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Assassin in Utopia: The Oneida Community & The Garfield Assassination

February 9, 2023 by Editorial Staff 3 Comments

an assasin in utopiaThe new book An Assassin in Utopia: The True Story of a Nineteenth-Century Sex Cult and a President’s Murder (Pegasus Crime, 2023) by Susan Wels is a true crime odyssey that explores a forgotten, astonishing chapter of American history, leading the reader from a free-love community in Upstate New York to the shocking assassination of President James Garfield.

From 1848 to 1881, a small utopian colony in Upstate New York — the Oneida Community — was known for its shocking sexual practices, from open marriage and free love to the sexual training of young boys by older women. And in 1881, a one-time member of the Oneida Community — Charles Julius Guiteau — assassinated President James Garfield in a brutal crime that shook America to its core.

Thousands came by trains and carriages to see this new Eden, carved from hundreds of acres of woodland. They marveled at orchards bursting with fruit, thick herds of Ayrshire cattle and Cotswold sheep, and whizzing mills. They gaped at the people who lived in this place  —especially the women, with their queer cropped hair and shamelessly short skirts. The men and women of this strange outpost worked and slept together — without sin, they claimed.

An Assassin in Utopia is the first book that weaves together these explosive stories in a tale of utopian experiments, political machinations, and murder. This deeply researched narrative tells the true, interlocking stories of the Oneida Community and its radical founder, John Humphrey Noyes; his idol, the eccentric newspaper publisher Horace Greeley (founder of the New Yorker and the New York Tribune); and the gloomy, indecisive President James Garfield — who was assassinated after his first six months in office.

Susan Wels is a bestselling author, historian, and journalist. Her Titanic: Legacy of the World’s Greatest Ocean Liner spent fourteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list; the book was also a Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and USA Today bestseller. Her work has received press coverage in PEOPLE, Smithsonian’s Air & Space Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, and the San Jose Mercury-News among many other journals. Wels’s work as a historian includes her acclaimed San Francisco: Arts for the City as well as her research on the role of women at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Wels and her husband divide their time between the San Francisco Bay Area and their farm in the south of Chile.

Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

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Filed Under: Books, History, Western NY Tagged With: Books, Crime and Justice, Horace Greeley, James Garfield, Madison County, Oneida, Oneida Community, Political History, Religious History, Vice

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Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. James L. Bjorkman, '57 says

    February 13, 2023 at 4:15 PM

    Re: An Assassin in Utopia, Susan Wels
    During Susan Wels research, did she come across George Washington Gale? He proceeded South from the Oneida area looking for the perfect place to establish a community for his followers. He “found” it in the prairie of West Central Illinois away from the sinful river towns. In 1835 he founded Galesburg, Illinois, to be followed by the founding of Knox College in 1837. The KC Founders day is this Wednesday, February 15, 2023. Thanks for your consideration.

    Reply
  2. Dana C says

    February 22, 2023 at 8:06 AM

    If you follow the link to purchase the book, it brings up a different book instead.

    Reply
    • John Warren says

      February 22, 2023 at 8:53 AM

      Thank you! I’ve corrected the link. Thanks for your support of New York Almanack!

      John Warren
      Editor

      Reply

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