• William Keil (March 6, 1812 - December 30, 1877) was the founder of 19th-century communal religious societies in Bethel, Missouri, and Aurora Colony in Oregon. (wikipedia.org)
  • Elim, also known as the home of Dr. William Keil. (newsbreak.com)
  • This historic home is known as Elim or the Dr. William Keil House. (newsbreak.com)
  • Elim was built by the members of the Society of Bethel and was home to Dr. William Keil, the society's founder. (newsbreak.com)
  • William Keil (March 6, 1812 - December 30, 1877). (newsbreak.com)
  • After becoming a successful Christian preacher and building a large congregation, Keil, and his followers, moved to Bethel, Missouri, in 1844 and started a Utopian commune. (wikipedia.org)
  • Bethel was founded as a Bible utopian colony by Keil. (newsbreak.com)
  • Bethel, in North River Valley, five miles from Shelbyville, was founded in 1844 as a religious communal colony by Wilhelm Keil and his German-American followers. (newsbreak.com)
  • In 1844, he led a group of followers and founded a communal colony in Shelby County, Missouri called Bethel. (newsbreak.com)
  • While Keil never returned to Bethel, he directed business or other affairs by letter. (newsbreak.com)
  • After Keil died, those who remained in the Bethel colony held onto their communal ownership and shared the means of production for three years. (newsbreak.com)
  • Keil was concerned that the society was going to be influenced by outsiders, so he decided to lead a group west where the Aurora Colony was established in Oregon. (newsbreak.com)
  • Keil (1812-1877), an independent preacher, called his adherents 'Christians. (newsbreak.com)
  • Keil soon heard about a group of former Harmony Society members who had left that communal group, and had moved to Phillipsburg (now Monaca, Pennsylvania), where they had tried to form the New Philadelphia Society. (wikipedia.org)
  • When Keil contacted the families in the early 1840s, he impressed some of them, and they suggested he form a communal society. (wikipedia.org)
  • Supposedly, the society was one of the most successful ones in Missouri and the country. (newsbreak.com)
  • By 1880, the property was divided among the remaining members, which brought an end to the communal establishment in Missouri. (newsbreak.com)
  • Washington Historical Society Museum zither display features over a dozen zithers and musical instruments manufactured in Washington, Missouri, by Franz Schwarzer's factory. (missourilife.com)
  • Today, the Schwarzer Zither Ensemble continues the tradition of zither playing in Washington, Missouri, through educational living history programs, lessons, and performances at the Washington Historical Society Museum. (missourilife.com)
  • Dr. Keil led the first wagon train to the Oregon territory carrying his eldest son, Willie, in a coffin in the lead wagon. (wikipedia.org)
  • As former members of such a society, they provided invaluable practical assistance to its founding and maintenance. (wikipedia.org)
  • Keil was born in Prussia March 6, 1812, and raised by German Lutheran parents. (wikipedia.org)
  • Within a year, he and his wife, also German, moved to western Pennsylvania, where Keil gained a reputation as a mystic and healer. (wikipedia.org)