USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and Its Centennial Celebration, Volume II > Part 38
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I was curious to learn how five hundred persons could be kept in the necessary subjection by one. Mr. Rapp's means are such that his task is not very difficult. He keeps his people ignorant; and he makes them vain. He preaches to them their own superiority over the rest of the world so incessantly that they fully believe it; and are persuaded that their salvation is in his hands. At first I felt, with regard to both them and the Shakers, a strong respect for the self-conquest which could enable them to endure the singularity,-the one community, of its non-inter- course with strangers; the other, of its dancing exhibitions; but I soon found that my respect was misplaced. One and all, they glory in the singularity. They feel no awkwardness in it, from first to last. This vanity is the handle by which they are worked.
Mr. Rapp is now very old. His son is dead. It remains to be seen what will become of his community with its immense accumulation of wealth, when it has lost its dictator. It does not appear that they can go on in their present state without a dictator. They smile superciliously upon Mr. Owen's plan, as admitting "a wrong principle"-marriage. The best hope for them is that they will change their minds on this point, admitting the educational improvements which will arise out of the change, and remaining in community with regard to property. This is the process now in action among the seceders from their body, settled on the opposite bank of the river, a short distance below Economy. These seceders were beguiled by Count Leon, a stranger who told the people a great deal that was true about Mr. Rapp, and a great deal that was false about himself. It is a great pity that Count Leon was a swindler, for he certainly opened the eyes of the Economy people to many truths, and might have done all that was wanted, if he had himself been honest.'
' Society in America, London, 1837, vol. ii., pp. 62-65.
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While we are at the business of quotation, let us hear a word from Rudyard Kipling, written while on a visit to Beaver County, when he was still unknown to fame:
But there be many pictures on my mind. . Of Musquash [his disguise for Beaver-ED.] itself lighted by the same mysterious agency, flares of gas eight feet long, roaring day and night at the corners of the grass-grown streets because it was n't worth while to turn them out; of fleets of coal-flats being hauled down the river on an interminable jour- ney to St. Louis; of factories nestling in woods where all the axe-handles and shovels in the world seemed to be manufactured daily; and last, of that quaint forgotten German community, the Brotherhood of Perpetual Separation, who founded themselves when the State was yet young and land cheap, and are now dying out because they will neither marry nor give in marriage and their recruits are very few. The advance in the value of land has almost smothered these poor old people in a golden affluence that they never desired. They live in a little village where the houses are built old Dutch fashion, with their front doors away from the road, and cobbled paths all about. The cloistered peace of Musquash is a metropolitan riot beside the hush of that village. And there is, too, a love-tale tucked away among the flowers. It has taken seventy years in the telling, for the brother and sister loved each other well, but they loved their duty to the brotherhood more. So they have lived and still do live, seeing each other daily, and separated for all time. Any trouble that might have been is altogether wiped out of their faces, which are as calm as those of very little children. To the uninitiated those constant ones resemble extremely old people in garments of absurd cut. But they love each other.
The rule prohibiting marriage was never made a part of the Society's legal agreement, but was rather brought about by common consent. Strange to say, the younger members of the Society were those most in favor of it. Its adoption took place a few years after the organization of the Society in this country, and grew out of the views of the leaders pertaining to the second coming of Christ and their general religious attitude, which shows a singular mixture of asceticism and practical common sense.
The philosophy of this subject is interesting. The founders of great religious movements have, it seems, found their strength in the appeal, either to or away from the flesh. Mohammedan- ism and Mormonism are illustrations of the former-the appeal to man's sensual nature. Without their doctrine and practice of polygamy it is doubtful if they could have obtained such com-
The Harmony Society " Great House," Economy.
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History of Beaver County
manding influence as they have had over their devotees. But the prevalence of ascetic systems in all ages and countries of the world' shows that man can as well be taught to despise the attractions of the flesh. Pagan, as well Christian Rome, had its orders devoted to chastity; Buddhism and other Oriental religions also. Hundreds of sects have preached salvation through the contemning of the bodily appetites,-the absolute suppression of the whole sensual side of our nature; and this doctrine has perhaps gained more currency and acceptance than its opposite which would seem to have the advantage over it in the very nature of things. The strange power of this ideal of chastity is well illustrated in the history of the Harmony Society, where it maintained its hold to the last over the major- ity of the members. The secret of that Society's success, how- ever, was not found in this ascetic rule, but rather in that saving practical common sense, which, as we have said, so contradic- torily manifested itself in their organization, leading them to pool their efforts in a very systematic pursuit and management of this world's goods.
