| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Society of Separatists of Zoar |
| Title: | Society of Separatists of Zoar Records |
| Dates: | 1817-1927 |
| Extent: | 1.90 linear feet (4 containers) |
| Abstract: | Society of Separatists of Zoar (1817-1898) was a religious community founded by German immigrants, who named their settlement overlooking the Tuscarawas River in Ohio after the Biblical Zoar. Zoar, according to the Bible, was the refuge of Lot after the destruction of Sodom, and to these immigrants their community in America was a sanctuary from the persecutions of the government and the established church of Wurttemberg, Germany. These Germans were called "separatists" for their separation from the established church and were scorned and punished for their opposition to baptism and confirmation, their pacifism, and their refusal to acknowledge secular and religious authority by removing their hats. In April 1817, three hundred impoverished separatists led by Joseph M. Bimeler (formerly Baumeler) sailed from Germany to Philadelphia, from whence they moved to what became Zoar. The collection consists of papers relating to this German religious community both in English and German. Among the English documents are account books, 1818-1820, 1841-1862 ; banking and other financial papers, 1818-1873 ; deeds, contracts and agreements, 1818-1860 ; post office records including reports, mails sent and mails received, 1821-1845 ; Fairfield Furnace Store records, 1843-1852 ; subscription lists, 1870-1900 ; an undated map of Zoar ; and a petition concerning a road through Zoar ; copies of land patents sent to J.K. Johnson of Coshocton, Ohio, 1871 ; and typed copies and summaries of the "Appraisal of the Zoar Mills", Zoar, Ohio, March 10, 1911, with blueprints of the Society's property. Among the German documents are a hymn book, letters, a medicine book, prescriptions for medicine, orders, a religious treatise, and copies of sermons, 1840-1860. Also included are three volumes by Joseph Bimeler: Die wahre Separation (published Zoar, Ohio, 1856-1860. 4 v. in 2) and Etwas furs Herz (2 v. in 1, 1860-1861). |
| MS Number | MS 1663 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English and German |
Society of Separatists of Zoar (1817-1898) was a religious community founded by German immigrants, who named their settlement overlooking the Tuscarawas River in Ohio after the Biblical Zoar. Zoar, according to the Bible, was the refuge of Lot after the destruction of Sodom, and to these immigrants their community in America was a sanctuary from the persecutions of the government and the established church of Wurttemberg, Germany. These Germans were called "separatists" for their separation from the established church and were scorned and punished for their opposition to baptism and confirmation, their pacifism, and their refusal to acknowledge secular and religious authority by removing their hats. In April 1817, three hundred impoverished separatists led by Joseph M. Bimeler (formerly Baumeler) sailed from Germany to Philadelphia, from whence they moved to what became Zoar.
The financial burden of emigration and the cost of establishing a new settlement in Ohio were partly carried by Quakers in Great Britain and Philadelphia who sympathized with the persecuted Germans and shared their simplicity of religious organization, their pacifism, and their pietism. When the Society bought 5,500 acres in Ohio from Godfrey Haga in 1817, Quakers loaned part of the money. Joseph Bimeler, as leader of the Society, promised to pay the remaining $15,000 in fifteen years.
Finances continued to be a pressing problem during the first years. In 1819, the community decided to pool the resources of all members into a common fund which was to be administered by the elected officials of the Society according to the Articles of Association of April 19, 1819. Joseph Bimeler was elected agent-general in charge of all the community's affairs, a post he held until his death in 1853. For financial as well as religious reasons, the community in those early years required celibacy and thereby limited the number of children unable to work. Thus, financial motives were largely responsible for the communism and chastity of the Society of Separatists at Zoar.
