' - . ' , - , . . ' . 'vp.- ?-r .
VOLUME IH.
NEWBERN, N. C. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER J 6, 1820.
NUMBER 130.
t
PHIXTED AND PUBLISHED WEEKLY, BY
PASTEUR 4 WATSON,
At $ 3 per arinura half in advance.
Ei , . , .... . ,
MISCELLANEOUS.
THE HARMONY SOCIETY.
The following extracted from a letter
ftom a gentleman travelling in the Wes
tern country, is the'best account we have
seen of one of the most extraordinary
associations of which we have any knowl
edge. It is not the less interesting, but
perhaps the more so, because it is an un
studied composition, describing, as they
arose in his mind, the first impressions
frotn what trie writer saw and heard.
The moral of this narrative is very
impressive. Industry and perseverance,
and concerted action, will accomplish al-
most any thing
Harmony, Indiana, July 28, 1 820.
About 4 miles from this place, I
came upon the fine body of landsbe
longing to tbe society of the-Har-monites,whohave
built and inhabit
, this spacious town. This Society
came from the Kingdom of Wirtem
bsrg, in Germany, about 16 years
. ago, and bought land and built a
fl lurishing town on the river Uieg
hany 25 miles N.W. of Pittsburg.
About six years ago they sold their
town and possession s there, consist
ing of about 6,000 acres of land, for
a sum sufficient to enable them to
buy from theUnited States, an in
dividual proprietors, their present
domain, which ro isists of more than
25,000 acres of the finest land in In
diana, Extending about ten miles up
and down the Wabash, and between
three and four from the river. Five
years ago' they removed in , a bodv
to this Ti ilderness, and in thit short
space, htve cleared more than 3,000
acres; of land for cultivation, and
bui!t a town' sufficient to accomo
date the whole Society, consisting
now of about 800 iOuls. 1 he hou
ses first buiir were rude, being mide
of logs and covered with split . boards
in other words to use the phrase! of
this country, cabin-rooffed, though
inside made comfortable, by being
plaistered and white-washed, and
furnished with glass windows.
Such were the houses built on an
elevated, dry, and sandy plain, one
half rnile from the Wabash, on rec
tangular streets- of a convenient
width. The Wabash runs .here a
a course east of south, though; its
general course is west of south?
It yields now, for the purpo'(.of
navigation, from 18 inches to 2 feet
water. They are already improv
ing theppearance of the town by
. excellent brick and frame buildings ;
and, in due time, no doubt will de
molish their logged houses, and sub
stitute others of better and more
.durable materials. They have al
ready erected a very handsome
- church of frame-work and large
size with a steeple -and town
f cl?k and a bell two mills, a steam
i mill, for the accommodation of the
town, of twelve-horse cower, anrl
for the purpose of managing carding
machines and fulling their cloths.--There
is a large Island south-west
of the town, made by a great bend
of the river, across which a current
of the Wabash passes, yielding a
fall of 4 l-2: feet. They liave avail
ed themselves of this circumstance
to build on it a merchant -mill, for
country work of large size.' They
have erected about 4 miles south of
the town, on one stream, a saw mill ;
and another on a creek now dry,
which passes, to the east of the town,
to , the Wabash. They have also
built a large and extensive house to
accommodate thir old German pas
tor or patriach, Mr. Rapp, and his
family, which now consists of his
fe, his son, a daughter, and a
grand-daughter by a deceased son.
1 hey have entensive apple orchards
oegmmng to bear, aqd peathes and
plumbs they will havein abundance
tn a year or two. They have built
stow their havy
vicldinK 25 4 bush-
els of wheat to the
and are
acre,
building more ; they make also large !
croD3 ot corn on their rich Dotfom
mm
land ; they have also . extensive
meadows and clover fields, and
sheep-walks on th hilly grounds
The island formed byrthe stream on
which their merchant milU is built,
is used for grazing ground,7 where
they keep their cattle and. horses
not immediately required for use.
