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Return to Milestones Vol. 2, No. 1

Margaret Ewing is an InstructQf of History and Geography at Pennsylvania State University - Beaver. This paper was onginally g1ven at Symposium // in November 1975 at the Community College of Beaver County.

Germany has been a traditional area of religious ferment since the 14th century. Mysticism was a movement of the 15th century influenced by the work of the humanists associated with the Italian Renaissance. Humanists placed emphasis on the value of the individual. The mystics, too, valued the individual but went a step further. To the mystic, religion was a purely personal aspiration of the individual soul seeking unity and harmony with the divine power. Mysticism reflected fervid, personal piety at a time when the Roman Catholic Church had become rigidly bureaucratized and seemingly indifferent to its communicants. Roman Catholic mystics, in their desire to reform religious thouqht and practices, prepared the way for the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. This religious revolution had far-reaching repercussions, particularly on the religious and political structure of Germany itself. It delayed the political unification of German-speaking peoples and divided the myriad German provinces and principalities between Catholic and Lutheran established churches. Luther inadvertently had prepared the way for Separatism. Particularly in Germany, the sectarian revolt took a great variety of forms, with wide divergence in creed as well as in moral and social teaching; such as the Baptist, Mennonite, and Moravian churchles.

Germany, centrally located in Europe, was influenced by more than just religious phenomena. The great intellectual movements ranging from the 16th through the 19th centuries made their imprint on German culture and peoples. Specifically, the political ramifications of rationalism caused great upheaval in Europe, ushering in the Age of Revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars uprooted people and institutions and put European society in a state of flux. Germany could not escape the impact of these shattering events. Reaction came in different forms - one was Pietism. Probably in reaction to rationalism, the German Pietists sought an intense and personal faith and exhibited a zeal for the Christian life. The Harmonists are closely related to these Pietists.

Johann George Rapp was born in 1757 in the small village of lptingen in the duchy of Wurttemberg in southern Germany. The general area was called Swabia. Rapp, an intensely religious person, was influenced by the Pietist thinkers. At the age of twenty-eight he withdrew from the Lutheran Church, the established church of the duchy, and began to have meetings in his home with like-minded neighbors in the village. Rapp, like Luther two centuries before him, thought the church had become too worldly. But unlike Luther and more like the Pietists, he did not see the need for intermediaries between man and God. Interest in Rapp and his beliefs spread. Before long he had become the head of an organized Separatist body with followers from many villages in the duchy.

George Rapp's beliefs were in their formative stage while he was in Germany. His theology evolved as both he and his followers moved to the New World and established three different communities. There is no well-defined creed but we know he did believe in the Second Advent followed by the millennium. Rapp relied on the Book of Revelations for much of his theology. He considered himself a prophet who would prepare an elect group for the Second Coming of Christ; which, he though, was imminent. To this end his group, the Chosen People, would prefer to live in an exclusive community where they could order their lives in accordance with principles emphasizing harmonious, peaceful living. This was impossible in Germany.

The Harmonists, a large, scattered group from many different villages, found themselves harrassed by local church and civil officials because they refused to attend and support the Lutheran Church and sent their children to the schools. The group may have been considered a potential threat to the state for there were attempts to restrict the movement of Rapp among his followers. Because of their pacifist inclinations, Harmonists were often forced to serve in the Napoleonic armies against their will. Conscientious objection served only to antagonize already poor relations with the civil authorities.

The desire to emigrate grew stronger. These were hard-working, thrifty, middle and lower class Germans who had accumulated savings. They could, and did, finance their own emigration. The United States seemed to be a good destination. Some pietist groups had settled there earlier. The absence of an established church, a liberal constitution and social order, and abundant land insured a degree of independence that was impossible to realize in Germany. Their desire to emigrate was motivated more by their dissatisfaction with conditions in Germany than by any attraction offered by the New World. The Harmonists were not expelled by the civil authority. Indeed, their leaving meant a loss of wealth in terms of productivity in the region and income from taxes.

In 1804 George Rapp purchased some three thousand acres of land in Butler County, Pennsylvania, for three dollars an acre. The tract was located about twenty-five miles north of Pittsburgh, on the Conoquenessing Creek about twelve miles from the Ohio River at Beaver, There weren't many settlers in that area; cheap land was available for future expansion. One of the reasons Rapp selected this site was because of its similarity to the biophysical environment of lptingen. Also, the sparseness of settlement would allow the Harmonists to establish an exclusive community in which they could have complete control and could prepare themselves for the Second Advent by living peaceful, productive, harmonious lives.

