Scope and Contents:
This micofilm collection contains a manuscript record book for two communitarian organizations: the Rational Brethren of Oxford, Butler County, Ohio, 1816-17, and Coal Creek Community and Church of God, Fountain County, Ind., 1823-32. James M. Dorsey (1776-1857), an advisor of Robert Owen at New Harmony, Ind., co-founded the Rational Brethern of Oxford with William Ludlow in 1816. The society dissolved the next year. When Ludlow founded Coal Creek Community and Church of God in 1825, he used the Rational Brethren record book to document the new group, which dissolved in 1832.
The microfilmed record book is divided into two parts.
Part I, consisting of 18 pages, contains several administrative documents of the Rational Brethren, Sept. 10, 1816-Aug. 23, 1817, many of which were deposited in the office of the Secretary of State of Ohio. The only names mentioned in Part I are those of James M. Dorsey and William and Israel Ludlow.
Part 2, consisting of 28 pages, contains the records of the Coal Creek Community and Church of God. These include the "Manafest" of May 1, 1823, with thirteen signatures and a supplementary article (Oct. 23, 1823); the "Constitution of the Coal Creek Community and Church of God" (Dec. 10, 1825); "A Record of withdrawal" (Dec. 15, 1825-Mar. 10, 1832); "A Record of money laid out or advanced by members" (Oct. 23, 1823-Sept. 16, 1831); and other minor records.
The original volume, with some pages missing, is held by the Indiana State Library.
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