HER PERPENDICULAR MAJESTY HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY

1797

May 29, Monday: Marianne Ripley was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts to Jerome Ripley and a mother whose given name is not of record but who is understood to have been illustriously related to Benjamin Franklin (in that of her 4 great-grandfathers, one had been among Dr. Franklin’s many, many uncles). HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY

1826

May 8, Monday: George Ripley wrote from Cambridge to his “tall, angular” elder sister Miss Marianne Ripley, “In your last letter you asked me what were my prospects on the subject which was nearest to my earthly happiness; then, I should have answered, all was black darkness. Now, my dearest Marianne, by a most unexpected train of events, the obstacles to our affection are removed; a just regard to prudence does not forbid us to cherish an attachment which has long been the secret idol of our hearts; and yesterday our circle of dear were edified by the intelligence of a new engagement! The details of all this I shall hereafter explain. You will know this being whose influence over me for the year past has so much elevated, strengthened, and refined my character. You will entirely sympathize with me. I cannot now write my parents, who, I am sure, cannot disapprove the step I have taken, when you expound to them all the circumstances, — which I wish you to do as copiously as you can. The whole matter meets with the most surprising approbation and sympathy from the whole society of Cambridge.”

The Rensselaer field expedition toured the American Revolution battlefield at Oriskany, New York. They stopped for the night at Lenox. GEORGE W. CLINTON

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 2nd day came home in Capt Waldrons Packet - This is a much longer time than I am usually from home at Q Meeting time. - but so it is I have something to do with most of Societys concerns, & I cannot get along as others can. — I feel the pressure of the various engagements I am under on account of Society - they fall on one who is weak & entirely unable to bear much, but I desire to do the best I can & leave the Issue to him who does not forsake in the needful time. — tho’ I may acknowledge my Faith & my patience are often brought to very close test RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY

1827

August 22, Wednesday: George Ripley got married with Sophia Dana, keeping this a secret from his father Jerome Ripley and a mother who was distantly related to Benjamin Franklin (her great-grandfather had been Dr. Franklin’s uncle). Shortly afterward his elder sister Miss Marianne Ripley would inform their parents as he had requested. HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY

1840

Winter: The Reverend John Sullivan Dwight left his parish in Northampton to join the experiment of West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

The Reverend George Ripley purchased Brook Farm.

A few months later the Articles of Association would be drawn up, the stock would have subscribers, and HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY Institute officers would be elected (there was no thought at this time of Fourierism). The signers of the agreement would be: George Ripley, Sophia Ripley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mrs. Minott Pratt, George P Bradford, Warren Burton, Samuel D. Robins and his wife Mary, David Mack, George C. Leach, Lemuel Capen HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY 24 shares of stock would be purchased and about 1/3 of the amount would actually get paid (Mr. Ripley’s library, valued at $400, would be part of the tender for his portion). The shares were: George Ripley, holding numbers 1, 2, 3 ($1500) Sophia Ripley, 16, 17 Minot Pratt, 4, 5, 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne, 18, 19 William Allen, 7, 8, 9 Maria Pratt, 20, 21 Charles Dana, 10, 11, 12, Sarah F. Stearns, 22, 23 Marianne Ripley, 13, 14, 15 Charles O. Whitmore, 24

The farmhouse that was on the property when bought stood near the road that entered the farm, and would be referred to by the Brook Farmers as their “Hive.” In this farmhouse they would create a dining room that would HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY seat more than 50.

