A Communist Utopia: Nineveh, Missouri

Sometime before the 1920 U.S. federal census was enumerated Margaret (Semple) Muir moved from O'Fallon, Illinois, to Nineveh, Missouri. For the first time since immigrating to the U.S. in 1887, she owned her own home. Her granddaughter, Alice Muir (my grandmother), was living with her. I learned about Nineveh in Eugene Morrow Violette's book entitled, History of Adair County:

"In 1849, the most unique settlement in Missouri, was founded. It was composed of a small group of German communists who came from Bethel, Shelby County, Missouri. In order to get a proper appreciation of the settlement at Nineveh, it will be necessary to say something about Bethel and its founder, Dr. William Keil.

Dr. Keil was born in Prussia in 1811. He grew up to young manhood in his native country and became a milliner. He came to America in 1835 or 1836 and after living in New York he went to Pittsburgh. He practiced medicine in both those places with some degree of success, though it is not certain he ever attended medical school. Shortly after he reached Pittsburgh he was converted in a revival held by German Methodists and he joined their church. In 1839 he was licensed as a local preacher; his success and enthusiasm as a class leader had recommended him as a suitable candidate for this higher rank. Very shortly, however, he broke with this church. During the absence of a regular paster he is said to have ascended the pulpit one Sunday and preached for two hours. In this sermon he attacked the ministry very severely for their acceptance of salaries. At the close of this sermon he asked all those who believed in his inspiration, to rise to their feet. Many rose.  This marked the beginning of his following, and for over thirty years he maintained a strong hold over a considerable group of people. 

William Kiel; image courtesy of Wikipedia

After joining and leaving the Protestants Methodists with his following, he began sending enthusiastic young men as representatives of his ideas into other parts of Pennsylvania and into Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, and Iowa. Their efforts were not without results. Many accepted his ideas and believed in him as an inspired leader and teacher. It was about this time Keil began thinking about establishing a colony somewhere. When his plans were announced many followers sold  their property and made preparations to join him. An attempt was made to put the colony on the basis of a constitution, which had been drafted by some of those who had joined the movement, but this was rejected by Keil. His own imperious will became the law to which all gave a willing and enthusiastic obedience. 

In 1844 he sent a committee called "spies" to Missouri to find a suitable place for a colony. They chose land in Shelby County, which became known as Bethel. Four years later the colony decided to establish a branch settlement in Adair County. They selected the farm of David Ely on the Chariton river and purchased 160 acres. They also knew coal abounded in this area.

Later more land was purchased until the colony owned 2,100 acres. In the spring of 1850 about 25 people came from the Bethel colony and began founding the new colony."

This is how Violette described how Keil's followers lived:

"A steam mill was installed to ground flour, wheat in other grain. A saw mill was also installed and much lumber was gotten out. A tannery, shoe shop, blacksmithing, wagon shops, and a carpenter shop were also erected and put into operation. Some coal was mined but the work was done by hired labor.

The net proceeds of these various industries, including the farm, was put into a general fund. Surplus earnings were used to expand the operations of the colony. Each member of the colony was a stockholder in every concern. Common places were provided for livestock. The men who had families lived in separate houses, but the unmarried men lived in the "large house," which was also used as a hotel and colony store.  

From the colony store each family would draw each week its share of provisions, the share of each family being determined by the number in it. There was no choice of articles or goods. Every family got the same kind of provisions; the difference was in the amount only. The clothing was made from cloth made from by the colony and everyone got a share of it. Special purchases could only be made by those who had realized something from the sale of such commodities as butter and eggs. These commodities were about the only things that could be sold as private property. The proceeds from the sale of other things went into the general fund.

There were only ever about 150 colonists in Nineveh. When William Kiel died in 1877, the colonies established by he and his followers quickly dissolved."

Nineveh coal mine; photo from History of Adair County

Nineveh remained something of a backwater until 1901 when the Iowa and St Louis Railroad laid tracks nearby. The Manufacturers' Coke and Coal Company opened several mines in the area soon after and began mining on a large scale at that time. By 1910, 652 people lived in the city, which was incorporated in 1904.

