Chapter XXXII: The Alphadelphia Phalanx

This Association was commenced in the winter of 1843-4, principally by the exertions of Dr. H.R. Schetterly of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a disciple of Brisbane and the _Tribune_. The _Phalanx_ of February 5, 1844, publishes its prospectus, from which we take the following paragraph:

"Notice is hereby given, that a Fourier industrial Association, called the Alphadelphia Phalanx, has been formed in this State, under the most flattering prospects. A constitution has been adopted and signed, and a domain selected on the Kalamazoo river, which seems to possess all the advantages that could be desired. It is extremely probable (judging from the information possessed), that only half the applicants can be received into one Association, because the number will be too great: and if such should be the case, two Associations will doubtless be formed; for such is the enthusiasm in the West that people will not suffer themselves to be disappointed."

[From the _Phalanx_, March 1, 1844.]

"THE ALPHADELPHIA ASSOCIATION.--We have received the
constitution of this Association, a notice of the formation of
which was contained in our last. In most respects the
constitution is similar to that of the North American Phalanx.
It will be seen by the description of the domain selected, which
we publish below, that the location is extremely favorable. The
establishment of this Association in Michigan is but a pioneer
movement, which we have no doubt will soon be followed by the
formation of many others. Our friends are already numerous in
that State, and the interest in Association is rapidly growing
there, as it is throughout the West generally. The West, we
think, will soon become the grand theater of action, and ere
long Associations will spring up so rapidly that we shall
scarcely be able to chronicle them. The people, the farmers and
mechanics particularly, have only to understand the leading
principles of our doctrines, to admire and approve of them; and
it would therefore be no matter of surprise to see in a short
time their general and simultaneous adoption. Indeed, the social
transformation from a state of isolation with all its poverty
and miseries, to a state of Association with its immense
advantages and prosperity, may be much nearer and proceed more
rapidly than we now imagine. The signs are many and cheering."

_History and Description of the Alphadelphia Association._

"In consequence of a call of a convention published in the
_Primitive Expounder_, fifty-six persons assembled in the
school-house at the head of Clark's lake, on the fourteenth day
of December last, from the Counties of Oakland, Wayne,
Washtenaw, Genesee, Jackson, Eaton, Calhoun and Kalamazoo, in
the State of Michigan; and after a laborious session of three
days, from morning to midnight, adopted the skeleton of a
constitution, which was referred to a committee of three,
composed of Dr. H.R. Schetterly, Rev. James Billings and
Franklin Pierce, Esq., for revision and amendment. A committee
consisting of Dr. Schetterly, John Curtis and William Grant, was
also elected to view three places, designated by the convention
as possessing the requisite qualifications for a domain. The
convention then adjourned to meet again at Bellevue, Eaton
County, on the third day of January, to receive the reports of
said committees, to choose a domain from those reported on by
the committee on location, and to revise, perfect and adopt said
constitution. This adjourned convention met on the day
appointed, and selected a location in the town of Comstock,
Kalamazoo County, whose advantages are described by the
committee on location, in the following terms:

"The Kalamazoo river, a large and beautiful stream, nine rods
wide, and five feet deep in the middle, flows through the
domain. The mansion and manufactories will stand on a beautiful
plain, descending gradually toward the bank of the river, which
is about twelve feet high. There is a spring, pouring out about
a barrel of pure water per minute, half a mile from the place
where the mansion and manufactories will stand. Cobble-stone
more than sufficient for foundations and building a dam, and
easily accessible, are found on the domain; and sand and clay,
of which excellent brick have been made, are also abundant. The
soil of the domain is exceedingly fertile, and of great variety,
consisting of prairie, oak openings, and timbered and
bottom-land along the river. About three thousand acres of it
have been tendered to our Association, as stock to be appraised
at the cash value, nine hundred of which are under cultivation,
fit for the plow; and nearly all the remainder has been offered
in exchange for other improved lands belonging to members at a
distance, who wish to invest their property in our Association."

[Letter from H.R. Schetterly.]

"_Ann Arbor, May 20, 1844._"

"GENTLEMEN:--Your readers will no doubt be pleased to learn
every important movement in industrial Association; and
therefore I send you an account of the present condition of the
Alphadelphia Association, to the organization of which all my
time has been devoted since the beginning of last December.

"The Association held its first annual meeting on the second
Wednesday in March, and at the close of a session of four days,
during which its constitution and by-laws were perfected, and
about eleven hundred persons, including children and adults,
admitted to membership, adjourned to meet on the domain on the
first of May. Its officers repaired immediately to the place
selected last winter for the domain, and after overcoming great
difficulties, secured the deeds of 2,814 acres of land, (927 of
which is under cultivation), at a cost of $32,000. This gives us
perfect control over an immense water-power; and our land-debt
is only $5,776 (the greater portion of the land having been
invested as stock), to be paid out of a proposed capital of
$240,000, $14,000 of which is to be paid in cash during the
summer and autumn. More land adjoining the domain has since been
tendered as stock; but we have as much as we can use at present,
and do not wish to increase our taxes and diminish our first
annual dividend too much. It will all come in as soon as wanted.
At our last meeting the number of members was increased to
upwards of 1,300, and more than one hundred applicants were
rejected, because there seemed to be no end, and we became
almost frightened at the number. Among our members are five
mill-wrights, six machinists, furnacemen, printers,
manufacturers of cloth, paper, etc., and almost every other kind
of mechanics you can mention, besides farmers in abundance.

