Zoar

M. Fernandez Kathleen

Description

The fascinating history of Zoar, from the German Separatists who settled there to the present-day historical village In 1817, a group of German religious dis-senters immigrated to Ohio. Less than two years later, in order to keep their distinctive religion and its adherents together, they formed a communal society (eine gter gemeinschaft or "community of goods"), where all shared equally. Their bold experiment thrived and continued through three generations; the Zoar Separatists are considered one of the longest-lasting communal groups in US history. Fernandez traces the Separatists' beginnings in Wrttemberg, Germany, and their disputes with authorities over religious differences, their immigration to America, and their establishment of the communal Society of Separatists of Zoar. The community's development, particularly in terms of its business activities with the outside world, demonstrates its success and influence in the 19th century. Though the Society dissolved in 1898, today its site is a significant historical attraction. Zoar is based on ample primary source material, some never before utilized by historians, and illustrated with thirty historic photographs.

Sujets

• Histoire
• History of the Americas
• History
• Ohio

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 02 juillet 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781631011566
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

ZOAR
ZOAR
The Story of an Intentional Community
KATHLEEN M. FERNANDEZ


THE KENT STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Kent, Ohio
To my late husband, Jim Hillibish.
I wish we could have written this together.
© 2019 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2018052569
ISBN 978-1-60635-374-5
Manufactured in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced, in any manner whatsoever, without written permission from the Publisher, except in the case of short quotations in critical reviews or articles.
Parts of chapter 9, “Zoar and the Courts,” were first published as “The Society of Separatists of Zoar v …” in Communal Societies 26, no. 1 (2006).
Parts of chapters 1–3 were first published as “A Separatist Song: A Newly Discovered Poem about Zoar’s Beginnings” in Communal Societies 38, no. 1 (2018).
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Names: Fernandez, Kathleen M., 1949- author.
Title: Zoar : the story of an intentional community / Kathleen M. Fernandez.
Description: Kent, Ohio : Kent State University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018052569 | ISBN 9781606353745 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Society of Separatists of Zoar. | Collective settlements--Ohio--History--19th century. | Zoar (Tuscarawas County, Ohio)--History.
Classification: LCC HX656.Z8 F47 2019 | DDC 307.7709771/66--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018052569
23 22 21 20 19 5 4 3 2 1
Contents

Introduction
Author’s Note
CHAPTER 1
“And Speak the Truth Freely” Zoar Separatists in Germany
CHAPTER 2
“Remove the Whole in a Body to the West of the Ohio” Emigration and Settlement in Zoar
CHAPTER 3
“What Is Good for One Is Beneficial to All” The Separatists Create a Communal Society
CHAPTER 4
“He Loves Influence” Joseph Bimeler
CHAPTER 5
“Engaged in Agricultural Pursuits” Agriculture in Zoar
CHAPTER 6
“The Wealth They Have Accumulated Is Enormous” Doing Business in Zoar
CHAPTER 7
“We All Greet All Those Who Heartily Wish It” Zoar and Other Communal Groups
CHAPTER 8
“A Life Free from Care” Everyday Life in Zoar
CHAPTER 9
“To Enjoy the Advantages Common to All” Zoar, Communalism, and the Courts
CHAPTER 10
“Tested the Conviction” Zoar and the Civil War
CHAPTER 11
“Applicants of Good Character” Membership in the Zoar Society
CHAPTER 12
“Thy Delights, Enchanting Zoar” The World Comes to Zoar
CHAPTER 13
“Vanish Like a Light Morning Mist” The Zoar Society Dissolves
CHAPTER 14
“Possesses National Significance” Zoar Since 1898
APPENDIX 1
Daniel Ulrich Huber’s 1833 Poem
APPENDIX 2
Separatist Principles
APPENDIX 3
Officers of the Society of Separatists of Zoar, 1819–1898
APPENDIX 4
Zoar Occupations from the US Census, 1850–1880
APPENDIX 5
Articles of Agreement, 1824
APPENDIX 6
Zoar Constitution, 1833
APPENDIX 7
Contract for First Class (Probationary) Members
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Introduction

