Description: Dated 1892, this is a reproduction of a photograph of Alexander Gunn tending his orchard and vegetable garden in Zoar in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Gunn, a business man from Cleveland, chose to live in Zoar upon his retirement, and encouraged the Separatists to keep the commune running in the late 1890s when the community eventually dissolved in 1898. In 1901, Gunn became ill and traveled to Germany where he soon died thereafter. His ashes were sent back to Zoar where they were interred on the hillside where he grave is marked by "Gunn's Monument," a large boulder donated by friends of his. Led by Joseph Bimeler (sometimes spelled Bäumeler) in 1817, a group of Lutheran separatists left the area of Germany known as Wurttemberg and eventually established the small community of Zoar in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. The community of Zoar was not originally organized as a commune, but its residents had a difficult time surviving in 1818 and early 1819. As a result, on April 19, 1819, the group formed the Society of Separatists of Zoar. Each person donated his or her property to the community as a whole, and in exchange for their work, the society would provide for them. Additional modifications to the society's organization were made in 1824 and a constitution established in 1833. In the decades following the establishment of the Zoar commune, the Separatists experienced economic prosperity. The community was almost entirely self-sufficient and sold any surpluses to the outside world. In addition to agriculture, Zoar residents also worked in a number of industries, including flour mills, textiles, a tin shop, copper, wagon maker, two iron foundries, and several stores. The society also made money by contracting to build a seven-mile stretch of the Ohio and Erie Canal. The canal crossed over Zoar's property, and the society owned several canal boats. The canal traffic also brought other people into the community, who bought Zoar residents' goods. By the second half of the nineteenth century, the community was quite prosperous. After Bimeler's death in 1853, the unity of the village declined, and by 1898 the Zoarites disbanded the society. The remaining residents divided the property, and the community continued to prosper in Zoar. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00863
Subjects: Zoar (Tuscarawas County, Ohio); Society of Separatists of Zoar; Gardens; Communal societies
Places: Zoar (Ohio); Tuscarawas County (Ohio)