The Harmony Society 

     The members of the Harmony Society came to Pennsylvania from Germany to establish a separatist religious sect in 1805. The leader of the society was a man by the name of George Rapp. His purpose was to prepare his missionaries for the second coming of Christ, during which, as far as they believed, would happen during their lifetimes. They served God by a very strict order and lived by very utilitarian means. They abided by a rule of celibacy, abstinence from tobacco and very minimal consumption of alcohol. 
     The long-term goal of the society members was to save enough money to make a trip to the Holy Land;  they believed that the Lord was coming back to Earth to judge them, so they wanted to be prepared for the call. To obtain enough money for such a journey, they had to establish a method of economic production. They also needed enough money to support their community of 750. When new members joined the Harmony Society, it was required that all money and property rights were given to Rapp for the benefit of the sect. The money the society made by industrial investment would be enough to support the entire group. By 1807, the society had established a small, functional community. They named their little town Harmony. It consisted of 50 houses, a church, a school and various workshops and storage facilities.
     In 1814, Rapp felt the call to move the group to Indiana, even though the community was doing very well where they were in Pennsylvania. They packed their bags and left Harmony in search of a different success. They relocated in the Wabash Valley, but only for a short time. Soon after they moved, disease spread through the group. They also suffered from hostile neighbors who did not appreciate their way of life. In addition, they were having a difficult time farming the land. After 10 years of hardships, the community decided to move back to Pennsylvania. There they reestablished themselves as industrious leaders. They renamed the new community "Economy" after a city in which God would dwell and things would be perfect. They established themselves on an ideal trade route on the Ohio River near Pittsburgh and created large factories for wool and cotton production. They also dealt in clothing and alcohol distribution. They had free labor and profits were abundant. Before long, competitors felt that the Harmonists had an unfair monopoly. People felt so strongly about the monopoly that newspapers advocated that the Pennsylvania State Legislature should force the Harmony Society to dissolve.  Their competitors failed in their attempts.  In that new community the Harmonists also became prosperous as industrial developers. They purchased land nearby for the purpose of constructing saw and oil mills and a stone quarry. That is the same site where they established the brick production factory where Corps of Engineers archaeologists are currently digging.
     Shortly after the community reestablished itself, it began to fall apart. Rapp wrote a new set of articles for the group. In the articles, he stated that Harmony was a patriarchal society of which he was the leader. Although it was true, the wording upset many members. They became threatened by the though of a tyrannical government. That was when the society began to decline in membership. During the next three years, 78 people dropped out of the community.  After the new weakness in the group developed, a man named Count Maximilian de Leon arrived in Economy. He professed to the Harmonists that he was the divine messenger. He brought with him a new band of followers. Leon and his followers believed in indulgence and marriage, which disrupted the lives of the more devout Harmonists. Finally, Leon was asked to leave. He took $105,000 and 250 fed-up Harmonists with him.
     In 1847, Frederick Rapp passed away, leaving Romulus Baker and Jacob Henrici in charge of the Harmonists' industrial, financial and material affairs for the next phase of the Harmony Society, which lasted almost 60 years. Baker died after 20 years. Henrici worked with a string of trustees during the rest of his life, eventually ending up with John Duss. During that time they became less focused on the traditional ways of the society and became more concerned with financial success. The community was declining in number due to the rule of celibacy and a lack of recruitment efforts. Members outside of the Harmony Society had to be hired to perform industrial duties in the mills and companies. The society was also holding interest in the local railroad system and they invested in paved roads northwest of Pittsburgh. The Harmony Society was becoming  industrially successful under the new leadership even though the religious aspect was declining. It was important to the new leaders though to maintain distance between the religious members and the outside workers to avoid moral contamination. As a result, most of the new industrial facilities were built outside of the Economy village. Forty years into the industrial period, the Harmony Society purchased the land on which they created The Harmony Brickworks in Leetsdale. Because of the intensive labor entailed in such a business, it was necessary to hire a full staff of outside workers to run the company. The society managed to keep the brickworks in business until 1901 when the society had swindled to just a few members.
     It is unclear exactly how much contact the laborers of the brickworks had with the Harmonists. Records indicate that contact was forbidden on a social level, so that the Harmonists would not become corrupted by un-Christian ways. The treatment of the brick workers by the Harmony Society was less than desirable. They had a record for not getting paid in a timely fashion. The memoirs of John Duss indicate that Henrici was sometimes forced to borrow money to pay the employees. In July 1892, the employees went on strike, demanding a 20 percent advance on their wages. The Harmony Society declined. They fired all of the men on strike and hired a new crew who would not be so demanding. Unfortunately, it was difficult for the society to find laborers. By the end of the 19th century, they were having problems with brick delivery due to the shortage of employees.
     With only a few members left, it was necessary to find a member capable of running their financial trust. The society allowed John and Susie Duss to take over, despite the strict rule of celibacy among the group. They had few alternatives. The Duss' became members of the society in 1888. Over the next 15 years, John Duss liquidated most of the financial holdings that belonged to the Harmonists in an effort to pay their debts. It was the opinion of his fellow members that his actions were for personal gain, but because of the financial despair and low membership rate, there was little they could do to oppose Duss' decisions. By 1903, the town of Economy and all of its assets were sold to the Liberty Land Company for between $3 to $4 million. John Duss excused himself from his position shortly thereafter and received $500,000 for his troubles. His wife Susie was left to the position of trustee until 1905, exactly 100 years after the society had been founded. It was during that year  the society declined to a membership of two people. Susie Duss and a man named Franz Gillman were the final survivors. Despite strict orders of the original doctrine, they divided the  remaining assets equally between themselves -- $1,293,000. It was understood in the beginning of the society's existence that no private property was to be used for personal gain and in the event that two members remained, the remaining money was to be given to the state. By the end, it was obvious that George Rapp's mission had failed. Shortly after the society's demise, Gillman died. He had willed his estate to Susie.

Updated December 03, 2004

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