment so far void at least as to set the stone within the enclosure, and lean it up against the wall, but still, apart from the official register, no man knoweth of his sepulcher until this day.
Whether or not the saints who sleep here were lovely and pleasant in their lives, at least it is true that in death they were not divided, for as in life the custom of their order made all things common, so, too, they share now the grave and the narrow house, and the curious stranger can find nothing to distinguish their places of interment.
As we stood there in the long grass, under the blue sky and the whis- pering pines, we gave these humble dead the "passing tribute of a sigh," and felt the spot more eloquent than it would have been if crowded with trophies decked with "storied urn and animated bust."
The same rule obtains in the mode of burial in the cemetery at Economy, where the burial-ground is a part of the orchard lot.
The Duke of Saxe-Weimar visited the town of Economy about the year 1826, shortly after the Society had removed from Indiana, and wrote interestingly of his impressions of it. We quote a few words from his description:
At the inn, a fine large frame house, we were received by Mr. Rapp, the principal, at the head of the community. The elder Rapp is a large man of seventy years old, whose powers age seems not to have dimin- ished; his hair is gray, but his blue eyes, overshadowed by strong brows, are full of life and fire. . . What is most striking and wonderful of all is, that so plain a man as Rapp can so successfully bring and keep together a society of nearly seven hundred persons, who, in a manner, VOL. 11 .- 26.
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honor him as a prophet. Equally so for example is his power of govern- ment, which can suspend the intercourse of the sexes. However, some marriages constantly occur, and children are born every year, for whom there is provided a school and a teacher. . The warehouse was shown to us, where the articles made here for sale or use are preserved, and I admired the excellence of all. The articles for the use of the society are kept by themselves, as the members have no private possessions, and everything is in common; so must they in relation to all their personal wants be supplied from the common stock. The clothing and food they make use of is of the best quality. Of the latter, flour, salt meat and all long keeping articles are served out monthly; fresh meat, on the con- trary, and whatever spoils readily, is distributed whenever it is killed, according to the size of the family, &c.
As every house has a garden, each family raises its own vegetables, and some poultry, and each family has its own bake oven. For such things as are not raised in Economy there is a store provided, from which the members, with the knowledge of the directors, may purchase what is necessary, and the people of the vicinity may do the same.
Mr. Rapp finally conducted us into the factory again, and said that the girls had especially requested this visit that I might hear them sing. When their work is done they collect in one of the factory rooms, to the number of sixty or seventy, to sing spiritual and other songs. They have a peculiar hymn-book, containing hymns from the Würtemberg psalm-book, and others written by the elder Rapp. A chair was placed for the old patriarch, who sat amidst the girls, and they commenced a hymn in a very delightful manner. It was naturally symphonious, and exceedingly well arranged. The girls sang four pieces, at first sacred, but afterwards, by Mr. Rapp's desire, of a gay character. With real emotion I witnessed this interesting scene. The factories and work- shops are warmed during winter by means of pipes connected with the steam-engine. All the workmen, and especially the females, had very healthy complexions, and moved me deeply by the warm-hearted friend- liness with which they saluted the elder Rapp. I was also much grati- fied to see vessels containing fresh, sweet-smelling flowers standing on all the machines. The neatness which universally reigns here, is in every respect worthy of praise.'
Not so pleasing is the picture of Rapp and his people drawn for us by the celebrated English writer, Harriet Martineau, who visited Economy in the early thirties and writes very frankly of her observations as follows :
The followers of Mr. Rapp are settled at Economy, on the Ohio, eighteen miles below Pittsburgh. Their number was five hundred when I was there: and they owned three thousand acres of land. Much of their attention seems to be given to manufactures. They rear silkworms. and were the earliest silk-weavers in the United States. At my first 1 Historical Collections of Pennsylvania, by Sherman Day. Philadelphia, 1843, P.112.
Jacob Henrici, Trustee of the Harmony Society, 1804-1892.
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visit they were weaving only a flimsy kind of silk handkerchief; last sum- mer I brought away a piece of substantial handsome black satin. They have sheep-walks, and a large woolen manufactory. Their factory was burnt down in 1834; the fire occasioning a loss of sixty thousand dollars, a mere trifle to this wealthy community. Their vineyards, cornfields, orchards, and gardens gladden the eye. There is an abundance so much beyond their need that it is surprising that they work, except for want of something else to do. The Dutch love of flowers was visible in the plants that were to be seen in the windows, and the rich carnations and other sweets that bloomed in the garden and green-house. The whole place has a superior air to that of either of the Shaker "families" that I saw. The women are better dressed; more lively, less palid; but, I fear, not much wiser. Mr. Rapp exercises an unbounded influence over his people. They are prevented learning any language but German, and are not allowed to converse with strangers. The superintendent keeps a close watch over them in this respect. Probationers must serve a year before they can be admitted, and the managers own that they dread the entrance of young people who might be "unsettled"; that is, not suffi- ciently subservient.
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