"Farming and gardening were commenced on the domain about the
middle of April, and two weeks since, when I came away, there
were seventy-one adult male and more than half that number of
adult female laborers on the ground, and more constantly
arriving. We shall not however be able to accommodate more than
about 200 resident members this season.

"There is much talk about the formation of other Associations in
this State (Michigan), and I am well convinced that others will
be formed next winter. The fact is, men have lost all confidence
in each other, and those who have studied the theory of
Association, are desirous of escaping from the present
hollow-hearted state of civilized society, in which fraud and
heartless competition grind the more noble-minded of our
citizens to the dust.

"The Alphadelphia Association will not commence building its
mansion this season; but several groups have been organized to
erect a two-story wooden building, five hundred and twenty-three
feet long, including the wings, which will be finished the
coming Fall, so as to answer for dwellings till we can build a
mansion, and afterwards may be converted into a silk
establishment or shops. The principal pursuit this year, besides
putting up this building, will be farming and preparing for
erecting a furnace, saw-mill, machine-shop, etc. We have more
than one hundred thousand feet of lumber on hand; and a
saw-mill, which we took as stock, is running day and night.

"I do not see any obstacle to our future prosperity. Our farmers
have plenty of wheat on the ground. We have teams, provisions,
all we ought to desire on the domain; and best of all, since the
location of the buildings has been decided, we are perfectly
united, and have never yet had an angry discussion on any
subject. We have religious meetings twice a week, and preaching
at least once, and shall have schools very soon. If God be for
us, of which we have sufficient evidence, who can prevail
against us?

"Our domain is certainly unrivaled in its advantages in
Michigan, possessing every kind of soil that can be found in the
State. Our people are moral, religious, and industrious, having
been actually engaged in manual labor, with few exceptions, all
their days. The place where the mansion and out-houses will
stand, is a most beautiful level plain, of nearly two miles in
extent, that wants no grading, and can be irrigated by a
constant stream of water flowing from a lake. Between it and the
river is another plain, twelve feet lower, on which our
manufactories may be set in any desirable position. Our
mill-race is half dug by nature, and can be finished, according
to the estimate of the State engineer, for eighteen hundred
dollars, giving five and a-half feet fall without a dam, which
may be raised by a grant from the Legislature, adding three feet
more, and affording water-power sufficient to drive fifty pair
of mill-stones. A very large spring, brought nearly a mile in
pipes, will rise nearly fifty feet at our mansion. The Central
railroad runs across our domain. We have a great abundance of
first-rate timber, and land as rich as any in the State.

"Our constitution is liberal, and secures the fullest individual
freedom and independence. While capital is fully protected in
its rights and guaranteed in its interests, it is not allowed to
exercise an undue control, or in the least degree encroach on
personal liberty, even if this too common tendency could
possibly manifest itself in Association. As we proceed I will
inform you of our progress.

H.R. SCHETTERLY."

The _Harbinger_ of January 17, 1846, mentions the Alphadelphia as still existing and in hopeful condition; but we find no further notice of it in that quarter. Macdonald tells the following story of its fortunes and failure, the substance of which he obtained from Dr. Schetterly:

"At the commencement a disagreement took place between a Mr.
Tubbs and the rest of the members. Mr. Tubbs wanted to have the
buildings located on the land he had owned; but the Association
would not agree to that, because the digging of a mill-race on
the side of the river proposed by Mr. Tubbs would have cost
nearly $18,000; whereas on the railroad side of the river, which
was supposed to be a much better building-place, the race would
have cost only $1,800. The consequence was that all but Mr.
Tubbs voted for the railroad side, and Mr. Tubbs left, no doubt
in disgust, at the same time cautioning every person against
investing property in the Phalanx. This disagreement at the
commencement of the experiment threw a damper on it, from which
it never entirely recovered.

"There were a number of ordinary farm-houses on the domain, and
a beginning of a Phalanstery seventy feet long was erected to
accommodate those who resided there the first winter. The rooms
were comfortable but small. A large frame-house was also begun.
During the warm weather a number of persons lived in a large
board shanty.

"The members of the Association were mostly farmers, though
there were builders, shoemakers, tailors, blacksmiths and
printers, and one editor; all tolerably skillful and generally
well informed; though but few could write for the paper called
the _Tocsin_, which was published there. The morality of the
members is said to have been good, with one exception. A school
was carried on part of the time, and they had an exchange of
some seventy periodicals and newspapers. No religious tests were
required in the admission of members. They had preaching by one
of the printers, or by any person who came along, without asking
about his creed.

"All lived in clover so long as a ton of sugar or any other such
luxury lasted; but before provisions could be raised, these
luxuries were all consumed, and most of the members had to
subsist afterward on coarser fare than they were accustomed to.
No money was paid in, and the members who owned property abroad
could not sell it. The officers made bad bargains in selling
some farms that lay outside the domain. Laborers became
discouraged and some left; but many held on longer than they
otherwise would have done, because a hundred acres of beautiful
wheat greeted them in the fields. In the winter some of the
influential members went away temporarily, and thus left the
real friends of the Association in the minority; and when they
returned after two or three months absence, every thing was
turned up-side-down. There was a manifest lack of good
management and foresight. The old settlers accused the majority
of this, and were themselves elected officers; but it appears
that they managed no better, and finally broke up the concern."