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25. Milo Adams Townsend
Mile's involvement in the antislavery movement, education, community experiments adapted
from the theories of Charles Fourier (Association), and the needs of the laboring class are
reflected in the information that follows, the source in most instances being his scrapbooks and
letters. All that is knownofhis relationship to the women's movementhas been coveredin
chapter 23.
That reformers who came to lecture in New Brighton were welcomed as guests in the home of
Milo and Elizabeth Townsend is attested to in an article by an unknown writer, possibly A.E.
Newton, a Spiritualist of Philadelphia who frequently corresponded with Milo. The article is
signed A.E.N. and dated November 10, 1858:
Here I wasgreeted warmly by onewhom I have long known andesteemed, but hadnever before
seen,-- Milo A. Townsend...whosehouse has for years been a shelter and home for unpopular
reformers. Not less genial was the welcome of his worthy companion, and I was soon made to
regret that I could not staylonger to enjoy their hearty hospitality. Gave onelecture at New
Brighton, ona most unpromising evening, but to a large and attentive audience {Scrapbook VI
22).
Emancipation of the Slaves
In 1862Milo Townsend wrote a letter to accompany a petition to Abraham Lincoln urging the
President to emancipate the slaves. The accompanying petitionhad beensigned by 111 people.
Theletter, which follows, appears as a newspaper clipping in oneof Milo's scrapbooks.
President Lincoln:
Respected Friend On behalf of one hundred and elevensigners of an accompanying
petition, I would respectfully ask to submit a few brief reflections for your consideration.
From the moral stand-point which we occupy, it does seem to us that this terrible war might
be brought to a speedy and righteous termination were all the instrumentalities brought to
bear upon it which lie within your reach under the war power as President of the United
States.
Though now occupying, as you do, one of "the high places of the earth," we have
nevertheless been led to regard you as one possessing feelings and sympathies in common
with the people and who conscientiously does his part in accordance with his convictionsof
duty. Yet, while we thus regard you, we cannot see clearly why you shrink from grappling
with the active and vital cause of our present national troubles.
Slavery seeks to extend its dominions seeks to rule or to be "let alone." Its intrinsic nature
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Milo Adams Townsend-Topics Page 2 of 33
is to tyrannize over humanity and to rule as with a rod of iron. "Slavery is itself essentially
and in its most quiet condition a rehellion a rebellion against the law of this universe a
guilty defiance of God and man." It asks not whether its subjects he white or black only
that its insatiable demands be heeded and its empire extended. For this sole purpose is the
South now at war, and in slavery lies her strength as well as her weakness. Strike the blow
at slavery, and the rehellion ends. Treat it as something too sacred or time-honored to be
handled roughly or irreverently, and it sits in demoniacal power and dignify, to baffle and
foil every effort to conquer the rehellion.
While the South is radically in the wrong, the North is not radically in the right. The one is
fighting for slavery per se, while the other is not fighting for Liberty as a principle, but for
the Union and the Constitution, which are only a shadow or a sham if diey do not represent
the Genius of Liberty and are not vitalized by the spirit of Justice.
Ifwe plant ourselves upon the rock of principle, contending inflexihly for freedom and
justice, on the side ofwhich are arrayed the Lord and his angel hosts, we shall "conquer
gloriously." Otherwise new difficulties, new entanglements, and new complications will
arise to educate us, as it were, in the school of calamity and to purify us by the fires of
suffering until we are humbled and made wUling to do the will of heaven!
Be assured. President Lincoln, there is no more peace or rest to this nation until it is willing
to do simple justice. For long years tilings have been culminating for the great issue now at
hand.
"Let truth and falsehood grapple" let there he a distinct issue between Liberty and
Slavery between God and Baal, and the result is not doubtful. It is only by a temporizing,
compromising policy and a disposition to make friends "with the mammon of
unrighteousness" that the reign of Evil has been so long perpetuated on the earth. There is
safety only in the Right on the side of God and Justice. There are perils and woes
unspeakable in the wrong for sorrow and suffering must follow wrongdoing as surely as
God*s laws are unrepealahle and His truth everlasting. For the slaveholder as well as the
slave. Justice and Truth have blessings to the realization ofwhich Slavery rears forever
an impassable barrier. Let this dark barrier be thrown down that a delivered nation's
Jubilee may come amid gratulations of brotherhood and hasannas [sic.] of rejoicing!
"The work of righteousness is peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance
forever."
With cordial good wishes and with every consideration of esteem,
I am truly yours,
Milo A. Townsend
New Brighton, Pa. (Scrapbook 12).
MiloAdams Townsend-Topics Page3 of 33
Lincolnissued a preliminary EmancipationProclamationin September, 1862, warning the South
to return to the Union or he would on January 1, 1863, declare all slaves held within the
Confederacyto be free. There being no forthcoming capitulationfromthe South before the
effectivedate, the proclamation becamemandatory with the addedofficial authorization for the
Union to enroll black troops (Bailyn 709).
The Emancipation, however, had some rather serious feults: it appliedonly to the areas whichthe
Confederacycontrolled(and where it could not be enforced), not to the border states still loyal to
the Union. By the proclamationno slaves were physically freed at that time. Many abolitionists
found in the document little or nodiing over which to rejoice; its sole purpose was to save the
Union, not to save the slaves. To Abby Kelley Foster it seemed certain that emancipating the
slaves for military reasons would leave their race still hated. She believed that the "poison ofthis
wickedness" woiild eventually destroy this guilty nation. Charles Remond stated that hatred for
the black people was at its height at that time. Parker Pillsbury remarked of Lincoln's
proclamation, "A little glad I was" (Sterling 335).
Then, slightly more than a month before the end ofthe Civil War, the North was shocked by the
assassination ofAbraham Lincoln, who was shot by John Wilkes Booth in Ford's Theater in
Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865, and died the next morning at 7:22 a.m. (Kull 227). As is
usual in an event so traumatic as the assassination ofthe head ofstate, many ofthose who had
found the President weak and ineffectual in his treatment ofthe slavery issue now praised the
man and the work he had accomplished.
Milo, reflecting the shock and sorrow ofthe nation, wrote the following accoimt, which is dated
April 15, 1865, 11 a.m.
The Assassination
The nation has been stunned this morning as by the sudden shock of an earthquake or a
peal of thunder from a clear slsy by the startling announcement of the assassination of
president Lincoln and Secretary Seward! 1 People are amazed - struck dumb by the
appalling intelligence that there should still live on the earth a single wretch so infamous, so
dastardly as to seek and take the lives of men whose only crime is their fidelity to Liberty
and Duty in the hour of their nation's peril - men who have stood firmly at the helm and
have so bravely and faithfully piloted the ship ofState through the angry storms that have
threatened to engulf it for the last four eventfiil and troubling years! But alas! there are
such infamous beings yet incarnated in the flesh, as there are in the dark abodes of the spirit
world. But their time is short - the reign of die tyrant approaches its end. These are the
death-struggles, the spasmodic contortioning that herald their doom. It may yet - the
victorious and final triumph of Liberty - he through other rivers of blood and over the
prostrate forms of other thousands of our countrymen.
"My hope for us all," in the language of my friend Judd Fardee, "is in the full advent of
Truth. Until the very Christ of Love, Wisdom and Truth is come, we are all at sea. But as
even the sea is swept around the horizon of Heaven, so our ocean of woe is overhrooded by
the Love of God! Out of it shaU come the Savior of men - triumphant truth and Holy Love
and radiant Wisdom!"
A nation has just been plunged, by the astounding intelligence of this morning, from the
highest joy to the deepest woe! The late victories over Ihe hosts of hell and the enemies of
Liberty and Light had but a few days before thriUed the nation*s heart with unspeakable
joy. But how sudden is the transition! Sorrow and mourning now fill the land. By the hand
of the midnight assassin, our noble chief has fallen together with one of his faithful
compeers. Lincoln, the generous, the just, tibie merciful, expires from a shot by a hired tool
of the Southern tyrants and Iheir Northern allies - But "his name shall he held in
everlasting remembrance" as one of earth's noblest sons and benefactors - A fearful time
has come in earth's dark history that has the duty ofrecording a deed so direfiil and
damning.
Still, we will not despair that God is at the helm of the Universe, guiding the destiny of this
and of all nations.
Hail! hail to thee, Messiah of Nations, thou who comest from Edomwith thy garments dyed
red! With thee go the blessings, for thee rise the prayers, of noble hearts all over the world,
as thou goest forth steadfastly to tread the wine press prepared by Destiny for thy feet,
knowing not the wine that shall come, only that it shall make glad the heart of man! O, my
country, there is a path that leads from Gethsemane, garden of Agony, up to the snow-pure
summit of Tabor, Mount of Transfiguration. There shall thy nobler children rear for thee
the tabernacles of the past, the Present, and tfie Future!
