Thomas Lake Harris (May 15, 1823 – March 23, 1906) was an

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term '' Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, and

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to deter ...

. Harris is best remembered as the leader of a series of communal religious experiments, culminating with a group called the Brotherhood of the New Life in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

Biography

Early life

Thomas Lake Harris was born May 15, 1823, at

Fenny Stratford Fenny Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and in the Civil Parish of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford. Originally an independent town, it was included in the Milton Keynes " designated area" in 1967. From 1895 ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, England. His parents were strict

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

and very poor. When Harris was five years old his parents emigrated from England, settling in the town of

Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...

.Hinds, William Alfred (1908)
American Communities and Co-operative Colonies
'. Second Revision. Chicago, IL: Charles H. Kerr & Co., pg. 422. His mother died when he was still a young boy and Harris was forced by circumstances to help support the family from the age of 9. At the age of 21 Harris became a Universalist minister, preaching to the congregation of the

Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York The Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York is a congregation within the Unitarian Universalist Association located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It is the last surviving of seven Universalist congregations in the city, founded ...

. From 1848 he became minister of an independent Christian congregation in New York City.Hinds, ''American Communities and Co-operative Colonies,'' pg. 423. In that church he came into contact with young newspaper publisher

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...

, who was so moved by one of Harris's sermons that he was inspired to organize Harris's congregation to help found the New York Juvenile Asylum.

Mysticism and communalism

Harris soon turned towards

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

, becoming a devotee of the Swedish mystic

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758). Swedenborg had ...

. By 1851 he had departed New York for Virginia, where together with Rev. J. L. Scott he launched the first of his communal enterprises, the Mountain Cove Community of Spiritualists, on pristine land claimed by one of the group's leaders to be the actual site of the

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...

. It was intended to there create a "city of refuge" from which

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

s were to descend and ascend.Hinds, ''American Communities and Co-operative Colonies,'' pg. 424. The experiment was racked by squabbling over property and personalities, and after two years the Virginia commune collapsed. Following the collapse of the Mountain Cove Community, Harris went back to his native England, where he preached modified Swedenborgian ideas to a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

congregation for several years. There he began his career as a writer and poet, publishing several books. Harris's poetry was well-regarded and he was the subject of a chapter by

Alfred Austin Alfred Austin (30 May 1835 – 2 June 1913) was an English poet who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896, after an interval following the death of Tennyson, when the other candidates had either caused controversy or refused the honour. It was cl ...

in his book ''The Poetry of the Period.''

Brotherhood of the New Life

Harris subsequently returned to America, settling in the town of Amenia in

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later orga ...

. He would remain at Amenia for five or six years, establishing a bank, a flour mill, and a vineyard, and gathering around him a small group of devoted religious disciples. Included among the approximately sixty converts were five orthodox clergymen and about 20 Japanese from

Satsuma Province was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Satsuma" in . Its abbreviation is . History Satsuma's provincial capital was Satsumasendai. Durin ...

. The community—the Brotherhood of the New Life—decided to settle at the village of

Brocton, New York Brocton is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The name was derived by combining the names "Brockway" and "Minton", two prominent local families. The population was 1,335 at the 2020 census. Brocton is within the town of Portl ...

on the shore of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

. Its nature was

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

rather than

communistic Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, and farming and industrial occupations were engaged in by his followers, numbering at one time about 2,000 in the United States and Great Britain. He professed to teach his community a change in the mode of

respiration Respiration may refer to: Biology * Cellular respiration, the process in which nutrients are converted into useful energy in a cell ** Anaerobic respiration, cellular respiration without oxygen ** Maintenance respiration, the amount of cellul ...

which was to be the visible sign of possession by Christ and the seal of

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...

. In Brocton, Harris established a winemaking industry. In reply to the objections of

teetotaller Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

s, Harris said that the wine prepared by himself was filled with the divine breath so that all noxious influences were neutralized. Harris also built a tavern and strongly advocated the use of tobacco.