By the 1830s, the community was blessed with prosperity. The Zoarites had constructed part of the Ohio Canal and had received $21,000 from the state. More profits were gained from selling supplies to other canal workers. The Separatists had also developed a number of industries to make themselves self-sufficient, including wagon, copper, and tin shops as well as flour, woolen, and planing mills. In 1834, they constructed the Zoar Furnace, whose pig-iron products they sold to the outside world. From 1834 to 1836 the Zoar community attempted unsuccessfully to construct a railroad to Carrolton, Ohio called the Yellow Creek, Carrolton and Zoar Railroad. This financial failure was offset by successful investments into the stocks of Canton, Cleveland, and Massillon banks. In short, the community had become prosperous and economically diverse. A manifestation of this change in fortune was the end of celibacy in 1828 or 1830.
The Society remained prosperous until Joseph Bimeler's death in 1853, when Zoar was estimated to be worth more than five million dollars. By this time, the Zoarites had constructed the Fairfield Furnace, and sold improved Zoar's commercial position. The community hired outside laborers to supplement its work force and built a hotel to attract and accommodate tourists. Despite its interaction with the outside world, no native American ever became a member of the Society. Instead, the Society grew from the posterity of its original membership and expanded by admitting new members from the German Separatist immigrants, to whom the Zoarites had sent money for emigration.
The death of Joseph Bimeler marked the beginning of the Society's decline. Leadership of the Society passed on to Jacob Sylvan, then to Christian Weebel, who was succeeded by Jacob Ackerman, and finally to Simon Beuter, but no one adequately filled the place of Bimeler. The Society continued to invest in the outside world, and bought federal and Ohio government bonds, shares of stock in railroads, and involved itself in the imported hardware market in Philadelphia and the gold market in New York City. The Zoarites also made loans to private individuals, to companies such as the Tuscarawas Coal and Iron Company, and to the county of Tuscarawas. However, the industrial machinery of the Society itself was not improved and the products of Zoar suffered from competition. One by one, industries were closed because the Society found it less expensive to buy from outside the community than to be self-sufficient. Eventually, the financial status of the community suffered.
The failure of the economic leadership was matched by the inability of the new leaders to maintain the morale of the Society. Many of the sermons of Joseph Bimeler were published in 1856 and read before the membership in an unsuccessful effort to instill the spirit of the first generation into the second generation Zoarites. The Civil War induced some of the young Zoarites to abandon their traditional pacifism. The coming of the railroad to Zoar in 1884 exacerbated the tension between the old and the young by bringing more tourists who brought new ways of life into Zoar. Increasingly, the old ways and the old leaders were questioned in Zoar. Some Zoarites even accused the trustees of favoritism in handling the community's affairs.
Levi Bimeler, a great grandson of Joseph Bimeler, struck the blow that shook and ultimately toppled the Zoar Society. Levi Bimeler and many other Zoarites were hostile to Alexander Gunn, a retired Cleveland businessman whom the Zoarites had given a cabin, even though Gunn was not a member of the Society. Gunn and the trustees formed an exclusive coterie and entertained each other often. To Levi Bimeler, Gunn was an example of favoritism at the expense of the membership. In 1895, Levi Bimeler organized the first Zoarite periodical, The Nugitna, which spelled backward meant anti-Gunn. In four issues, he attacked the trustees and the principle of communal ownership until the leaders ordered him to stop or to leave the community and abandon his share of the Society's commonwealth. Although Bimeler ceased publication, discontent continued, and after three years, the declining wealth of the community and the arguments of Levi Bimeler convinced the majority of the Zoarites to divide their property. The Society's property was distributed among the members, and the power of the trustees ended. At the dissolution of the Society in 1898, there were 222 men, women and children living in Zoar, and the property of the Society was valued at $3,500,000.
The Society of Separatists of Zoar Records, 1817-1927 (1817-1873), consist of correspondence, emigration documents, financial records, land contracts and other legal documents, medical and labor accounts, sermons, music books, and miscellaneous items. Many of the letters in the collection are addressed to Joseph M. Bimeler from his relatives in Germany, discussing family affairs and the desire of German Separatists to emigrate to Zoar. Of particular interest is a letter to Joseph Bimeler from Ernst Weinland who described his efforts to aid the Separatists in their emigration from Germany in 1817. Most of the letters in the collection deal with the financial aspects of the Zoar Society.
