The story of W.C.B. Randolph's run for Governor as a member of the Social Democratic Party starts in Skagit County with the Equality Colony. The following description of the Colony comes from the book Skagit Settlers : Trials and Triumphs 1890-1920:
"The Socialist Party of the United States in the 1890s had many factions, some of which believed that the road to socialism led through the ballot box, and some that a practical demonstration was the only way to convince the public that socialism could really work. In 1895 some of the latter group in the state of Maine organized the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth, contributing 10 cents per member per month to a fund which was to finance a socialist community. Chapters of the Brotherhood appeared in many states and the fund rapidly grew to $10,000."
"The choice of a site for the new colony was important. It had to be in a place where the opportunities for agriculture and industry were developing rapidly and where a successful demonstration could spawn other colonies and hopefully evangelize an entire state in a reasonably short time. Washington had just elected a populist governor and was believed ripe for experimentation. Ed Pelton, an experienced woodsman from Maine, quietly examined possible areas for the Brotherhood and selected a site near Blanchard, a well drained hillside covered with heavy timber for the colony buildings, a creek running through the property, and rich delta land below, thick with alders. He paid $10 an acre cash for 280 acres of land."
"An advance guard of colony members arrived in 1897 to begin clearing and building. Within a year they had slashed and burned 100 acres of the alder bottom and were pulling the stumps to prepare for agriculture. They had also cleared part of the hillside and built a large apartment house for the colony members who were to follow them, a bakery, dining hall and kitchen, laundry room, a combination school house and lecture hall, and a large barn. There were also various small buildings for offices and work rooms. In 1898 they purchased another 160 acres of timber land and later added to their holdings until the commune owned about 640 acres."
"Members came to Equality Colony from half the states in the union. Each family paid $160 for membership, a sum which became part of the working capital of the commune. Later penniless people who could persuade the members of their sincerity were admitted on payment of $1 and the promise to work out the balance. The members brought with them varied skills. A newspaper article of 1898 mentions printers, carpenters, professors, fishermen, farmers, mill men, etc. In 1900 the colony newspaper, Industrial Freedom, which circulated widely in Brotherhood chapters throughout the country, advertised, 'The colony is in need of a socialist tinner, blacksmith, shoe repairer, and a printer or compositor.'"
"Every male colonist was expected to work an eight-hour day (at a time when, country-wide, men worked 10, 12, or even 14 hour days), employed so far as possible in his own field of specialization but with the understanding that he might be called upon for any task that needed doing. Those who worked for farmers or logging outfits or mills outside the colony turned in their wages to the common treasury. The women worked six hours a day and the household chores were rotated. All were paid at a uniform rate in scrip. This scrip could be used for purchases at the commissary which was well stocked with good quality merchandise and probably gave at least as wide a variety of items as the small general stores of the time. There were Saturday night dances and programs of music and speeches to mark the anniversary of the founding of the colony. Adult education and recreation were considered part of living."
"Because of the timber on the property a sawmill was one of the first industries undertaken. A fishing boat was an early purchase. The colony operated its own dairy, owned its own horses, and raised food for the animals as well as the people. The fare in the communal dining room was simple but abundant and of good quality."
"A socialist colony was expected to branch out into the production of a range in industrial products. By 1900 Industrial Freedom was advertising, 'Equality Cereal Coffee. Made from Extra Quality Grain by Equality colony members. A pure, wholesome, invigorating beverage, better than coffee and much cheaper.' No record has been found of other products manufactured for sale outside the community, but the hard working, idealistic members of the colony had gone a long way toward making it self-sufficient in its first four years."
"Ed Pelton was the dynamic leader but all members of both sexes over 18 years old had a vote in the community assembly which met once a week to decide policy. In such a group of free-thinking theoreticians, differences of opinion were frequent and difficult to resolve or compromise. After Pelton was killed in an accident the meetings took place more often and the discussions became bitter. Difficulties were compounded by the increasing numbers of 'free loaders' who descended on the group to enjoy the good fare of the dining hall; they paid the $1 minimum fee and absconded after loading up with everything they could get at the commissary."
"Financial problems increased the acrimony of the policy discussions. At one stage in the dissention rival factions split the colony into two separate but related groups, one of which was Freeland Colony. On February 6, 1906 the final blow fell when an arsonist, identity never determined, burned the great barn with 110 tons of hay, 20 milk cows, a dozen calves, and six horses. Only three horses were saved. A group of members petitioned the court in Mount Vernon for an order dissolving the colony and appointing a receiver to determine the disposition of assets. Judge George A. Joiner granted the petition and appointed E.W. Ferris receiver. The lands and buildings were auctioned for cash on the courthouse steps on June 1, 1907 and sold to John J. Peth for $12,500. Other colonists contested the court's decision and the case was in the court for years but the Supreme Court of the state upheld the sale."
"Today the only physical reminders of the experiment are the names of Colony Creek and Colony Road near Blanchard. However, many Skagit County families can trace their ancestors back to the industrious, idealistic founders of the colony who have seldom been given the credit the deserved for their pioneering efforts. At least some of their radical ideas have become commonplace today, the eight-hour day, equal rights for women, the 18-year-old voting age, for example."
