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Koreshan UnityKoreshan Unity is the communal utopia formed by Cyrus Teed, who took the name "Koresh", a Hebrew translation of his name Cyrus. The Koreshans followed Teed's beliefs, called Koreshanity. The Koreshan Unity got its start in the 1870s in New York, where Teed started preaching his beliefs. He formed short-lived groups in New York City and Moravia. He later moved to Chicago. Teed's followers formed a commune in Chicago in 1888 called Beth-Ophra. Some followers also formed a short-lived community in San Francisco (1891-2). Small church groups existed in other towns. There was a tri-level system of membership. The outer level was made up of non-believers who were willing to work for the Unity. This group was called the Society Arch-Triumphant, and allowed for marriage and participation in the secular aspects of the unity. The middle group, the Marital Order, allowed for marriage, but sexual relationships was only for the purpose of reproduction. The inner, core, group was the Celibate and Communal group that did not allow marriage and practiced celibacy. Apparently, all the members of the Unity were part of the Celibate group. They apparently had no members of the middle or outer group. Other sources claim the three groups were called the College of Life, Church Triumphant, and Society Arch-Triumphant. Eventually, Teed took his followers to a small Florida town named Estero, to form his "New Jerusalem" in 1894. The 'golden age' for this community was 1903-1908, when they had over 250 residents. There were apparently another 4000 believers around the country. They built extensively, establishing a bakery, printing house (publishing their newspaper and other publications), their "World College of Life", a general store, concrete works, power plant (that supplied power to the surrounding area years before it was available elsewhere in the region) and more. The colony was extensively landscaped. There has been work to document and preserve the grounds in Estero. In 1906, they formed the Progressive Liberal Party to run several candidates for county government against the local Democratic Party but were never successful. This Progressive Liberal Party consisted of Koreshans, socialists, Republicans, and dissatisfied Democrats. After Teed died in 1908 (after being beaten by the town marshall), the group went into decline. Several groups split off from the Unity. One such group was the Order of Theocracy that left in 1910 and moved to nearby Ft. Myers. This group lasted until 1931. The fact the Unity was celibate didn't help. Without new members joining, group slowly dwindled. They continued to publisher the Flaming Sword, until the printing press burned in 1949. They also published the American Eagle, which they started in 1906, and later became a horticultural newspaper. The last remaining follower, Hedwig Mikel, joined in 1940. She had learned of the Koreshans in Germany, and fled Nazi persecution. She would ceeded the main portion of the commune grounds to Florida to form a state park around 1960 before passing away in 1981. The College of Life Foundation, formerly the Koreshan Unity Foundation, are now the owners/caretakers of the remaining Koreshan land and their extensive archives. After Mikel's death, control of the Koreshan Unity Foundation passed to her secretary, Jo Bigelow, and most recently another individual. None of the those controlling the College of Life Foundation are Koreshan believers. External links *Ohnemus, Catherine A. Anthony. Dr. Cyrus Teed and the Koreshan Unity Movement
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