(Milo A. Townsend. Journal. Property of Deborah L. Snowden Whalen, his great-great
granddaughter).
1William Henry Seward (1801-1872), Secretary ofState under Lincoln, and Johnson, was in bed
ill at the time ofthe assassination and was stabbed by another conspirator. He recovered.
Education
Milo believed that careful attention to children's health should be an important aspect ofthe
educational process. His views are set forth in the following article, which he wrote for Clark's
School Visitor.
Educational Reform
by Milo A. Townsend
It was said by a distinguished physiologist that "Happiness depends upon the proper
adjustment of the nervous system." The same, or a similar thought, might be expressed
thus: Happiness depends upon good health.
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2. We know that man may be in possession of every external luxury and all the wealth of
earth; yet ifhe have not health, he is not happy. Let us inquire for a moment as to what are
some of the conditions or laws of health.
3. One of these is pure, unvitiated air. Is such found during six hours confinement in the
school-room? It is estimated that a strong, vigorous man breathes twenty-seven hogsheads
of air every twenty-four hours. At this rate, how long will it require thirty scholars to
breathe or use up an ordinary school-room ofair? Ifwe include the action of the fires or
furnaces on the air, it is rendered more or less unhealthfid or vitiated in a few minutes.
Thus one of the essential elements of life and health is made die agent of disease and
degeneracy. The noble Horace Mann, in alluding to school-rooms generally, remarks as
follows: **To put children on a short allowance of fresh air is as foolish as it would have been
for Noah, during the deluge, to have put his family on a short allowance ofwater. Since God
has poured out an atmosphere fifty mUes deep, it is enough to make a miser weep to see our
children stinted in breath."
4. These unventUated school-rooms and public halls generally, unquestionahly send out a
stream of corruption and disease that tells on the present and rising generation. I do not
wonder that Crandall, in his able work entitled "Three Hours* School a Day,** has
pronounced school houses generally, as **Dyspeptic Factories.** Think ofan adult audience
being confined six hours a day in a school-room, attempting to be patient and contented
with the monotonous routine ofwhat is popularly considered the legitimate educating
process. How varied, and interesting and attractive must be the exercises of any
entertainment even to be made tolerable to grown people for six hours a day during a series
of months or years! Then think of keeping the interest of children in a school-room for that
length of time! The thing is impossible, or if possible, utterly unnatural, stultifying, and
undesirable. For it would be out of the question for a child to enjoy a vigorous, fiill, and
healthy growth if his brain were so occupied and exercised as to become satisfied with a
course of life so one-sided and contrary to the laws of our being.
5. **The business of childhood,** says Crandall, **is to grow.** Strange that any body should
ever have thought otherwise, and should have instituted a system of education (?) that
renders muscular development and natural growth impossible. Well is it for humanity and
the emasculating race that a pioneer in physical education should arise in the person ofDr.
DIO LEWIS and institute a system that demonstrates the importance of muscular
development in harmony with intellectual and brain development
6. A condition of perfect health can only be attained by die exercise of all the functions of
the body and all the faculties of die mind. In the schools, as generally conducted, only a few
faculties of the mind are called into play, whereby these few receive undue exercise while
the moral, social, and physical being receive little attention; and hence children grow up (if
they reach the years of maturity) angular, lop-sided, and inharmonious in mind and body.
What folly to attempt to make sages and phUosophers of little children! A precocious child
is a sad sight to all thinking minds.
7. Thus far I have ** found fault** with the present school system and have only hinted at a
few of its errors. In my next I will suggest some improvements as well as endeavor further
to show how degenerating to the race has become the popular schooling process and that a
wise, philosophical education contemplates the development of the physical, social, moral,
intellectual, and religious departments ofone's being, thus making whole, self-poised,
symmetrical, magnanimous men and women.
New Brighton, Pa., Nov. 3, 1863 (Scrapbook I 8).
Lilly Moirill, a teacher in Fisherville, New Hampshire, wrote to Milo on May 13, 1855,
expressing her agreement that teachers and children should not be shut up for six hours a day in
an unventilated school room. This seems to lend some credence to the contention that students did
suffer from such an unhealthy school environment at that time.
The Battle for Bread
In 1875 Milo A. Townsend's book. The Battle for Bread, or. Justice, the Forlorn Hope of
Humanity was published by Dickson, McKalip & Co. 55 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Milo wrote under the pseudonym the Hermit ofthe Hills. The 74 page book sold for 250.
In the preface he stated a recurring theme, "The welfare ofall must be consulted before the
welfare of any can be secured ~ for Humanity is a Brotherhood."
One ofMilo's scrapbooks contains a number of
advertisements and reviews which identify him as the Hermit ofthe Hills, indicate something of
the scope and viewpoints expressed in his book, and throw some hght on his reputation as a
reformer. The following are selections from some ofthese:
[The Battle for Bread] is the name of a little pamphlet... just published at Pittsburgh by The
Hermit of the Hills. It takes up the labor question and handles it intelligently and honestly and
shows up the injustice practiced by greedy capital on helpless labor. All the chapters are short and
spicy. (Scrapbook VI34).
This is a beautifully printed httle book ... embodying some very suggestive and timely thoughts
on living. The author we recognize as an old friend, a reformer, and a thinker ofgreat clearness
and force
(Scrapbook VI 34).
The Batde for Bread ... is the title ofa small pamphlet on our table by Milo Townsend of Beaver
Falls, Pennsylvania.... It is intended as another ally and aid in the great cause ofsocial and
political reform....
{Scrapbook VI34).
[The Battle for Bread] is the title of a veiy neatly printed pamphlet... by "The Hermit ofthe
Hills," who has been an occasional contributor to our columns.... It discusses the question of
Capital and Labor and shows up the wrongs ofmonopoly and the competitive systems of the
business and financial world.
A literary critic of Philadelphia in writing ofthis little book says, "1 have given it a carefixl perusal
and the conclusion ofmy mind is that it is a veiy able exposition ofthe evils ofthe present social
order. Some ofthe passages possess a fieiy vehemence and logical force which must find
entrance into every fair and logical mind." Another author in a private letter writes: "'The Battle
for Bread' is an eloquent plea for the rights of a down-trodden humanity. It is one protest more
entered before the "Supreme Court" ofHeaven against the great demoralizing sin ofthe ages, the
sin of avarice, and 1 sincerely congratulate the author upon the position he occupies and the truths
he so forcibly declares" {Scrapbook VI 34).
The following review includes some quotations fi"om the book, making clearer the scope and
character ofthe work:
TheBattlefor Bread is the title of an earnest brochure that grapples with the question ofpoverty
in various ways. In the "Hermit ofthe Hills" we recognize marks ofthe style and spirit of Mr.
Milo A. Townsend, the estimable Friend whose poetical and other contributions we have
welcomed since the first issue ofour paper. He holds that the radical question ofour time is
poverty, and how to diminish it. It is the cause ofmost ofthe disease and crime and the prolific
mother ofimtold miseries. He contends that what the poor want is not charity but justice. It was
said by Margaret Fuller that "While any are base, none can be pure and noble." It must be said
that while any are oppressed, none can be entirely fi"ee. Even the disposition to oppress proves the
mind to be in bondage to evil. By causing others unhappiness or by being indifferent to their
rights or welfare, no one can be happy though he possess mountains ofdiamonds and oceans of
gold. In the words ofthe noble Pestalozzi, "There is no rest for him who oppresses and
persecutes. Nay, there can be no repose for him; for the sighs ofthe unfortunate ascend as swift
witnesses before the living God." He looks on monopoly as the chief cause ofthe difficulty that
oppresses the countiy. "When two-thirds ofthe wealth ofthe country is in the hands ofone-fifth
ofthe people; when three thousand houses are owned by one man in the city ofNew York; when
two men own a fiôntage on the San Joaquin river, California, of forty miles in extent, and other
gigantic monopolies ofequal magnitude exist; and while at the same time, thousands ofmen,
women and children are crying for bread, it becomes a serious question and demands the
profound consideration ofevery well-wisher ofhis race. For it is evident that our nation can never
stand on the heights ofmoral grandeur or attain that high destiny which our fathers dreamed of
and sought to lay the foundations for so long as vast monopolies exist on the one hand and toiling
poverty on the other." He touches suggestively on many remedies, such as cooperation, palaces of
industry, and graduated taxation. The little book is full of suggestion and provocation and that
sympathy for the suffering which is a thousand times more helpful than eloquent declamation. It
raises more questions than a score ofeconomists can solve, but it is a great thing to raise the right
questions. (Scrapbook VI35).