52 Ancestors #20: Streatorland

Ancestor Name: Alexander Muir

Sometimes when doing genealogy research, it turns into a litany of names, dates, and places. It becomes mind numbing if you can't add a little color to your research. I've added a step to my process to look for old books about my ancestors or the places in which they lived. That's how I found Biography in Black by Paula Angle, published in 1962, on Internet Archive. It is a history of Streator, Illinois, and included some interesting and unique descriptions of the the city.

My great grand uncle, Alexander Muir, was born in Streator on 13 May, 125 years ago this month. He was the first son of James and Margaret (Semple) Muir born in the United States after Margaret and her children emigrated from Scotland 1887 to join their husband and father. James was a coal miner in Scotland and the U.S. 

When Alexander Muir registered for the World War I draft in 1917, he wrote Streator, Illinois as his place of birth. When I think about Illinois now, I think of it as a "rust belt" state filled with cities in decline. But it wasn't always so. At the time my great great grandparents lived there, Streator was one of the most rapidly growing and developing cities in the state outside of Chicago. In 1870 its population was a little under 1,500 by 1880, it had tripled. 

Streator is situated on the banks of the Vermilion river, straddling LaSalle and Livingston counties. The area was first named Hardscrabble because it was a "hard scrabble" to cross the river and get up the hill where the settlement was located. Next the town was called Unionville in honor of the local men who fought in the Civil War. In 1865 the city was named for Worthy Streator, a Cleveland railroad promoter, who financed the region's first mining operation, and the town was incorporated in 1882. 

Bridge over Vermillion River at Streator, Illinois; photograph courtesy
of Encore Editions

Colonel Plumb, Streator's mine overseer, could not afford European employment agents to send him workers. Instead he alerted steamship offices of the new job opportunities and convinced local railroads to carry notices of Streator's promise.  I've always wondered if that's how James Muir came to settle and work in the city.  

Biography in Black included this item from the La Salle Press in 1881:

"N H Deisher of Streator was over here a day or two this week to see his old friends. He says Streator is a booming town and he likes it first rate. We must caution friend D[eisher] to be very careful of himself, for there are lots of holes in the ground over there where people tumble in very frequently and are killed."

The punning La Salle journalist, who meant only to toss a barb in Streator's direction, was right. Streator was booming by the time James Muir's wife, Margaret, and children joined him. Those "holes in the ground" yielded coal and provided jobs for many recent immigrants.

Coal mine in Streator, Illinois; photograph of Mining Artifacts

Biography in Black also contained Edward Steiner's, an immigrant turned professor, description of city. He came to Streator as a young man sometime after 1886. 

"The town lay uninvitingly among the coal mines which gave it life. Its geometric streets contained the usual stores with the invariable surplus of saloons. The residence district stretched in every direction; while at the most undesirable edges of town the miners had settled in hopeless, unkempt groups. These localities were known as prisoners are -- merely by numbers, and were fast deteriorating; for the more stable population of Welsh and German miners was giving way to the changeable, newer, immigrant groups…the [coal] 'patch' seemed to be a law unto itself, as far as cleanliness or even sanitary conditions were concerned. The only time it realized that it was under some government control was when the officers came to interfere in the not infrequent brawls. The miners were entirely out of touch with the community, except through the saloons…"

Such was the nature of the town where Alexander Muir was born.

This is my entry for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge.

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Alexander Muir was born 13 May 1889 at Steator, La Salle, Illinois to James and Margaret (Semple) Muir. He was the first child born to them after they immigrated to the U.S. from Scotland. I have contacted both La Salle and Livingston counties and his birth record cannot be located. (Streator crosses county borders.) On 13 June 1914 Alexander married Bertha Clorin and by 1916 they were living in Seattle, Washington. He worked for the city as a fireman. Alexander and Bertha had three children: Alexander, Helen and Frances. When he completed his 1942 World War II registration card, he was working for Boeing Aircraft Company. Alexander died on 6 May 1957 at Seattle, Washington.

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For more on coal in Illinois, read Coal Mining: A Dangerous Occupation.