Clergyman; born in
Brattleboro, Vt., Sept. 6, 1811; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1830; licensed to preach in 1833, and in the following year declared he had experienced a “second conversion.”
Hefounded a new sect called Perfectionists in
Putnam county, Vt. After twelve years he imbibed some of the teachings of
Fourier and persuaded his disciples to live in communities.
In 1848 he went with his followers to
Oneida, N. Y., where he established the
Oneida Community.
He taught that God had a dual body— male and female.
The only successful communities, those founded at
Oneida, N. Y., and
Wallingford, Conn., adopted what was named “complex marriage,” and lived in a “unity house.”
Subsequently they were compelled to abandon “complex marriage” and their number soon diminished.
Noyes published
The second coming of Christ;
History of American socialism, etc. He died in
Niagara Falls, Canada, April 13, 1886.