“All the Flesh Kindred that Ever I See”: A Reconsideration of Family and Kinship in Utopian Communes CHRISTOPH BRUMANN Institut für Völkerkunde, Universität zu Köln My gospel relations are dearer to me Than all the flesh kindred that ever I see: So good and so pretty, so cleaver they feel; To see them & love them increases my zeal, O how pretty they look! How pretty they look! How cleaver they feel! ( . . . ) Of all the relation that ever I see My old fleshly kindred are furthest from me, So bad and so ugly, so hateful they feel To see them and hate them increases my zeal. O how ugly they look! How ugly they look! How nasty they feel! ———From the Shaker song Gospel Relation (Andrews 1940: 20) introduction As demonstrated by the above lyrics, the Shakers (known officially as the “United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing”) were not favor- ably disposed toward the bonds of marriage, family, and kinship. Started as a Quaker splinter group under the charismatic leadership of Ann Lee in Man- chester, they emigrated to the United States, gathered further adherents there, and became a communal sect in 1787. Within the next sixty years, they grew to more than 4,000 members in sixteen villages in New England and the Mid- west. 1 True to their view of God as androgynous, and their founder as the fe- male equivalent of Jesus Christ, women had a comparatively strong position in 395 0010-4175/03/395–421 $9.50 © 2003 Society for Comparative Study of Society and History Acknowledgments: The late and sadly missed Thomas Schweizer contributed many insightful ideas and continuous support to this study. I am also grateful to Peter Tschohl for his helpful suggestions. In addition, I wish to thank the four anonymous reviewers whose dedicated work helped to improve a number of the paper’s shortcomings. Lack of space has prevented my responding to all of their arguments. Responsibility for the facts and interpretations presented rests with me alone. 1 Stein 1992:87– 89.