Pierrepont Noyes facts for kids
Pierrepont Burt Noyes (born August 18, 1870 – died April 15, 1959) was an American businessman and writer. He grew up in the Oneida Community, a special religious group that lived together. Later, Noyes became the leader of Oneida Limited, a company that grew from the community. He held this important job for many years.
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Growing Up
Pierrepont "P. B." Noyes was born in the Oneida Community. This was a group of religious people who lived together in New York State from 1848 to 1880. Noyes' father, John Humphrey Noyes, led the Community.
By the late 1860s, Noyes' father and other members of the Community wanted to pass on their strong religious feelings to their children. They hoped that good spiritual qualities could be inherited. They called this idea "stirpiculture." The children born during this time were known as "stirpicults." Between 1869 and 1879, forty-five "stirpicults" were born. Pierrepont was the son of John Humphrey Noyes and Harriet Maria Worden. He was part of this special plan. Through his father, he was also a distant cousin of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Like all children in the Community, Noyes was raised in a special children's area of their home. He visited his mother sometimes. In his own book about his life, he said he felt closer to his mother than to his father. He wrote that his father "never seemed a father to me in the ordinary sense."
After the Community decided to end in 1880, Noyes lived with his mother.
Leading Oneida Limited
After studying at Colgate University and Harvard University, P.B. Noyes joined Oneida Limited. This company started after his father passed away and the commune ended. Noyes became the president of the company. He guided it to focus on making silverware and stainless steel cutlery. In 1894, he got married, and he and his wife had three children.
As the head of Oneida Limited, Noyes created the company's way of thinking. He believed that "good wages were essential to good morale." This meant he thought paying employees well was important for them to be happy and work hard. In 1904, he suggested that managers should willingly take less pay if the company was having money problems. The company did this during tough economic times in 1921. Noyes cut his own pay in half, and other leaders also took less money.
Noyes also helped develop Sherrill, New York, as a town for the company's employees. In 1905, the company made plans for the town. They gave extra money to employees who built their homes there. The company also helped pay for sports clubs, a golf course, and new elementary and high schools.
Working for the Government
In 1917, Noyes left his job as general manager at Oneida Limited. (He would return to the company in 1921.) During World War I, he worked for the U.S. Government. He was an Assistant Fuel Administrator, helping manage fuel supplies. As the war ended, he was in France selling cutlery. In April 1919, he was asked to become the American Commissioner on the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission. He held this job until May 1920.
His experiences led him to write his first book, While Europe Waits for Peace. In this book, he argued against the harsh rules the Allies put on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles. He believed these rules would lead to more wars.
Noyes returned to Oneida Limited in the 1920s. Later, he took on a more honorary role. In the 1930s, Noyes joined a special group of six people. This group was set up by the New York State Legislature. Their job was to create a new spa at Saratoga Springs. Noyes stayed on this group until 1950.
His Books
Noyes kept writing throughout his life. He wrote a science fiction book called The Pallid Giant: A Tale of Yesterday and Tomorrow. This book showed Noyes' worries about war, weapons, and the possible destruction of humanity. In the book, published in 1927, Noyes described a super weapon that could "end all war by ending man." The book was re-released as Gentlemen, You are Mad! after atomic bombs were used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Noyes also wrote two books about his life: My Father's House: An Oneida Boyhood, and A Goodly Heritage, which was a history of Oneida Limited. He passed away in 1959.
Books by Pierrepont Burt Noyes
- While Europe Waits for Peace: Describing the Progress of Economic and Political Demoralization in Europe during the Year of American Hesitation (1921)
- The Pallid Giant: A Tale of Yesterday and Tomorrow (1927)
- My Father's House: An Oneida Boyhood (1937)
- Goodly Heritage (1958)
