Heywood was a native born American individualist anarchist active in abolitionist, labor-reform and free love movements. In the face of increasing social conformity in the post-Civil War period, Heywood developed radical economic anti-governmental solutions to society's problems. Due to his steadfast advocacy of labor reform and women's rights, Heywood attracted a large following to his home and press in Princeton, Mass.,-- and the relentless persecution of sexual purity advocate Anthony Comstock.