The Shakers Chakles Edson Kobinson f^ M LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, NJ. The George J. Finney Collection of Shaker Literature Given in Memory of His Uncle The Rev. John Clark Finney Class of 1907 >iiri»ioB 7756 •7 Wo/f^- 4 H^l-Va><^\ u '/2y^' .y /f / iP ^Pi4^^^L/ I Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://www.archive.org/details/concisehistoryOOrobi Elder, Henky C. Blinn. co:^rcisE history OF THE UNITED SOCIETY OF BELIEVERS CALLED SHI^I^EK/S BY CHARLES EDSON ROBINSON ILLUSTI^ATED EAST CANTERBURY N H GOPYI^IGHT, 1893, BY GHAP^LES EDSON ROBINSON. All rights reserved. Printed at Shaker Village, East Canterbury, N. H PBEFACE. This little work is the outcome of a series of papers on C'ouunimisni, the publication of which was begun in "The Manufacturer and Builder," a New York monthly, in the January issue of 1891, and is still, at the present time, being continued in that Journal, under the vom cle phnne of C. R. Edson. The first of the papers in the series treated somewhat briefly of the relation of capital and labor ; of the theories advanced by Edward Bellamy in his "Looking Backward ;" of the peculiar, "recent inaugural address of Mayor Sargent of New Haven, following with the remark that, "How far these com- munistic ideas, which are spread so broadcast, are the outcome of an ardent and honest desire on the part of the individual to benefit the poorer classes of the community, or of a desire to be a promoter in the scheme, and thus reap financial or political benefit as a leader, it is not easy to determine." The statement was then made that "The communistic societies have been legion, and they have had as champions in their day some of the most talented minds in America. Five of these associations w^ere inaugurated in the last century, and sixty-eight from 1819 to 1853 inclusive, but that forty-five of them died young, and the most of them in the second year of then- existence." The publication of these papers called out a lively correspondence, which was published in the same journal, between John C. Trautwine, Esq., of Philadelphia, a prominent member of the Franklin Institute of that city, one of the oldest scientific institutions in the country, in which he most vigorously advocated the adoption of a political, governmental form of communism after the plan as set forth in Bellamy's "Looking Backward," and the author of the communistic papers, who, in a series of letters advanced arguments show- ing the utter impracticability of such a scheme under the natural, selfish tend- ency of mankind for oppression ; that a political, governmental communism could never be made a success until the human family are willing to submit to a higher power for their guidance, and to thoroughly eradicate every feat- ure of selfishness from society as has the doctrine of Shakerism extirpated, root and branch, selfishness from their Community. The writer makes no claim to originality, except in the arrangement of the matter which has been placed at his disposal. The great aim and end sought for has been to collect facts in relation to the Shakers and state them so IV PREFACE. clearly that the world may know, as they read, of the true life and habits of this most singular people. Their upright dealing and strict honesty, indi- vidually and collectively, all persons can testify to who have ever been brought into business relations with them. No Shaker was ever known to make a false statement in relation to any business transaction whatever. Much has been written derogatory of the Shakers, but they have outlived all of the calumny heaped without measure, in the past, upon their heads. The world has come to see that vile characters are not to be found in the Shaker ranks, as their Society is one of the last places on earth that persons of a shady reputation would seek in which to ply their trade. Of the future of Shakerism and the question as to whether they will exist as a body to pass the two hundredth mile-stone of their years, is a matter for speculation. Great and stirring events are crowding fast upon us as a na- tion. What will be our fate when the year 1976 shall have been reached it is hard for us to foretell. The vast concentration of capital in a few indi- vidual hands and the great and growing unrest of the laboring multitude bodes no good in the Community. The rumbling of the volcano of discour tent now heard in the distance may break out in our midst without further warning and bring us face to face in a conflict of the same nature as has been the death-knell of other once powerful and prosperous nations of earth of whom we now have only monumental piles of ruin to mark their once floui-- ishing marts. That Shakerism will endure the ravages of time as long as other Christian denominations exist, we see no reason to doubt. That the Shakers in their daily lives are but following in the footsteps of Jesus and his apostles is too self-evident for refutation. Charles Edson Robinson. New York, May 15, 1893. PREFA0E BY THE PUBLISHER, In the gooiluess of Divine Provideuce a very acceptable gift has been con- ferred upon our Comuiunity, and whatever may be said of the unseen forces that inspire the heart and move the pen in the interests of humanity and through this medium for the glory of God, we see in this most worthy act of kindness of man toward man, that which places the matter, embodied in this little work so closely to the realm of inspiration, that we are quite pleased