[The Battle for Bread] is the title of a small, neat... pamphlet now lying before me, the production
ofthat noble brother and indefatigable worker for the cause ofhumanity, Milo A. Townsend. I
have long been familiar with the name ofthis untiring philanthropist and have often wished the
world could be blessed with more such earnest laborers. "The Battle for Bread!" How pregnant
with meaning! how significant these words just now when millions ofour fellow coimtrymen are
nearing the door of starvation! How appropriate such a work in an age when sordid avarice is
snatching "the staffoflife" fi-omthe laboring poor almost the only class entitled by "heaven's
just law" or a court ofstrict moral justice to receive it. In a coimtry whose rehgion strictly forbids
its disciples to lay up treasure on earth and imposes the solemn, rigid and imperative injunction,
"Having food and raiment, herewith be content," we observe nearly all its leading professors
striving to live the life of a Dives and yet hoping at death to receive the reward of a Lazarus. Vain
hope!.... Friends, get this little work ofBro. Townsend's. It is a live coal on the altar ofhumanity
and will awaken new sympathy in your souls for the toiling millions now suffering for bread and
excite a new zeal in the noble work oftrying to do something to reheve them.
K. Graves. Richmond, Ind. {Scrapbook VI 32).
The following letter fi-om Milo pubhshed in the Pittsburgh Gazette was written before the
publication of The Battlefor Bread, but it reflects Milo's thinking on the subject eleven years
before his book was in print:
For the Pittsburgh Gazette
The Battle for Bread
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Editors Gazette The facts and reflections presented in one of your recent able editorials
concerning the prevailing extravagance on the one hand, as exhibited in our cities
especially New Yorkand of poverty and want on the other, are truly worth ** pondering"
by every one who feels any interest in the welfare ofhis kind.
To how many millions is this life a mere battle for bread! Not only men and women are
"drafted" into this battle by the hard hand ofnecessity; hut litfle children, who should be
out on the hill sides free from care and knowing nothing but the freshness, the health, and
the elasticity of a new-bom existence, are pressed into this weary conflict with want to save
a sorrowing mother or a decrepid [sic.] father from starvation's doom. How many sighs are
heard, how many tears are wept, how many hearts are broken, how many souls are forced
to stand in the places of sin and shame because of this unequal battle for bread, which
wages increasingly from day to day! To millions this is the battle that knows no truce, no
armistice, no capitulation. "Do or die" is the inevitable alternative.
For making a pair of cotton drilling drawers with buckles, button-holes, straps and strings,
a sewing woman is paid four and one-sixth cents. A smart woman using a sewing machine
can make four pairs in a long dayworking, that is to say, from seven in the morning till
nine at night. For such a day's work the reward is sixteen and three-quarter cents. Another
sewing woman receives five and a half cents for making large canton flannel drawers by
hand, each pair containing two thousand stitches, and having button holes, eylet-holes,
buttons, stays and strings; hut this poor woman has to furnish her own thread. She is able
to make two pairs of such drawers in a very long day, which includes a considerable part of
the night
These, among other facts set forth by the needle women at their recent meeting in Cooper
Institute, New York, are additional confirmations of the terrible struggle to which
thousands of poor, worthy women are subjected and of the meanness and inhumanity of
their employers, who are willing to make money out of their very life-blood.
We read of the noble daring, the beautiful self-sacrifice of a Capt Herndon, who not only
put forth every effort in his power, hut gave his life to the sharks of the deep to save from a
like fate the women and children that thronged his doomed vessel! Universal humanity
applauded a deed so self-denying, so heroic, so grand!
But what shall we say of tibose squandering spendthriftsfliose shrivel-souled money-
mongers, who, if possible, would monopolize the very air and water and sunshinewould
jam up the very 'rivers of life' and sell the Morning Stars if thereby they could subserve
their selfish and unhallowed purposes? Such men care not who sinks, so they swim. Unlike
the noble Herndon, they turn not to help the perishing; hut, seeking their own safety with
an indifference and heartlessness befitting the pirates that sail upon the high seas, they
allow their struggling, sinking brothers and sisters to go down in the surging waters of
poverty, sorrow and desolation. It was said by the excellent Pestalozzi that "There is no
happiness for him who oppresses and persecutes; no, there can be no repose for him; for the
sighs of the unfortunate cry for vengeance to Heaven." It is not in the nature of things that
men can waste the gifts of God or shut themselves up in their palaces ofwealth and yet be
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happy while needy ones are suffering in want and poverty all around them. God will not let
such men he happy. He will haunt them with the ghosts of a thousand imaginary wants; and
with a restless craving, they must go up and down the earlfa, **seeking rest but finding
none."
Someone has remarked that "Heaven is for those who have not succeeded in this life." It
might be said with greater force, perhaps, that Heaven is not for tiliose who have succeeded
selfishly in this life. The Bible speaks of those who have their portion in this world, as DiVes,
the rich man, who in his lifetime "had his good things" his wealth and great possessions,
but using them selfishly, and without reference to the good of others, was tormented in the
future life, while the poor, ragged, but kind-hearted Lazarus was comforted and made
happy.
So long as mankind set no limit to their desires and struggles for worldly richeshouses,
property and landsand so long as they do set limits to their aspirations and desires for
intellectual and spiritual richesWisdom, Goodness, Justice, Righteousnessjust so long
shall we have extravagance, pomp and "gilded villainy" on tilie one hand and poverty and
want on the other, with harmony and happiness on neither. While this spirit of avarice lasts,
how can the Kingdom of Heaven descend upon the earth? May we not hope that,
"The carnival of sin is almost o*er.
The great world's Passion-week is near at hand.
Freedom derided, crucified and slain.
Shall roll the rock from its dark sepulchre.
And throne itself in majesty thereon.
With face like lightning and with robes like snow."
Milonus
March 27, 1864 (Scrapbook I 5-6)
Association/ Fourierism
In the 1840s a movement for what was tQxmQd Association arose in die Northeaster United States.
This grew out ofthe type of society first promoted in France by Francois Marie Charles Fourier
(1772-1837), a French sociaHst and reformer who developed a system to organize society "into
small, self-sufficient, cooperative agricultural communities" {Webster's New WorldDictionary ).
Although Fourier's views were chaotic and extravagant, a young American, Albert Brisbane
(1809-1890), who had worked under Fourier, brought his system to America, tailoring it to fit his
own practical nature and making it agreeable to the culture and mind set ofthe American people
(Holloway 140).
Brisbane's first introduction to Fourierism occurred when he happened to pick up Fourier's book,
L'Association Domestique-Agricole , and read the words "Attractive industry." As Mark
Holloway explains in Heavens on Earth: Utopian Communities in America between 1680-1880 ,
these words so fired Brisbane's interest that he sought out Fourier and his associates and made an
exhaustive study ofthe theory under their direction (140).
Attractive industry was Fourier's most practical idea, and it was to this that Brisbane climg. In
1840 he published Social Destiny ofMan , presenting clearly the essential Fourierism without its
more offensive and fanciful aspects (Holloway 149; Hart 107).
Brisbane's adapted system was practical and workable, at least in theory. His views had great
appeal and became well known after his Social Destiny ofMan had converted Horace Gbreeley, at
that time editor ofthe New York Tribune . Greeley offered Brisbane a regular colunm in that
paper, and a fi*ont page headline in the spring of 1842announcedthe purchase ofthe column by
the Advocates of Association (Holloway 140-141).
Greeley himself spoke on behalfofthe movement, helped to arrange meetings, and pledged his
property to Association (141).
Milo was introduced to the concept at leeist as early as January of 1849, when Sarah W. Taylor
wrote to him about regular meetings held by some Rttsburgh famihes to discuss the subject The
following is an excerpt fi-om her January 16, 1849, letter:
We would like to have you here this evening to be present at a social meeting at our room. A few
families ofus meet once a week at each other's residences for the purpose ofreading upon the
subject of Association. We all enjoy these meetings veiy much. They were got up by Mrs. Dr.
Cote' 1, an intelligent woman and a very zealous associationist. When you come to this city again,
I must take the hberty ofintroducing you to her. You will certainly be pleased with her
acquaintance.
IFor more on Emma Cote'see chapter 22.
In 1843 an association paper called the Phalanx was started, but it was replaced in 1844 by the
Harbinger ofBrook Farm, that cooperative community having adopted Fourierism. Whittier,
Lowell, William Hemy Channing, and Margaret Fuller were among those who contributed
articles on the subject. Other newspapers and books furthered the cause, not only in New York
and New England, but also in other states. Lecture tours were organized, and meetings and
conventions were held to study and discuss Association (141).