Across the street from the farm there was a building they would refer to as their “Nest,” which would become Miss Marianne Ripley’s schoolhouse, and lodgings for her and for some other of the teachers, and pupils. “Miss Marianne Ripley presided over the primary department, and had with her in the Nest the two sons of George Bancroft, George and John; the two Spanish boys from Manila, Lucas and José Corrales; and James Lloyd Fuller, the youngest brother of .” She employed “a progressive child-centered pedagogy” that has been compared to the later reforms of Professor John Dewey. The children referred to her as “Her Perpendicular Majesty.” She also “reigned over the Kitchen Group and cultivated the flowers on the terraces.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY

1841

September: This was the Brook Farm experiment’s membership roster as it has been derived from their Articles of Association documents dated September 29, 1841 and February 17, 1842, from their Constitution dated February 11, 1844, and from various minutes of their meetings preserved by the Massachusetts Historical Society. We instantly notice that it is not a particularly accurate record of what had been going on, as witness the fact that Nathaniel Hawthorne is being shown as being admitted to membership in the association a month after his attorney has filed the necessary legal papers to disassociate him:

Date of Name Birthplace Birthdate Occupation Admission

September 1841 Reverend George Ripley Greenfield MA 1802 minister

September 1841 Mrs. Sophia Dana Ripley Cambridge MA 1803 wife of minister

September 1841 Marianne Ripley Greenfield MA 1797 teacher

September 1841 Charles A. Dana Hinsdale NH 1819 student

September 1841 Minot Pratt Weymouth MA 1805 printer

September 1841 Maria Pratt MA 1806 wife of printer

September 1841 Nathaniel Hawthorne Salem MA 1804 writer

September 1841 Sarah F. Stearns Massachusetts circa 1820 student

September 1841 William Allen Vermont 1815 schoolteacher at Concord

September 1841 Charles O. Whitmore ? ? ?

September 29, Wednesday: The Articles of Association of the Subscribers to the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education:

ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION OF THE SUBSCRIBERS TO THE BROOK FARM INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE AND EDUCATION. Articles of Association made and executed this twenty-ninth day of September, one thousand eight-hundred and forty-one, by and between the several persons and their assigns, who have given their signatures to this instrument and by it associated themselves together for the purpose and objects hereinafter set forth: — Art. I. The name and style of this Association shall be The Subscribers to the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education; and all persons who shall hold one or more shares of the Association shall be members; and every member shall be entitled to one vote on all matters relating to the funds of the Association. Art. II. The object of the Association is to purchase such estates as may be required for the establishment and continuance of an agricultural, literary, and scientific school or college, to provide such lands and houses, animals, libraries and apparatus, as may be found expedient or advantageous to the main purpose of the Association. HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY Art. III. The whole property of the Association, real and personal, shall be vested in and held by Four Trustees to be elected annually by the Association. Art. IV. No shareholder shall be liable to any assessment whatever on the shares held by him, nor shall he be held responsible individually in his private property on account of this Association; nor shall the Trustees, or any officer or agent of the Association, have any authority to do anything which shall impose personal responsibility on any shareholder by making any contracts or incurring any debts for which the shareholders shall be individually or personally responsible. Art. V. All conveyances to be taken for lands or other real estate purchased by the Association in pursuance of these articles shall be made to the Trustees, their successors in office or survivors as joint tenants, and not as tenants in common. Art. VI. The Association guarantees to each shareholder the interest of five per cent annually on the amount of stock held by him in the Association, and this interest may be paid in certificates of stock and credited on the books of the Association; provided, however, that each shareholder may, at the time of the annual settlement, draw on the funds of the Association, not otherwise appropriated, to an amount not exceeding that of the interest credited in his favor. Art. VII. The shareholders on their part, for themselves, their heirs and assigns, do renounce all claim on any profits accruing to the Association for the use of their capital invested in the stock of the Association, except five per cent interest on the amount of stock held by them, payable in the manner described in the preceding article. Art. VIII. Every subscriber may receive the tuition of one pupil for every share held by him, instead of five per cent interest, as stated above, or tuition to an amount not exceeding twenty percent interest on his investment. Art. IX. No share shall be transferred from one person to another without consent of the Trustees, nor shall any such transfer be valid without their signature. Art. X. Every shareholder may withdraw his amount of stock and whatever interest is due thereon, by giving twelve months’ notice to the Trustees of the Association. Art. XI. The capital stock of the Association, now consisting of Twelve Thousand Dollars, shall be divided into shares of Five Hundred Dollars each, and may be increased to any amount at the pleasure of the Association. Art. XII. These articles, it is understood and agreed on, are intended for the safe, legal, and orderly holding and management of such property real and personal as shall further the purposes of the “Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education,” to which Institute this Association of subscribers is subordinate and auxiliary.