The acceptance of the celibate life was not at any time con- genial to all of the members of the community, however, and, as will presently appear, the rule became at last, under the influ- ence of a new-comer, the source of dissension and of disruption. Of this crisis in the life of the Society we now give some account.
THE COMING OF "COUNT MAXIMILIAN DE LEON" AND HIS "SECESSION"
We first hear of this somewhat mysterious and problematical character as living in Frankfort-on-the-Main, one of the free cities of Germany, where about the year 1830 he had gathered about him some followers in adherence to a religious cult at variance with the prevailing faith and forms of the churches of the Fatherland. Meeting there with opposition to his projects of religious reform, he began to cast about for a new and freer home for his people, and learning of the existence in this coun- try of the Harmony Society, which he conceived to be congenial in its beliefs and practices with his own ideas, he entered into correspondence with the leaders of that Society with a view to
1 See Lecky's History of European Morals, vol. ii., p. 101 following.
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History of Beaver County
becoming, with his followers, identified with it. In 1831 it was decided that he should join the Harmony Society, and in that year he arrived, with his family and company at Economy, where they were cordially welcomed.
For a brief time all went smoothly, but it soon appeared that union between these two societies was impossible; the ele- ments of which they were composed, in the leaders and in the people, being too diverse. Rapp, though a man of great natural ability and executive power, was distinctly of the peasant class, and of limited education. He had long enjoyed a quite auto- cratic position in the community of which he was the head, and could ill brook any division of his powers and prestige. His people were also of the peasant class, honest and thrifty folk from Würtemberg in the province of Swabia, bauerleute for the most part, simple in manners, and with not much more education than had been afforded them in the village schools of Germany, and what they had gained from a close and constant study of Luther's Bible.
De Leon and his adherents were, on the other hand, from the middle class of one of the most brilliant cities of Europe, the birthplace of Goethe and the home of many famous men and women. They were generally well educated and cultivated, and accustomed to the refinements of wealth and fashion. Many of the ladies who came over seas with the leader brought their maids with them, to assist them in the cares of the toilet and to have charge of their wardrobes, which, as we know from the mouth of some of their descendants, were large and expensive. Such dames could not easily fall in with the customs of a com- munity like that at Economy, where the women of the Society took their part and lot with the men, working side by side with them in the fields and factories. Their efforts to do so were heroic enough, though often pitiful, and sometimes amusing, as in one case of which we have heard, when a lady who had been told that she must go out and help gather stones from a field stood in perplexity before a row of twenty pairs of shoes which she had brought with her, wondering which of the dainty things would be best suited for this unwonted use.
The personality of the leader was one still less adapted to meet the conditions of this environment. What was this man- a self-deceived fanatic or an impostor ? It is hard to answer
The Harmony Society Church, Economy.
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the query. We incline to think that he was a mixture of both characters. He is as difficult to analyse as John Alexander Dowie of Chicago, Elijah II. That he was to some extent a deceiver is evident from the fact that his claim to be a scion of the royal house of Austria, of the tribe of Judah, and the family of David was not made until he was safely out of Germany and on board ship nearing America. Previous to this he was known to his followers by the name of Broli,' and on shipboard informed them of the change in title, justifying it by the assurance that it was necessary in order to more thoroughly impress the people of the Harmony Society with the importance of the per- sonages they were to receive. The "Count" and "Countess Maximilian de Leon" would sound much better than plain Herr and Frau Broli! Though even here the singular genealogi- cal jumble by which the heir of the house of Hapsburg is made to be of Jewish descent would argue either ignorance or fanati- cal simplicity. And "Count" de Leon was not ignorant; all who knew him admit that he was highly educated. It is even suggested that Rapp sought alliance with him because he recog- nized his need in the Economite settlement of just such intellec- tual qualities as those which De Leon possessed and which he himself lacked. Personally the count was a man of command- ing and august presence, with pleasing, even handsome features, courtly manners and persuasive address. He was possessed of great personal magnetism, and could win almost all hearts. With a head full of crotchets and a company of ardent disciples hanging on his word, such a man, we may be sure, would not be willing to play second fiddle anywhere. That he and the equally self-assertive and assured Harmonist leader would not long agree was a foregone conclusion.
