Lane, Charles (1800-1870)

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Charles Lane (1800-1870) is best known in the ethical vegan context for his collaboration with A. Bronson Alcott in the establishment of the Fruitlands community in Harvard, Massachusetts (1843-1844).

Born in Hackney, England, on 31 March 1800, Lane was editor and manager of the London Mercantile Price Current, and associated with The Healthian as editor with Henry G. Wright, a teacher at the Ham Common School, or the "Alcott House" School, described in The Dial (October, 1842). A follower of James Pierrepont Greaves, he met Alcott when the latter visited the community in 1842. Lane joined Alcott on his return to the US and, with him, in June 1843, founded the utopian community of Fruitlands, consisting initially of the Alcott family, and Lane with his ten-year-old son. It was Lane who purchased the acreage in Harvard, Massachusetts, on which Fruitlands was established. The community was built on the principles of self-sustenance and self-government. Animal products were disallowed and the community lived according to ethical vegan principles including not only a strict vegan diet, but also the rejection of any product stemming form the exploitation of animals, including, for example, wool and even animal manure. A staunch abolitionist, Lane also rejected the use of cotton as it was a product of slave labor. Rejecting hired labor, members also did not engage in any kind of trade. Property was communal.

After the community fragmented, Lane moved with his son to the neighboring Shaker village, where the commitment to celibacy agreed with his anti-marriage stance - a point of contention between him and Alcott throughout their collaboration. In the Summer of 1846, Lane and Joseph Palmer joined together to form the Leominster and Harvard Benevolent Association. Lane mortgaged the Fruitlands farm to Joseph Palmer and returned to England, and to his earlier journalistic career. Alcott House / Ham Concordium disbanded in 1849. Despite his earlier conviction, in 1850 Lane remarried to Hannah Bond and they had five children.

PUBLICATIONS

HAM, A brief account of the First Concordium, or Harmonious Industrial College. Published at the Concordium, 1843.
https://archive.org/details/briefaccountoffi00hams

Last updated on June 10th, 2024

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