ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the generally beneficial standard of living at Oneida through the analysis of several kinds of anthropometric measures, Anthropometric and mortality data suggest that in many ways, Oneida Perfectionists lived much healthier lives than did other contemporary Americans. Two of Noyes's ideas led to the unusual Oneida approach to sexuality. "Weights of O.C. Babies 1869-1877", a rare surviving manuscript, provides information on the first wave of stirpicults. Theodore R. Noyes's 1878 pamphlet describes the health of Oneida's children. Oneida residents, male and female, seem to have led generally healthier lives than other Americans according to mortality rates. Life expectancy of Oneidans was unusually high perhaps due to the lack of poverty, and perhaps due to the community's ability and willingness to screen out unhealthy applicants. Young children at Oneida lived very differently from other children in contemporary America, while older children—excepting the sexual behavior described above—lived in many ways similar to their peers.