Fourier had believed that there would be a 35,000 year period ofharmony and that during this
MiloAdams Townsend-Topics Page 12of 33
time the world would be organizedinto a great number of self-containedcooperative
communitiesto be called phalanxes. There were to be about 1750people in each phalanx and
privateproperty wouldbe maintained (103). However, the peoplewere in time to build and live
in alarge têe-stoiy building called a phalanstery rather than inindividual homes. The
phalanstery would provide all conveniences (136).
One ofhis tenets pertainedto wages. According to Fourier the highest wages shouldbe paid to
those doingthe most repulsive and exhausting work and the least to those doingmore agreeable
work, the highest wage being the U.S. equivalent often cents an hour and the lowest six cents. He
alsotaught that peopleshouldperform a varietyofworkduringeachdayto prevent weariness or
boredom and to promote enthusiasm and joy (136-137, 150).
Ofthe Association experiments organizedin the United States, the three most successful were the
following:
1. The North American Phalanx, located near Red Bank in Monmouth County, New Jersey,
which continued in operation for twelve years.
2. The Wisconsin Phalanx, which lasted six years.
3. Brook Farm, which existed for five years but for only two as a phalanx (148).
The Association movement was strongest in the northeastem states, where unemployment was
high as the result of a sharp economic crisis. In addition, the anti-slaveiymovement, as it grew,
beganto call for abohtion ofwage slaveryas well as an end to the enslavementofhumanbeings
as property. The idea of attractive industiy in a cooperative associationhad a strong appeal for
these people (142).
Unfortunately, many, having grasped the general idea of Association, tried to begin such a
community without proper organization and careful advanced planning. A number bought
wastelandthat was incapable ofproducingthe food they would need. Tragically, not a few lost all
they had on dozens ofpoorly organized ventures. Ofdie more than forty such experiments that
were begun, only the three named above survived more than two years and three others no more
than fifteen months (142).
Ofthose three most successfiil Phalanxes, the North American Phalanx, which had bought good
land, prospered exceedingly well for some years. The members were able to produce abimdant
crops of even better quality than those ofnearby farmers and to provide varied labor throughout
each day to prevent weariness and boredom. Then religious dissensionled to the withdrawal of a
number ofmembers and stockholders, who formed the Raritan Bay Union [See under chapter 17].
In addition, an 1854 fire destroyed their mills and workshops. The remaining members had not
the heart to go on, though they were offered aid (148-149).
D.H. Jacques, about whom nothing is known apart fi'omthe contents ofthe following letter, wrote
to Milo fi'om the North American Phalanx in New Jersey in 1856, two years after the disastrous
fire. Other Association settlements are mentioned in his letter which follows:
MiloAdams Townsend-Topics Page 13 of 33
Jfêtter 67
From D.H. Jacques
Phalanx N.J.
July 6,1856
I am farming a little here and writing some occasionallypretty busy as usual, and don*t
keep up my correspondence as promptly as could be wished.
Latest accounts from the Texas Colony are not very favorable, though the settlement at
Reunion is carrying on its operations with considerable energy.
A person from this place returned from there last spring and gave so discouraging an
account that those who were going from here have all abandoned the movement. I gave it
up with great reluctance, as you may easily imagine.
But I must go somewhere. Must seek a milder climate. Where shall I go and who will go
with me? Must we abandon die hope of an associative setdement? I am looking toward East
Tennessee and a favorable locality with the finest climate in the world, good soil and
tolerably cheap land. Who will go to East Tenn, or some other portion of the mountain
region of the south to help found a progressive settlement?
The Central Management of the Phalanx has passed from the hands of Arthur Moung [?]
and is going on from bad to worse. So the world goes. One hope after another of poor
struggling humanity fades away but there is a divine Providence and all will yet he well.
This is my faith.
I shall be glad to hear from you. What are your friends and correspondents doing in
reference to social movements? Can we get up a southern movement of our own?
Stephen Young, as I know you know, has given up the Kansas Setdement Company.
Yours for Progress
D.H. Jacques
Milo Townsend wrote a letter to Albert Brisbane, the founder of Fourierism, or Association, in
America. Brisbane's answer follows:
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Letter 122
From Albert Brisbane
New York, March 19.1859
Dear Sir,
You letter came to hand in due course of mail. The cooperation of good men such as you
speak of gives me great satisfaction. Ifwe can transport to a new soil a diverse population
with every means of facilitating production and of educating thoroughly every person, we
can build up, it seems to me, a Society worthy of being called a Society of human beings.
We must endeavor if possible to give a new direction to society in the great region lying west
of the present settlements; that is, found an advanced stage of society in the regions east
[possibly west ] of the Modry mountains. We hegin in north Texas and spread north, south
and west, organizing a state of things far in advance of the present
I have not written sooner as I wished to send you some documents the articles of
government which are heing translated into English. I think they will now be done in a
week. I will then forward them to you with some remarks on what is being accomplished at
present.
Mr. Considerantl is here, but leaves in a couple of weeks for Texas with his family.
We have some 30 persons on the ground with a few transfers and works progressing.
A capital of some two millions of dollars is promised in France: $300,000 paid in. A large
number of superior persons are waiting to insure. If success attends our fervid efforts, we
can draw the elite of the French population to us, that is, that portion imbued with
progressive ideas.
Mrs. Cote' often spoke to me of you, hut I did not hope so soon to hear from you.
Until the time comes that we can meet face to face,
I assure you of my cordial esteem and friendship.
A. Brisbane
1Victor Considerant was one of Fourier's two must enthusiastic disciples, the other being
Brisbane (HoIIoway 139).
MiloAdamsTownsend-Topics Page 15of 33
In the following letter Jane Nichelson, who also wrote to Milo about the relationship between
Maiy Robison and AndrewJackson Davis [see chapter 6] wrote to Milo fromHarveysburgh,
Ohio, mentioningthe Texas Colony ofwhich D.H. Jacques had spoken and said that she and her
husband had been involved in the failed Prairie Home experiment, in spite ofwhich she was still
interested in Association.
The letter is undated.
1 have known thee for years by reputation & letters. I have read in many of the papers, first
in the antislavery cause which is one that should never he forgotten tiUthe last chain is
broken from the slave. My husband & I have been engaged for the slave for many years-
have always kept the Depot on the Under-Ground RaU-road & we kept an open house for
all those that chose to come & tarry with us. Will thee & thy wife come & see us some time
in the future. I have been attracted to diee by reading thy communications on reformatory
subjects & 1 read a letter of thine to Mary F. Robison who has been an inmate of our house
for the last 4 weeks & 1 observed in it (thy letter) an account of a movement of Brisbane and
others & they had located in Texas which interested me some to know something of the
character of the movement & thy opinion of the social life when & how far it can he lived
out in peace, harmony & the best economy to individuals & the world at large. Valentine
Nicholson (my husband) & myself have been interested for many years on the subject
No doubt thee will remember the community that was started some 10 years since at Prairie
Home got up partly by John O. Wattles, beautiful Magnetic speakerOur souls were in it
to do good. We spent much time, $4000 in the experiment diough that faUure does not
destroy all faith in believing there may yet he those that feel a congeniality & wish to live in
some closer combination both in temporal & spiritual to make labor more productive for
ourselves & do the world more good.
From the foregoing letters it is obvious that Milo has been thinking seriously about Association.
In 1860 Hammonton, New Jersey, appears to have become his goal, as some letters written to him
indicate.
Hammonton, New Jersey, was opened to settlement by Richard J. Bjmies and Charles K. Landis.
The town was granted its charter on March 5, 1866, and became an important center for fruit
growing (McManon. TheStory ofHammonton 85; Hammonton News 8).
Writing to Milo from Philadelphia on July 16, 1860, a friend, William McDonald, presented a
glowing and fancifril account ofHammonton, but pessimistically declared that neither of them
would ever live there. An excerpt from his letter follows.
In the first place I wiUsaythat Hammonton, since we were there, has been dwelling in my
memory with a green & delightful spell. Somehow this I felt when there that it was a place
where the angels of peace & hope might he tempted to dwell & for a while fold their
rainbow dyed wings and forget for a spac;e tibeir heautifiil world of unrefracted glory and
undying flowers, and I still turn toward it hoping some day to be there. But neither you nor
1 will be there as dwellers forever for at least I have no means & the fashion of the world,
in the meantime, is passing away & our strength is wasting & our eyes growing dim & death
stands waiting at the door and tibe roar of the dashing of the mighty sea of eternity is
growing louder and louder as it rolls against the walls of life with its waves of mighty
mystery and playing with its murmuring shells that lie upon its wondering shores. We shall
never live there.
