Oneida Community
Religious commune in Oneida, New York (1848–1881)
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Key Takeaways
- The Oneida Community ( oh- NYE -də ) was a Christian perfectionist communal society founded by John Humphrey Noyes and his followers in 1848 near Oneida, New York.
- The Oneida Community practiced communalism – in the sense of communal property and possessions – group marriage, male sexual continence, Oneida stirpiculture (a form of eugenics), and mutual criticism.
- The community's original 87 members grew to 172 by February 1850, 208 by 1852, and 306 by 1878.
- The branches were closed in 1854 except for the Wallingford branch, which operated until its destruction by tornado in 1878.
- This eventually became the silverware company Oneida Limited, one of the largest in the world.
The Oneida Community ( oh-NYE-də) was a Christian perfectionist communal society founded by John Humphrey Noyes and his followers in 1848 near Oneida, New York. The community believed that Jesus had already returned in 70 CE, making it possible for them to bring about Jesus's millennial kingdom themselves, and be perfect and free of sin in this world, not just in Heaven, a belief called perfectionism. The Oneida Community practiced communalism – in the sense of communal property and possessions – group marriage, male sexual continence, Oneida stirpiculture (a form of eugenics), and mutual criticism.
The community site originally covered more than 160 acres of land surrounding Oneida Creek in Madison County, New York and Oneida County, New York. The community's original 87 members grew to 172 by February 1850, 208 by 1852, and 306 by 1878. Other Noyesian communities were founded in Wallingford, Connecticut; Newark, New Jersey; Putney and Cambridge, Vermont. The branches were closed in 1854 except for the Wallingford branch, which operated until its destruction by tornado in 1878.
The Oneida Community dissolved in 1881, converting itself to a joint-stock company. This eventually became the silverware company Oneida Limited, one of the largest in the world.
History
The land the Oneida Community settled on was made available for purchase by Euro-American settlers after its acquisition by the State of New York in a series of agreements with the Oneida Indian Nation in 1840 and 1842. The initial farmstead of the Oneida Community was purchased by Jonathan Burt, an early convert to the religious doctrine of Christian perfectionism. In 1847, Burt invited John Humphrey Noyes and his associates in Putney, Vermont to come to Oneida and establish a Perfectionist community.
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