to look upon it as coming from the spirit of God, through the spirit of man. The writer of the following pages although a stranger to nearly all who, at present, reside in the Community at Canterbury, was during the years of his childhood a resident of the beautiful village of East Concord, N. H., about eight miles distant from the Shakers. Through the visitation of some pleas- ant influences still resting on the mind, he has passed along the journey of life unprejudiced and been permitted to write of the Community of Shakers as he would write of the interests that demand his daily attention. Unsolicited as the whole subject has been by us, and appearing in the col- umns of the "Manufacturer and Builder," written in such a gentlemanly and liberal spirit, it has induced the directors of our Community to suggest its publication in book form, as we might, in that way, not only manifest our appreciation of the work, but be able to place before our readers a concise statement of the origin of the Community, as well as its progress in the re- ligious world, and in this way allow the Christian Communistic Order to be- come more generally known. Our suggestion was not only very cordially acceded to by our friend, the author, but he at once arranged the entire work suitably for the use of the printers. It was the free-will gift of a liberal mind, and becomes of peculiar worth to us on account of having been written by a person not especially in- terested in the religious doctrines of the Shakers, nor by the solicitation of any of its members. That there maj^ be some illustrations of the Shakers and of Shakerism not in perfect accord with the manner in which a Shaker would express them, is not, in the least, a matter of surprise, nor a point in the use of language, over which we need dwell for a moment. The author, Charles E. Robinson, has demonstrated with perspicuity the system of Communism as it has been and is now known among the Shakers. He has shown conclusively that the pages of sacred and profane history bear witness of the same order of life, which has led more or less of the family of man to turn their attention to a deeper consecration of their lives for the good of their brother man. VI PREFACE. Even the devoted life of Jesus and no less tiiat of his disciples is a strik- ing exemplification of. this noted fact, and through this we ai-e led to l)elieve that any man or Avoman whose life is consecrated to God can not otherwise than develop a system of Christian Communism, the same as taught by Je- sus, the Christ. The witnesses of God for this religious Avork were evidently under the same spiritual ministration as that which came upon . the primitive Church, and gave to them new tongues, through which to speak in praise to God, and enable them to live a new life of practical righteousness. If the testimony of Shakerism bears any other stamj) than the gospel of Christ, then indeed, it is not what it purports to be. As Jesus formed his little society of such persons as were willing to accept his gospel ministry, he found them just as the life of the world had de- veloped them, in that selfishness so characteristic of the natural man. Moth- er Ann and the Polders could not do othen^■ise than meet the people as they stood in their worldly relations. Their harvest fields were in the cities of Babylon, and amidst the confusion of tongues. It was the forming of the untried elements of the world into a Community of religious interests. All the habits and practices of an unregenerate class were brought to the front and made doubly conspicuous by their presence in a select body. Accepting as some did, a religious zeal without sufficient weight to guide it, they broke forth into a religious wild fire and returned to the world, iu lauguage and manners, just w^hat they had taken from it. The same result w^ould evident- ly occur to-day under corresponding circumstances. From that time to toe present date, there has been a gradual increase in the growth of the Community, till a life of practical righteousness, as under- stood by the light of to-day forms the leading feature. To be "pure and peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated and without hypocrisy," is of far more consequence in the promotion of peace and happiness in a Community than can be any system of outward observances. The language, the dress, the food and the general customs of the Society must change, more or less, through the growth of intelligence, through the privilege of association and through the demands of necessity. To meet these judiciously must be by a system of economy, that no harm may arise to the Community iu passing from one degree of travel to another. A thorough investigation of this religious system is solicited, and if it can not bear the crucial test of the professor and the profane, in the light of the present day, then it should be exposed and relegated to the realms of Plutoi That we may be thoroughly' understood in the mission which we have accept- ed, we would invite the investigator to peruse, carefully, the publications of the Community, and see upon what kind of a foundation we have established our hope. Henry C. Blink. • East Canterbury, N. H. May 15, 1893. CONTENTS. INTRODU0TION, Ancient Communism. Abrahainic. vSpartaus. Lyeiirgus. Foundere of the Christian Religion. Chrishua, the Hindoo Christ. Mahabrat Bible. Moses. Isaiah. .Jere- miah. Ezekiel. Christ. St. ,Ierome. St. Basil. Essenes, — brief history of, forerunners of the American Shakers. i-viii CHAPTER I. Origin of Shakerism. Shakerism in England. '.l-lo CHAPTER II. liirth of Mother Ann Lee. Persecutions in England. lo-17 CHAPTER III. Special Revelation. Embark for America. Storm at Sea. Arrival in New York. Joim Hocknell. Settlement at Niskeyuna. Remarkable Religious Revival. Imprisonment as Tories. Sat at liberty by Gov. Clinton. 