As though to belie his predictions, less than a month later McDonald is expectingMilo to go to
Hammonton. Writing from Philadelphia on August 3, 1860, he says, "When you come to
Hammonton, give us two weeks notice that is all I ask."
But on December 28, 1860, Milo was still in New Brighton when a frequent correspondent, A.E.
Newton, a Spiritualist (mentioned earlier in this chapter), wrote ofHammonton and warned him
ofthe need for practicality, as follows:
I cannot advise you on going to Hammonton. I know some parties who have located or
intend to, there, but none who seem to me to have any true idea of the essential requisites of
a social state much better than the present. Possibly you will find more congenial
surroundings at H.; and if you can be sure of some remunerative employment, the change
may be admirable. But don't expect too muchdon't think you are going right into
Paradise because you go among professed Spiritualists! Unless they have died to self and
been born again in the Spirit, die old devil of selfishness will be just as rampant there as
elsewhere only under new forms and disguises. Such is my experience....
Milo did not leave New Brighton for a cooperative association until 1866, by which time
Vineland, New Jersey, had become his goal. Before the move William McDonald wrote again to
Milo on the subject of Association. The first page having been lost, there is no date; but the letter
was evidently written no earlier than 1865 and before Milo's 1866 move to Vineland.
Do you really intend to cultivate a home in Vineland? It may grow into a place of great
importance & beauty, & when the Old Folks at Home are gathered to their Fathers, you
may feel at liberty to pull up stakes & seek a new establishment with your blue-eyed lady.
Yet I think her heart is wedded to New Brighton & the Sweet Quakers "that there do
congregate " whether her affections hear transplanting to another clime is doubtful they
might wither & die & exhaust their fragrance on the lonely airs of a land of strangers
These things are worth thinking about, but I hope your mind will incline to the East. In that
case we might see each other occasionally & talk of times "long ago betid...."
We have conquered rebellion & slavery & Gkid Almighty will henceforth stretch over us the
wings of Mercy & Peace. We stand without that great national sin of Slavery on our backs
to crush us to the Earth.... Give the blue-eyed a kiss for me.
An undated itemin one of Mile's scrapbooks reports a musical soiree at his home in which "Auld
LangSyne" and"Farewell to MisterTownsend" weresung. Thewriter expressed his opinion that
"Mile's next party" would "probably be givenin Vineland" {Scrapbook V 53).
In Julyof 1861 Charles K. Landis purchased fromRichard P. Woodat $7 an acre a tract ofbarren
wilderness, flat and desolate, on which to build Vineland as a center for the cultivation of
orchardsand vineyards (hence the name Vineland). Even Landis could see no beauty in the land
at that time. Fires had swept through this area that supportedonly scrub oak, pine, and brush.
Therewere swamps to be drained. The first house was built in 1862. Still by 1865 two hundred
buildings had been erected, and by the end ofthe next year there were twelvehundredmore. The
town was laid out carefullywith streets a hundred feet wide and land set aside for the railroad that
was soon to go through the settlement (VinelandN.J. Centennial 1961 n.p.).
On July 2, 1866, the Rev."Sylvanius" Jones ofPittsburgh wrote hoping that Milo would be happy
in his new home and new surroimdings and supposing that he was "ever experiencing the sweet
refreshment of a new and more congenial life." He added, "I cannot but feel very anxious for the
success ofyour experiment, for such to a considerable extent it is." He hoped that Elizabeth was
"not overwhelmedby the sad loneliness of a strange land" and would find a few choice fiiends
and be happy.
Writing on October 21, 1866, Ellen Angier, a close fiiend ofthe frmily, who was now teaching
in Cleveland, Ohio, spoke ofVineland as a "region ofdesolation" and indicated that Milo had
moved to Spring Garden veiy soon after arriving. Portions ofher letter follow:
How do you do, my dear friends Milo and Lizzie? It is nearly two months since I bade you
good-bye in Boston, isn*t it, Milo? I wonder ifyou haven't both had some hard work and
more heart ache since then. I don't mind it for you, Milo, because I think it will do you
good. But for your merry little wife I do think it is too bad. Wasn't I sorry for you, Mrs.
Laughing Blue eyes, when your husband described to me your sensations upon looking out
upon the sandy tract of Vineland the morning after your arrival in that delectable country.
I think Lemmy [Lemuel, the older ofMilo and Elizabeth's two sons] must have packed his
wits away at home before purchasing that bit of sandy earth, the unlucky ownership of
which caused you to leave the fair and beauteous land of Brighton for that region of
desolation. I am glad enough you didn't get stuck there. Spring Garden ought to be a land
overflowing with milk and honey to compensate you for those few days of misery. But alas
for the tasteful little cottage, the noble hills, dark ravines, and flowing rivers of dear old
Brighton! I fear you will not find their place made good unto you. Howare you now, if you
please? I am very anxious to hear, though you might not helieveit from my long silence...
I really must hear from you very soon, Milo. Don't you dare to send me a short letter, nor
one that contains anything ahout "golden Oct." or the "state of the Nation." I want to hear
ahout your home life and doings at Spring Garden, and remember, you are to give it me in
your most voluminous and emphatic style.
(For more on Ellen Angier see chapter 9.)
Spring Garden was anothervillage in New Jerseyandwas near Blue Anchor. Nofurther mention
is made ofit either in Milo's correspondence or in his scrapbooks.
The Blue Anchor Community
After the Vineland fiasco, probably in 1865, Milobecameenthusiastic about a proposed
Spiritualist community at Blue Anchor, New Jersey.
Theoriginal Blue AnchorTract was bought fi*om Indians on September 10, 1672 (Chalmers 68).
Blue Anchor, which was on the Egg Harbor Road (Dorwart and Mackey 13), had once been at the
center ofmajor Indiantrails leadingto the Atlanticshore (Heston 173,178). It derived its name,
according to legend, fromthe complaints ofa group of sailors who had come up the Great Egg
Harbor l^ver and visited the spot invery early times. After a disgusted look atthe deserted area,
they declaredit "a damned diy and blue anchorage" (McMahon. SouthJersey Towns 284). More
commonly the name is assumedto have comefromthe sign ofthe Blue Anchor Tavern, which
was on the EggHarborRoad(283). Thistavem, according to GeoigeR. Prowell in his History of
Camden County, New Jersey, was built on land locatedby a Philadelphia distiller, Abraham
Bickley, in 1737. By 1740 JohnHiderwaslandlord ofthe tavem, which was thenbut a cedar log
cabin(697). In time a large stonehouse replacedthe cabin; andthe inn becamea stagecoach stop
and a favorite accommodation for travelers, who appreciated its bountiful meals, clean beds, and
quite nights undisturbed bythe noise ofdrinking. Laterin the nineteenth century Dr. JohnHaskell
and his associates chose this site for a Spiritualist community which was to be like that at
Vineland. About twenty-five families took over small tracts, and a number ofhouses were built
(697).
However, when Haskell died and disagreement over the tme policy ofthe communityarose
among the members, manyleft. Thosewhoremained did not cany out the original purpose, but
Prowell notedthat by the time ofhis writingin 1886, a numberofimprovements had beenmade.
He felt that a thrivingsettlement might be established at Blue Anchor, as the land was rich and
favorably located (697).
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There are still several large farms in the area as well as a produce company and a tavern
(McMahon 284).
Milo's scrapbooks contain three newspaper chppings advertising and outlining the Blue Anchor
project. His own description ofthe communityis quoted in fiill below, while excerpts are taken
from the other articles.
A Progressive Settlement is now forming on that superior tract of land long known as Blue
Anchor, twenly-five miles from Philadelphia, fronting on the Camden and Atlantic
Railroad in Camden Co., New Jersey.
It is the purpose of the founders of this viUage and settlement, and of those thus far
cooperating, not to repeat the old system of things that exists in the towns and cities of the
world based on antagonism, speculation and fraud, whence result poverty, want and misery
on the one side and monopoly, affluence and extravagance on the other with happiness on
neither; but as soon as practicable to institute Attractive Cooperative Industry in all the
various branches of Agriculture, Horticulture, Manufacturing, Mechanics and the Arts.
Here then is a golden opportunity for Philanthropists and the Friends of Progress to realize-
-in the proper development of this splendid domain of four thousand acres a higher, a
nobler and a more harmonious state ofsociety and to found institutions worthy of the age
and in response to the deep yearnings and aspirations of universal humanity.
One of the specific objects sought by the projectors of this movement is the establishment of
a self-sustaining Industrial College, incorporating therein, on a large scale, the essential
elements of the Children's Progressive Lyceum as inaugurated by Andrew Jackson Davis.