A year later, in 1805, a formal contract was written by George Rapp, known as the Articles of Agreement, to be presented to his followers who had accompanied him to America.

"In substance the subscribers pledged, first to give absolutely all their property to George Rapp and Associates for the common benefit of the Society; second, to obey all rules and regulations of the community and to labor obediently and unselfishly for its well-being; and third, not to demand any reward for their labor or services in case they should desire to withdraw. In return George Rapp and his Associates pledged, first, to adopt subscribers as members of theAssociation and to provide the privileges of Church and school to all; secondly, to supply subscribers with all necessaries of life, both in sickness and in health, and after their death to provide for their families; and finally, to return to those desiring to withdraw, the value of property contributed, and to provide those who had contributed nothing with a sum of money upon their withdrawal."

The Articles can be considered a constitution establishing a communist, Christian community under the patriarchal leadership of George Rapp. The community of George Rapp and his Associates was one congregation in which the members surordinated their lives to the common goal. The religious purposes of the Society aren't mentioned nor are the rules and regulations spelled out for these were known by the members through the preaching of "Father" Rapp. The Articles were necessary to give legal status to the Society and to protect it from dissolution.

George Rapp and his Associates took a virgin tract of land in western Pennsylvania and imposed their ideal on an agricultural village and their religious principles on it. The result was a community that was well-ordered, prosperous, and attractive. The remarks of visitors to the area reinforce this evaluation.

The way the Harmonists modified their biphysical environment reflected their ethnic background as much as their religious ideals. They not only wanted to preserve the way of life they were accustomed to in Swabia, but to improve upon it also. Villages in southern Germany were highly centralized, with the economic and social life of the villagers centered around the square. People lived in individual houses in patriarchal families. The villages tended to be self-sufficient communities. Villagers were not differentiated by social status; equality was prevalent.

The Harmonists used the same scheme in Butler County with one major change. The grid pattern was used in laying out streets. This was not an innovation. Renaissance town planners adopted the grid pattern, borrowing the idea from classical times. Frederick Rapp, the adopted son of George Rapp and capable business manager of the Society, planned the village of Harmonie and supervised its construction. Located on the south side of the Conoquenessing Creek within an elbow of the creek, it had a square on which were located the church, the service building, and the homes of the more important members of the Society. These homes were usually larger than the structures housing the other members. One large granary was located near the center of the town. Individual houses were spaced evenly on the squares, each house have about a quarter of an acre for a garden, cows, pigs, and poultry. Craft shops and factories were located on the periphery of the village. Orchards, vineyards, and fields surrounded the town. The amount of land owned by the Society tripled in the decade they were at this location. Three satellite farming villages were added as more Germans emigrated.

By 1811 the Society consisted of about eight hundred people. The division of labor in this Christian, communist community can be seen in the following break-down of occupations:

"100 farmers, 3 shepherds, 10 masons, 3 stonecutters, 3 brickmakers, 10 carpenters, 2 sawyers, 10 smiths, 2 wagonmakers,3 turners, 2 nailers, 7 coopers, 3 ropemakers, 10 shoemakers, 2 saddlers, 3 tanners, 7 tailors, 1 soapboiler, 1 brewer, 4 distillers, 1 gardener, 2 gristmillers, 2 oilmakers, 1 butcher, 6 joiners, 6 dyers, dressers, shearers, etc., 1 fuller, 2 hatters, 2 potters, 2 warpers, 17 weavers, 2 carders, 8 spinners, 1 rover, 1 minister of religion, 1 schoolmaster, 1 doctor, 1 storekeeper with 2 assistants and 1 tavernkeeper with 1 assistant."

Frederick Rapp managed the manufacturing establishment and handled all commercial and financial affairs. "Each branch 'of work had a superintendent who managed the affairs in his care under the general direction of the Society, to which he was responsible. There were five master farmers, one master mason, one master shoemaker, one master tailor, and similarly one master craftsman in each of the other branches. The boys in the Society were apprenticed to these men." It is obvious that agriculture was the dominant activity of the Society while they were in Butler County. In 1809, the community purchased some Merino sheep, the first of this breed to be imported into the United States. They were successful in breeding them and eventually had more than a thousand. Woolen cloth was woven for members of the community, but due to the Embargo Act of 1807 and the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809, a demand for domestic cloth existed and the Harmonists had no difficulty marketing their product. The many, versatile skills of these Germans were needed on the frontier and before long the Society was marketing shoes, hats, harnesses, barrels, farm implements, wine, beer, and whiskey.