17-20 CHAPTER IV. Watervliet. Visitation on horse-back to Massachusetts. Death of Mother Ann Lee. Father James Whittaker succeeds to the leadership. Church Family at Watervliet. Ancient Church at New Lebanon. "2()-'24 CHAPTER V. Father James AVhittaker in youth. Fidelity to Mother Ann. Critical hour for Shakerism. Communism. New house of worship built. Elder John Hocknell. His great liberality. His death. Elder Joseph Meacham. Ex- tended visit of Father James to Connecticut and Massachusetts. His death. Succession to the leadership of Elder Joseph Meacham. 24-2ich were assembled Mother Ann and the Elders. Then, for the first time, Lafayette found voic? enough to eagerly ask of them what manner of man he had encountered, aud what was the nature of 4iis malady? He was informed that it was wholly of a relig- ious type, and that such dwelt among them. The tenet of their religion was then explained to him, when he inquired to know why he could not share in it as well as others ; but Mother Ann inf(jrmed him that his mission was of the world, and on the great earth plane before him ; that in the soldier-life which he had chosen, he had a work to do of vast importance, as in the suc- cess of the patriotic arms that of the freedom of the populace depended. CHAPTER VII. SHAKER PUBLICATIONS— THE NINE CARDINAL VIRTUES OF SHAKERISM— COVENANT— WOMAN'S RIGHTS. THE doctrine of Shskkerism, as expounded by Father Joseph ^leacham, and upon which he founded the organization of that Communal Society iu New Lebanon, in 1787, is set forth in a work entitled "Christ's Second Appearing," by the United Society of Shakers, the first edition of which was published in 1808, at Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio. This was the first publication ever made by the society, and the only authentic work setting forth the tenets 32 CARDINAL VIRTUES. of their religioD. The only other publicatious previous to this, which had in a measure received tlie approbation of the Shakeis, were "A Concise State- ment of the Principles of the only true Church," wliich was but a small pam- phlet, written by special request to a di af man, and printed at Bennington, Vt., in the 3'ear 1790; and a pamphlet published in 1797, bearing the title of "The Kentucky Revival." A revised edition of "Christ's Second Appearing" was published at Al- bany, N. Y., in 1810; also a third edition, in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the year 1823 ; and still a fourth edition, iu Albany, N. Y., in 1854. A copy of the book was sent to Thomas Jefferson, who afterwards in- formed the Shakers, for whom he had great respect : "I have read it through three times, and I pronounce it the best church history that was ever written, and if its exegesis of Christian principles is maintained and sustained by a practical life, it is destined, eventually, to overthrow all other religions." The argument advanced as convincing proof of the correctness of the Shaker position on theology is too lengthy to be incorporated in this paper ; besides, our investigations must be confined to the line of the historical and communistic feature of the order. Therefore, to all who may desire a full and complete knowledge of Shakerism, we advise a reading of "Christ's Second Appearing," which quite likely may be found in most of the public libraries ; if not, it can be procured by communicating with any of the Shak- er societies. Great difficulty will be found in the attempt to separate the civil from the religious feature in Shakerism, for they go hand in hand, and are insepara- ble ; indeed, were it not for the religious ■ element, the communistic feature would prove a failure, as have all other attempts in this direction which have neglected to eliminate selfishness, root and branch, and which has proved to be the great stumbling-stone in the pathway of success. The nine cardinal virtues of Shakerism are : 1st. Purity in mind and body — a virgin life. 2d. Honesty and integrity of purpose in all words r.ud transactions. 3d. Humanity and kindness to both friend and foe. 4:th. Diligence iu business, thus serving the Lord. Labor for all, accord- ing to strength and ability, genius and circumstances. Industrious, yet not slavish ; that all may be busy, peaceable and happy. 5th. Prudence and economy, temperance and frugality, without parsimony. 6th. Absolute freedom from debt, owing no man anything but love and good-will. 7th. Education of children in scriptural, secular, and scientific knowledge. 8th. A united interest in all things — more comprehensive than the selfish relations of husband, wife, and children — the mutual love and unity of kin- dred spirits, the greatest and best demonstration of practical love. 9th. Ample provision for all in health, sickness and old age ; a perfect COVENANT. 