For this purpose three hundred acres of land are held in reserve. A unitary Palace, Model
Homes, a Cooperative Store, a Hygienic Institute, a Lecturers' Retreat, and Children's Play
Grounds are also contemplated. These are some of the features distinguishing this
Settlement from Hammonton, Vineland and other places.
Persons could now engage to advantage upon the grounds in such branches ofindustry as
manufacturing Shoes, Baskets, Kegs, Barrels, Boxes, Clotibing, Earthen Ware, Brick, Pocket
Books, &c, &c. A large Steam Mill is now in successful operation; also an extensive
Greenhouse and several private residences of unique design are being erected on Central
Avenue.
The lands are furnished at lower rates than any ofsimilar quality and eligibility in the
State. Those wishing further information are earnestly requested to visit the place rather
than rely upon the meagre knowledge to be obtained through correspondence. Those to
whom this is,at the present impracticable, may address the undersigned at Blue Anchor,
Camden Co., New Jersey. The route from Philadelphia is from the foot of Vine street to
Winslow Station, which is two miles from Blue Anchor village.
March 29, 1867 Milo A. Townsend (Scrapbook I 13)
The second article includes the names ofthe community officers.
A New Movement
Our esteemed friend and former agent at New Brighton, Milo A. Townsend, has favored us
with a copy of "Circular No. 2" in which is set fortib the desirability ofinvesting in a home
on the lands of the Blue Anchor Land Improvement Company of New Jersey....
Any information may be obtained by applying by letter or in person to either of the
following officers at Blue Anchor, Camden County, New Jersey: George Haskell, President;
Thomas Taylor, Vice President; Josiah W. Spaulding, Secretary; Milo A. Townsend,
Treasurer (Scrapbook 1 19)
The last article presents a fiirther picture of Blue Anchor, while giving also more insight into the
success ofthe communities at Hammonton and Vineland.
It is astonishing how those supposed desert lands of New Jersey are, by industry and
cultivation, made to blossom as the rose and hear fruit abundantly. Vineland is already
quite a city. It has a Spiritualist organization and a flourishing Progressive Lyceum.
Hammonton has proved a grand success. Its peach-orchards, vineyards, neat cottages, fine
residences bespeak at once a present prosperity, and a prophecy of a still brighter future.
This "Blue Anchor Trust" is yet in the flush ofinfancy. It has some four thousand acres; the
soil is excellent, water pure, and the climate nuld, at the same time healthy and exhilarating
owing to the ocean-breezes.
What particularly interests us is the expressed purpose of Messrs. Milo A. Townsend, Dr.
Geo. Haskell, WJV. Baldwin and others connected therewith to bring into operation soon as
possible an Industrial College, a Unitary Home, Health Institute and a Lecturers* Retreat.
The college is designed to educate the young in harmony with natural law, making them
true men and women. The unitary home will show the economy and labor-saving
advantages of group-families without infringing in any way upon die purity and sacredness
of the marriage relation. The lecturers* retreat will say to die worn and weary: come, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, come and rest; this is our home; your home; the home of all
sore-footed pilgrims; come and renew your strength for fresh efforts and the attainment of
still higher altitudes in the vast fields of reform. The purpose is broad; we diink the plan
feasible. It is work that will benefit humanity now.... (Scrapbook 114).
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Mile andhis family moved to BlueAnchor sometimeafter October 21, 1866, andbuilt a house.
Lettersto Milothat will later be quotedseemto indicate that Anchorawas the name ofthe section
ofthe Blue Anchor tract on which the Townsends and their associates settled. Anchora was
within
the Blue Anchor Tract (Cities, Towns andPost Offices ofNewJersey in 1880 n.p.). The
Townsends left the community before Thanksgiving Day in 1867. Tliereasonfor their departure
and to some extent the character ofthe community may be deduced only from the following
letters, some ofwhich, unfortunately, are imdated.
Aletter fromMrs. Caroline(Carrie) H. Spear, thoughlackinga date, is almost certainlyfromthe
periodduringwhichMiloand EhzabethTownsend withtheir two sons, Lemuel and Charles,
wereliving at Blue Anchor. The Spears, alsolivingthere at the time, were Spiritualists, who, as
another writer stated, made their living by "mediumship."
Letter 168
From Mrs. Caroline (Carrie) H. Spear
Friday Morning
My dear Mrs. Townsend,
Seeing your pieces of old flannel last evening has tempted me to write and ask if you can
spare me a little to repair some drawers for Mr. Spear, which I find must be done before he
goes to-day 1 am entirely without pieces and don*t want to use cotton if I can help it. Had I
known my need last night I might have selected and you might have better told ifyou could
spare it. However, you will be quite as free to deny as I to ask ifyou have use for it.
With best wishes for success in your present undertakings, I remain
Truly,
Mrs. Townsend
C.H. Spear
On February 25, 1867, Milo wrote from Blue Anchor to Jacob Henrici, a trustee for the
Economites, inquiring on behalf ofsome friends about the purchase ofland in Western
Pennsylvania. For the replyto this letter, seechapter 15 on Jacob Henrici.
Milo had left a letter fromJacob Henrici, probably the one still extant, with John Orvis, agent for
Blue Anchor, who wrote.
In looking over my papers some days ago, I found a meaningful note pertaining to my
Agency for Blue Anchor, the enclosed letter from Mr. Henrici, your esteemed friend, the
man whom I highly respect and remember with a pleasing emotion. I know you must prize
it, and therefore I am very happy to have found it & to be able to send it to you.
Orvis also offered to buy property belonging to Milo. This would appear to be his Blue Anchor
holdings. Excerpts from the letter follow:
My dear friend. Will you give me the price at which you will sell your lot of 12 acres (1
think) lying on the highette of the lowslow roadbeyond Mr. BeaPs lot; and (if 1 rightly
remember, extending to the line next Col Hayes land). 1 don't know, but 1 have a friend
who might pay you the money for it, provided you would sell it at or near the price you gave
for it, on the appraisaL Please write me in receipt of diis and state your lowest terms for
each. 1 will frankly teUyou in the outset that the fact that a warrantee deed cannot be had
for the land may be an objection to the purchase which cannot he removed, and any
inflation of the price added to the other one mentioned would certainly defeat a sale. 1 don't
know that I could make a sale but have been asked to write you for a price.
Orvis, who was living in Philadelphia at the time ofwriting, added.
1 have heard from you once or twice since you left the Anchor through our mutual friends
the Robbinses. 1 hope that you feel that your new turn was the right move to make and that
you are quite content and happy thereby.
This could indicate that the letter was written in late 1867 or perhaps in 1868, after Milo had left
Blue Anchor but before any disposal had been made ofhis property in that settlement
Orvis had been a resident at Blue Anchor. He was also at the time ofwriting very poor. Whether
his poverty was a result ofthat experiment or from some other cause is, of course, not known; but
his financially difficult circumstances are made clear in the following excerpt from the same
MiloAdamsTownsend-Topics Page 23 of 33
letter:
I have lived in solitude in this great city since I left Blue Anchor, and have heen thankful
that I have been able to get bread & cheese wifti apples. These have been my constant fare
for more than four months. Why should I complain? 1 am a preacher to the poor & in their
behalf, & I have no right to fare much better than they but then how much better has been
my lot than that of thousands who are dependent on the public soup-kettles, and many of
whom had well nigh perished before that slow & grudging charity was doled to them.
The following undated letter from Carrie Spear was written after the Townsends had left Blue
Anchor. It was probably written in November of 1867, since the Spears' proposed winter voyage
to Englandmentioned therein took place before April 20,1868, the date of a letter sent to Milo by
Mrs Spear fromLiverpool, England. Also, the conventionand Dr. Phillips mentioned in Sallie
Spauling's December 10,1867, letter below appear toindicate that Mrs. Spear and Sallie
attended the same convention on Thanksgiving weekend.
This Thanksgiving Eve letter from Blue Anchor pictures to a certain extent the Hfe ofthe
community as well as providing perhaps some oblique light on the reason for Milo's departure.
Letter 165
From Mrs. Caroline (Carrie) H. Spear
Thanksgiving Eve
I must beg pardon, my dear brother, for responding to your very welcome letter at a
moment when I feel so hurried and weary; but I fear if I postpone it, it will have to be for a
much longer time than I shall wish; so I improve the hour before bedtime & after a day of
packing for Boston & with reference to sending for such things as we may want should we
go to England.
Then you are gone to your 'native glen'! This 1 did not know. I feel that you are probably
living over again that youth which knew of sweets that often years rub us in a measure of,
but which return to us in larger fullness at the advent of our real manhood. (Of course I
include man male & man female in the term
manhood .) This is often a delightful experience.... How well I would like to be with you I
can't write. Mr. Spear 1 know would enjoy it too beyond words to telL We have had a
beautiful Indian summer here until this morning it began to rain & is a little colder.
