ABSTRACT
The founder and leader of the Oneida Community throughout the four decades of its existence as a communistic group was John Humphrey Noyes, who was born of prosperous and influential parents at Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1811. In this year, his father, John Noyes, a teacher turned merchant, was elected to the Vermont legislature, and from 1815 to 1817 was a member of the federal House of Representatives. In 1821, John Noyes retired and sought a place to settle in order to devote himself to the education of his children. His highly religious wife, Polly Noyes, sought divine guidance on the subject for three months, and finally felt inspired to suggest that the family remove to Putney, Vermont, which was a local centre of revivalistic activity, and the home of several friends of the family.
