Reading from Brook Farm by Lindsay Swift (1800) pp. 15-17

“In the summer of 1840, Mr. and Mrs. Ripley [stayed with friends on] a milk farm in West Roxbury. It was a pleasant place, varied in contour, with pine woods close at hand, the Charles River within easy distance. A close inspection of the substratum of sand and gravel would have confirmed a suspicion in the mind of a practical farmer that there was a reason why there had been no attempt to produce anything but milk on the estate; but the meadows, which formed a large part of the farm, were fair to see, and the fertile farms adjoining seemed to indicate a favorable soil and location. At all events, the Ripleys left it feeling that they had found a spot on which to carry out what had become their dearest wish: “to insure a more natural union between intellectual and manual labor than now exists; to combine the thinker and the worker, as far as possible, in the same individual; to guarantee the highest mental freedom, by providing all with labor adapted to their tastes and talents, and securing t o them the fruits of their industry….

‘To accomplish these objects,’ Ripley wrote to Emerson, in a letter of November 9, 1840, ‘we propose to take a small tract of land which, under skilful husbandry, uniting the garden and the farm, will be adequate to the subsistence of the families; and to connect with this a school or college, in which the most complete instruction shall be given, from the first rudiments to the highest culture.’

In the winter of 1840, Ripley decided to buy Brook Farm… About the first of April, 1841, he, with his wife and sister and some fifteen others…took possession of the farm-house which, with a large barn, was already on the estate.…On September 29 (1841)…the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education was organized…and the Articles of Association were drawn up, the stock subscribed for, and the officers of the Institute elected.”

Here began a brave experiment where freedom of religious beliefs was guaranteed. It was the first of its kind in New England.

Sermon

I invite you to let this image arise in your mind? Can you imagine yourself living on a beautiful 200-acre farm on gently rolling hills, with fabulous scenery, and the Charles River in view? On this farm, all of your meals are made for you, your clothes are washed and ironed, and you can choose the work you want to do. Working hours are no more than 10-hours per day in the summer and 8-hours in the cool months. Your children are cared for in the nursery and the older ones are getting the finest education in the land. In the evening, you can choose to take part in card playing, drama, tableaux, dancing, good conversation, singing, or listening to music. There is freedom of religious belief.

If you can imagine this, you might have liked living on Brook Farm in West Roxbury in the 1840s. It’s hard to imagine now that West Roxbury was in the heart of the country, but it was in 1840.

Brook Farm was a utopian experiment, the brainchild of a brilliant Unitarian minister, Reverend George Ripley, graduate of Harvard Divinity School. The dictionary says that “utopia” is an “ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects.” The second meaning is “an impractical, idealistic scheme.” (American Heritage Dictionary)

In the 1830s and 1840s, people were looking for answers to social problems like slavery, horrendous working conditions of the poor, and women’s rights. Unions were being formed. The Social Conscience was being raised by caring and idealist religionists, many of them ministers who used their pulpit to stimulate their parishioners to care about others and to work for reform. People went to church to worship and if they had a liberal minister, they were constantly challenged to think about what and who God was and who Jesus was. These were the years when belief in the God of was being turned on its head because the people began to feel they could decide for themselves what they believed. As we move through this sermon, you might like to ask yourself what you believe.

If you were Unitarian in 1840, you had already decided that you didn’t believe in the total depravity of humankind and you may also have decided that you didn’t believe in hell or the Trinity either. The newly formed American Unitarian Association was liberal for its day but not too liberal; they were cautious about tossing out long-held beliefs. Although they had stopped believing that some people are saved and some are damned, they still believed in the truth of the miracle stories about Jesus. But there were a few younger ones amongst them who called themselves Transcendentalists who had little patience for the cold rational religion of even the most liberal Unitarians. Essentially, the Transcendentalists believed that the truth can only be known through one’s own intuition, regardless of what tradition dictated or scripture said. What do you think of that? It was not only a matter of “let conscience be your guide” but “let intuition lead your religious im pulse.” Authority would no longer reside in scripture and tradition but only in individual experience if you were a Transcendentalist. Much of what they believed is a widespread UU belief today. There was great dissension in the ranks of Unitarian ministers. Those who were able, conducted pamphlet wars and churches took sides.

The Transcendentalists were at least hundred years before their time and this was very hard for the rest of the Unitarian world to accept, but not the Reverend George Ripley and many others who gathered around him to found Brook Farm.

Ripley felt that just being a minister was not enough to bring the true message of Jesus into the world, which was brotherly love. He wanted to live brotherly love. It occurred to him that it would be more effective to establish a community where everyone was equal, where basic needs were met, and they could all live in harmony. In short, he wanted to establish what the earliest Christian churches had! In March 1841, he left his ministry at the Purchase Street Unitarian Church where he had served for 14 years and was much loved and soon afterward moved to Brook Farm. Ripley had turned his considerable mental ability to study farming but he had never actually farmed. To become an owner of Brook Farm, you could buy a share at $500, a considerable amount in those days, and this would give you a vote in decisions made about the property and you would receive 5% on your investment. Twelve people pledged amounts of money for shares and others pledged their support but who did not intend to live on Brook Far m. However, anyone could join the farm community and have a vote about the conduct of their lives. Articles of governance for the “Practical Institute of Agriculture and Education” were drawn up and the little group of 20 adults (including one young farmer and a few children) began their lives together in their new city of God.

Initially they all worked very hard many hours a day planting the fields, milking and feeding the cows, pigs, and horses and making the building called The Cottage habitable for them all. There was much talk and jokes about the godly and wholesome work of spreading the manure. Work fell along gender lines but it was clearly understood that anyone could do any task. Women were paid exactly the same as men, regardless of the type of work.