The adoption of the celibate life in the Harmony Society was one of the factors leading to disagreement between these two men, and deserves a word or two of comment. Strictly the Harmony Society was not a church, but nevertheless the re- ligious element in the thought and life of the people was very dominant. They held premillenial views regarding the second coming of Christ, which they believed to be imminent. There is no accounting, of course, for the inconsistencies of religious va- gary, and here we have a people who were every day expecting
' His real name was Bernard Muller.
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the advent of the Lord when the whole existing scheme of worldly affairs should be done away with, making every day the most canny and industrious use of the world's opportunities, engaging in various manufactures and agriculture, and exercis- ing an economy whose scrutiny extended to the minutest detail of the farm, the shop, and the house. Very unlike, indeed, were they in this respect to the enthusiastic chiliasts of other periods, who abandoned all earthly tasks in order to be ready to meet the Lord at his coming, such as those of the first century after Christ, whom the apostle rebukes in the Thessalonian letters and calls idlers and busy-bodies, and those of the strange and gloomy tenth century. But while their hands never slackened in daily toil, these simple-minded believers began to question among themselves whether it were well to continue to propagate the human species when the end of all things was at hand. Much debate went on in their assemblies and houses over this momentous question, and first they arrived at the conclusion that there should be no more marriages among them, and fin- ally agreed upon the separation of those already married. In conformity with this resolve the strictest rules were adopted looking towards the keeping apart of the sexes. They who had wives were now as those who had none; husbands and wives occupying separate sleeping apartments, the sexes being re- quired to sit on opposite sides of the church during public wor- ship, and divided as much as possible in the performance of the labors of the shops and the fields. Every device was employed to lessen the chance of social intimacy between males and fe- males. To show how far this rigid discipline was carried, take the following illustration. It was a custom among them to have some one bring to the workers in the fields a luncheon of bread and wine at stated hours of the morning and afternoon-Vesper- brod-and at these times the people sat down under trees which were purposely allowed to remain at certain points in the cul- tivated lands. Here in the shade they enjoyed their refection and took needed rest from labor, but even here the men sat on one side of the tree, and the women on the other back to back, and freedom of social conversation was under well-defined limitations.
But did all this monkish and conventual discipline avail to thwart the behests of nature? By no means. Put nature out
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at the door and she comes in at the window. The Christ him- self said that even until his coming there should be marrying and giving in marriage, and no rules were ever framed that could successfully change the facts of sex. Love laughs at laws and locksmiths. The young people of this community found ways and means to whisper those accents of affection which are the only truly universal language-the heart's Volapuk. We do not mean to intimate that many, perhaps the majority, did not re- main faithful to the requirement of celibacy; they unquestion- ably did so. But there were constant defections from the ranks, married pairs reuniting, and others leaving for the world and pledging matrimonial vows. And within the fold there were dissatisfied members, kicking against the goads. When Count Leon arrived he found this true, and there was ready at his hand the fuel for the fires of dissension which he soon set ablaze At any rate things were at such a pass that there seems reason to believe, what is strongly asserted by many, that even if the count had never appeared there would have been a considerable secession from the Harmony Society as a result of internal dis- sensions already existing. However this may be, there was no longer any possibility of maintaining the two leaders and their partisans in one corporate body. The parties at length deter- mined upon a separation, and March 6, 1832, an amicable com- promise was effected. Articles were then signed by which it was agreed that the Harmony Society should pay to the seceders the sum of $105,000 in three installments within a year, the first third to be paid cash, deducting $1800 due the Society from Count de Leon and his family; and that the latter should leave Economy, the count and his family in six weeks, and his adherents in three months. The seceders were to take all their belongings, and were to release forever all claims beside upon the Society.
