History of American Socialisms

by John Humphrey Noyes

CHAPTER XXII.

THE VOLCANIC DISTRICT.[ToC]

Western New York was the region that responded most vigorously to the gospel of Fourierism, proclaimed by Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin and the Brook Farmers.

Taking Rochester for a center, and a line of fifty miles for radius, we strike a circle that includes the birth-places of nearly all the wonderful excitements of the last forty years. At Palmyra, in Wayne County, twenty-five miles east of Rochester, Joseph Smith in 1823 was visited by the Angel Moroni, and instructed about the golden plates from which the book of Mormon was copied; and there he began the gathering which grew to be a nation and settled Utah. Batavia, about thirty miles west of Rochester, was the scene of Morgan's abduction in 1820; which event started the great Anti-Masonic excitement, that spread through the country and changed the politics of the nation. At Acadia, in Wayne County, adjoining Palmyra, the Fox family first heard the mysterious noises which were afterward known as the "Rochester rappings," and were the beginning of the miracles of modern Spiritualism. The Rochester region has also been famous for its Revivals, and borders on what Hepworth Dixon has celebrated as the "Burnt District."

In this same remarkable region around Rochester, occurred the greatest Fourier excitement in America. T.C. Leland, writing from that city in April 1844, thus described the enthusiasm: "I attended the socialistic Convention at Batavia. The turn-out was astonishing. Nearly every town in Genesee County was well represented. Many came from five to twelve miles on foot. Indeed all western New York is in a deep, a shaking agitation on this subject. Nine Associations are now contemplated within fifty miles of this city. From the astonishing rush of applications for membership in these Associations, I have no hesitation in saying that twenty thousand persons, west of the longitude of Rochester in this State, is a low estimate of those who are now ready and willing, nay anxious, to take their place in associative unity."

Mr. Brisbane traveled and lectured in this excited region a few months before Mr. Leland wrote the above. The following is his report to the Phalanx:

"It will no doubt be gratifying to those who take an interest in the great idea of a Social Reform, to learn that it is spreading very generally through the State of New York. I have visited lately the central and western parts of the State, and have been surprised to see that the principles of a reform, based upon Association and unity of interests, have found their way into almost every part of the country, and the farmers are beginning to see the truth and greatness of a system of dignified and attractive industry, and the advantages of Association, such as its economy, its superior means of education, and the guaranty it offers against the indirect and legalized spoliation by those intermediate classes who now live upon their labor.

"The conviction that Association will realize Christianity practically upon earth, which never can be done in the present system of society, with its injustice, frauds, distrust, and the conflict and opposition of all interests, is taking hold of many minds and attracting them strongly to it. There is a very earnest desire on the part of a great number of sincere minds to see that duplicity which now exists between theory and practice in the religious world, done away with; and where this desire is accompanied with intelligence, Association is plainly seen to be the means. It is beginning to be perceived that a great social reformation must take place, and a new social order be established, before Christianity can descend upon earth with its love, its peace, its brotherhood and charity. The noble doctrine propounded by Fourier, is gaining valuable disciples among this class of persons.

"I lectured at Utica, Syracuse, Seneca Falls, and Rochester, and although the weather was very unfavorable, the audiences were large. At Rochester I attended a convention of the friends of Association, interested in the establishment of the Ontario Phalanx. Men of intelligence, energy and strong convictions, are at the head of this enterprise, and it will probably soon be carried into operation. A very heavy subscription to the stock can be obtained in Rochester and the vicinity, in productive farms and city real estate, for the purpose of organizing this Association; but, owing to the scarcity of money, it is difficult to obtain the cash capital requisite to commence operations. From the perseverance and determination of the men at the head of the undertaking, it is presumed, however, that this difficulty will be overcome. Those persons in the western part of the State of New York, who wish to enter an Association, can not be too strongly recommended to unite with the Ontario Phalanx.

"It is very advisable that the friends of the cause should not start small Associations. If they are commenced with inadequate means, and without men who know how to organize them, they may result in failures, which will cast reproach upon the principles. The American people are so impelled to realize in practice any idea which strikes them as true and advantageous, that it will of course be useless to preach moderation in organizing Associations; still I would urgently recommend to individuals, for their own interest, to avoid small and fragmental undertakings, and unite with the largest one in their section of the country.

"Four gentlemen from Rochester and its vicinity will be engaged this winter in propagating the principles of Association by lectures etc., in western New York. At Rochester they have commenced the publication of tracts upon Association, which we trust will be extensively circulated. That city is becoming an important center of propagation, and will, we believe, exercise a very great influence, as it is situated in a flourishing region of country, inhabited by a very intelligent population.

