The Communistic Societies of the United States | Page 9

dram-shop; but the present residents speak of their

predecessors with esteem and even affection, and in one of the large
stores I found the products of the Iowa society regularly sold. A few of
the former members still live on the old purchase.
They appear to have had considerable means from the first. Among the
members were several persons of wealth, who contributed large sums
to the common stock. I was told that one person gave between fifty and
sixty thousand dollars; and others gave sums of from two to twenty
thousand dollars.
They were not Communists in Germany; and did not, I was told, when
they first emigrated, intend to live in community. Among those who
came over in the first year were some families who had been
accustomed to labor in factories. To these the agricultural life was
unpleasant, and it was thought advisable to set up a woolen factory to
give them employment. This was the first difficulty which stared them
in the face. They had intended to live simply as a Christian
congregation or church, but the necessity which lay upon them of
looking to the temporal welfare of all the members forced them
presently to think of putting all their means into a common stock.
Seeing that some of the brethren did not take kindly to agricultural
labor, and that if they insisted upon a purely agricultural settlement
they would lose many of their people, they determined that each should,
as far as possible, have employment at the work to which he was
accustomed. They began to build workshops, but, to carry these on
successfully, they had business tact enough to see that it was necessary
to do so by a general contribution of means.
"We were commanded at this time, by inspiration, to put all our means
together and live in community," said one to me; "and we soon saw that
we could not have got on or kept together on any other plan."
Eben-Ezer is a wide plain; and there, as now in Iowa, they settled their
people in villages, which they called "Upper," "Lower," and "Middle"
Eben-Ezer. From the large size of many of the houses, I imagine they
had there, commonly, several families in one dwelling. At Amana each
family has its own house; otherwise their customs were similar to those
still retained in Iowa, which I shall describe in their proper place.
In 1854 they were "commanded by inspiration" to remove to the West.
They selected Iowa as their new home, because land was cheap there;
and in 1855, having made a purchase, they sent out a detachment to

prepare the way.
It is a remarkable evidence of the prudence and ability with which they
conduct their business affairs, that they were able to sell out the whole
of their eight-thousand-acre tract near Buffalo, with all their
improvements, without loss. Usually such a sale is extremely difficult,
because the buildings of a communistic society have peculiarities
which detract from their value for individual uses. The Rappists, who
sold out twice, were forced to submit to heavy loss each time. I do not
doubt that several of the northern Shaker societies would have removed
before this to a better soil and climate but for the difficulty of selling
their possessions at a fair price.
The removal from Eben-Ezer to Amana, however, required ten years.
As they found purchasers in one place they sent families to the other;
meantime they do not appear to have found it difficult to maintain their
organization in both.

III.--AMANA--1874.
"The name we took out of the Bible," said one of the officers of the
society to me. They put the accent on the first syllable. The name
occurs in the Song of Solomon, the fourth chapter and eighth verse:
"Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon:
look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from
the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards."
Amana in Iowa, however, is not a mountain, but an extensive plain,
upon which they have built seven villages, conveniently placed so as to
command the cultivated land, and to form an irregular circle within
their possessions. In these villages all the people live, and they are thus
divided:
Name Population Business
Amana 450 Woolen-mill, saw and grist mill, and farming East Amana
125 Farming. Middle Amana 350 Woolen-mill and farming. Amana
near the Hill 125 Farming, saw-mill, and tannery. West Amana 150
Grist-mill and farming. South Amana 150 Saw-mill and farming
Homestead 135 Railroad station, a saw-mill, farming, and general
depot.
The villages lie about a mile and a half apart, and each has a store at
which the neighboring farmers trade, and a tavern or inn for the

accommodation of the general public.