33 equality — one household, one faith, practicing every virtue, shunning all vice." With this as the fundamental ground-work of Shakerism, the converts who sought to join the order were required, as an evidence of their sincerity, to pay all of their just debts, and to discharge all legal obligations resting upon them, and, as far as possible, to make restitution for all the wrong committed by themselves against any of their fellow-creatures. Under Father Joseph Meacham, the Shaker Society was divided into dif- ferent orders, or classes. The first, or non-communal class, were those who received faith and came into a degree of relation with the Society, but chose to live in their . own families and manage their own temporal concerns. They were to be regai'ded as Brethren and Sisters in the gospel, so long as they lived up to its requirements. Members of this class were not to be controlled by the Society, with regard to either their property, families or children. They could act as freely in all of these respects as did the mem- bers of any other religious society. Such persons were admitted to all the privileges of religious worship and spiritual communion belonging to this order, and also received instruction and counsel, according to their needs, whenever they expressed a desire for it, not being debarred from any privi- lege, by reason of their location, so far as circumstances would admit ; and they might retain their union with the Society provided they did not violate the faith and the moral and religious principles of the institution. They were, however, requested always to bear in mind the necessity and impor- tance of a spiritual increase, which would ultimately bring them within the fold of the Church Family— the highest in the order of Shakerism — and without which they would ever be exposed to the temptation of falling back again into the world. The comnmnal body of Shakers, or Shakerism proper, was divided into three classes, called Families. The first, or Novitiate Family, located at a little distance from the Church Family, and composed of all the probationa- ry members, being under the special care, direction and instruction of four of the Elders of the Church Family, two of each sex, called Novitiate El- ders. Here the novitiate was fitted and prepared for advancement in Shak- erism at the will of the candidate, or they were at full liberty to return to the world, if, after a full understanding of the requirements of the order, they did not find themselves in full sympathy therewith. If the candidate was bound by the ties of matrimony to an unbelieving partner, he was refused admission, unless a separation was the mutual deske of both husband and wife, or a legal separation accomplished under the civil laws of the land. And under such circumstances, if the convert was the husband, he must, before admission would be granted, convey to his wife, a just share of all his possessions. The following is the Novitiate Covenant which all were then, as they are 34 COVEXAXT. now, required to sign who present themselves us candidates for this order : — WJiereas, I, the undersigned, have this day attached myself as probationary mem- ber to the United Society of Believers at , and it being my desire to live with said Society according to the known faith and customs thereof, that I may receive the benefits arising from the observance of the rules, regulations, moral, and relig ious instructions of the same : Therefore, agreeably to the custom of said Society, I hereby covenant, promise and agree, that I will never prefer any account, claim nor demand against the said Society, or any member or members thereof, for the USE of any money or property brought into said Society, nor for any labor or ser- vice which I may perform or render while residing in the same, over and above what I may receive in food, clothing, washing and other necessary support: And, whereas, it is further mutually understood and agreed that I shall be free to with- draw from said Society whenever I am dissatisfied therewith, and that after suffi- cient and timely notice shall have been given by me I shall receive all the money and other property which I brought into said Society, or their value at the time it was brought in : Therefore, I further agree and promise that so long as I am per- mitted to enjoy the benefits and privileges of said Society I will faithfully conform to tlie rules thereof, and will not find fault with the said rules, requirements, regu- lations, worship nor teachings, by acting or speaking against the same so as to cre- ate dissatisfaction, disunion, or inharmony in the family; provided this shall not be so construed as to prevent a free and respectful inquiry of t'le leading authority into the reasons of said rules and regulations; and if I sliall fail to comply with tliis agreement such failure shall be deemed suftlcient cause for loss of membership with said Society, and upon being desired so to do by the leading authority of the family in which I reside, will peaceably Avithdraw from tlie same, VV^itness my hand the day of A. D. 18 . (Signed.) Attest. The second, or Junior Family, is composed of those who have come into the order under the same covenant as the Novitiate, but untrammeled by the embarrassments of those of the matrimonial class and are thus enabled to devote themselves more freely to the furtherance of spirituality in their own lives, and, in consequence, receive greater enjoyment which comes from the feeling that they are one step further advanced toward perfect Shakerism. In this order, as well as in the Novitiate, all are amply provided for in health, sickness and old age ; also, they may retain the lawful ownership of all their property as long as they may desire ; or they may donate the use of any part, or all, of their property for the mutual benefit of the family with which they are connected, and the property itself may be resumed at any time; or they may dedicate a part, or the whole, and consecrate it forever to the support of the institution. The third, or Senior Family, denominated as the Church, is composed of women's eights. 