The Washington herald., 1907-05-01

Ndtc weeds. as mas Deen Claimed, OF turn
over the beans and peas that persisted in
growing upside down, they we're earnest
and sincere, and set a good example OF
brotherllness, helpfulness, and high Ideals
in general
Hawthorne was a member Of the colony.
and one Of his tasks was to help feed
and milk the cows in the morning. lie
writes in his American Note Book Of
his experiences, and because one COW. was
especially Independent and tyrannical he
always persisted in affirming she must
belong TO Miss Margaret Fuller, for whom
he had little liking. Charles A. Dana,
john B. Dwight. Albert Brisbane, William
EIIery Claiming, William II. Claiming.
Elizabeth Peabody. Margaret Fuller. and
Burriu Curtis who so often posed for
portraits of the Christ, were members Of
The colony. That genial philosopher,
Amos Bronson AIcott, father of Louisa
NJ Alcott, meant 10 live there, but the
life was not yet on a plane as high as he
would have it, and with other kindred
spirits be established the short-lved
community of Fruitlands, where animal
food la any form was not tolerated,
where water was the only beverage, and
where early rising and cold baths were
part of the stoical regime.
Brook Farm did not last very long
being dissolved in 1916, though Horace
Greeley, Emerson, and Theodore Parker
were constantly offering eucourag cement
and inspiration. Their school had be-
come famous IN its time. and drew pu-
pills from Manila Havana. Florida, and
New England. The instruction for the
elder pupils was wide. Lecturers came
each sunday and on week days Ripley
clucidated Kant and Spinoza on Sunday
afternoons. Pupils. seated on the grass,
read the Divina COmmedia in the orig
inul. and scholars did the work Of some
Of the iliiterate that they might attend
classes. Hawthorne wrote his 'Blithe-
ua!e Romance from his experiences
there. and other real r8maHces found
elimination in fourteen marriages that
took place among the members. The
farm has been absorbed i'm the ever
widening limits OF boston, and its identity
is now lost in that of the Martin Luther
Orphan Home, which occupies the old
quarters.
The next communistic settlement of inn
Portance, in SO far as its ideals and its
membership are concerned, was that Of
New Harmony Ind, under the immediate
direction of Robert owen, OF Scotland.
The village and the 900 acres surround
ing it were purchased outright from a re-
Igious society that was anxious TO find
another location. owen paid $4,000 for
the whole. This was in 1925. and the
colony prospered. with 800 members en-
gagged IN almost every branch of indus
try that an independent colony might re-
quiTe-agriculture. manufacturing. stock
raising and brickmaking. All the goods,
houses. and lands were held in common.
and the individual was lost in the general
scheme of things.
Education was a great factor in the
plan; the first day nurseries and schools
for little children IN the United States
were there. Eminent men were among
the members-RObert Dale owen. whose
name IS next only TO SmithsOn's in the
National Museum. at Washington; VIII
lam Mcclure, father of American geol-
ogy; Thomas Say, the noted entomol-
ogist and one of the founders of the
Academy Of Natural Sciences; DR.. Troost.
who made the finest geological and min
eral collection IN the world, and was sent
in 1910 on a scientific expedition TO ia
maica by Louis BOnaparte. King of Hol-
land, Charles Leseur. the French natur-
alist; Prot, Joseph Neef, a student of
Pestalozzi and a soldier of Napoleon; Jo--
seph Chapplesmith. the English artist and
engTaver and Frances Wright. the
woman who later founded in West Ten
nessee the first Industrial school for ne
gT0es in the world
This was 10 be the great educational
Infer Of the United States and william
Mcclure contributed Sl500O0 toward that
end. Freedom of speech freedom of
thought were to be encouraged. and wo-
mans rights was an acknowledged thing
But ia 1927. when Owens interests took
him elsewhere, the colony became as a
ship without a master. and soon was
wrecked. a colony in Pennsylvania, one
ia Indiana, three in New York. one in
Tennessee, and one in Ohio sprang from
this, but soon went into oblivion Owen
came over again IN 1S2S to see If the Mex