The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-10-09
IN A DUNKARD OASIS.
GREAT COLONY OF A STRANGE SECT
IN INDIANA.

ing by These Peculiar Pcople-How tn.
Settlement Was Observation-Disclosures
That classpf enthusiasts who believe
that the fancy of Sir Thomas More may
have its counterpart in real life and
that a Utopia may be made to exist in
tact will find their belief confirmed BY
visit to Brown County, Indiana.
There large colony of Dunkards set
tied early last winter and there, under
the impetus of their peculiar religious
zeal, energies have been invoked that
are rapidly Transforming the hills into
vineyards, and the bottom lands into
marvels of productiveness-
If the stories that come from this
once benighted County are to be fully
credited, the Dunkards have indeed
metamorphosed that section in which
they are located, for they are repre-.
sented as being blessed with the pros.
pect of an overabundance of all kinds
of cereals, and the fiuit trees and vines
that they have planted are the wonder
of the visitor ON account of the rapidity
of their growth. It is said in the Sec
ton that the colony which went to Da.
kota sometime ago has not found the
climate congenial, and many Of them
are dissatisfied, and it is expected that
these will return and cast their lot with
the colony which has made Brown
County it's home.
Early last summer the Dunkards of
northern Indiana began to discuss the
propriety of changing their residence,
and committees were appointed to
select location, the leading men aud
women of the sect having come to the
conclusion that they were too closely
environed by the worldly class and
wishing to secure place where such
ENVIRONMENTS would not exist.
They consulted q real estate agent
at Fort Wayne and following his sug-
gestion committee went to Brown
County, locality that is noted for its
beautiful scenery, but one, too, from
which capital has kept coldly aloof on
account of its many hills aud the un-
productiveness Of it's soil. Railroad
companies, possibly the most ventur-
some of all capitalists, gave the county
q wide berth when surveying routes,
and to-day the county is one of two in
Indiana in which the locomotive whis-
tie is not heard.
1t was here that the Dunkards found
q place that would bid defiance to the
Establishments of life, and here a pur-
chase of 10000 acres of land was
quickly made, the owners being quite
as willing to get rid of it on any terms
as the Dunkards were to buy of
trife.
This purchase was regarded at the
time as but the nucleus of the holdings
that were expected to follow, but 9th
ers of the sect in Northern Indiana
turned their faces toward the West and
located in Dakota. If these return,
thing that is now regarded as more
than probable, the original idea will
we carried out and purchases of other
lands will follow till the entire county
will belong to the peculiar society. As
the purchase of 10000 acres was re-
garded as but starter, so the colony
that is located upon it forms but the
nucleus of that government which
was originally designed and which will
eventually be established.
The community raises everything in
and all fare alike In every es-
sential particular. They practice the
earlier form of Christian worship, in
Guiding the washing of feet, and the
is the head of the community
and has charge both of its secular and
spiritual affairs. The people meet at
regular intervals and discuss questions
that arise in the government of the
and then decide upon
given policy by majority vote, which
IS final, and to which all submit with
'ut murmur. Farm machinery,
ruit trees, vines, seeds and the articles
If everyday use are purchased in large
Quantities and the harvests are gar
lered into one place, aud from this
he needs of all are supplied.
During the summer each family is
llotted certain work to do, and is
expected to accomplish it unless sick
less or death interferes. In case of
ither, those more fortunate come to
be aid of the unfortunate and the task
thus accomplished. On each allot-
lent of land there must be annually 6
tainted number of vines and fruit J
rees, and each family is also expected $
0 clear off a certain number of acres /
uring the winter season. The hours I
work each day are limited, and an G
normous bell announces the hour for c
etiring and the hour for getting up. l
.verything is said to work with clock
Ike regularity, and the community
epresents in on eminent degree the
ighest idea of perfect equality and is
bsolutely free from friction.
They are said to be excellent neigh
ors, but do not covet intercourse out }
lde OF their own sect, thought they are :!
haritable to strangers and sometimes !.
xtend their Inequalities to those re. Il
ding near them. II
The idea of the purchasers of the a
J, O00-acre tract was eventually to ?
urchase all the land In the county and u
'tablish civil government on basis g
brotherly love, having everything u
common and demonstrating that q 81
unity can be governed without the 9
Prevention of courts and other civil Il
ficers. 81