It contains about 2,500 acres, and
the circumference ofihe .-Wabash
about it is equal to 12,miiesJ
They have aUo a, grand garden
of show and parade in the, centre
of vwhich is a summer-house of a ro-
I tund figure, with four windows, !
neatly plaistered ahd furnished with
in, though of grotesque appearance
on the outside, being covered with
misshapen knobs of" wood, inter
spersed, with fragments of stone re
sembling pumice. The walks are
bizarre, and irregularly serpentine,
filled with flowers, shrubberies anoL
trees, with hedges of pears, in' es
palier, and various other trees, wild
and crarden- withall. a dull and
large granaries to
crops, their lands
German tasters displayed, & great i weather, before the spring requires
labor is expended. But the most 1 the 1X1 111 the field 9J tor other work
beautiful imarovement is their vine- 1 A common idea prevails in the coun-
yards, particularly two one on the i
hills south of the town, which alto- 1 discouraged, even m rae marnea
gether contain ten acres in high cul- I sttUe that a l,fe of celibacy is deem
tivatioo in this year, thouch. but the ! ed praise-worthy, and is scrupulous-
fourth in full bearing, will, no doubt
yield a plentiful crop, of wine.
Already the Burgundy grape be- j
. But the grape pre- !
of the Cane of Oood :
gina to ripen
iered is that
Hope being found most congenial )
with Chetclimate. They sell none, '
eat nnnp' hnr Ven.tilUfnr win nr i
which they furnished me some quite
.ai-ui. -i
luiciauic, uiuKiug a very uieasant
beverage with sugar and water. !
They have all sorts of trades. Their !
blacksmiths and sWmalc,-!- xro nrP.
ferred throughout the whole state.
These employ fifteen persons each.
In fact, it is impossible to enumer
ate a trade in' which they have, not
ble proficients ; they have a com- j
mon school for the education of the j
children, who receive instruction to
suit the vocation to which they may
be destined, which is determiendjby
the Patriach, and the most wise and
experienced of the Society. They
are now building a large granary of
stone, which they quarry at great
expense on their own lands and have
their own stone cutters and stone
masons, as well as brickma
kers and bricklayers. Every man
has his separate tra de which he pur
sues solely, and one tracje never en
quires what the others are doing;
and every person is or affects to be
ignorant of any but his own busi
ness. The gardners know nothing
but what concerns their duties -so
it is with the vignerons. Two men
aue found suflicient to manage . the
vineyards, which are kept in fine or
der ;l and: two their garden. Be
sides each house has its little garden
spot filled with vines and fruit trees,
and garderi stuff and attached to
each is a stable for a cow or two,
proportioned to the size of the fam
There seem to be about' 40 mn
employed in farming labor, assisted
by a proportion of boys, and in. har
vest and clearing.land, by the wo
menlwho burn the brush. But the
women spend much of their time at
home, to cook, wash, milk," and pro
vide for their families, and. whatev
er they may make when at their hou
ses is considered as their peculium.
Whatever is made from the farm,
the orchards, the trades the mills,
and a large store kept in the town,
is considered as common property
tor the common advantage, bach
family fs supplied with provisions
to salt in the fall : and, in the sum
mer and winter, with fresh meat by
me butchers and with what flour
and meal they need from the steam
mill. Each tradesman deposits with
the storekeeper all the money he re
ceives for any artide sold in his
line ; the storekeeper seems to be
the receiver, and the son of the Pat
riach the Cashier, and both are re
ally very capable and intelligent
men, ; and this store is continually
crowded by customers'from the sur-
rounding4 cornpany, supplying all
their wants r-sugar, salt, iron, &c.
and no doubt carries on a most prof-
c ret is to know how this complex
machine is moved with such system
and regularity as to produce such
great "and beneficial results. There
is a mystery certainly in their social
organization and government ; they
pretend however that there is atone,
and that every individual performs
the task for which he is qualified,
without any guidanee but his own
sense of propriety. This is
undoubtedly a fact, that you
see no idlers men,' women, boys, or
orirls : but every person seems to
be moving with alacrity. & diligence
m tne Diisiness ior, wnicn ne or sne
- .11 J C 11 1
is adapted. They. dress plain, but
clean ; the apparel being ' altogeth
er of the useful and nest the orna
mental kind, and suitable to work
ing persons. At this season of the
year, the men wear straw hats made
of wheaten or oaten straw, which
hats are made in the winter, by the
boys from six to twelveyears, of
age, dunng.the long nights and cold
try round about tha5 marriage is
ly ODservea in
some
instances byl
- 1
those united ; - by which means the
Society
avoids havinn:
too many
young children at any one ,time to
attend to and educate. But what-
i. -
evcrmay. be -the ettucts ol
strain t, in this respect, this
sity of nature cannot be enti
t selwe-
propen-