Eine güter Gemeinschaft. In German, it means “a community of goods,” or “a communal society,” but in another context, it can also mean “a good community.” 1 And it was. For seventy-nine years, this group of German emigrants and their descendants were part of one of the most successful communal societies in the United States. They called their town “Zoar,” named for Lot’s place of refuge in the Bible, and it was a refuge indeed.
It was not to form a communal group that a band of close to three hundred German Radical Pietist dissenters left their homes in Württemberg in 1817. They only wanted to worship their God the way they wanted, without interference from the government or church authorities, which in Württemberg were one and the same.
Sharing everything was not their initial aim—worshipping together was. But when economic conditions and a hard winter would have forced them apart, they instead bound themselves together into this güter Gemeinschaft , a community of goods, where all shared their work, their wealth, and their future.
With luck, pluck, and a lot of hard work they became so successful in America that by the 1860s both their neighbors and the local Tuscarawas County government were borrowing money from them, exceeding anything they had dreamed of in Germany. All because they worked together, men and women alike, in community.
It was crucial that they had a person to lead them who could translate their mystical religious beliefs into such spellbinding sermons that they were published after his death. This same person, Joseph Michael Bäumler (later Bimeler), went from being a simple weaver in Ulm, Germany, to influencing the State of Ohio to bring the Ohio & Erie Canal through their land, paving the way for the community’s success.
Sheer economic desperation drove them to become communal. If they had not banded together, shared the work and the sacrifice, they could not have become this “singular people,” as one outsider called them. But it was not easy. They suffered from bad weather, disaffected members leaving and filing lawsuits, an epidemic of cholera that wiped out a third of the village in 1834, and, after Bimeler’s death in 1853, a leadership void that no one could truly fill.
If they had not had the memories of the floggings, hard labor, and jail time in Württemberg to spur them on and the solace of their religion and the longed-for Resurrection to comfort them, these immigrants, like so many, may have gone their different ways in America. Instead, they persevered—together.
Despite its success, the Society of Separatists of Zoar, so called because the members had separated themselves from the established state Lutheran Church in Württemberg, eventually came to an end in 1898. The admiration (and curiosity) of outsiders toward them caused problems in the community. Travelers brought not only money to the Society coffers but also envy and an underground cash economy, both factors in the Society’s eventual demise. Other reasons for the dissolution included a decline in religious fervor, the death of those who could remember the persecutions in Germany, some bad investments, lack of outlay in technology, and the young leaving to seek their fortunes outside.
But for almost four score years, the community flourished, creating a little piece of Germany in east-central Ohio, which even today showcases its German heritage and the legacy of how a group of foreign religious dissenters can persevere in America to create eine güter Gemeinschaft.
It is their story I hope to tell in this volume.
Author’s Note

This book has been many years in the making. As site manager of Zoar Village State Memorial for fifteen years (1989–2004), it’s a book I myself wanted to use to interpret the village to visitors. A book compiling all of the myriad sources of information about Zoar was not available; the closest thing was Edgar Nixon’s dissertation (thank goodness for that!), but it was not published and has only recently been available online, so was not accessible to either scholars or the public. Several manuscript collections have been acquired by the Ohio History Connection since Nixon’s work, most notably the Jack and Pat Adamson Collection, purchased by the Ohio Historical Society in 2000 and used extensively in this work.
In the book, I have standardized the spelling of German names, especially that of Zoar’s leader, Joseph Bimeler. Although his name in German is “Bäumler,” he changed it to “Bimeler” in America, so I’ve used that spelling throughout the book, including correspondence in which he is addressed in the German form. And, although it’s not scholarly convention, the names of Zoar buildings, (Number One House, the Bakery, etc.) are capitalized, as they are the official designations of these buildings, both then and now. Except for Number One House (“Nummer Eins”), the other numbered Zoar homes are indicated with an Arabic number (“Number 9 House”). Primary source material containing underlining is shown with italics.
As you see in the bibliography, there has not been a lot of scholarly research on Zoar. Unlike Harmonist scholars, who have Karl J. R. Arndt to thank for his books of translated documents, the Zoar Papers have not been translated into English until recently, and there has been no basic history widely available to spur scholarly research. I hope this book will help eliminate Zoar’s perceived position as the “stepchild” of historic communal research.
I wish to thank everyone who has helped me learn more about Zoar. First of all, thank you to my Otterbein history professor, Dr. Thomas Kerr, who introduced me to the joys of research. Thanks also to Dr. Amos Loveday, formerly of the Ohio Historical Society, who hired me at Zoar and who was my supervisor there for many years; thanks for your belief in me. Thank you to the Communal Studies Association and its first director, Dr. Donald E. Pitzer, for showing me that there are many parallels in the history of communal societies, that they come in all shapes and sizes, and for giving me a platform to present my early Zoar research.
Thank you to the people of Zoar and the Zoar Community Association for their commitment to the preservation of this unique town. Thanks also to the Ohio Historical Society, now the Ohio History Connection, and the State of Ohio for their dedication to maintaining the historic fabric of Zoar, its physical buildings, collections, and records. I invite all scholars to delve into the various collections of Zoar Papers to find even more treasures than I have discovered.
My thanks go to the many scholars who have helped with this work, by reading chapters, translating documents, and providing insights. A grateful thank you to Dr. Eberhard Fritz, archivist to the Duke of Württemberg, whose research on the early Separatists has been invaluable to my understanding of why the Separatists emigrated. Littl