35 all those who have had sufficient time and opportunity to practically prove the faith of Shakerism, and are prepared to enter freely, fully and volunta- rily into a united and consecrated interest. These covenant and agree to de- vote themselves and all they possess to the service of God and the support of the gospel, forever; solemnly promising never to bring debt or damage, claim or demand, against the Society, or any member thereof, for any prop- erty or service they may have devoted to the use and purpose of the institu- tion. And to the credit of Shakerism, it can be truthfully said that durhig a period of more than one hundred years, since the permanent establishment of the Society at New Lebanon, there has never been a legal claim entered by any person for the recovery of property brought into the Society, neither has any person, peaceably withdrawing, ever been sent away empty-handed. To enter this order of perfect Christianity is the aim and end of every true convert to Shakerism ; and it is claimed to be by those who are participants in its blessings, as the Millennium — the thousand years reign on earth of the saints. They "testify that this manner of life is as much superior to the life of the world, as the heavenly ' is above the earthly ; that they can not portray the inner feelings of joy and soul satisfaction of an approving con- science, and a life untarnished with fleshly lusts ; that the great uprising of woman's claims in this day are all converging to this life of virgin purity, where all the higher demands of her being will be satisfied in Shaker organ- izations of Christian communism ; that they who feel called to live after the manner of the angels, in heaven, neither marry nor are given in marriage ; ask that those who have been led to believe that they are following Jesus, and living Christian lives in the practice of those things in which he never engaged, should now see their mistakes, turn from the error of their ways, and through repentance and tribulation of soul, enter into the work of re- generation."* From the pages of the "Shaker Compendium" we glean the following : — The members of the Church Family are all entitled to equal benefits and privileges, and no difference is ever made on account of the property any in- dividual may have contributed. Well defined, fixed principles which are perfectly understood and cordially received by all of the members, constitute the foundation of the Shaker government. The rulers are but the executive of these principles, and the laws deduced therefrom; and they seek to bring the principles, so approved, to bear upon the consciences and affections of the ruled. And it is to accomplish this end that the male and female elements are eqxially balanced in the govern- ment ; the former appealing more especially to the rational faculty in hu- man nature ; the latter to the affectional. The Ministry is the central executive of the whole order, and consists of * "Plain Talks concerning the Shakers," page 23. 36 MOUNT LEBANON. two Brethren and two Sisters ; and, in addition to this, eveiy regularly or- ganized family in a Society, has two Elder Brethren and two Elder Sisters, who have charge of the spiritual affairs ; also two deacons and two deacon- esses, who have the care of the temp'bral business ; all other positions of care and trust are filled after the same dual order. The utmost deference and respect is shown the opposite sex, in every de- partment of the order, and this is a characteristic of the Shaker Brethren. Therefore, here, if nowhere else, the most zealous advocate of "woman's rights" should find the practical solution of the problem of the equality of the sexes. The Shaker deems it marvelously inconsistent for any human government to be administered for the sole benefit of the political party in power ; or that more than one half of the citizens should be disfranchised because they happen to be women, and compelled to obey laws they never sanctioned, and often in which they have no faith, and obliged to submit to taxation in which they have had no voice ; but that the climax of inconsistency is reached when Brethren and Sisters, members of the same religious body, are divided into the rich and poor in the things of this temporal world, but who are vainly expecting that in the world to come, they shall be willing to have eternal things in common. Communal organizations have been the one thing sought, for many ages, and many have been the attempts to establish them on both civil and relig- ious grounds, and apparently under the most favorable circumstances, yet they have as of ten failed ; but the cause of such failure is not hidden, and the promoters of all communal associations will do well to take a lesson in Shakerism before making an attempt to establish any communistic society composed of unregenerate humanity. The Shakers teach that Shakerism, instead of attending solely to the spir- itual necessities of man for only one day in seven, cares for and supplies all his temporal, as well as spiritual wants, all the seven days of the week. CHAPTER VIII. MOUNT LEBANON COMMUNITY— MINISTRY ESTABLISHED- BUSINESS OPERATIONS. FIRST in the order of the established Communities of Shp-kerism was that of the New Lebanon Society. This was located in the town of New Lebanon, N. Y., near the Massachusetts state line on the west side of the Berkshire Hills, and on the eastern edge of the town of New Lebanon. In 1861 this Shaker seltlemeiit was so flourishing as to wan-ant the Brethren 'K'li' •'li ii^i^i Jill MINISTRY ESTABLISHED. 