The pay was board and food. If you worked half time, you paid for half the board and food: 25 cents per night, 12 cents for breakfast, 25 cents for dinner (at 12 noon) and 12 cents for supper—74 cents per day. And eventually there were many who boarded.

It was a great disappointment to George Ripley that none of his Transcendentalist friends and colleagues either came to live at Brook Farm or even supported it financially, though they did visit from time to time. Ripley was particularly disappointed that Emerson would not support them and visited but rarely. Emerson’s journals show that he didn’t think that communal living would be good for him and he doubted it was good for anyone at all. Most Transcendentalists were far too individualistic to commit to communal living!

The soil at Brook Farm was sandy and rocky so it was hard to feed everyone on farm produce but the school quickly became popular and doubled and tripled in size very soon. It was of such high quality that it would become a prototype for other New England fine schools and academies. All the teachers were highly educated. There was even a day nursery, the first of its kind in the country. To accommodate the growing numbers, a second building was constructed and affectionately called The Hive. They all dressed for meals. In the evening, they played cards, read plays and poetry, created tableaux, danced, sang, played music, and generally enjoyed a rich cultural life. A joyous playfulness prevailed and some recalled years later the pillow fights amongst the young adults.

As many as 4,000 visitors a year came to the farm. Of course, they paid for their meals and overnight stays and this was also a source of income.

Many accomplished single women came to live, as well as women with children who had left their husbands. This gave women freedom that they could never have had outside the farm. Brook Farm became famous for its beautiful single women!

Although the colony had achieved the utopia that George Ripley had envisioned, by the second year, it was clear that the school was the only money-making endeavor and it could not support the rest of the community. They began to incur large debts for basic goods and food and also for the building materials needed for new buildings. Some people weren’t pulling their weight and they had to institute what essentially amounts to Time Cards!

Ripley and other leaders began to think of joining the association of popular communes established on the lines of a French social scientist called Charles Fourier. Fourier believed that conflict and suffering were caused by not giving people the opportunity to explore and express their naturally good and creative urges. He advocated classless communes where all kinds of people could live and work together in a democratic organization, doing the work and receiving the education that best suited their talents. The commune was to be organized by products. The difference between Fourier’s plan and Ripley’s was that one was based on agriculture and the other—Fourier’s—was based on industry. Sales of the products would support the commune and also give the workers some money to buy their necessesities.

Brook Farm reorganized for industrial activities that required them to include steam engines. In joining the Association of Ferrier Communes, working people were attracted to the farm, giving them the diversity they previously lacked. As many as 125 people a year applied to Brook Farm for membership. Some were not accepted now that they could pick and choose based on skill. The increased numbers required more buildings to accommodate them.

Ripley found his niche as a leader in the gatherings of these Associations, of which there were hundreds across the country. Ripley hoped to attract more working people and also to have the Association identify Brook Farm as a model commune and so financially support it so it could pay off its debts. Ripley turned his attention more and more to the cause of the working men’s unions and he was often invited to speak at their rallies.

I thought you’d like to know that “It was the Fall River (Massachusetts) mechanics who first issued a ‘call’ in June 1844 for a convention to bring together workingmen throughout New England to address their mutual grievance and goals.” They wanted 10-hour days (instead of 12 to 14 hour days) and a national workers union. Ripley was a main speaker at this convention.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, workers were producing well and they still managed to sustain a vital cultural life for all residents. However, it was very costly getting goods to and from market and financial problems continued to plague them. Creditors were beginning to appear at the door.

In 1845, a smallpox epidemic broke out in Brook Farm. Though many were very ill, no one died. Parents withdrew their children from the school. Many others left. This had a devastating economic impact on the Farm.

On March 3, 1846, workers had been putting the finishing touches to yet another large building that would allow everyone to live under the same roof. In the evening, a fire call went out. Neighbors and fire engines from neighboring towns came to help and worked hard through the night. In spite of the help, by the morning, only the foundation and some tools remained of the building. This was the final financial blow to Brook Farm.

Some residents lived on for a few years but the property was eventually sold. George Ripley went on to become a writer and reporter in New York City. But a light had gone out of the life of his wife, Sophia, and she became a Catholic! When she died in 1861, he had a service for her in the Purchase Street church in Boston, which had also become Catholic. (The immigrant groups had radically changed the neighborhood, which eventually became known as Italian Town. You can tour the church today.)

A few years ago, the Metropolitan District Commission of Massachusetts managed to buy much of the original Brook Farm land though the buildings had burned down. Adjacent land is also open and owned by surrounding communities. Brook Farm in West Roxbury would make a very nice day trip today. (Note: Leo and I tried to find it but weren’t successful on our first visit. We’ll try again sometime.)

Brook Farm had been a brave experiment. If Ripley had been more of a businessman, it might have worked as well as so many other communes. There was no other reason why the Farm did not thrive. He wanted so much to build a city of God, a New Jerusalem. He certainly tried hard. The information for the book on Brook Farm came from news articles, letters of residents to others, and the meeting minutes and records of Brook Farm itself. “…like Jesus, [Ripley] would himself leave no written record of his work.” (p. 326, Delano) Though Brook Farm was lost, it nevertheless had a great impact on the people who lived there, even if only for six short years. May the fine ideals of Brook Farm—brotherly love and equality—be part of our own efforts for a better world. And may they inform and inspire our interactions with one another.

References

The following has inspired and informed this sermon:

The American Heritage Dictionary, Office Edition, Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

Delano, Sterling F. Brook Farm: The Dark Side of Utopia, Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004.

Swift, Lindsay. Brook Farm, New York: The MacMillan Company, 1800.