EstablishedCLM-0131 · checked 2026-10-23
The Oneida Community practised complex marriage, in which every member was regarded as married to every other, under community rules regulating sexual relations and parenthood.[1]
Closed / failedHybrid
Oneida Community
A Christian perfectionist commune in central New York (1848–1881) led by John Humphrey Noyes, with common property, complex marriage and mutual criticism. It became a joint-stock company that grew into a silverware maker.
43.08° N · 75.64° W · Approximate: Oneida Community Mansion House area, Kenwood, near Oneida, New York
- Location
- Approximate: Oneida Community Mansion House area, Kenwood, near Oneida, New York
- Operating since
- 1848
- Governance
- Hybrid
- Legal status
- Recognised
- Economy
- Commons / communal
- Autonomy level
- Program within an existing state
- Uses AI in governance
- No
John Humphrey Noyes's followers, who had formed a Society of Inquiry at Putney, Vermont, in 1841, moved to Oneida, New York, in 1848. Property was held in common and work was organised in some 48 departments under committees. Farming gave way to manufacturing, notably Oneida steel traps and later silverware. Complex marriage regarded every member as married to every other, under rules on sexual relations and parenthood; from 1869 a programme called stirpiculture paired approved couples to have children. Daily evening meetings and mutual criticism by the whole community or a committee were the main instrument of discipline. Noyes held decisive authority. Under outside hostility Noyes advised in 1879 abandoning complex marriage, and in 1881 the members formed a joint-stock company.
Timeline
- 1841Noyes and followers form a Society of Inquiry at Putney, Vermont. [S1]Established
- 1848The group relocates to Oneida, New York, and organises as a community with common property. [S1]Established
- 1869The stirpiculture programme of committee-approved parenthood begins. [S1]Established
- 1877Silverware manufacture begins, late in the community's life. [S1]Established
- 1879Under mounting hostility, Noyes advises abandoning complex marriage and goes to Canada. [S1]Established
- 1881The remaining members reorganise as a joint-stock company, Oneida Community, Ltd. [S1]Established
Outcomes & controversies
Prospered for about three decades through farming and manufacturing and outlived most mid-century communes. Its successor company, Oneida Community, Ltd., continued the silver-plate business; the Mansion House is a National Historic Landmark.
Post-mortem
Hostility from clergy and neighbours over complex marriage, younger members' preference for conventional marriage, and the failed succession of Noyes's son led Noyes to advise abandoning complex marriage in 1879. He left for Canada, and the members reorganised as a joint-stock company in 1881.
Claims
EstablishedCLM-0132 · checked 2026-10-23
Mutual criticism, by the whole community or a committee, was the community's main instrument of discipline; Noyes described it as taking the place of backbiting, and Britannica calls it a shaming technique that enforced social control.[1][2]
EstablishedCLM-0133 · checked 2026-10-23
In 1879 Noyes advised abandoning complex marriage; the members reorganised in 1881 as a joint-stock company, Oneida Community, Ltd., which continued the industries as a commercial enterprise.[1]
EstablishedCLM-0134 · checked 2026-10-23
From 1869 the community ran stirpiculture, a programme in which a committee approved and paired parents; some historians describe it as an early American eugenics experiment.[1]