41 in asking the general government to make it a post-office station. This was gi'anted on the 17th of August in that year, and the Postmaster-General, Montgomery Blair, appointed a very worthy Shaker, Elder Richard Bushnell, as the postmaster, designating the new office as Mount Lebanon, in order to distinguish it from the older office of New Lebanon located in another part of the town. From this time the Society became to be known as the Mount Leb- anon Shakers, and this name it has ever since retained, and hereafter in speak- ing of it we wUl so designate it. In the month of September, 1787, Father Joseph Meacham, Elders Calvin Harlow and David Meacham, notified all those who had accepted the Shak- er faith that the tmie was ripe for the formation of a church organization, and that all who desu-ed, and were qualified, might come into the association. On- ly those who were sound in the faith, free from debt, independent of all obli- gations to others, and single persons, were to be admitted. Generally this in- cluded adults, but in some exceptional cases, children who had the free and full consent of then- parents, were admitted. This collective body of Christians, voluntarily withdrawing themselves from the world and all its attachments, formed what was to be known as the first church of the United Society of Believers — the Chm-ch Family of Shakerism. However, to provide for many who had accepted of a degree of the Shaker re- ligion but were stiU bound by family ties, and for others who were seekers after the truth and on probation, a "family relation order," distinct from the Chm'ch was established, into which this class were gathered to be properly educated for the higher plane of Shakerism. Within the Church was established a Minis- try, which constituted the authority and fountain-head of all Shaker govern- ment. This consisted of two Brethi'en and two Sisters — Father Joseph Meach- am, Abiatha Babbett, Mother Lucy Wright and Ruth Landon. Before the close of the year 1787, the Church had a membership of more than one hundred persons, not including those in the Family and Novitiate Order. Provision for the support of the Community had been made by the generous donations of Hezekiah Hammond, Jonathan Walker, David Dar- row, and others, of their homes and lands ; still they were over crowded and sadly lacked for houses for then* accommodation, and more land for farming- purposes and buildings for the use and occupancy of the rapid accessions which were coming in from all quarters. But, under the wise management of Father Joseph, this was soon provided for, by his erection on the 27th of August, 1788, of the framework for an extensive dwelling for the accommo- dation of the Church. This structure was rapidly carried forward to com- pletion, and was ready for occupancy on the following Christmas. The Ministry appointed Elders as directors in the spiritual management in each of the established orders. Trustees were also delegated to take charge of the temporal affairs of the association, the buying and selling of all prop- erty, and as custodians of the deeds of the real estate purchased for the Society. 42 BUSINESS OPERATIONS. About the same time, the Society at Watervhet "was also organized. True, in point of time, this was the oldest association of the Shakers, but the sec- ond in the order of organization into a body corporate. Two Families were established here, but both under the immediate jurisdiction of the Ministry at Mount Lebanon. The Watervliet and Mount Lebanon Societies formed what was denominated as a Bishopric. Elder John Hocknell resided at Watervliet, and was instrumental in the establishment of this Society, and donated his large landed estate for that purpose. The Ministry made the appointment, as Senior Elders over the Watervliet Society, of Timothy Hub- bard and Anna Mathewson, and of Aaron AVood and Sarah Bennett as their associates. The 3"ear 1788 was one bordering upon hardship for the infant Societies. The wheat crop, which had been regarded as the main source of supply for their food, was nearly ruined by the cold and open winter, and from the same cause the fruit crop was almost a total failure. But upon a just and equal division of the hai-vest being made to all the Families, though limited in quantity, there was no actual suffering for the want of food. The next year, 1789, more attention was given to the raising of potatoes, which resulted in securing a harvest of some three thousand bushels as the outcome of their efforts. This, with a fair crop of wheat, rye, oats, barley, corn and flax was an evidence of thrift and proof of a determination on the part of the Shakers to make a success of their communistic Society. In 1788, Elders Calvin Harlow and David Meacham went out on a visita- tion to the Shakers in the other States who were not as yet gathered into or- ganized Societies. Five years later at least nine other Societies had been organized in the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, with