Editing Oneida Community (section)

== Interactions with society ==

The community experienced freedom from wider society. The previously mentioned unorthodox marital, sexual, and religious practices caused them to face some criticism. However, between the community's beginning in the 1850s until the 1870s, their interactions with broader society were mostly favorable. These are the best-known instances of conflict and peace resolution.

=== Outside criticism ===

In 1870, a "nineteenth century cultural critic" Dr. John B. Ellis wrote a book against Free Love communities that Noyes inspired, including "[[Anarchism|Individual Sovereigns]], [[Berlin Heights, Ohio|Berlin Heights]] Free Lovers, [[Spiritualism (movement)|Spiritualists]], [[Women's suffrage in the United States|Advocates of Woman Suffrage]], or Friends of [[Divorce in the United States#19th century|Free Divorce]]".{{sfn |Ellis |1870 |pp=10–13}}{{sfn |Fischer |2001 |p=[https://archive.org/details/pantaloonspowern0000fisc/page/72 58]}} He saw their joint goal to be ending marriage. Dr. Ellis described this as an attack on the prevailing moral order.{{sfn |Ellis |1870 |pp=10–13}}{{Primary source inline|date=April 2018}} Historian Gayle Fischer mentions that Dr. Ellis also criticized Oneida women's clothing as "healthful' uniforms did not rid Oneida women of their 'peculiar air of unhealthiness' — brought on by "sexual excess."{{sfn |Fischer |2001 |p=[https://archive.org/details/pantaloonspowern0000fisc/page/72 58]}}

Noyes responded to Ellis' criticism four years later in a pamphlet, ''Dixon and His Copytists'', where he claimed that Dr. John B. Ellis is a pseudonym for a "literary gentleman living in the upper part of the city."{{sfn |Noyes |1871 |pp=37–39}} Noyes argued that AMS press employed the writer after they read a Philadelphia paper article on the community and saw a chance to profit off sensationalist writing.{{sfn |Noyes |1871 |pp=37–39}}{{Primary source inline|date=April 2018}}

=== Tryphena Hubbard's legal battle ===
In Anthony Wonderly's ''Oneida Utopia'', he covers the 1848–1851 Hubbard affair as a moment where a legal conflict almost ended the group, which was only a mere "Association" at the time. Twenty-one-year-old Tryphena Hubbard learned Noyes' ideas about marriage and sex through his manuscript ''Bible Argument'' in 1848. She joined the community and became the group's first local convert. Tryphena Hubbard soon married Henry Seymour, a young man in the community.{{sfn |Wonderley |2017 |pp=72–74, 137}}

Early in 1849, Tryphena's father, Noahdiah Hubbard, learned of the Association's open marriages and demanded his daughter's return. Tryphena refused, and for two years, Noahdiah "made a sulking nuisance of himself at the Mansion House."{{sfn |Wonderley |2017 |pp=72–74, 137}}

An 1850 criticism of Tryphena mentioned her "insubordination to the church" and "excess egotism amounting to insanity."{{sfn |Wonderley |2017 |pp=72–74, 137}} There was marriage before the community attempted perfectionism, and Tryphena's husband's supervision over her was increased along with the "disciplinary norms of the day, physical punishment."{{sfn |Wonderley |2017 |pp=72–74, 137}}

In September 1851, Tryphena began displaying signs of mental illness, "crying at night, speaking incoherently, and wandering around."  Seymour went to the Hubbard family to report their daughter's insanity, and both parents were appalled by Seymour's physical violence.{{sfn |Wonderley |2017 |pp=72–74, 137}}

On September 27, 1851, Noahdiah Hubbard lodged assault and battery charges on behalf of his daughter.{{sfn |Noyes |Foster |2001 |p=[{{google books |b2SnVuHWIJkC |page=PR55 |plainurl=yes}} lv]}}  Seymour was indicted, and other community members were served arrest warrants as accessories.{{sfn |Wonderley |2017 |pp=72–74, 137}}

The case was settled on November 26, 1851. The community agreed to Tryphena's expenses while she was in the asylum and after her release $125 a year if she was well and $200 a year if she remained unwell. The Hubbards eventually accepted a $350 settlement in lieu of long-term payments. Tryphena Hubbard eventually returned to Henry Seymour and had a child by him. She died at the age of 49 in 1877.{{sfn |Noyes |Foster |2001 |p=[{{google books |b2SnVuHWIJkC |page=PR55 |plainurl=yes}} lv]}}