Oneida Community Stirpiculture Report

Stirpiculture in the Oneida Community

John Humphrey Noyes, a native of Brattleboro, Vermont, rebelled from religion from a young age and after a near death experience became devoted to the goal of being introduced to the ministry. The most influential reasoning to Noyes’ theory was that of Perfectionism, in which believers reached perfection at conversion. Following extensive failure, Noyes finally acquired a following in 1844 in which the thirty-seven members lived communally. Two years later, the prominent ideals began to originate such as “Complex Marriages” and “Male Continence.” The Oneida Community’s doctrines had many components, but the basis of the community was centered on the idea of complex marriages. The practice of complex marriages provides the source for many controversial ideas they enacted in addition to what some saw as “free love.” One such idea was the experiment for the superior race through

Children younger than twelve lived in the Children’s House, cared for by three men and fifteen women (Carden 64). Evening events included a meeting led by the schoolmaster, where they read the Bible, discussed behavior, and were constantly reminded of the importance of pleasing God. Standards for the stirpiculture children were particularly high with expectations to practice selflessness and turning their cheek in all situations (Carden 64). The child experiment included a constant monitoring institution beginning from conception and through their impressionable years in the Children’s House, where their ideals were molded carefully by a group of people. The results were positive for the people of the Oneida