Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1897-12-02
IN A DUNKARD OASIS.
GREAT COLONY OF A STRANGE SECT
IN INDIANA.

bnau the fancy OF Slr Thomas More may
have its counterpart in real life and
that Utopia may be made to exist in
fact 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
Ii 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 fluit trees and vines
that they have planted are the wonder
of the visitor on account of the rapidity
of their growth. 1t 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 its 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 and
women of the sect having come to the
conclusion that they We're too closely
environed by the worldly class and
wishing to secure a place where such
environments would not exist.
They consulted real estate agent
at Fort Wayne and following his sug-
gestion a 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 and the un-
productiveness of its soil. Railroad
companies, possibly the most ventur-
some of all capitalists, gave the county
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
a place that would bid defiance to the
Establishments of life, and here 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 at
trihe.
This purchase was regarded at the
time as but the nucleus of the holdings
that We're 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, q
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 a 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
common 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
minister 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
community and then decide upon a
given policy by majority vote, which
is final, and to which all submit with
out u murmur. Farm machinery,
fruit trees, vines, seeds and the articles
of everyday use are purchased in large
quantities and the hqrvests are gar
nered into one place, and from this
the needs of all are supplied.
During the summer each family is
allotted certain work to do, and is
expected to accomplish it unless sick
ness or death interferes. In case of
either, those more fortunate come to
the aid of the unfortunate and the task
is thus accomplished. On each allot-
ment of land there must be annually
planted number of vines and fruit
trees, and each family is also expected
to clear off certain number of acres
during the winter season. The hours
OF work each day are limited, and an
enormous bell announces the hour for
retiring and the hour for getting up.
Everything is said to work with clock
like regularity, and the community
represents in an eminent degree the
highest idea of perfect equality and is
absolutely free from friction.
They are said to be excellent neigh
bors, but do not covet intercourse out
side of their own sect, thought they are
charitable to strangers and sometimes
extend their hospitalities to those re-
siding near them.
The idea of the purchasers of the
10,000-acre tract was eventually to
purchase all the land in the county and
establish civil government on a basis
of brotherly love, having everything
in common and demonstrating that