In the chapter on the borough of Monaca we relate the fur- ther movements of this "extravagant and wheeling stranger" whose advent in Economy had wrought so much controversy, but it may be of interest to give here an account of an exciting incident which followed the removal of the seceders from the Har- mony Society, and their settlement at Phillipsburg (now Mon- aca). The outlay in founding their new venture had been very great, the money derived from the parent society was soon ex- hausted, and dissatisfaction arose. In order to allay the feeling
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of disappointment among his followers. Count de Leon persuaded them to make an additional demand upon the Harmony Society, under the plea that they had not received a just amount in settlement of their rights, and that he himself had never sanc- tioned the compromise. What followed we relate in the language of another:
Having little hope of extorting anything more by process of law, and being in need of the ready cash, they determined to adopt a summary process. On the second of April. 1833. a mob of about eighty persons entered the town of Economy. took forcible possession of the hotel, and then laid their demands before the authorities in a long and offensive document, which ended in terms similar to a declaration of war. This ultimatum was formally considered and promptly rejected, with the reply that the terms of the compromise which had been accepted by both parties had been fully complied with, and nothing more could be yielded. The members of the Society, meanwhile, all remained quietly in their houses, as they had been advised, so that there might be no col- lision. The mob then threatened loudly to enter Mr. Rapp's house by force, in order, as they alleged. to get possession of certain papers which would sustain their claims. But finding the house barricaded, and well guarded from within, they desisted from the attempt. They gathered again around the hotel, and helped themselves freely to whatever pro- visions, liquors, &c., they could find.
In the meantime, many of the neighbors and friends of the Econo- mites, hearing of the proceedings, had gathered in to see what was going on; and after having learned the unreasonable demands of the mob, they sent for further assistance, and towards evening they rose up in a bold American way, under a dauntless leader, and drove the invaders from the town before drum and fife, and to the tune of the Rogue's March. During the whole day, however, not a drop of blood was shed. nor even a blow was struck.1
On the following day complaint was made at Beaver, the county-seat, against all who had taken part in the disturbance, and they were bound over as conspirators to answer at the June term of court. Indictments were presented to the grand jury, and true bills were found against all of them. The trial of the cases was put off until the September term, and by that time feeling having subsided, and De Leon having left the country, by the advice of their counsel, the Harmony Society withdrew the suits against their former brethren, they paying the costs.
Contemporary notices of the dissensions previously described, which we have copied from several issues of the Pittsburgh Gasette
' The Harmony Society, by Aaron Williams, D D., pp. 78-9.
Ephraim Blaine's House. Removed to present location from Big sewickley ( reck. Economy Hotel.
Flouring Mill.
Father Rapp's Chaise, Built in 1544.
VIEW. IN ECONOMY.
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of the month of February, 1832, will be of interest and value. In the issue of February Ist there appeared the following:
We have not heretofore referred to the schism which exists in the society at Economy, still entertaining the hope that some arrangement, satisfactory to all parties, might be made. From the following adver- tisement it may be inferred that the prospect of a satisfactory adjust- ment of difficulties is by no means encouraging :--
TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC
The undersigned, Members of the Harmony Society, at Economy, in the county of Beaver, Pennsylvania, deem it their duty thus publicly to make known, that all the authority or power which has heretofore been given, granted to, or exercised by GEORGE RAPP, or by his adopted son, FREDERICK RAPP, has ceased and determined, and has been revoked; and that their, or either of their acts, under such authority, in all transac- tions entered into by said George or Frederick Rapp, are without the knowledge, assent, or agreement of the undersigned, whose interests, as members of the Society are equally involved, and as much entitled to protection as those of any other portion of the community.
All Banks and other Corporations and Individuals, who have hereto- fore transacted business with said George and Frederick Rapp, as the agents, or on behalf of the Society, will take notice that all such connec- tion between the undersigned and said George and Frederick Rapp has ceased, and the funds of the Society can no longer be resorted to for the satisfaction of debts which may have been, or shall be thus contracted by said Rapps: February 1, 1832.