Later years

Harris took part of the community to

, where in about 1875 he created the Fountain Grove community. For a time in 1876 Harris discontinued public activities, but issued, to a secret circle, books of verse dwelling mainly on sexual questions. In 1891 he announced that his body had been renewed, and that he had discovered the secret of the resuscitation of humanity. He also made a third marriage, and visited England intending to remain there. However, Harris was called back by a fire which destroyed large stocks of his wine, and remained in New York till 1903, when he visited

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. His followers believed that he had attained the secret of immortal life on earth, and after his death on the March 23, 1906, declared that he was only sleeping. It was three months before it was acknowledged publicly that he was really dead. He was succeeded by

Nagasawa Kanaye Kanaye Nagasawa (né Isonaga Hikosuke; February 2, 1852February 14, 1934) was a California winemaker, the first Japanese national to live permanently in the United States, a recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, and a disciple of Thomas Lake ...

, who led the sect until his death in 1934.

Dissension and influence

About 1881, Laurence Oliphant and his wife broke away from the sect, charging Harris with robbery and succeeding in getting back from him many thousands of pounds by legal proceedings. But while losing faith in Harris himself, they did not abandon his main teaching. Oliphant's view of Harris will be found in his novel ''Masollam''. Briefly, he held that Harris was originally honest, greatly gifted, and possessed of certain psychical powers. But in the end he came to practice unbridled licence under the loftiest pretensions, made the profession of extreme disinterestedness a cloak to conceal his avarice, and demanded from his followers a blind and supple obedience. Fountaingrove Round Barn

The

utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...

ideals promoted by Harris had significant influence among his Japanese followers. These included: * Arai Osui (1846–1922), who initially transmitted Harris's ideas to Japan. * Hatakeyama Yoshinari (1843–1876), later president of Tokyo Kansei Gakko. * Ichiki Kanjuro (1842–1919), commonly known as Mitsumura Junzo, later an admiral in the

Japanese Imperial Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

. * Samejima Hisanobu (1846–1880), later an ambassador *

Yoshida Kiyonari Yoshida Kiyonari ( ja, 吉田清成; died 3 August 1891) was a Japanese samurai and diplomatic envoy to the United States. Early life and education In 1865, Yoshida was sent with Sameshima Naonobu and seventeen other samurai from Satsuma Doma ...

(1845–1891), later an ambassador *

(1852–1934), Harris's California lieutenant, who acted as developer and manager of the community's of vineyards near Santa Rosa. He succeeded Harris and acted as leader of the brotherhood until 1934. Harris's community left a significant stamp on the history of Santa Rosa; today that part of town is still called Fountaingrove. A street therein, Thomas Lake Harris Drive, is named for him. The

round barn A round barn is a historic barn design that could be octagonal, polygonal, or circular in plan. Though round barns were not as popular as some other barn designs, their unique shape makes them noticeable. The years from 1880 to 1920 represent th ...

that was part of the winery of Harris's protege, Kanaye Nagasawa, was an emblem of the community; it burned in the 2017

Tubbs Fire The Tubbs Fire was a wildfire in Northern California during October 2017. At the time, the Tubbs Fire was the most destructive wildfire in California history, burning parts of Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties, inflicting its greatest losses in ...

. A local park and lake were recently named in Nagasawa's honor.

Publications and sources

Harris published a book, ''Lyra triumphalis'', dedicated to A. C. Swinburne. His teaching was esoteric in form, but has been considered a thinly veiled attempt to alter the ordering of sexual relations. A good deal of the verse published by Harris in more than 40 volumes had what we would call today

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

al themes. He depicted interplanetary empires, imperial cities entirely covering planets, and the "

ancient astronaut Ancient astronauts (or ancient aliens) refers to a pseudoscientific hypothesis which holds that intelligent extraterrestrial beings visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistoric times. Proponents suggest that this ...

