Self-Master Colony

The Self-Master Colony (1908–1938) was an experiment in housing the homeless in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey.^[1] A lengthy article about it was published in the December 9, 1911, issue of Literary Digest magazine.

History[edit]

The colony was built on the Hoyt family mansion in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, in 1908. The colony was founded by Andress Small Floyd and his wife Lillian.^[2]^[3]^[4]

^ Carter, Henry (December 1911). "The Help That Counts: The Self Master Colony And The Parting Of The Ways Home". The World's Work: A History of Our Time. XXIII: 177–187. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
^ "About The Township". Union Township, Union County, New Jersey. Retrieved 2009-02-19. The Hoyt family mansion and lands became the basis for the Self Master Colony in 1908. Andress Floyd and his wife Lillian founded Self Master Village for the rehabilitation of homeless men. Some 100,000 men stayed there over a span of approximately 30 years. When financial markets fell in 1929, Floyd was among the victims. The Township bought the property in 1938 for $57,000.
^ "A.S. Floyd Explains His Work in the Self-Master Colony at Union, N.J." New York Times. May 22, 1911. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
^ "He Is the Andress Floyd of Floyd, Crawford & Co., and Tells How He Came to Change". New York Times. May 26, 1911. Retrieved 2009-02-19. Information reached The Times on Wednesday that the Andress S. Floyd whose work as the founder and head of the Self-Masters Colony for the homeless and friendless was described in its issue of May 22 was the same Andress S. Floyd whose last conspicuous appearance in the newspapers was in the Spring of 1904, when Floyd, Crawford Co. made its exit from Wall Street under expulsion from the Consolidated Stock Exchange.