The social organization of the Society bears some investigation in addition to the economic. The custom of celibacy was begun in 1807. When introduced it was a voluntary practice, agreed upon more from economic and social necessity than for religious beliefs. Periods of gestation and lactation would reduce the labor supply when that supply was often critical. Adding numbers to the Society would place an additional strain on resources and productivity. Perhaps just as important, maintaining the nuclear family seemed a contradiction to the brotherhood and stern equality of their Christian communal ideal. "Celibacy may have been adopted as a temporary measure, but once adopted. Rapp searched out all passages of Scripture in support of the custom." In time, the practice would be strongly encouraged, marriage discouraged.

The nuclear family, then, declined in importance; but individual households were maintained, not necessarily containing a blood family. These artificial family units had a house and quarter acre lot as mentioned above. The nuclear family gradually merged with the community, the latter performing the functions of an extended family.

The spatial patterns of the Harmony Society in their Butler County home are clearly visible.

"The town of Harmonie itself included 150 dwellings, largely brick structures which had soon replaced the early log and frame buildings, six larger and more superior brick houses, a large, comfortable inn, a brick store with vaulted wine cellars, brick weavery, two brick buildings for textile manufacturing, another for dyeing, a woolen factory, a spacious brick meetinghouse, a four-story granary, two distilleries, two flour mills, two fulling mills, an oil mill, hempmill, brewery, blacksmith shop, nail factory, brickyard, potash boilery, and a number of other buildings for various tradesmen. Below the town were four large barns and a number of scattered stables."

The Harmonists maintained a stable eco-system. Their community did not over-tax the biophysical environment. Their modest demands were met through wise husbandry. It wasn't long before the community evolved beyond a self-sustaining economy. Diversified, light industry provided the surrounding countryside with goods and services of high quality. The neat, orderly fields, meadows, streets, and structures reflected the German. cultural heritage of the Harmonists as well as the innerspirit of harmony, and peace that prevailed among them. In pursuing their religious goals, they had created a "garden in the wilderness." In preparing for the Second Advent, they had provided themselves with a community that could meet their physicial needs as well as provide spiritual and social nurturement. Theirs was an isolated, culturally homogeneous, exclusive community, rejecting the material and social values of their English-speaking neighbors, yet providing them with the surplus of their diligent labor. Their religious and social principles were strongly expressed on the landscape of Harmonie in Butler County.

This first community built by the Harmonists can be considered successful in both spiri ' tual and material terms. Why, then, did they move after only ten years in Butler County? Part of the motiviation to leave was economic. The community, with its expanding economic system, was outgrowing its location. It was too far removed from the Ohio River, the major transportation route on which goods moved into and out of the area. Raw cotton from the South and wrought iron and other bulk materials from Pittsburgh had to be transported in to be processed while the surplus products of the community had to be transported out to markets. There was dissatisfaction with the soil and climate for grape growing, a traditional occupation for many of these German people. Part of the motivation was social, also. The general area had filled with settlers, hemming in the Harmonists. Their exclusiveness and success aroused envy and ill-feeling from some of their neighbors which led to unpleasantness occasionally. Their objection to war and serving in the military establishment led to trouble during the War of 1812. Perhaps the real reason for their migration lies more in the intangible sphere. With their success came a laxness in their religious zeal. Wouldn't a move unite them strongly in a common endeavor, renewing their religious beliefs and values? Whatever the reason, and it is probably a combination of all these, the push factor accounts for the relocation of the Harmony Society.

In 1814, seven thousand acres of land were purchased on the Wabash River in the Indiana Territory, seventy miles above the junction of the Wabash with the Ohio River. The location of the site was good. The soil was more fertile than that in Pennsylvania. Moreover, it was readily accessible to river trade. About a hundred men went to the new location to prepare the site. The town was laid out according to the plans of Frederick Rapp. In 1815 the Society was transferred to its new home via flatboats. The town of Harmonie had been sold to a group of Mennonites for a handsome profit.

