Historian
Excerpts
from
HIGHLIGHTS of CLARKSON HISTORY
by Hazel Kleinbach — former Historian for the Town of Clarkson
INTERESTING
FACTS AND STORIES
THE CLARKSON PHALANX
While
trying to do research on the Clarkson Phalanx, I came across an
article that had been done by Mary Smith, the Hamlin Historian.
This subject has always been of interest to me and I hope you will
find it so, too.
According
to Mrs. Smith, in the mid-1800’s thirty socialist communes sprang
up in the United States. Of these, six of them were in the 150-mile
radius around Rochester. The largest, with 420 communists, was in
Hamlin, then part of Clarkson.
The
commune, known as the Clarkson Phalanx, started in the spring of
1844 and attracted people from the areas most prominent families.
The leaders were mostly of the upper class; the followers were middle
class and young people. The ventures in idealism collapsed after
two years, and its members then scattered in shame over their failure
and the outside community scorned them.
This
all took place around the intersection of North Hamlin Road and
Route 19 (the East Fork of Lake Road). That was the center of the
commune - near the mills and a blacksmith shop. As Mrs. Smith relates,
Sandy Creek, a short distance south of its mouth, supported two
lumber mills and a grist mill for the commune. She stated that with
a little snooping she found an old concrete abutment along the creeks
edge which was evidence of the old mill race.
The
Hamlin commune and the other 29 experiments in group living interpreting
the socialistic teachings of Frenchman Charles Fourier were founded
in a large part as a reaction to the depression of the late 1830’s.
The Clarkson Phalanx, unlike some other communes, did not practice
free love. Their families lived together as families.
The
commune had an intricate job-rating system. Skills were rated and
paid on a scale according to the necessity of their role. The seamstresses
were women and were paid less than the carpenters, who were men.
The apprentices got paid less than foremen. There was a foreman
for every six workers. “The work schedules were rigid and enforced,
“ said Mrs. Smith. It is an agriculturally based commune, but they
also made furniture, They had a chair shop, a print shop, a Blacksmith
Shop and lumber and grist mills.
In
the fall of 1844, during its infancy, the commune met head on with
a terrific drought. It was, some say, the kiss of death. Dreams
were shattered. The word “communist” later became associated with
philosophies alien to Clarkson communists, and later, Mrs. Smith,
eager and fascinated, undertook to reconstruct a bit of her own
history of Hamlin. “If there is information in this town about the
Phalanx, it’s in the hands of someone whose ancestors participated
and it’s hidden,” she said.
A
historical marker now marks the site of the main house of the Phalanx
on the west side of East Lake Road south of North Hamlin Road.
Leanna
Hale
Town of Clarkson Historian
2724 Lake Road
Hilton, NY 14468
585-964-8281
historianclarksonny@yahoo.com