This collection is of value to researchers interested in communal societies, evangelical Protestantism, and German American heritage, particularly within the Society of Separatists of Zoar (Ohio) during the nineteenth century. The documents in this collection are important resources for interpreting the Ohio Historical Society's site at Zoar Village State Memorial.
While there are no access restrictions on this collections, researchers will be asked to use the microfilm of this collection.
Related MaterialVolumes of Etwas furs Herzen and Die Wahre Separation, which were published by the Society of Separatists in 1856, and two hymnals, entitled Sammlung auser Lesener Geistlicher Lieder (1855, 1867), are in the Library's collection of published materials. These materials are also available in microfilm editions. In addition, MS 3918 Travel Journal includes a brief description of communal life at Zoar made by an anonymous traveler in 1829.
Separated MaterialPhotographs of the Society of Separatists of Zoar have been included in the microfilm edition to assist the researcher, but the original photographs are maintained in the Ohio Views photographic file of the Western Reserve Historical Society Library. Photographs of Zoar businesses, churches, residences, institutions, parks, and farms of the 1890s are arranged alphabetically by subject, and then chronologically.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 1663 Society of Separatists of Zoar Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of the Joseph Bimeler Family.
Processed by Raimund E. Goerler i 1971; processed for the microfilm edition by Kelly Falcone in 1995.
An appendix consisting of a list of names of persons whose letters are in the collection is available at the Reference Desk of the WRHS Research Library.
Society of Separatists of Zoar Records 1817-1927 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Correspondence, including letters to Joseph Bimeler discussing family affairs in Germany, loans and debts, emigration assistance, investment advice, travel arrangements, Quaker assistance to the Zoar Separatists, and purchase of stocks in the Farmers Banks of Canton, Ohio 1817-1829 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Correspondence, including letters to Joseph Bimeler discussing railroad and canal investments, and a letter from Ernst Weinland detailing his efforts to aid Separatists to leave Germany in 1817 1830-1839 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Correspondence, including letters from Ulrich Bimeler and Apolonia Clauss revealing the efforts of the Zoarites to aid other Germans to emigrate, and concerning Zoarite investments in the New York gold market and in bonds of the United States and Ohio governments and in railroad bonds 1840-1867 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Correspondence, including letters concerning the gold exchange in New York City, investments in the Tuscarawas Coal and Iron Company, the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) dry goods market, stock, and railroad bonds. An 1894 letter describes life in the Zoar community for that year 1868-1873 1894 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Emigration documents, including passports to leave the Kingdom of Wurttemberg 1817 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Financial records, consisting of accounts and receipts 1811-1822 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Financial records, consisting of accounts and receipts 1821-1847 1864-1873 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Financial records, consisting of accounts and receipts undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Financial records, Zoar Post Office account book 1826-1844 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Financial records, Zoar Post Office account book 1831-1845 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Financial records, Zoar families account book, including an alphabetical surname index 1842-1845 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Financial records, Zoar Furnace account book, including diagrams of the blast furnace, inventories, financial transactions, and business letters and contracts between Joseph M. Bimeler and F. C. Kropf, manager of the furnace 1842-1844 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Financial records, Fairfield Furnace account book, including transactions in wages, farms and teams, the casting shop, the blacksmith shop, and the boarding house 1843-1852 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Financial records, account book of Zoar Society subscribers 1872-1903 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Financial records, appraisal of Zoar Mills 1911 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Financial records, appraisal of Zoar Mills (condensed) 1911 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Labor account book, detailing Society's division of labor. The first half is organized by occupation, and the second half, January 1846-August 1862 is organized by the names of the laborers. The last 23 pages are an account of expenses for tools and materials, 1845-1861 1841-1862 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Land contracts, including an agreement between Joseph M. Bimeler and Godfrey Haga for the first land sale in Ohio to the Society 1800 1817 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 19 | Land contracts, consisting of fairhand copies, dated 1871, of military land grants 1851-1854 | |||||||||