The cultural landscape of Butler County was transplanted to the Wabash with some minor changes. The town was located on an eibow of that river, giving them water on two sides of the town. The town, larger than Harmonie because of additions of German immigrants, was laid out on a grid pattern. The square was reduced in significance, although the principal buildings - a larqe church, store, granary, inn and large house of George and Frederick Rapp -- were located on it. The houses were built from a common plan revealing traditional Swabian characteristics. A new feature of this town was dormitories, called "dwellings." There were many young people in the society who could not be fitted comfortably into the family structure of the individual houses. They were placed in the dwellings. Each dwelling operated like a single household, providing their own necessities and governing themselves. The dwellings were dispersed throughout the town, their inhabitants working in the factories or craft shops located in the quarter of town in which they live.

Although the land was exceptionally fertile and over two thousand acres were farmed, the emphasis in this community was industrial. Frederick Rapp recognized the value of the mechanical and industrial skills of these Germans and in the new community he elevated the place of crafts and industries. Some of the first steam engines to be used in the west were located here and innovations in machinery and commercial techniques were introduced under the careful guidance of Frederick Rapp. The town became an important asset to the general area, providing valuable services for people; such as ginning cotton and milling flour. Products of the Harmony Society were marketed mostly downriver to Saint Louis and New Orleans since flatboats and keelboats dominated river traffic.

The factories and craft shops were located on the periphery of the town. Shops requiring steam power were clustered around a steam engine. For instance, the cotton mill and flour mill were built end to end, both using the same engine. Farm and outbuildings were placed on the edge of town in close proximity to the orchards, vineyards, fields, pastures, and meadows. Almost all activities of the Harmonists took place within the town itself.

The highly efficient division of labor enabled these industrious people to provide all the requirements of their community and in addition to market a wide variety of products of high quality that were in demand. "Though hundreds of miles away from large markets, the surpluses in 1818 brought 13,141.83 in hard cash." When the Panic of 1819 broke upon the nation and particularly the west suffered a severe economic depression, the Harmony Society merely concentrated its labor in agricultural pursuits, continuing to be a self-sustaining community. This reveals the flexibility and adaptability of the economic structure that struck a nice balance between industry and agriculture.

Once again we see the Harmony Society transforming a virgin tract of land into a town that reflects their religious and social values. Although the economy was more industrialized, the demands on the resources of the area were not over-taxing. The Harmonists created a new eco-system in the twenty thousand acre tract they owned, but they didn't create an unhealthy imbalance in it. They lived in harmony not only with themselves but also with their biophysical environment.

The religious and social principles of the Society remained the same. Yet there was a subtle change in the collective values of the Society with the increased emphasis on industry and the remarkable success of Frederick Rapp's planning and managing. Life in this world became as important as the expectation of and preparation for the Second Advent and the millennium. Evangelical religion was especially prevalent on the frontier, but the Harmonists were not a proselytizing group. They did believe, however, that "it was their destiny to set an illustrious example of the harmony of human relations, the natural cooperative economy of the community of goods, and the peaceful reign of Christian fellowship under such conditions; so that other communities observing this marvel of communal life, would gradually be led to adopt a similar policy." Christian communism, then could bring a Heaven on Earth, as their experience attested.

Their community provided cultural sustenance as well as material and spiritual. The Harmonists enjoyed music, which was a part of their ethnic heritage. The community band played at their festive occasions and on Sunday evenings in the public garden. They sang, their favorite songs of the old world and hymns at work and in their leisure time. Flowers were appreciated by the Harmonists also. Their private and public gardens displayed a variety of flowers that were often cut for indoor enjoyment. Their life reflected a degree of harmony, peace, and prosperity that seemed out of place - an Arcadia of the American frontier.

Yet all was not well on the frontier. The state of Indiana had been formed and demanded from its male inhabitants militia duty. The refusal of Harmonists to comply with the law brought fines. In comparison to their crude, rugged, English-speaking neighbors, the Harmonists were a foreign, culturally homogeneous, exclusive, successful people who were both admired and hated at the same time. Far from markets and socially isolated, the leaders of the Society considered changing location once again. Their eyes turned back to Pennsylvania where there was more tolerance of foreign-spea king people and where they would be closer to certain markets. In 1824, three thousand acres of land were purchased on the Ohio River sixteen miles downriver from Pittsburgh. The situation was advantageous for an industrial community because the river was the main highway to the west and Pittsburgh was a thriving city. This time the pull factor seemed to be critical in the decision to relocate. Robert Owen purchased the town of New Harmony on the Wabash for an experiment in communal living based on his New Moral Order.