a membership of upwards of one thousand souls. In 1791, Elder David Meacham was appointed by the Ministry as the sen- ior trustee and director of all business transactions with the general public. At the same time an order of deacons was established invested with the oversight of the temporal affairs of each family. The several orders of the Church were as follows : The Ministry, Elders, Trustees and family dea- cons. After this arrangement, the Ministry withdrew from the active man- agement of all temporal duties to attend to that of the spiritual condition of the members, leaving the management of each of the other departments to its own delegated head, all being responsible, in all of their transactions, to their superiors. By-laws for the government of the Believers were com- mitted to writing that all might understand and profit thereby. Some of the laws were to this effect: "No one shall buy or sell in the Church, nor trade with those outside of the Church, except by the union of the Trus- tees." "No one shall hold private property." "A selfish, private union should not be maintained, nor a private correspondence held with any person in or out of the Society."* *"The Manifesto, 1889," page 194. ■H m B ^^H^^^p7%H HhBhI 1^ 'e^SMm i ^^ ^H^H^I MM^^H Ih ilM^i^' ^H M 1 K»> wKHf oB 1 i^ ^, ^Hwk^Lis' ■HBj ■ H^HR^^^-f ... -J- 1 IHH^ " ^^^Qj ^B k^ HH^H|^t gP 1 jf/g^ fc' ^^H^^^ :^^^l 1 HBH ^ B 11 1 H ;• '■ ^ " ■f] 1 1 K^^B > B9 MKi 11 1! |5^ : ' /■' 1^^^ m m 1 1^ . I -> 9 1 io^ r" Church at Mount Lebanon, N. V BUSINESS OPERATIONS. 47 In 1793, a further addition to their landed estate was made by the purchase, at Mount Lebanon of several farms, but no debt was incurred by reason of any transaction. The Trustees were exceedingly careful in their business capacity and relations outside of the Society, where they were regarded as strictly honest and above repi'oach. The Brethren and Sisters who had in hand the management of the general business, held daily meetings for con- ference as to the best method to pursue, and each department moved on har- moniously. In the line of manufacturing, that of tanning and currying was carried on by the community the very first year of its organization. The bark was ground by th? old-style, upright, circular millstone, propelled by horse power. Si'veral tan vats were sunk outside in the ground near the bark mill, and for twenty years this was the method pursued. In 1807, improvements were inaugurated by enlarging the building and putting in a machine for rolling sole-leather for boots and shoes. In 1-S13, they added a Richardson leather-splitting machine, which was th -n a new and patented invention for splitting leather. In fact, this was one of the first invented machines for that purpose. Still further improvements wore made twenty yeai's later by the enlargement of buildings and the putting down of more tan vats. But in 1850, the Shakers caught the spirit of the times, abandoned the olden- time cold liquor style, twelve months' process, of making good honest leath- er, and introduced the steam boiler, hot liquor vats and leaches, and forced along their stock in genuine "world's people" style, vastly more to the Shak- er profit. But, a few years ago they concluded to abandon this branch of their business, probably arriving at this determination from a feeling that they could not consistently manufacture Shaker leather by the dishonest, high-pressure steam process. The manufacture of wool hats was also one of their first occupations ; and the making of cloth by the old hand-loom process was continued by them for many years. Saddle and harness making was also at one time a profitable department of their manufactures. In fact, we find nearly every trade well represented in their ranks — weavers, spinners, tailors, tanners, curriei'S, shoemakers, blacksmiths, machinists, masons, carpenters, tin- smiths ; and in the line of the professions that of physicians. But we find them not burdened with saloons, and, consequently, without sheriffs, police or constables, lawyers, courts or jails. The manufacture of medicines has been extensively carried on by the Mount Lebanon Society for many years. Shaker garden seeds have also a world-wide reputation. They are also extensive farmers and fruit growers. They have some three thousand acres of land besides several timber tracts in other parts of the country. They have a population of about three hun- dred at Mount Lebanon and one hundred and twenty-five at Watervliet. They are well supplied with buildings of substantial and superior character, 48 EQUAL IJKiHTS. aud have ample aocommodatious for a thousand persons. The Society is looking for large accessions to its numbers at no distant day. They profess to read in the signs of the times a coming upheaval of society ; that the present legalized system of granting power and advantage to the few at the expense of the many, is creating a discontent among tlu^ laboring class that can but result in the complete overthrow of the present system of society ; but that before this will occur, the Shaker doctrine will spread over the land as an educator of the masses, teaching them that true and perfect happiness can only b? enjoyed where every vestige of selfishness has been rooted out from the human heart, giving perfect equality to all and a community of goods such as is embraced in Shakerism. CHAPTER IX. MEN AND WOMEN ON EQUAL FOOTING— GATHERING OF COM- MUNITIES IN OTHER LOCALITIES— ELDER JOHN