Reading history books, and also biographies, is always a reminder of how little I know. On a vacation past in the Finger Lakes Region of N.Y., Lisa visited the Oneida Community. She brought back a book for me. That book is both biography and history. Reading it revealed how little I knew about this community, though from my childhood, I was familiar with Oneida animal traps. Oneida tableware was also in my consciousness.
Pierrepont B. Noyes, 1870-1959, was born and grew up in the community. His book My Father's House: An Oneida Boyhood tells that story. Pierrepont, known as Pip, was a son of the founder (John Humphrey Noyes 1811-1886) of the utopian community, though his mother was not the founder's wife. In the community there was no marriage as that was seen as too exclusive. Attempts were made to practice eugenic selection in procreation.
Pip was 10 when the commune gave way to a joint-stock corporation. This perfectionist Christian community seemingly worked well for the first generation of joiners. With the second generation the commune collapsed both from internal dissention and outside pressures. Moving to a joint-stock corporation was well thought out and was relatively smooth.
As an adult Pip had an illustrious career even serving as the "coal czar' of occupied Germany after WWI. His memories of life in the commune are largely positive giving a mostly favorable account. The transition from the protected community to the 'outside' was not easy but the leaders wisely assisted in the change.
It's a bit of interesting history that I'm glad I read.
Takk for alt,
Al
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