By the time the third and last town of the Harmony Society was built, their ideas about town planning and building had matured. The town of Economy can be considered their ideal because money was not a limiting factor in determining their priorities. The chosen name refers to the science of economics and indicates, to some extent, the shift that had occurred in their values, mentioned earlier. This community was predominatly an industrial one, although agricultural activities remained a vital part of their economy.

The Harmony Society was in its fullest bloom from 1825, the year of relocation, to 1847, the year of George Rapp's death. The community is an example of a theocracy headed by George and Frederick Rapp. The latter can be considered general business manager par excellence of the Society while "Father" Rapp was the reigning patriarch and spiritual leader. Major decisions were made by these two men, generally after consultations with members of the Society responsible for the various subdivisions of the economy. George Rapp could not have imposed an autocratic rule on his Associates. We can assume that the myriad decisions that must be made in the everyday business of living were worked out by some sort of informal, democratic way. Each individual household was a microcosm of the larger patriarchy.

One member of each household was appointed "the head" and served as the patriarch for that unit. Equality existed among the "brothers and sisters" of the households and community.

Like its predecessors, the town of Economy was laid out on a grid pattern, with streets running north-south and east-west. The square was eliminated, however. (See Map 111). There were approximately 120 houses, some brick and others frame, located around the outside of the squares. Each house had one-quarter to one-third acre for the garden and livestock needed to support the household. The yards were usually fenced in. The houses were of Swabian design, large enough to house anywhere from three to eleven persons. Entrances to the houses were on the sides, not on the street exterior. The dwellings used on the Wabash were eliminated. Each square had two water systems; drinking water was piped in from a spring, and wash water was pumped from a well. Each square had a bake oven and laundry as well. Later a community oven and washhouse were built.

The industrial and craft shops were dispersed toward the periphery of the town. The harmonists usually lived around the factory, shop, or barn where they worked. The Great House, where George and Frederick Rapp lived, the beautiful garden to its rear, and Grotto were more or less substituted for the traditional square. (See Map IV). The church feast hall, adult school, and museum made up the cultural center of town. Commercial activities were confined to one area. Here is where outsiders conducted their business with the Society. The hotel and subsidiary buildings and doctor's office were located here.

There were four main industrial centers in the town, each located on a corner of the town's exterior. On the northwestern corner near the Ohio River, we find the cotton and flour mill, built end to end. Water was pumped from the river to operate the steam engine that provided power for the machinery used to process cotton and grind wheat. The tanyard was located here alsa because it used a lot of water. A granary was placed in this part of town also. On the southwestern corner by the Ohio River were the woolen mill, fulling mill, and dye house. Steam was needed for power to process wool, so wool-related activities had to be placed near the river. The northeastern corner had the silk mill, cider press, wine press, washhouse, and distillery. The main barns were located on the southeastern corner, although farm buildings were distributed in all quarters of the town. To the north, east, and south of the town were the mulberry garden, vineyards, a thirty-two acre orchard, and fields used for growing cereal grains and grazing. The fields were numbered, probably to designate location and use, and varied in size.

The town plan is remarKably modern. The division of labor is accommodated in an efficient plant that can utilize labor and resources with ease. Towards the center of town we find the government, commercial, religious, and cultural area. On the periphery are the industrial factories. Smaller craft shops are dispersed at convenient locations throughout the town. The homes are located in-between, making the people convenient to both employment and leisure activities, and vice versa.

The cultural landscape of Economy, like the two communities preceeding it, reflected the ethnic background of the Harmonists as well as their religious principles. The influence of southern German architecture is visible even today in some of the structures contained in the museum of Old Economy, located at Ambridge, Pennsylvania. The social order was molded as much by ethnic as religious values. The Harmonists were hard-working people, spending around twelve hours a day at their tasks. This was a noted German trait but it reflected too, the discipline demanded of a people prepraring for Judgment Day. The patriarchal nature of the Society is more ethnic than religious oriented. The Harmonists dressed in clothes of Swabian country and village style. They ate well and enjoyed south German cuisine. Time moved on but the Harmonists kept an unchanging, stable way of life that served them well in all their needs. They enjoyed the fruits of their labor. When the nation suffered a severe economic depression in the late 1830's, the Society adapted its economic structure to meet the situation and maintained its living standards. The versatility of the Harmonists was a source of the Society's strength in times of both prosperity and depression.