"It must be deeply gratifying to the friends of Association to see the unexampled rapidity with which our principles are spreading throughout this vast country. Would it not seem that this very general response to, and acceptance of, an entirely new and radically reforming doctrine by intelligent and practical men, prove that there is something in it harmonizing perfectly with the ideas of truth, justice, economy and order, and those higher sentiments implanted in the soul of man, which, although so smothered at present, are awakened when the correspondences in doctrine or practice are presented to them clearly and understandingly?

"The name of Fourier is now heard from the Atlantic to the Mississippi; from the remotest parts of Wisconsin and Louisiana responsive echoes reach us, heralding the spread of the great principles of universal Association; and this important work has been accomplished in a few years, and mainly within two years, since Horace Greeley, Esq., the editor of the Tribune, with unprecedented courage and liberality, opened the columns of his widely-circulated journal to a fair exposition of this subject. What will the next ten years bring forth?"

Mr. John Greig of Rochester, a participator in this socialistic excitement and in the experiments that went with it, contributed the following sketch of its beginnings to Macdonald's collection of manuscripts:

"We in western New York received an account of the views and discoveries of (the to-be-illustrious) Fourier, through the writings of Brisbane, Greeley, Godwin and the earnest lectures of T.C. Leland. Those ideas fell upon willing ears and hearts then (1843), and thousands flocked from all quarters to hear, believe, and participate in the first movement.

"This excitement gathered itself into a settled purpose at a convention held in Rochester in August 1843, which was attended by several hundred delegates from the city and neighboring towns and villages. A great deal of discussion ensued as a matter of course, and some little amount of business was done. The nucleus of a society was formed, and committees for several purposes were appointed to sit in permanence, and call together future conventions for further discussions.

"I was one of the Vice Presidents of that convention, and took a decided interest in the whole movement. As there existed from the very beginning of the discussions some diversity of opinion on several points of doctrine and expediency, there arose at least four different Associations out of the constituents of said convention. Those who were most determined to follow as near the letter of Fourier as possible, were led off chiefly by Dr. Theller (of 'Canadian Patriot' notoriety), Thomas Pond (a Quaker), Samuel Porter of Holly, and several others of less note, including the writer hereof. They located at Clarkson, in Monroe County. The other branches established themselves at Sodus Bay in Wayne County, at Hopewell near Canandaigua in Ontario County, at North Bloomfield in Ontario County, and at Mixville in Alleghany County."

The Associations that thus radiated from Rochester, hold a place of peculiar interest in the history of the Fourier movement, from the fact that they made the first, and, we believe, the only practical attempt, to organize a Confederation of Associations. The National Convention, as we have seen, recommended general Confederation; and its executive committee afterward, through Parke Godwin, made suggestions in the Phalanx tending in the same direction. The movement, however, came to nothing, and at the subsequent National Convention in October, was formally abandoned. But the Rochester group of Associations, attracted together by their common origin, actually formed a league, called the "American Industrial Union," and a Council of their delegates held a session of two days at the domain of the North Bloomfield Association, commencing on the 15th of May, 1844. The Phalanx has an interesting report of the doings of this Confederate Council, from which we give below a liberal extract, showing how heartily these western New Yorkers abandoned themselves to the spirit of genuine Fourierism:

FROM THE REPORT OF THE SESSION OF THE INDUSTRIAL UNION.

"Resolved, That it be recommended to the several institutions composing this Confederacy to adopt, as far as possible, the practice of mutual exchanges between each other; and that they should immediately take such measures as will enable them to become the commercial agents of the producing classes in the sections of the country where the Associations are respectively located.

Classification of Industry.

"Resolved, That in the opinion of the council, the first step towards organization should be an arrangement of the different branches of agricultural, mechanical and domestic work, in the classes of necessity, usefulness and attractiveness. The exact category in which an occupation shall be placed, will be influenced more or less by local circumstances, and is, at best, somewhat conjectural. It will be indicated, however, with certainty, by observation and experience. In the meantime, the council take the liberty to express an opinion, that to the

Class of Necessity.

belong, among others, the following, viz.: ditching, masonry, work in woolen and cotton factories, quarrying stone, brickmaking, burning lime and coal, getting out manure, baking, washing, ironing, cooking, tanning and currier business, night-sawing and other night work, blacksmithing, care of children and the sick, care of dairy, flouring, hauling seine, casting, chopping wood, and cutting timber.

Class of Usefulness.

"All mechanical trades not mentioned in the class of necessity; agriculture, school-teaching, book-keeping, time of directors while in session, other officers acting in an official capacity, engineering, surveying and mapping, store-keeping, gardening, rearing silk-worms, care of stock, horticulture, teaching music, housekeepers (not cooks), teaming.