Blue Anchor remains outwardly much the same as when you left. I believe a sweet loving
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spirit is at work inwardly which your going away seemed to initiate. God grant it may be
fuU grown & that you will come & hask in the warm up. Dr. Haskell has returned and says
that J. Madison Allyn will come here ahout Christmas and open a school Jan. 1. He does not
seemin so good spirits as his letter to Mr. Taylor might indicate, hut his health has
decidedly improved.
Mr. Spear wrote me from NewYork that Mr. Nichols & wife will be here next Monday. I
will give him your word tiben. I expect to go to Vineland tomorrow to a Convention for
Woman Suffrage. Mr. Baldwin has kindly invited me to ride over with him & it being Mr.
Spear's wish that I go, I do so, altho' I have not so much interest as formerly 1 mean 1
don't feel to do so much in the advocacy, hut am very glad that diere are women who do, for
it is an essential to our well-being, I believe. The Phillipses, Garners, Gateses, Mrs. Gardner
& Miss Crowe will represent this place there, I understand.
I dined with the good friends Spaulding to-day on Turkey and you and yours were spoken
of many times. We miss you every day and at every turn. Our hearts are indeed close to
yours & we pray it may be in tibe providence of God to cast our lot in the same place during
our mortal pilgrimage even while we feel its exceeding transitoriness. Our minds
instinctively light upon you whenever we think of setting afoot any project for individual or
collective welfare here, & then we have a sinking at heart that you are gone, though we feel
it will eventuate in best good. 1sincerely hope that the Economists may deem it wise & good
to invest some of their means in manufacturies here. I feel a strong & unexplainable
attachment to this people & would enjoy the winter quiet here; hut Mr. Spear feels since he
has got away, more as ifwe should go to England during the winter. He is now in Boston
living over in recollection & speculation some of his past trials there. Heaven help him to
strength.
1 go to him early next week after my return from Vineland. I should hope to hear from you
then. Our address is 13 La Grange St. Boston &c.
1 am all alone tonight. Mr. Baldwin came for Tadie to stay with his children while we are
gone. I have been filled with thanksgiving all the day at fiie result among other things of our
stay at B.A. We go away rich in that friendship which time and place cannot affect. Both
Mr. Spear & I feel that our gain in your love & friendship is one ofHeaven's best gifts to us.
Accept my sincere affection & believe me truly yrs.
C.H.S.
Sallie Spaulding, a young girl and probably the daughter ofthe Spauldings with whom Carrie
Spear dined on Thanksgiving Eve, wrote the following letter expressing her grief over the
Townsends' recent departure from Blue Anchor:
Letter 152
Milo Adams Townsend-Topics Page25of 33
From Sallie Spaulding
Anchoral, Dec lOtli/67
My dear friends.
We received your letter about a week ago and Mother would have answered before had
she not been so very busy. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholsl are here hut intend to get moved into
their house as soon as to-morrow.
I need not say that we were delighted to hear from you for you already know that and it
would be but commonplace.
We all miss you oh so much and I think more and more every day.
Whenever 1go down to D. T. 1look over and imagine I can see you at the window and it
seems as though I must go over and find you there.
I called in at Mr. Lawson a few days after you went away and went into the library & it was
just as you left it and your little rockingchair looked so lonesome that 1had to sit down in
it and relieve my feelings in a good cry. Father received a note from Mr. Townsend last
evening saying that you were going to rent a house at Beaver Falls.
Nettie has-gone into the city to do some shopping. Your kitty is nicely but I think she
missed you at first She would go all over the house crying and it seemed in search of
something. She hoxed "Old Jim" occasionally and 1 think he is afraid of her
Mr. Townsend I thank you very much for your kind offer hut I hardly fiiink if I am
very carefiil fiiat I shall he troubled much with neuralgia. If1amwill write and let you
knowand would like very much to have you send me a prescription.
I went to Vineland Thanksgiving day with Dr. Phillips and Lizzie [?] staid until Sunday;
had a very peasant time Attended the Convention Friday and Saturday and the Children*s
Lyceum Sunday
By the way Mr. Townsend's papers are brought here. Father says that he did not say
anything about having them sent hut I will send the last Vineland paper in which is an
account of the Convention, and will send the others that come if you would like them. We
have dances here every Tuesday evening. Have two musicians from Waterford engaged for
four evenings and will probably continue having fiie dances once a week all winter Mr.
Nichols will commence his singing class in a fewweeks. I think we will have quite lively
times here this winter.... I do hope we will have a good schooL I do wish Mr. Townsend were
here to dance with me tonight. With much love to all 1 remain
Your friend
Sallie
lAnchora on the Blue Anchor Tract was a village very near the village ofBlue Anchor (Cities,
TownsandPost Offices ofNewJersey in 1880 n.p.). The above letter from Sallie Spaulding and a
letter from Edward Nichols seem to indicate that the Blue Anchor community ofwhich the
Townsends had been a part was called Anchora, as mentioned earlier, while the name Blue
Anchor applied to the tract as a whole.
2 The effect that the Nichols family's stay at Blue Anchor had on Mr. and Mrs. Nichols may be
seen in Mrs. Nichols' October 20,1870, letter to Milo, which appears later in this chapter.
Writing to Milo from Boston on February 26,1868, Carrie Spear expressed her happiness in
learning that Milo was doing well in Beaver Falls. She added, "I suppose you know much more of
Blue Anchor than we. Our hearts go out toward the people there & I pray they may be blessed in
basket and store. Can you tell me the plans ofthe Nichols?"
Milo, once settled in Beaver Falls, was busily building a house. Ellen Angier, in a letter of April,
1868, expressed her disapproval ofthe house Milo had built at Blue Anchor, comparing it to the
plans for the new house as follows:
At any rate being gothic in style, it must be a great improvement upon that eight-sided box
which you set up in the Jersey woods. I tried to think it was pretty when I was there for
your sakes, hut now that 1 think of it at this distance, 1 like it no better than the experiment
of your living there at all. I wonder after all what demon ever possessed you to go there....
But never mind; that is all over.
The following letters from Edward Nichols and his wife sum up their experiences at Blue Anchor
and their attitude toward Spiritualism.
Letter 178
From Edward W. Nichols
PeekskiU, N.Y. Oct 19 '70
Milo Adams Townsend-Topics Page27of 33
My dear Friend
I have just returned from a Sketching Fxcursion to NewEngland which absence must he
my excuse for not sooner acknowledging your letter with the enclosed photographs.
The views are very pleasant and combined witib the handsome house and familiar groups on
Piazzas and Balconies, and the memory of pleasant fnends who compose those groups make
a very strong attraction for me to accept your kind invitation to visit you in your new
homel.
But the season for sketching is nearly past and the season for work is at hand so I fear 1
shall have to put off the pleasure of a visit to you till another season And tho* I can make
no promises so far in tibe future, I can assure you to he able to spend a fewdays with you
will give me great pleasure, and I do not doubt I would find much in the scenery ofyour
vicinity to interest me.
We are living with a sister of Mrs. N. who has a beautiful place on the hanks of the
Hudson near this town. The scenery is very picturesque and Bie nearness of New York
makes it very convenient for a residence
I think there is no point on the Hudson more beautiful than tibis, and we shall he glad to
welcome you and Mrs. Townsend to our home whenever you will favor us witib a visit.
We have very little communication with Anchora, tho*we still keep our place there. The
Hunters occupy and care for it with, I hope, advantage to themselves-1 see very little to
encourage me in regard to the future of that unfortunate place
With thanks for your pictures and your remembrance wiBi regards to Mrs. Townsend and
the Boys & Miss Angier if still widi you
1 remain as always
Your friend E.W. Nichols
IThe new Townsend house, named Sunny Bank, also became the subject ofa stereographic
picture, part of a series, "Beaver Valley Scenery," then available fromH. Noss, Photographer,
New Brighton, Pa.
Letter 177
From Mrs. M. W. Nichols
http://www.bchistory.org/beavercoun1y/booklengthdocuments/AMilobook/25Townsend.html 12/19/03
Peekskill, New York
Oct. 20 no
Dear Friends
If you are able to live in so fine a home as "Sunny Bank," it must be that you no longer bold
open intercourse with disembodied spirits for all who do seem lured on by them to ruin.
