Guide to the Harmony Society Collection, 1838-1935

Collection number: 1972-0012R



University Libraries
The Pennsylvania State University
Special Collections Library
Rare Books and Manuscripts


Contact Information:

Pennsylvania State University
University Libraries
Special Collections Library
104 Paterno Library
University Park, PA 16802
814/865-1793
FAX 814/863-5318
E-mail: sks5@psulias.psu.edu

Processed by: Timothy Babcock and Allison Busacca
Date Completed: 2007
Encoded by: Susan Hamburger

©2007 Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Creator: Harmony Society
Title: Harmony Society Collection
Date: 1838-1935
Collection number: 1972-0012R
Extent: 0.48 cubic feet plus 42 items
Abstract: The Harmony Society Collection dates from 1838 to 1935 and measures 0.48 cubic feet plus 42 items. The collection includes letters, photographs, and newspaper and magazine clippings, mainly about the utopian society after its move to Economy, Pennsylvania.
Physical location: C9 and GCS
Repository: Pennsylvania State University, University Libraries, Special Collections Library

Administrative Information

Access

Unrestricted access.

Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Schoyer's Books, 1972

Preferred Citation

Harmony Society Collection,1838-1935, Accession 1972-0012R, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Special Collections Library, University Libraries, Pennsylvania State University.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series: Correspondence, Clippings, and Photographs.

Administrative History

The Harmony Society was founded in the 1780s by Johann George Rapp (1757-1847) and his adopted son, Frederick Rapp (1775-1834). Originally founded in Württemberg, Germany, the Harmony Society soon found their Anabaptist beliefs at odds with the state-directed Lutheran Church. Seeking greater spiritual and religious freedom, George Rapp and his son Johann led his followers to the United States in 1803. By 1804, the Rapps purchased 3000 acres in Butler, Pennsylvania, and began to develop it for the Harmony Society. More followers of Rapp arrived to the United States and by February 15, 1805, the Harmony Society was officially formed by George Rapp, Johann Rapp, and George's adopted son Frederick.

The Harmony Society soon founded the town of Harmony, Pennsylvania. Member's property was held in common. While practicing a life of spiritual and worldly separation, the Harmony Society proved to be very successful economically. By 1814, the Harmonists boasted a village of 130 houses, 3,000 acres of farming, a thriving livestock herd, and many buildings for their industrial enterprises. By the end of 1814, the Harmonists sold Harmony, with its buildings, industries, and 7,000 acres of land and moved to New Harmony, Indiana. There, they established a second village and community on 25,000 acres along the Wabash River. The second Harmony Society village became more successful in their business and economical pursuits in the Midwest than in Pennsylvania. Notwithstanding their success, the Harmonists eventually moved again in 1824, and settled in Economy, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The settlement at Economy proved to be the Harmonists greatest endeavor and included a church, a music hall, working farms, factories, and storehouses.

The Harmony Society exerted a major influence on the economy of western Pennsylvania and amassed a large sum of assets and land including over a half million dollars in gold stored in Rapp's house in Economy. Their economical gain was not intended for worldly display but rather to support their millennial preaching of the quickly approaching end of time. Their monetary and economical gains did not overcome their religious beliefs about the separation between worldly and spiritual goods. Rather, the vow of celibacy among members prevented growth from within the society and led to the Harmony Society's declension. The Society officially disbanded in 1904, a century after they started their search for religious freedom and establishment in America.

Scope and Content

The collection includes letters, photographs, and newspaper and magazine clippings, mainly about the utopian society after its move to Economy, Pennsylvania.

Index Terms

These materials are indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Pennsylvania State University. Researchers wishing to find related materials should search the catalog under these index terms.

Personal Name Subjects

Duss, John Samuel, 1860-1951

Henrici, Jacob

Lenz, Jonathan

Rapp, George, 1757-1847

Rapp, Gertrude

Wilson, Maria

Corporate Name Subjects

Harmony Society

Topical Subjects

Utopias -- Pennsylvania

Geographic Subjects

Economy (Pa. : Commune)

Harmony (Butler County, Pa.)

Form/Genre Terms

Clippings

Letters (correspondence)

Photographs

Correspondents

Rapp, George, 1757-1847

Container List

Correspondence Series

Correspondence,

1838-1868.

Series Scope Note

The correspondence series includes signed autograph letters to Messrs, Wilson and Shields, Washington, Pa, on August 4, 1837, referring to a financial transaction and an offer of sale of ewes and rams, and a letter by George Rapp to Mrs. Maria Wilson, Washington, on September 2, 1847. Other letters include a letter by Gertrude Rapp, George Rapp's granddaughter, describing the last illness and death of her grandfather, and the affairs of the Society since his death; and announcements of the death of founder George Rapp, the succession of Brother Jacob Henrici to his position, and the election of Brother Jonathan Lenz as a fellow Trustee.

Box 1

Folder 1

A.L.S. George Rapp, Gertrude Rapp, and printed announcement,

1838-1868

Clippings Series

Clippings,

1890-1935.

Series Scope Note

The newspaper clippings date primarily from 1890-1935, and are organized in a scrapbook and as a collection of the Harmony Society newspaper, Bulletin Index. The clippings provide contemporary accounts of the death of their leader and patriarch, Father Jacob Henrici, the bitter lawsuits over the affairs of the Society under his successor, John Duss, and the dissension that marked the final days of the Harmony Society at Economy over the disposition of the property.

Box 1

Folder 1

Harmony Society newspaper clippings,

1890-1935

Box 1

Folder 1

Bulletin Index,

1935

Photographs Series

Photographs,

undated.

Series Scope Note

The photographs are undated. They depict the landscape of the settlements, and feature portraits of Harmony Society members outside of their homes.

Box 2

Folder 9

Harmony Society photographs,

undated

Box 3

Folder 37

Harmony Society photograph negatives,

undated