| 2 | 20 | Legal documents, including a petition to Tuscarawas County commissioners, and the Zoar Articles of Association and amendments 1818-1824 | |||||||||
| 2 | 21 | Legal documents, consisting of rights to use and sell patented inventions, including machines for construction, agriculture, and cooking 1828-1857 | |||||||||
| 2 | 22 | Medical account book, detailing the Society's medical activities, including the dispensing of prescriptions. Includes an alphabetical surname index 1840-1842 | |||||||||
| 2 | 23 | Music book, handwritten 1805-1822 | |||||||||
| 2 | 24 | Music books, consisting of three undated hymnbooks, and Levi Bimeler's hymnbook 1851 | |||||||||
| 2 | 25-26 | Sermons, incomplete manuscript of Die Wahre Separation undated | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 27-28 | Sermons, incomplete manuscript of Etwas furs Herzen undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 29 | Sermons, unidentified, including an undated hymn sheet 1831 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 30 | Miscellaneous items, including a list of the Board of Directors of the Yellow Creek, Carrolton and Zoar Railroad, two maps of Zoar, Levi Bimeler's drawing book 1848 | |||||||||
| 3 | 30 | Miscellaneous items, including The Nugitna, vol. 1, no. 1 1895 | |||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 4 | Oversize items described in folders 9 and 10 . | ||||||||||
| Reel | Folder | ||||||||||
| 6 | 1 | Photographs, Businesses, Kappels Tea Room undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 2 | Photographs, Businesses, "The King House," front view 1927 | |||||||||
| 6 | 3 | Photographs, Businesses, "The King House," side view 1927 | |||||||||
| 6 | 4 | Photographs, Businesses, unknown 1927 | |||||||||
| 6 | 5 | Photographs, Businesses, Woolen Mill undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 6 | Photographs, Businesses, Old Hotel 1927 | |||||||||
| 6 | 7 | Photographs, Businesses, The Old Print Shop, built in 1817 undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 8 | Photographs, Churches and Synagogues, Zoar Church, built in 1853, front view 1927 | |||||||||
| 6 | 9 | Photographs, Churches and Synagogues, Old Church, built in 1820 undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 10 | Photographs, Churches and Synagogues, Zoar Church, front and side views undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 11 | Photographs, Churches and Synagogues, Zoar Church built in 1853, doorway undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 12 | Photographs, Hotels and Inns, Zoar Hotel undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 13 | Photographs, Hotels and Inns, Zoar Hotel, front view undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 14 | Photographs, Industry, Furniture Factory undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 15 | Photographs, Institutions, Jail, built ca. 1817 undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 16 | Photographs, Lakes and Ponds, Goose Pond 1898 | |||||||||
| 6 | 17 | Photographs, Mills, The "Old Mill" ca. 1890 undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 18 | Photographs, Parks, Scenes of the Public Gardens undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 19 | Photographs, Residences, home of Joseph Bimeler, front and side views undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 20 | Photographs, Residences, Alexander Gunn's cottage, Hermit's Cottage, built in 1817, other unidentified cottages ca. 1900 undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 21 | Photographs, Residences, Alexander Gunn's cottage 1927 | |||||||||
| 6 | 22 | Photographs, Residences, "Zeeb's Cabin," unidentified Zoar residences built ca. 1817 undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 23 | Photographs, Rivers, Streams and Brooks, The Tuscarawas River undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 24 | Photographs, Transportation and Canals, The Ohio Canal undated | |||||||||
| 6 | 25-28 | Photographs, Views ca. 1890-ca. 1899 ca. 1925 | |||||||||
| 6 | 29 | Photographs, Unidentified ca. 1898 | |||||||||