When describing the life of Equality Colony resident W.C.B. Randolph, I'll be using words like "probably," "apparently," and possibly" with more frequency than I would like. What little information I have dug up leaves me with just a best guess about who he was. He was born in Missouri about 1861, probably in McDonald County, where he was raised. His first name was William, and I'm betting his full moniker was William Cullen Bryant Randolph, named after a writer who held progressive views consistent with Randolph's later career. In 1880 he married Harriet "Hattie" M. Williams (born in 1864), a Toronto native, in Marion, Mo.
He was a carpenter and she was a teacher. They were apparently members of the Theosophical Society and both of them wrote articles for periodicals concerning Theosophy and metaphysics. It would appear they lived in California prior to joining the Equality Colony.
Randolph contributed an essay about the Colony in an August 6, 1898 Seattle Daily Times profile, "Cooperative Colony at Edison." This piece could also be viewed as his political platform during his 1900 gubernatorial run. It is interesting to read how he sees socialism as almost an inevitable force of nature:
"The economic movement in America has arrived at that stage of growth which beings to do-- the stage of talking has passed."
"The B.C.C. is an organization for the inauguration of the co-operative commonwealth. It proposes to attack capitalism, both industrially and politically. Federated colonies, each self-governing and interchanging products on a basis of cost, will be a means of supporting the workers, who have no place in the competitive system on account of the increase of machinery, and as the socilist population of the state increases socialist laws will be made, changing gradually the theory of lawmaking from the supremacy of the individual to the good of the collectivity. Public ownership must take the place of private enterprise. The whole people can better and more economically manage industries for the common good than to have them farmed out to individuals whose interests are to swindle the public. The time for argument, however, on the superiority of the collectivist theory or that of the theory of private incentive, has passed. The only question now is how best to begin ushering in the new system of industry."
"The brotherhood has taken both sides-- the political and the industrial-- and has founded the first in a series of colonies, of which a long chain is to follow. Equality Colony is situated on a low ridge of hills about two miles from Puget Sound, three miles from Edison, Skagit County, and about four miles from Belfast, on the Great Northern Railroad. The population is about 300, and increasing daily. The land is about 605 acres, belongs to the B.C.C., the deeds being held by the national board of eight in trust for the brotherhood. Three hundred acres of this land is as rich as the Nile valley and is partly cleared: 160 acres is in standing saw timber and the remainder in 'logged off' land, which includes the hill on which the townsite is built. Two large apartment houses and several smaller residences and tents shelter the people at present. A graded school of three teachers, drawing the apportionment of state money, is in operation."
"The colony has about 20 horses, 20 cows and as many hogs. A small sawmill is leased, which will probably be turned in on membership fees, blacksmith, machine and wagon shops; also laundry, tailoring and barbering, a shingle machine and brickyard. These are the main industries. The government is completely democratic. The initiative and referendum are in force. Any officer can be dismissed at any time. The women vote and work on the same terms with the men; eight hours is a day's work. Every colonist gets his board, lodging, light and fuel, transportation, doctor's attendance, etc. free and for his personal wants he receives 35 cents a week, or a proportion according to the number of days he works. The industries are divided into departments, with representatives at the head, and then again into divisions, in charge of a foreman, who keeps the time and reports weekly to the colony secretary. All members are required to be on hand during working hours or furnish an excuse and to take turns at necessary and extra work. All eat in a large dining hall at present, but this is not obligatory when individual houses and tables can be afforded. No religious test for membership is made. The colony does not provide church houses, but those who so desire may use the public buildings for any kind of services they prefer. There is no rent, no interest, no profit and no debt. Economic equality is the slogan and all else is subordinated to this. -- W.C.B. Randolph, Edison, Wa."
W.C.B. had moved to Seattle by 1900, where he was nominated for Governor by the new Social Democratic Party during the July convention. Attempting to trace the history of the various socialist/anarchist factions in early Washington State and why they couldn't unite really deserves a large and complicated political genealogy chart accompanied by detailed footnotes. The SDP was the party of Eugene Debs, who was making his first run for President in 1900. Randolph ran behind the party when the election results came in. Since the SDP partly consisted of old Populists, Gov. Rogers still managed to hold some sway and steal votes away from the socialists. To make matters worse for Randolph, Rogers praised the communal experiments in Puget Sound. Also, the Alaskan Gold Rush, with Seattle as the launch pad, had already started. The message of serving the greater good didn't really connect with a voter base dazzled by gold. Out of the five candidates, W.C.B. placed 4th with 1,670 (1.57%).
Randolph remained in Seattle for at least a couple years after the election, but by 1910 he was living in Omak where he made his living as a fruit grower. At some point in the 1920s the Randolphs moved to the small community of pre-atomic Richland. One local Richland history mentions Randolph in a listing of events in 1928: "The Richland Community Forum was organized in May, with W.C.B. Randolph as secretary. Matters of importance, local, national, and international, were publicly considered. Well-informed people were invited to speak on politics, religion, prohibition, literature, and science."
The Randolphs probably remained in eastern Washington the rest of their long lives. Hattie died in Walla Walla, July 19, 1944. W.C.B. lived to the ripe old age of 94, leaving this world in Spokane, July 26, 1955. Tracking Randolph has not been easy, but I never expected to find him in a place and in a year where I was also living at the time!