SUBSCRIPTION. We, the undersigned, do hereby agree to pay the sum attached to our names, to be invested in the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education, according to the conditions described in the foregoing Articles of Association. Date, 1841. Names. Shares. Sums. Geo. Ripley...... No. 1, 2, and 3...... $ 1,500 Nath. Hawthorne...... ” 18 and 19...... 1,000 Minot Pratt...... ” 4, 5, and 6...... 1,500 Charles A. Dana...... ” 10, 11, and 12...... 1,500 William B. Allen...... ” 7, 8, and 9...... 1,500 Sophia W. Ripley...... ” 16 and 17...... 1,000 Maria T. Pratt...... ” 20 and 21...... 1,000 Sarah F. Stearns...... ” 22 and 23...... 1,000 Marianne Ripley...... ” 13, 14, and 15...... 1,500 HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY Charles O. Whitmore...... ” 24...... 500

OFFICERS. At a meeting of the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education, held on Wednesday, September 29, 1841, the following persons were appointed to office as follows:— General Direction. Geo. Ripley, Minot Pratt, Wm. B. Allen. Direction of Finance. Nath. Hawthorne, Charles A. Dana, Wm. B. Allen. Direction of Agriculture. Wm. B. Allen, Minot Pratt, Geo. Ripley. Direction of Education. Sophia W. Ripley, Charles A. Dana, Marianne Ripley. Charles A. Dana was appointed Recording Secretary, and Minot Pratt, Treasurer; and the meeting adjourned. Chas. Anderson Dana, Secretary.

October 30, Saturday: Richard Wagner completed the score and lyrics of Der fliegende Holländer.

Here is the preserved Brook Farm record: At a meeting of the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education on Saturday last, October 30, 1841, the following votes were passed:— Voted, 1. To transfer the Institution recently carried on by George Ripley to the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education from and after November 1, 1841, according to the conditions stated in the instrument of this date, and signed by George Ripley, William B. Allen, and Charles A. Dana. 2. To transfer the establishment recently carried on by Marianne Ripley to the Brook Farm Institute, from and after November 1, 1841, according to the conditions stated in the instrument referred to in the above vote (this was merely a formal ratification of earlier business transactions: she had been offering a school in Boston but had instead brought several of her young students with her). 3. That, in the annual settlement with individual members, each member shall be allowed board in proportion to the time employed for the Association: that is, one year’s board for one year’s labor; and if no labor is done, the whole board shall be charged. 4. That the price of board charged to the Associates shall be $4.00 per week, until otherwise ordered, including house-rent, fuel, light, and washing. 5. That three hundred days’ labor shall be considered equal to one year’s labor, and shall entitle a person to one share of the annual dividend, and no allowance shall be made for a greater amount of labor.1 6. That sixty hours shall be considered equal to six days’ labor for the months of May, June, July, August, September, and October, inclusive; forty-eight hours, from November to April, inclusive. 7. That for children of the associates, over ten years of age, board shall be charged at half the established rate. 8. That the price of board and tuition shall be $4.00 a week for boys, and $5.00 a week for girls over twelve years of age; and $3.50 a week for children under that age, exclusive of washing and separate fire.

Chas. A Dana, Secretary

1. Bear in mind that not all the labor of the farm would be performed by these members. The farm did have a subordinate staff of hired help and servants to perform a significant amount of the needed labor. This socialist experiment was not egalitarian. HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY

1868

May 4, Wednesday: Marianne Ripley died in Madison, Wisconsin at the age of 71. The simple white marble tombstone designed with her quiet grace in mind by her nephew Jerome Ripley is in the Brigham family plot of the Forest Hill Cemetery there, near the monument to Ebenezer Brigham, next to David Brigham and to her sister Elizabeth Ripley (she and her sister had been planning to begin a kindergarten together in Madison).