notj be entire iv sub-
i"' ,1.? d; me streets bllea
f.with children of rail aces. The wo-
i i, i
men understand, here as wellas
elsewhere, the destination intended
for th c by nature, and are as well
uispuscu il s uu hi li. iu lis iaws,aiiu 11
now & then they impose a restraint
upon their natural- feelings, it must
proceed from calculations of duty
to the society not to add too rapidly
to its numbers. It is certain the
men and women marry when they
please Their form of marriage is
simple, consisting in an enunciation
in the church by the patriarch of the
intention of the parties, a short time
before the intended union, that they
nave, agreea to take one another as
man and wife. Their, burials are
as simple. They say no ceremo
nies can assist the dead, and all that
is necessary is to deposit the body in
the grave, attened Only by those ne
cessary to do this act, their cardinal
maxim being, that every moment
of- time ought to be filled
with useful labors. yBy adhere-
mg to this maxim they perform
imngs mat astonisn the whole c oun
try., and by their simple and frugal
living by their labor and industry
and prudence and industry of those
intrusted with the higher functions
of ihe society, parjticulurlythat which
relates to the care and management
of their money, they are becoming
daily wonderfully rich. To prevent
depredations on theirs orchards and
vineyards, they are "enclosed with
lolty strong and expensive pales
sharpened at the top. They lead a
very temperate life, living on plain
food and drinking nothing but wa
ter, and ocasionally, when wet, or
sick, a few glasses of home made
wine, or a strong and bitter beer
made at a brewery which they also
have in their town. 'ftlanyr curious
things are said about this people, a
mngst others, that the young, men
of the neighboring country dare" not
venture to court any of the harmon
ite damsels fearful, if .they were
detedted in such an attempt, that the
men would rise, with common con
sent, and whip them out of the town,
I asked a countryman, seeing how
flourishing this people were, wheth
er there was no disposition amongst
the neighboring inhabitants to join
them? ;. No, he said; they could
not stand their system ; nor was it
believed that the Harmonites would
either, if they were not in a state of
bondage, I asked him whether; the
young women had no inclination to
join the society ? No he said ; they
were too fond of the men to do that;
so that there is little chance of this
society increasing by proselytism.-
the most thorough contempt of the
American character, believing, that
one Harmonite in -a year will do
more work than three Americans,
and will, . moreover, save ' for the
common purse what he-earns.
They are;intelligent arid keen- in
the pursuit of money ; and by their
trades, their mills, and there store,
make a great deal, as well as by a
large and commodious tavern which
they have erected in this place
which contains excellent rooms for
sitting, eating, and lodging, all kept
in the most comfortable style of
neatness St cleanliness. They keep
no spfrituous liquors, but, furmish
wine foreign and home, made, and a
strong beer brewed by themselves.
I counted twenty neat and . comfort
able beds for the accommodation of
travellers, of whom man visit them
by land and by water, ,'.
Travellers are much indebted to
them for this ttablish merit ; for
here he findstlquiet and comfort ;
and here he mid;ht stay for weeks,'
and every day find something new
to gratify his curiosity. There is
one difficulty few of the inhabitants
speak any other ' language but1 the
German, and I deem myself vere
unfortunate from the absence of the
patriarch's son who speaks the En
glish fluently, andUs universally es
teemed and respected throughout
the state ; and is in reality, I be
lieve, not only the primer minister.
ibuf his father is regarded as the soul
bf this singular association Many
suspicious country people insinuate,
that, as the, title to. this immense
nronertv. Ton wnich the improve
ments alone are" worth S 200,000,)
is vested in the patriarch, he and his
family are the sole proprietors and
lords of the manor, and the other
members vassals, and are
held
in a kind of bondage. But, from
the comfortable & contented manner
in which "the whole society live,
there can be no oundation for this
suspicion No doubt the patriarch
and his deserving son have acquir
ed the high respect, and esteem of
his society, and from ?their assidui
ty, fidelity, and attention to its in
terests, have or they ought to have,
great influence in the regulation of
its concerns. Certainly there is no
thing like this society in the United
States, or in any other .part of the
world. In the primitive patriarchal
ages .it Js likely that ascociations
somewhat similar may have exist
ed, but not in all respects like this:
When they first came to. the Uni
ted States the members of this asso
ciation were poor, and suspected,
and frowned upoii by their neigh
bors, and submitted to great , priva
tions lor a time. At that time par
ticularly it was recommended to
mjiried and single to lead a life of
celibacy, which -was observed till
they grew to be rich and flourishing.
