The Communistic Societies of the United States: From Personal Visit and ObservationNordhoff, Charles
History
The Communistic Societies of the United States: From Personal Visit and Observation
Nordhoff, Charles
Collective settlements -- United States
But perfect happiness is not for this world. In 1831 came to Economy a
German adventurer, Bernhard Müller by right name, who had assumed the
title _Graf_ or Count Maximilian de Leon, and had gathered a
following of visionary Germans, whom he imposed, with himself, upon the
Harmonists, on the pretense that he was a believer with them in
religious matters. He proved to be a wretched intriguer, who brought
ruin on all who connected themselves with him; and who began at once to
make trouble in Economy. Having secured a lodgment, he began to announce
strange doctrines, marriage, a livelier life, and other temptations to
worldliness; and he finally succeeded in effecting a serious division,
which, if it had not been prudently managed, might have destroyed the
community. After bitter disputes, in which at last affairs came to such
a pass that a vote had to be taken, in order to decide who were faithful
to the old order and to Rapp, and who were for Count Leon, an agreement
was come to. "We knew not even who was for and who against us," said Mr.
Henrici to me; "and I was in the utmost anxiety as I made out the two
lists; at last they were complete; all the names had been called; we
counted, and found that five hundred were for Father Rapp, and two
hundred and fifty for Count Leon. Father Rapp, when I told him the
numbers, with his usual ready wit, quoted from the book of Revelation,
'And the tail of the serpent drew the third part of the stars of heaven,
and did cast them to the earth.'"
The end of the dispute was an agreement, under which the society bound
itself to pay to those who adhered to Count Leon one hundred and five
thousand dollars, in three installments, all payable within twelve
months; the other side agreeing, on their part, to leave Economy within
three months, taking with them only their clothing and household
furniture, and relinquishing all claims upon the property of the
society. This agreement was made in March, 1832; and Leon and his
followers withdrew to Phillipsburg, a village ten miles below Economy,
on the other side of the river, which they bought, with eight hundred
acres of land.
Here they set up a society on communistic principles, but permitting
marriage; and here they very quickly wasted the large sum of money they
received from the Harmonists; and after a desperate and lawless attempt
to extort more money from the Economy people, which was happily
defeated, Count Leon absconded with a few of his people in a boat to
Alexandria on the Red River, where this singular adventurer perished of
cholera in 1833. Those he had deluded meantime divided the Phillipsburg
property among themselves, and set up each for himself, and a number
afterward joined Keil in forming the Bethel Community in Missouri, of
which an account will be found in another place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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