Poor Anchora! Strongly was I duped in supposing that the influence ofwhich Harrisl was
the medium was any more divine than any other. It seems to have this merit in heing so
simple as to secure the subjects to unitary action & therefore to form a stable, prosperous
community. Of its interior life I have no present knowledge. Am resting on a basis of
common sense; too late to retrieve our fortunes hut not altogether perhaps for the recovery
of reason & health my better halfwill tell you of our pleasant surroundings. We should he
glad to see you hereWe shall hardly he able to get so far west. My only pleasant
recollections of Anchora are your pleasant faces. How are the hoys? I still believe in
Industrial Schools, & die next generation will see them. Eddy is hoping to enter Cornell
Inst. next year. Do you ever hear from the Spears? Does mediumship support them yet? Are
the sluices still open from above? Let us know what you are doing & thinking.
Yours truly,
M.W. Nichols
Peekskill
Oct. 20 70
llfthis is a reference to Thomas Lake Harris, it is incredible that Milo, who knew Harris'
reputation, would have entered into any experiment inspired by that man. Perhaps the reference in
Nfe. Nichols' letter is to another Harris. For Thomas Lake Harris see chapter 14.
Milo and some ofhis friends left Blue Anchor, some obviously disillusioned by the experience.
Others ofthose who had participated in that experiment and in similar communities held on to the
ideal for a few more years. Fourierism and its system of Association had failed or had never been
tested by a group capable ofcarrying it out. The entirely unrelated but extremely successful
Economites, represented in this book by Jacob Henrici, still had but a short time to survive, albeit
the reason for the demise oftheir community was the impractical rule against marriage.
Milo Townsend^s Death
Milo A.Townsend died in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, on August 14, 1877. His illness was
reported in the August 15, 1877, weekly newspaper, ihQArgus &Radical ofBeaver, as follows:
We regret to learn that Milo A. Townsend, Esq., of Beaver Falls is quite ill, suffering from
neuralgia of the stomach, stated The Courier, there is but little hope of his recovery. [The
Courier was a Beaver Falls newspaper.]
Alonger notice by a friend was found in a family scrapbook. Excerpts follow:
Departed This Life
Milo A. Townsend
It is our sad duty to record the death of our mutual friend, Milo A. Townsend, at his
residence in Beaver Falls on the evening of Tuesday, August 14th, in his sixty-first year,
having been born in Fallston June 20,1816.
Milo quietly passed away as though in sleep, near the close sending many goodbys to those
he was leaving on earth. On the morning of Tuesday, about eleven o'clock, feeling that the
spirit was soon to take its light, he requested all his friends who were present to come while
he was yet conscious and bid him good by. He affectionately embraced each and bade them
a long farewell, promising that he would greet them on the other shore. After all had been
called to his bedside and taken the last good-by, he requested that all should withdraw but
one, it being in accordance with his views that the spirit was retarded in its separation from
the body by the presence and grief of friends.
During his sickness of three weeks he showed the keenest enjoyment for the beautiful
flowers which were brought in from time to time by friends, and he desired his heartfelt
thanks expressed to all who sent them. On several occasions his emotions gave way at the
sight of these beautiful emblems of immortality, and he wept tears of joy and stated they
were fresh from angels' hands.
MUo was always on the alert for new truths and made prompt investigation of any subjects
that bid fair to benefit himself or others. During the anti-slavery struggle he was very
prominently before the people in opposition to that terrible evil.
During his entire sickness he showed perfect faith in his convictions and stated that
harmony and happiness could never reign upon the earth until simple justice was shown
one to the other and the Golden Rule practically observed in every day life. He also seemed
impelled to state that unless this course was observed between man and man, that still
greater upheavels in the social and political world would certainly come.... In regard to
religion we state in his own words the following: "Whatever else may be useful or important
in faith or doctrine, to help each other in every way as members of one great loving family is
the only salvation for man, on earth or in the Heavens."
In the death of Milo Townsend we lose a genial companion and true friend, and those who
need a friend the most will find the vacancy the more complete, as he was always
particularly kind to this class of people.
A Friend.
An "In Memorium" by Arthur Bullus Bradford1 was published in the Argus andRadical on
August 29, 1877:
In Memorium
The following were the concluding remarks of the Rev. A.B. Bradford of non Valley at the
funeral of the late Milo A. Townsend, Esq. of Beaver Falls.
Our departed friend during the first half of his life belonged, as his fellow citizens of Beaver
County all knew, to that branch of the Society of Friends which was characterized by a total
denial of the orthodox theology. This theology did not commend itself, either to his reason
or his heart, for he thought it ascribed to God, the Universal Father, attributes of character
which would be disgraceful in man. These opinions he held unchanged to his dying day.
During the last twenty-five years of his life he was a Spiritualist. That is to say, he believed
that the soul survived the death of the body and can, and often does, return and hold
converse with mortals in the flesh. He believed he found those ideas taught in the Christian
ScripturesOld Testament and New: In the Old where the Prophet Samuel, who had long
been dead, appeared to Saul through the mediumship of the woman of Endor and
announced to him the issue of the battle that was to be fought the next day. In the New,
where Moses and Elias, ages after their bodies had returned to dust, came back and held an
interview with Jesus and His Apostles, on the Mount of Transfiguration. He fiilly believed
that after Christ*s resurrection from the dead. His spiritual bodynot His natural-
appeared to his Disciples on a certain occasion, the doors of the house being closely shut,
and gave them satisfactory evidence that it was he. He had no sympathy for that cold and
stupid infidelity, found in most of the pulpits and pews of the church, which explains away
and rejects those clear teachings of the Bible on this important subject and actually charges
with infidelity those who believe them. He claimed that he himself in numerous instances
received communications from departed friends, thus banishing all doubt from his mind,
concerning the question of immortal life. He took great comfort and satisfaction, especially
on his dying bed, in this part of the theory of the universe; and I must say that if my
experience were like his, I, too, would he a Spiritualist, and what is now only a hope and
belief in a future life would amount to an expectation as certain and sure as the rising of
tomorrow*s sun. Our departed friend had no fear of death at all, but conversed on the
subject as calelfy [sic.; calmly] and made the programme for his fiineral services as coolly as
he would if he were going to visit a friend;
Apprehensive that he might suddenly pass away in one of those severe attacks of disease to
which he had been subject all his life, he engaged me long ago to speak what 1 am now
saying, so that his opinions on religious subjects might not be misunderstood by his
survivors. He bade me pronounce an affectionate farewell, as I now do, to all his friends and
co-laborers in the works of reform and to assure them that he would die in peace with all
the world, with his own conscience, and with God. If his expectation and my belief are not
doomed to disappointment, then, in the name of all his friends, of whom he had many far
and near who were warm-hearted and true, "I hid them affectionate farewell until we all
meet again in the land of the blest**
IFor more on Arthur Bullus Bradford, see chapter 3.
In the family scrapbook also appears the following poem, which was published by request ofthe
family:
Teaberry Hill
(Composed in memory of Teaberry Hill near Beaver Falls a short time previous to his departure
to the World above, and being his last poem.}
How bright are the skies from Teaberry Hill,
Whose summit I*ve sought this sweet summer day;
To list to the sounds from the musical rill.
And be charmed by the notes of the dear robin*s lay.
In an ideal world I live of my own.
When thus to the wildwood of nature I flee.
And here in these solitudes when musing alone.
My spirit from earth seems nearly set free.
And here do I learn how false and how vain
Are the scramble of men for pelf and for power
I would not exchange for their gold and their gain
The joy I here find in one precious hour.
To leave all they have worshiped in the earth-life below
And no treasure laid up in the regions above
What else can come to them hut darkness and woe?
What else can bring peace but wisdom and love?
The immortal in man can never be blest
In aught that is mortal that soon fades away
And nothing but Truth can bring permanent rest,
Or lead to the realms of the Heavenly Day.
When weary of earth and its burdens of cares,
There^s peace in thy shades. Oh! Teaberry Hill!
And oft when I"m distant my spirit repairs
To thy evergreen bowers so lovely and still.
Through Nature the Infinite speaks to the soul.
Inspiring with truth that ever makes free.
And echoes of harmonies through its recesses roll.
Like music of angels afloat on the sea.
Milo A. Townsend
http://www.bchistory.org/beavercounty/bookIengthdocuments/AMilobook/25Townsend.html 12/19/03
Milo Adams Townsend was a product ofthe times in which he lived, but his own inclinations
contributed to his involvement in many ofthe social movements ofhis day.
He was a man of feeling and in many ways a romanticist. He wrote prolifically and was very
active for the causes that he supported; but had he not saved the letters he received and the
newspaper clippings that he pasted into his scrapbooks, he would surely have been forgotten.
Charles Walker Townsend III
Peggy Jean Townsend
httn'/A*Aww hrhiQtrvrv nro/h#*av#*rp.niinW/hrnlrlAnotliHnnim#>nt<!/AA/filnhf\nW9STAwnc#*nH html 19/10/0'^

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