biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1770–1847)
|
| biography:
| Religious leader, founder of the American Harmony Society, born in Württemberg, SW Germany. A linen-weaver by trade, he became leader of a group of separatists who emigrated to W Pennsylvania and Indiana, where they established settlements named Harmony. The community of Harmonites (or Rappites) sought to amass wealth for the Lord's use, practised rigid economy, self-denial, and celibacy, and came to own property and shares worth millions of dollars. After his death, the community dwindled. |
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