May 7, Saturday: Henry Peter Brougham died at Cannes.

Editor Horace Rublee wrote the obituary of Miss Marianne Ripley in the Wisconsin State Journal: “Miss Marianne Ripley, a distinguished teacher and promoter of education, a sister of George Ripley of the N.Y. Tribune, died in Milwaukie, Wis., aged 71 years. She was a lady of remarkable ability and attainments. After acquiring, as her father’s assistant in mercantile affairs, great skill in practical business, she engaged in teaching, first in Massachusetts, and afterward, about 1836, in the West. She subsequently engaged in the Brook Farm enterprise with her brother and other friends, and on its failure resumed her position as teacher. Compelled by ill health to relinquish her school, she never lost her interest in educational matters.”

At Fort Laramie in the territory of Dakota a treaty was concluded between the United States of America and the Crow Tribe of Indians, or more specifically by and between General William T. Sherman, Brevet Major- General William S. Harney, Brevet Major-General Alfred H. Terry, Brevet Major-General C. C. Augur, John B. Sanborn, and S. F. Tappan, commissioners, on the part of the United States, and Che-Ra-Pee- Ish-Ka-Te, Chat-Sta-He, and other chiefs and headmen of the Crow tribe of Indians, on the part of said Indians: “From this day forward peace between the parties to this agreement shall forever continue.”

September 12, Saturday: The ruler of Qatar, Muhammed ibn Thani, signed a treaty with Great Britain separating Qatar from Bahrein as an independent state.

George Ripley wrote to Jerome Ripley: “Monument should be decent and handsome, but anything beyond the average in display or elegance would be as repugnant to Aunt M’s feelings as it was to wear the cloak we brought her from Paris.”

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In addition to the property of others, such as extensive quotations and reproductions of images, this “read-only” computer file contains a great deal of special work product of Austin Meredith, copyright 2018. Access to these interim materials will eventually be offered for a fee in order to recoup some of the costs of preparation. My hypercontext button invention which, instead of creating a hypertext leap through hyperspace —resulting in navigation problems— allows for an utter alteration of the context within which one is experiencing a specific content already being viewed, is claimed as proprietary to Austin Meredith — and therefore freely available for use by all. Limited permission to copy such files, or any material from such files, must be obtained in advance in writing from the “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project, 833 Berkeley St., Durham NC 27705. Please HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY contact the project at .

“It’s all now you see. Yesterday won’t be over until tomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago.” – Remark by character “Garin Stevens” in William Faulkner’s INTRUDER IN THE DUST

Prepared: April 12, 2018 HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY ARRGH AUTOMATED RESEARCH REPORT

GENERATION HOTLINE

This stuff presumably looks to you as if it were generated by a human. Such is not the case. Instead, someone has requested that we pull it out of the hat of a pirate who has grown out of the shoulder of our pet parrot “Laura” (as above). What these chronological lists are: they are research reports compiled by ARRGH algorithms out of a database of modules which we term the Kouroo Contexture (this is data mining). To respond to such a request for information we merely push a button.

Commonly, the first output of the algorithm has obvious deficiencies and we need to go back into the modules stored in HDT WHAT? INDEX

MISS MARIANNE RIPLEY MARIANNE RIPLEY the contexture and do a minor amount of tweaking, and then we need to punch that button again and recompile the chronology — but there is nothing here that remotely resembles the ordinary “writerly” process you know and love. As the contents of this originating contexture improve, and as the programming improves, and as funding becomes available (to date no funding whatever has been needed in the creation of this facility, the entire operation being run out of pocket change) we expect a diminished need to do such tweaking and recompiling, and we fully expect to achieve a simulation of a generous and untiring robotic research librarian. Onward and upward in this brave new world.

First come first serve. There is no charge. Place requests with . Arrgh.