born Aug. 22, 1809, Batavia, N.Y., U.S.
died May 1, 1890, Richmond, Va.
U.S. social reformer.
The son of wealthy landowners, he went to Europe in 1828 to study social reform with great thinkers of his age. Disappointed with François Guizot in Paris and G.W.F. Hegel in Berlin, he later discovered the works of Charles Fourier , under whom he studied for two years. In 1834 he returned to the U.S. and later established a Fourier community in New Jersey. His book Social Destiny of Man (1840) attracted widespread attention. In his newspaper column in the New York Tribune he explained the Fourier system of self-sustaining communities, which he called Associationism. His son Arthur (1864–1936) was editor of the New York Evening Journal (1897–1921) and the Chicago Herald and Examiner (from 1918).