Over the next decades following their first arrival in 1848, hundreds of French Icarians came to America to live in Icarian utopian colonies. A brief summary of the seven Icarian colonies is given here.
1848 - Red River, Texas
This was a brief attempt by most of the 69 men in the original advance party to establish a colony in Texas. The attempt was abandoned after only a few months due to land fraud by the Peters Land Company and the death from malaria of about 10 men.
1849-1859 Nauvoo, Illinois
In 1849, Etienne Cabet arrived in New Orleans to lead the Icarian up the Mississippi to Nauvoo where the land and the buildings of the recently vacated Mormon community were purchased. This was the largest Icarian colony, having around 500 members at its peak. In 1856 a schism occurred, leading to the ouster of Cabet and a faction loyal to him, while others continued the colony at Nauvoo.
1856 -1864 Cheltenham, Missouri
Cabet and his followers bought land on the outskirts of Saint Louis at a place called Cheltenham. Cabet died only days after arriving, but his loyal followers continued this colony for 8 years.
1852-1879 Iowa Colony
The first Icarian party arrived from Nauvoo in October of 1852 and over the next few months, they purchased about 3.000 acres of land from the United States government at $1.25 per acre and more Icarians filtered in to begin building the Iowa Colony. Following the split, the Nauvoo Icarians moved to the land near Corning. In September 1860, their thriving agricultural enterprise became the first Agricultural Corporation in the State of Iowa, an entity allowed for by an amendment of the Corporation Law of Iowa. They profited from the Civil War by selling wool, horses and other supplies to the Union Army. In 1879 the colony was divided in two by a court decision, after the younger progressive colony members brought a suit against older conservative members. The two new colonies split the land and buildings of the former colony.
1879-1883 Jeune Icarie Colony
This was the colony of the young progressives which resulted from the split of the Iowa Colony. The colony name translates from French as Young Icaria. In 1883, its members voted to dissolve, sell their land, and join forces with the Icaria-Speranza colony in California.
1879-1898 New Icaria Colony
This was the colony of the older conservatives which resulted after the split of the Iowa Colony. In 1898 its members voted to end the colony because by then it consisted mostly of elders who could no longer continue the hard work of operating the colony. The Icarian movement in America ended.
1881-1886 Icaria-Speranza
This colony began when a former member of Jeune Icarie of Corning Iowa, Armand Dehay, convinced several families to begin a new social utopian colony in the more hospitable climate of California. His father-in-law, Jules Leroux, a strong adherent to the socialist principals of Saint Simon, was a collaborator. They also convinced members of the Jeune Icarie colony to join forces with them.
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Icaria Colonies
Icaria Colonies