At the most, Economy accommodated nine hundred persons. This was the largest the group ever became, yet the amount of land they tilled and used was the smallest. Even so, they were able to provide most of the goods they used. Their husbandry was intelligent, never over-burdening their eco-system. The accumulated wealth of the Society was not invested in building elaborate structures for ostentious display. Since they didn't expect a future other than the Second Coming, there was no need to think of permanency or making any lasting contribution to mankind. Theirs was a simple faith, observed more in their sober, industrious habits than in their ritual. The church at Economy (it is still standing) is a modest structure, the interior relatively plain with little furniture. The beautiful garden behind the Great House contained a stone pavilion that housed a fountain and large, wooden statue of Harmony. This figure represented the spiritual harmony they were attempting to realize here on this earth. The original pavilion (but not the fountain and original statue) exists today. So does the Grotto; a simple, stone structure on the outside; but more like a Greek temple on the inside. Many of their well-constructed, modest, brick structures can be seen today at Old Economy.

There were internal tensions in spite of the seemingly harmonious social order. The stern discipline that prevailed among the Harmonists and the oligarichal rule brought criticism and discontent from within the Society. This culminated in 1832 when about one-third of the members seceded from the Society and settled at the present site of Monaca, Pennsylvania. Economy never recovered its vitality after this schism. Many of those who left were young and newer members of the Society and many of these had an established trade. The remaining members were faithful and reliable but nothing could make up for the loss of numbers. Few children were born and the Society took no new members. Frederick Rapp died in 1834 and with him went the wise, worldly leadership that brought such prosperity to the Harmonists. With the death of George Rapp in 1847, the Society and its manufacturing plant went into rapid decline. Without the patriarchal guidance of this highly respected and authoritative figure, the Society, lost its raison detre. Much of the machinery was obsolete and needed replaced. Rather than hire young Workers and recapitalize, the Society reduced its manufacturing to meet the immediate needs of its members. The industrial community on the Ohio had seen its better days.

In its heyday Economy became an important inland industrial center. The Society had agents stationed throughout the country from New York to New Orleans handling the extensive business. The products of the Society were known for their good quality. Demand increased the wider the products were distributed. With the introduction of steamboats on the rivers, commerce was stimulated by reduced transportation costs. Raw materials were purchased and transported to Pennsylvania. Wool, cotton, and grain were the major imports of the community. They manufactured and sold wood, cotton, and silk cloth, whiskey, wine, beer, flour, hats, shoes, furniture, and other articles. Pittsburgh was the largest close market; many of their products were sent there. Local inhabitants in Beaver County traveled to Economy to purchase such items as shoes, furniture, hats, cloth, beer, wine, and whiskey. Economy was recognized as an important example of the benefits of industrialization. Frederick Rapp was consulted in matters concerning tariffs, internal improvements, and economic development by state and national leaders.

Under the capable supervision of Frederick Rapp, the Society accumulated wealth. After the death of George Rapp, the trustees of the Society undertook financial investment in promising business ventures. Capital was invested in real estate, oil and railroads.

"It had one of the first companies in the oil business, drilling wells right after Drake. It invested in railroads and at one time owned major parts of five, the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie being the most important .... The Society bought land at the falls of the Beaver River and built the town of Beaver Falls. It carefully nourished this city, building a bank (which is still in business) and several factories, and helped Geneva College to move there. It can be said that there was hardly a business in the area which was not helped by the Harmony Society."

The economic impact of the Harmonists was greater than the spiritual. The exclusive nature of their Society, due partly to ethnic and partly to religious values, isolated them no matter where their community was located. Their peculiar social practices made them the target of suspicion, intolerance, and hatred. Their remarkable prosperity earned them envy and jealousy. Relations with the "outside world" were often strained and occasionally violent. At a time when Jacksonian Democracy stressed conformity to a democratic social pattern, the Harmonists exhibited an exclusive, peculiar way of life that seemed undemocratic and out of place in the republic.

Although the Harmonists participated in some community affairs, they usually kept to themselves in their own world. This world was a far different one and held few attractions for the majority of people. A few persons expressed a desire to join the Society and live in the community. Outsiders were taken in from time to time. But their mission was not to convert the unfaithful or disbelievers; rather to prepare themselves for the Second Coming of Christ. If they could set an example for others to follow all well and good, but this was not the purpose of their lives. Their way of life contrasted greatly with the social milieu of the United States. They were, truly, an anachronism.