History of American Socialisms

by John Humphrey Noyes

"Some of us are and have been Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, etc. Others have never been members of any church, but (with a very few exceptions) very readily admit the authenticity and moral value of the Scriptures. The ten commandments are the sum, substance and foundation of all true law. Add to this the gospel law of love, and you have a code of laws worthy of the adoption and practice of any man or set of men, and upon which Associationists must base themselves, or they can never succeed. There are many rules, doctrines and interpretations of Scripture among the (so denominated) Orthodox churches, that any man of common sense can not assent to. Even they can not agree among themselves; for instance the Old and New School Presbyterians, the Baptists, Methodists, etc. If this difference of faith and opinion is infidelity or irreligion, we to a man are infidels and irreligious; but if faith in the principles and morality of the Bible is the test, I deny the charge. I can scarcely name an individual here that dissents from them.

"I have been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for about twenty years, and a Methodist local preacher for over three years, and am now Secretary of the Association. I therefore should know somewhat about this matter."

[From the New York Tribune, July, 1848.]

"Wisconsin Phalanx.—Having lately seen running around the papers a statement that the last remaining 'Fourier Association,' somewhere in Illinois, had just given up the ghost, we gladly give place to the following extracts from a private letter we have just received from a former fellow citizen, who participated in two of the earlier attempts (Sylvania and Leraysville) to establish something that ultimately would or might become an Association after the idea of Fourier. After the second failure he attached himself to the communistic undertaking near Skaneateles, New York, and when this too ran aground, he went back perforce to the cut-throat system of civilized competition. But this had become unendurably hateful to him, and he soon struck off for Ceresco, and became a member of the Wisconsin Phalanx at that place, whereof he has now for some months been a resident. Of this Association he writes:

"I have worked in the various groups side by side with the members, and I have never seen a more persevering, practical, matter-of-fact body of people in any such movement. Since I came here last fall, I see a great improvement, both externally and internally. Mr. Van Amringe, the energetic herald of national and social reform, did a good work by his lectures here last winter; and the meetings statedly held for intellectual and social improvement, have an excellent effect. All now indicates unity and fraternity. The Phalanx has erected and enclosed a new unitary dwelling, one hundred feet long, two stories high, with a spacious kitchen, belfry, etc. They have burnt a lime-kiln, and are burning a brick-kiln of one hundred thousand bricks as an experiment, and they bid fair to be first-rate. All this has been accomplished this spring in addition to their agricultural and horticultural operations. Their water-power is small, being supplied from springs, which the drought of the last three seasons has sensibly affected. In adding to their machinery, they will have to resort to steam.

"The location is healthy and pleasant. The atmosphere is uniformly pure, and a good breeze is generally blowing. I doubt whether another site could be found combining so many natural advantages. I have visited nearly all the associative experiments in the country, and I like this the best. I think it already beyond the possibility of failure.

D.S."

Mr. Van Amringe spent considerable time at Ceresco, and sent several elaborate articles in favor of the Phalanx to the Harbinger. One of the members wrote to him as follows:

"Since you left here a great change has taken place in the feelings and tastes of the members, and that too for the better. You will recollect the black and dirty appearance of the buildings, and the wood-work inside scrubbed until it had the appearance of a dirty white. About the first of May they made a grand rally to alter the appearance of things. The long building was white-washed inside and out, and the wood-work of nearly all the houses has been painted. The school-house has been white-washed and painted, the windows white, the panels of the wood-work a light yellow, carvings around a light blue, the seats and desks a light blue; this has made a great change in its appearance. You will recollect the frame of a new building that stood looking so distressed; about as much more was added to it, and all covered and neatly painted. The corridor is now finished; a handsome good kitchen has been put up in the rear of the old one, with a bakery underneath; a beautiful cupola is on the top, in which is placed a small bell, weighing one hundred and two pounds, about the size of a steamboat bell; it can be heard on the prairie. The blinds in the cupola windows are painted green. Were you to see the place now you would be surprised, and agreeably so, too. Some four or five have left since spring; new members have been taken in their stead, and a good exchange, I think, has been made. Two or three tailors, and the same number of shoemakers, are expected shortly."

From the Annual Statement of the Condition and progress of the Wisconsin Phalanx, for the fiscal year ending December 4, 1848.