William Schmid
George Vogt Jacob Kurz
Israel Bentel
Adam Schule
Christoph Martin
John George Wagner
Adam Keller George Adam Fischer
Matthew Klein
Anthony Knapper
Christian Martin
George Schaal
Jacob Wagner Michael Forstner Christian Schmid Jacob Durr
Jacob Schafer Conrad Knodel Henry Gayer
Benotus Zundel
Christian Autrieth
Matthew Schule
August Schmid George Reiff Henry Laubscher Adam Marquardt
John Trompeter Jacob Zundel Christopher Hohr August Schmid Reimond Gann Jacob Welhaf George Adam Jung Jacob Klingenstein John Bauer Jacob Krail
David Wagner Lewis Epple George Fischer
Carl Hopfinger
Frederick Fisher John Luz
Martin Erb Michael Fegert
Jacob Marquardt T. Hubert Delhas Christiana Klein Maria Forstner Katharina Kurz Wilhelmina Krauss Regina Bentel Margarette Jung Sara Stahl Dorothy Klein
Ernestine Bockle Jacobina Klein
Tobias Schmid Christoph Killinger Jacob Streit John Hurz Arnold Bentel
Magdalena Ehmann Maria Forstner Wilhelmina Fischer Barbara Killinger Anna Katharine Fischer Katharina Laubscher Catharina Schmidt Marg't Barbara Martin Fredericka Schmid Katharina Erb
Eva Fruh Verona Weinberg Olena Killinger
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History of Beaver County
Conrad Bockle Henry Zeltmann George Forstner Jacob Stroheker Jacob Konig Andrew Widmayer Jacob Vaihinger Reinhold Frank Jacob Diem Jacob Stahl David Konig
George Boger Samuel Schreiber Nahum Staiger George Heinle
Tryphemae Vogt Margaret Schmidt Margaret Zundel Frederika Fruh Maria Schmidt Magdalena Schmidt Magdalena Vogt Frederika Schmidt Maria Fruh Wilhelmina Bendel Elizabeth Stahl Christiana Schnaufer Deborah Laupple
George Weissert Yost Gerhard Andrew Fauth Michael Baumann Jacob Sander
George Schnaufer Philippe Bentel Simon Wagner Christoph Yost
Christoph Lichtenberger John Schnaufer Matthew Fauth Jacob Maienknecht Frederick Wolfer
Conrad Gann Angelie Knapper Mathilda Widomeyer Caroline Weinberg Ulric Weinberg
William Weinberg Joseph Weinberg Elizabeth Lais Louisa Lais Jacobina Lais George Fischer Katharina Fischer
Matthew Fischer
Thecla Weissert
Elizabeth Zanger
Barbara Martin
Margaret Barbara Martin
John Rocher
Eva Jung.
Eugena Bauer Margaret Trautwein
Margaret Fritscher
Barbara Fauth
Julianna Ziegler
Lewis Erb
Julia Ziegler Judith Palmbach
Jeremias Stag
Christiana Gerhardt Barbara Laubscher Lora Wolfer
Peter Stag William Stag
Margaret Kraus
Maria Wolfer
Elizabeth Fruh
Katharina Bockle
Louise Bockle
Marzellus Heinle
Jacobina Fauth
Jacob Bockle Jeremias Bentel
Elizabeth Fauth
Christina Fauth
Georg Ziegler
Christina Fauth
Franz Ziegler
Johanna Fischer
Leonard Ziegler
Christian Fischer
Philippe Laubscher
Henry Fischer
Jacob Laubscher
Phoeben Fischer
Katharina Killinger
Margaret Martin Barbara Fischer Jacobina Schmid
Wilhelmina Durwachter Fredericka Schmid Christiana Konig Henricka Zundel Fredericka Aigner Agatha Wolfer Katharina Schmidt Katharina Staiger Katharina Zundel Sirena Leucht Salome Authrieth Sara Forstner Elizabeth Frank
Jacob Stahl, 2d Gottlieb Bentel John Fritscher
Jacob Fritscher George Fritscher Christoph Martin Gottlieb Bentel, 2d David Lais Rudolph Wolfer
Christian Martin, 2d
Henry Knapper Christian Martin, 3d
Melchior Fischer
Rudolph Keller
Jonathan Wagner
Elizabeth Fauth Katharina Gerhard Jacobina Fauth Juliana Martin Christina Schmid Leade Schule
Hosea Fischer
Wilhelmina Schmidt Frederika Kant
Regina Schafer Salome Erb William Erb
Frederik Zeltmann
Caroline Erb
To be inserted weekly, for three weeks, in the National Gazette, Philadelphia, the Beaver Republican, Cincinnati Gazette, Louisville Adver- tiser, their accounts to be forwarded to the office of the Pittsburgh Gazette.
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