skillful direction of Father Rapp, soon transformed the forest into a
thriving community. After a soul stirring revival in 1807, they
adopted celibacy. Those who were married did not separate but lived
together in solemn self-restraint, "treating each other as brother and
sister in Christ."[17] Their belief that the second coming of the Lord
was imminent no doubt strengthened their resolution. At this time,
also, the men all agreed to forego the use of tobacco--no small
sacrifice on the part of hard-working laborers.

The region, however, was unfavorable to the growth of the grape, which
was the favorite Württemberg crop. In 1814 the society accordingly
sold the communal property for $100,000 and removed to a site on the
Wabash River, in Indiana, where, under the magic of their industry,
the beautiful village of New Harmony arose in one year, and where many
of their sturdy buildings still remain a testimony to their honest
craftsmanship. Unfortunately, however, two pests appeared which they
had not foreseen. Harassed by malaria and meddlesome neighbors,
Father Rapp a third time sought a new Canaan. In 1825 he sold the
entire site to Robert Owen, the British philanthropic socialist, and
the Harmonists moved back to Pennsylvania. They built their third and
last home on the Ohio, about twenty miles from Pittsburgh, and called
it Economy in prophetic token of the wealth which their industry and
shrewdness would soon bring in.

The chaste and simple beauty of this village was due to the skill and
good taste of Friedrich Reichert Rapp, an architect and stone cutter,
the adopted son of Father Rapp. The fine proportions of the plain
buildings, with their vines festooned between the upper and lower
windows, the quaint and charming gardens, the tantalizing labyrinth
where visitors lost themselves in an attempt to reach the Summer