Today we went down to Old Economy Village, the Harmonist community that thrived here during the 1800s. Located in the Ohio River town of Ambridge just north of Pittsburgh, it is about 20 minutes from Cranberry.
Economy was the third and final home of the Harmony Society, one of the most successful Christian communal groups of the 19th century.
Seeking religious and economic freedom, in 1804 nearly 600 Society members traveled to Pennsylvania from the southwestern corner of modern day Germany. The Harmonists first settled in Butler county, then moved to the Indiana territory in 1814. They returned to Pennsylvania in 1924 and built Oekonomie (Economy) on the Ohio River. Within 5 years they had erected brick houses, a church, mills, factories, shops, a natural history museum, and a community feast hall.
It was essentially a commune whose members were religiously pious and economically prosperous. Despite their prosperity, because they were celibate, only a handful of the Harmonists survived to the 1890s, and the Society was legally dissolved in 1905.
George Rapp, the founder of the Harmony Society, thought himself a prophet. At least, he was a visionary.
Me and a Harmonite look alike before George's home.
Other than the celibacy thing, the Harmonites lived well compared to the pioneers around them. When you joined the group you gave them all of your money and were guaranteed food, shelter, education and medical care for the rest of your life. Everyone worked and women were treated the same as men. You could leave the group but were given only $20 on your departure. Considering the extraordinary wealth of the Harmonites, some ex-Harmonites often tried rob the vaults of money stored in the basement of George Rapp's home.
They liked music!
And gardens ...
Found a sour cherry tree out there.
A rain barrel ...
Spinning ...
A communal kitchen with several huge vats for cooking stews ...
A blacksmith ...
Note the vents that can be raised from the roof of the communal kitchen ...
John was impressed with the rain gutter cut right into the stone ...
A big feast hall ...
At least they were not teetotalers. This is the impressive wine cellar ...
Spinning silk from cocoons of silk worms.
John trying out the stilts ...
More toys from the era though there were very few children. Despite the celibacy, they said that "things happened" and every year or so a child was born. No one was kicked out for breaking the rule.
A bath tub!
There were more tour guides there than tourists. We had the place to ourselves with personal demonstrations and explanations. It seems that the Harmonites were similar to the Shakers communities, and had conversations with them about the right way to live. The Harmonites believed that the 2nd Coming was imminent and were trying to live as "perfect" of a life as they could. The lived simply and worked hard. If not for the celibacy thing, they would surely have continued to thrive to this day.
They do seem similar to the Shakers. Shakers had a certain style and were very inventive. If someone wanted to marry, they were sent off with an amount of money. Orphans were adopted, but had to choose to remain as part of the Shaker community.
ReplyDeleteThe Protestant monastics at Ephrata colony were more austere. They were also of German origin.
I can't help but to compare them to various Catholic orders that come over during the 1800s - the Jesuits, Benedictines, and many orders of nuns. The Catholic orders were also celibate, but they seemed to have attracted more people from the community to join them. Also - and this seems major to me - the Catholic orders worked WITH the communities, integrating with and serving the local communities with schools, hospitals. The Harmonites, though, kept themselves separate. In fact, they were in competition with the local community. When they went to Indiana they complained that the locals were unfriendly toward them because they monopolized the trade in that area.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I remember, the Shakers were more involved in their respective communities. The Harmonites sound in this way more like the Amish.
ReplyDeleteAt least they were all pacifists, which is rather unusual for religious groups. The Harmonites paid a tax rather than serve in the Civil war. Of course, they had the money ...
ReplyDelete