" myth, in which space travellers help early humans with agriculture, technology and spiritual development. ''The Path'' (Vol. VI, February, 1892, pp. 346–47) printed the article "The Brotherhood of the New Life" by W. Q. Judge, which said that "The Brotherhood of the New Life" has nothing in common with the Theosophical Society. Judge was a follower of Helena P. Blavatsky, the founder of

theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

. The authoritative biography from the side of the disciples of Harris is the book ''Life'' by A. A. Cuthbert, published in Glasgow in 1908. Containing language common to Harris's sect, it also contains some biographical facts as well as quotations. The information about Harris in ''Memoir of the Life of Laurence Oliphant and of Alice Oliphant, his Wife'' (1891), by

Margaret Oliphant Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (born Margaret Oliphant Wilson; 4 April 1828 – 20 June 1897) was a Scottish novelist and historical writer, who usually wrote as Mrs. Oliphant. Her fictional works cover "domestic realism, the historical nove ...

, his cousin, has not been shaken in any important particular, and Oliphant's own portrait of Harris in ''Masollam'' is apparently unexaggerated. But Harris had much personal magnetism, unbounded self-confidence, along with endless fluency, and to the last was believed in by some disciples of character and influence.

Works

* ''Juvenile Depravity and Crime in Our City: A Sermon.'' New York: C.B. Norton, 1850.
''An Epic of the Starry Heaven.''
New York: Partridge and Brittan, 1855. * ''A Lyric of the Golden Age.'' New York: Partridge and Brittan, 1856.
''A Lyric of the Morning Land.''
New York: Partridge and Brittan, 1856. * ''Wisdom of Angels'' (1856)
''Hymns of Spiritual Devotion.''
New York: New Church Publishing Association, 1857. * ''The First Book of the Christian Religion.'' New York: New Church Publishing Association, 1858.
''Regina: A Song of Many Days.''
London: William White, 1860. * ''The Second Visibility of Jesus.'' London: William White; Manchester: Johnson and Rawson, 860 * ''Arcana of Christianity: An Unfolding of the Celestial Sense of the Divine Word Through Thomas Lake Harris.'' *
''Part III — The Apocalypse: Volume 1.''
New York: Brotherhood of the New Life, 1867. * ''Modern Spiritualism'' (1860)
''The Great Republic: A Poem of the Sun.''
New York: Brotherhood of the New Life, 1867. * ''The Breath of God with Man: An Essay on the Grounds and Evidences of Universal Religion.'' New York: Brotherhood of the New Life, 1867. * ''The Lord: The Two-in-One: Declared, Manifested, and Glorified.'' Salem-on-Erie, NY:: Brotherhood of the New Life, 1876. * ''The Wedding Guest.'' With Lily C. Harris. anta Rosa, CA Fountaingrove, 1877-1878. * ''Bridal Hours: Dedication Ode for the House of Jesus and Yessa Aestivossa, 1875.'' anta Rosa, CA Fountaingrove Vineyard, 1878. * ''The Wisdom Of The Adepts: Esoteric Science in Human History.'' anta Rosa, CA Fountaingrove, 1884.
''The Joy Bringer: Fifty-three Melodies of the One-in-Twain: February-March MDCCCLXXXVI.''
anta Rosa, CA Fountaingrove, 1886. * ''Star-Flowers: A Poem of the Woman's Mystery.'' In Nine Cantos. 1886-1887. *
''Canto the First.''
anta Rosa, CA Fountaingrove, 1886. * ''The New Republic: A Discourse of the Prospects, Dangers, Duties and Safeties of the Times.'' anta Rosa, CA Fountaingrove, 1891. * ''God's Breath in Man and in Humane Society.'' anta Rosa, CA Fountaingrove, 1891.
''Brotherhood of the New Life: Its Fact, Law, Method and Purpose.''
Santa Rosa, CA: T.L. Harris, 1891. * ''Conversation in Heaven: A Wisdom Song.'' anta Rosa, CA Fountaingrove, 1894.
''In Dawnrise: A Song of Songs.''
anta Rosa, CA ountaingrove 1896. * ''The Song of Theos: A Trilogy.'' Glasgow: C. W. Pearce & Co., 1903.

Notes

Other sources

* * This work in turn cites: ** Allen, ''T. L. Harris, The Seer'' (1897) {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Thomas Lake 1823 births 1906 deaths People from Amenia, New York People from Brocton, New York Writers from Santa Rosa, California English Swedenborgians Founders of utopian communities American occult writers American Swedenborgians English occult writers Founders of new religious movements People from the Borough of Milton Keynes Prophets