The same policy was pursued five
years ago when they removed to the
wilderness on the Wabash ; but,
from present appearances, they seem
to be relaxing from this restraint
It is certain, marriage is not encour
aged by the patriarch ; but it is not
prevented except by, advice. They
consider the p. operty as common
property though, I suspect that
there is a record kept of the origi
nal contributionjof each associate ;
that, if ever a dissolution bf the so
ciety takes place, each party may
receive nis suarc. n
breaks off from the society, he for
feits his share. They nver expel
member ; but if he behave amrss,
two or three times, he is treated
with so much neglect as to
be obliged to leave it. I saw
young Mr. Rapp for half an hour
this evening just returned home,
I find by him that they have, some
system of government.' They meet
pwrv Wednesday eveninir toenauire
into the situation of their affairs, and
kdopt measures suited, to the occa -
sion, which are no doubt dictated by
the patriarch and . a. few of the
more discerning devoted to him.
When oldv Mr. Rapp who is
the present head dies, it is tho't by
many the society will dissolve there
.being no person deemed competent
to conduct such an ascociation but
himselfl- :
J Another cause may contribute to
its dissolution. The young men
and women, boys and girls, beginto
acquire some knowledge of thej En
glish tongue and as communicadon
'with the natives shall be facilitated
they may feel more inclined .to the
freedom, and independence of the
h American mode of living. It. is
therefore probablej .that, whenever
.i i i. ..:
tne oia patnarcn iana nis yerman
followers shall cease to live" an as
cociation founded on the subjugation
of the common inclinations and pro ;
pensities of our nature will no loh
ger exist ; and that this society havs
ing beenjnstituted by the present
head will the with it. . It has, how
ever bestowed a great blessing on
Indiana thev have taught them the.
art of agriculture, and every other
useful art, and shewn them what pa
tient labour, r frugality and sobriety
can effect. u
Mr. Kapp says-the culture of the
vine is unprofitable in' this country,
but, some of the members being bred
up to that business, they have deem
ed it necessary to indulge , them in
their propensity.
FROM THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PATRIOT.
THE SHAKERS.
The Society of Shakers at Canterburry,
in this state, own in that town more than
1600 acres of land, mostly under high
cultivation, and connected in one frater
nal whole. It is beautifully divided into
equal lots, large in extent, and. walled in
with great safety, appropriate for arable,
tillage, orcharding, &c. throughout the
whole, reign the most perfect regularity
and neatness ; every thing has its allot-:
ted place, and every laborer his appoin
ted task which he executes not only
without murmuring or dissatisfaction, but
with cheerfulness and alacrity seldom
witnessed among other men.
In 'every department oneees the evi
dence of an internal policy as wise and
beneficial as it is concealed and -unknown
to the world. And however his feelings
may revolt at some of their principles, in
regard to congugal life, the stranger it
constrained to own that something, must
be materially right, where so much grace
ful hospitality abounds rwhere wealth)
constantly flows in upon the little cora
munity, which health was hardly evec
known to forsake. . -
DISTRESSING ACCIDENT.
Newton, (N. Y.) Aug. l6.
On Tuesday the 8th instant, Mr. John
C. Smith, who resides in Troupsburgh,
Steuben county, accidentally shot his
wife. The particulars were related to us
by Mr. Smith .himself. On Monday
morning the 7UV he discovered some
deer in the meadow adjoining his house,
and on Tuesday' morning he arose very
early, with a view of endeavoring to kill
them, but it being yet dark he went to
bed again ; some time after he got up
a second time, and from Hi door he saw
a deer feeding ; he immediately took,
down his rifle, but as it was rather dark
to shoot with certainty, he wafted a few
minutes. In the mean time he prepared
liis piece by fresh priming ; and at the
instant he was rising to shoot the deer,
bis rifle accidentally slipped from his
hands, and in endeavoring to recover it
in his right hand, struck the cock, when
it went off, and the whole contents passed
tlnbugh the left shoulder and head of his
wife, rwho lay sleeping in the bed, with
her child of about eleven months old in
her arms, which was preserved from tUe
fate other mother. The feelings of the
bereaved husband at this time, can be
better conceived than described.
He seized his infant in a state of dis
traction, and carrying it, ran to his fa
ther's, about a mile distant, (being the
nearest neighbour,) and related the
dreadful catastrophe. The eighlx urs
immediately collected at the fatal s;;ot,
and fnnnd Mrs. Smith lifeless in bed
Mr. and Mrs. Smith were youug people
they had not been married two yea's,
and it ts said thev have lived together in
u ,rtCt hannv and aereeable mannf r
j We hope this melancholy accident ni.-y
i have a tendency to make people, mis
careful in handling fire arwK
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