Class of Attractiveness.

"Cultivation of flowers, cultivation of fruit, portrait-and landscape-painting, vine-dressing, poultry-keeping, care of bees, embellishing public grounds.

Groups and Series.

"The Council recommend to the different Associations the following plan for the organization of groups and series, viz.:

"1. Ascertain, for example, the whole number of members who will attach themselves to, or at any time take part in, the agricultural line. From this number, organize as many groups as the business of the line will admit.

"2. We recommend the numbers 30, 24, 18, as the maximum rank of the classes of necessity, usefulness and attractiveness.

"The series should then be numbered in the order in which they are formed, and the groups in the same manner, beginning 1, 2, 3, &c., for each series.

"Mechanical series can be organized, embracing all the different trades employed by the Association, in the same manner; and if the groups can not be filled up at once with adults, we would recommend to the institutions to fill them sufficiently for the purpose of organization, with apprentices.

"Each group should have a foreman, whose business it should be to keep correct accounts of time, superintend and direct the performance of work, and maintain an oversight of working-dresses, etc.

"There should be one individual elected as superintendent of the series, whose business it should be to confer with the farming committee of the board, and inform the different foremen of groups, of the work to be done, and inspect the same afterwards.

"The council is thoroughly satisfied that all the labor of an Association should be performed by groups and series, and although the combined order can not be fully established at once, the adoption of this arrangement will avoid incoherence, and be calculated to impress on each member a sense of his personal responsibility.

Time and Rank.

"The time, rank and occupation should be noted daily, and oftener, if a change of employment is made. The sum of the products of the daily time of each individual, as multiplied by his daily rank, should be carried to the time-ledger, weekly or monthly, to his or her credit. Each of the several amounts, whether performed in the classes of necessity, usefulness, or attractiveness, will thus be made to bear an equal proportion to the value of the services rendered.

A.M. Watson, President.

E.A. Stillman, Secretary."

The reader may be curious to see how these instructions were carried out in actual account-keeping. Fortunately the Phalanx furnishes a specimen of what, we suppose, may be called, unmitigated Fourierism.

"The following tables," says a subsequent report, "exhibit the mode of keeping the account of a group at the Clarkson domain. The total number of hours that each individual has been employed during the week, is multiplied by the degree in the scale of rank, which gives an equation of rank and time of the whole group. At Clarkson, for every thousand of the quotient, each member is allowed to draw on his account for necessaries, to the value of seventy-five cents:

SERIES OF TAILORESSES—GROUP NO. I.

Maximum Rank 25.

1844 Rank		Mo.	Tue.	We.	Thu.	Fri.	Sat.	Total hours	Hours & rank.
20	M. Weed,	6	10	3	—	—	5	24	480
25	J. Peabody,	10	10	10	12	10	10	62	1550
20	S. Clark,	10	10	10	10	8	—	48	960
25	E. Clark,	2	10	10	Sick	—	—	22	550
18	H. Lee,	6	4	10	6	4	4	34	612
15	J. Folsom,	3	3	2	6	5	3	22	330
12	Eliza Mann,	4	4	2	2	6	4	22	264

The above is a true account of the time and rank of the whole group, working under my direction for the past week.

Julia Peabody. Foreman.
Entered on the books of the Association, by

Wm. Seaver, Clerk.

Clarkson Domain, July 6, 1844.

SERIES OF WORKERS IN WOOD—GROUP NO II.

Maximum Rank 30.

1844 Rank		Mo.	Tue.	We.	Thu.	Fri.	Sat.	Total hours	Hours & rank.
24	Chas. Odell,	10	9	10	10	8	9	56	1344
30	John Allen,	10	10	2	6	10	8	46	1380
20	Jas. Smith,	Sick	—	—	—	—	3	3	120
30	Wm. Allen,	10	12	10	10	10	10	62	1860
30	Jas. Griffith,	10	10	10	10	10	10	60	1800

The above is a true account of the time and rank of the whole group, working under my direction for the past week.

James Griffith, Foreman.
Entered on the books of the Association, by

Wm. Seaver, Clerk.

Clarkson Domain, July 6, 1844."

For the sake of keeping in view the various religious influences that entered into the Fourier movement, it is worth noting here that Edwin A. Stillman, the Secretary of the Union, was one of the early Perfectionists; intimately associated with the writer of this history at New Haven in 1835. We judge from the frequent occurrence of his official reports in the Phalanx and Harbinger, that he was the working center of the socialist revival at Rochester, and of the incipient confederacy of Associations that issued therefrom. In like manner James Boyle, another New Haven Perfectionist, was a very busy writer and lecturer among the Socialists of New England in the excitements 1842-3, and was a member of the Northampton Community.

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