following account of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who visited the place in
1826, only a year after it was founded:

"At the inn, a fine, large, frame house, we were received by Mr. Rapp,
the principal, at the head of the community. He is a gray-headed and
venerable old man; most of the members immigrated twenty-one years ago
from Wuertemberg along with him.

"The warehouse was shown to us, where the articles made here for sale or
use are preserved, and I admired the excellence of all. The articles for
the use of the society are kept by themselves; as the members have no
private possessions, and every thing is in common, so must they, in
relation to all their wants, be supplied from the common stock. The
clothing and food they make use of is of the best quality. Of the
latter, flour, salt meat, and all long-keeping articles, are served out
monthly; fresh meat, on the contrary, is distributed as soon as it is
killed, according to the size of the family, etc. As every house has a
garden, each family raises its own vegetables and some poultry, and each
family has its own bake-oven. For such things as are not raised in
Economy, there is a store provided, from which the members, with the
knowledge of the directors, may purchase what is necessary, and the
people of the vicinity may do the same.

"Mr. Rapp finally conducted us into the factory again, and said that the
girls had especially requested this visit that I might hear them sing.
When their work is done, they collect in one of the factory rooms, to
the number of sixty or seventy, to sing spiritual and other songs. They
have a peculiar hymn-book, containing hymns from the old Wuertemberg
collection, and others written by the elder Rapp. A chair was placed for
the old patriarch, who sat amid the girls, and they commenced a hymn in