WHITELEY. IN the year 1793 the Church organization of Shakerism may be said to have been completed. The one important point of gospel order which they felt was indispensable to the true relation of the Church was perfected. Previous to this they had been held together by the kind aud friendly rela- tions which existed with them as with other religious bodies. But the pro- moters of Shakerism saw that something more was required if they were to be true followers of Christ and his teachings. They saw^ that the union of men aud women for the worship of God one day in seven, leaving them to the machinations of the devil the other six days of the week, was not the true spirit of Christianity, therefore communism w^as established, in order that no man, woman or child within the order need lack for shelter, food or raiment ; that the body, as well as the soul, might receive special care at their hands. To this end, the Brethren and Sisters, in then management of the general business, saw^ the necessity of often conferring with each other as to the best means and methods to be used in order to accomplish the best results. Meetings were held every other day, and sometimes oftener. As officers, the Sisters held equal privileges with the Brethren in all their confer- ences. Thus Shakerism accords to woman an equal voice with man in the government of the Society. Before the house of worship at Mount Lebanon was built, the Shakers, as a body, had no regular order of religious sei'viee. Being scattered over a wide extent in small families, they spent their hours of worship mostly in their own homes. Where several of the families were located near each oth- er, meetings would be held at some designated place, and a Minister, or one of the Elders, would direct the service. If, however, they were within a few GATHERING OF COMMUNITIES. 51 hours' ride of Watervliet, they would consider it a privilege to make the journey in order to meet Mother Ann and the Elders and enjoy the short season of spiritual communion which their presence gave. The inclemency of the weather was never such as to induce them to remain in their more comfortable houses, and on many dark and stormy days they were noticed wending their way toward Watervliet. Here they would assemble in one of the houses and hold their meetings. At first, all would sit in silence, then some one of the assembly would begin the exercises by the singing of a solemn song, or one of the Elders would lead with an exhortation, to be fol- lowed with prayer ; or, perhaps, some brother or sister would be moved up- on spiritually, which would be made manifest by convulsions of the body, shaking, twisting, turning and marching in the Shaker dance. Community at Harvard, Mass. After the building of the Mount Lebanon church, the exercises were of a more orderly nature — the marching and dancing were more moderate. The violent manifestations of a spiritualistic nature became less frequent. The meetings on Sunday, in the morning, were of a public nature, which the "world's people" if they chose, could attend. For the benefit of the wor- shipers, small pegs were driven into the floor, to aid the Brethren and Sisters in the forming of straight ranks, as they stood to sing and to speak. At the hour when the service was to begin, they assumed a standing position, and the Brethren and Sisters arranged themselves in ranks upon opposite sides of the house, the head of the columns being separated from each other by about four feet, while at the foot of the columns they were some ten feet apart. Thus arranged, they were in readiness for their marching dance and the exercise known to them as the "Square Order." This religious service, to which the public were admitted as silent spectators, was participated in by all the Shaker families, with the exception of that of the Church family, 52 GATHERING OF COMMUNITIPIS. the highest in the order of Shakerism, they held their services in the after- noon of the Sabbath, to which none not of their rank were ever admitted. Of the ceremonies conducted within this liallowed precinct of their gather- ings, we have no information. Their secrets have been held more sacred and have been better kept, than have those of the Masonic fraternity. No AVilliam Morgan among them has disregarded his solemn obligations to the order so far as to enlighten the Gentile mind in the mysteries of this sub- lime degree of Shakerism. The first Shaker Hymn Book, published exclusively for the Shakers, was issued by themselves, at Hancock, Mass., in 1813, emanated from one of the families located there, and bore the title, "Millennial Praises." Among the "world's people," this book would hardly rank as a poetical etfusion. It is rather a tirade against the sins of the flesh. Some very pointed and plain truths are told in language seeking to convey to the Shaker heart, un- mistakable words, some particular sin to be ostracized, which fully express- es the ideas which inspired the founders of the order. "We note some of the unique titles of the hymns: "Cause and Effect of Man's Fall," "Resolu- tion against a Carnal Nature," "Make thy Garden Grow," "Natural and Spiritual Relation," and many others of like character in this book of two hundred and eighty-eight pages. In the year 1790, a community of the Shakers was gathered in tlie town of Hancock, Mass., and in the month of September Elder Calvin Harlow was appointed to take charge of that Coiimiunity. At the same tiuie. Sister Sarah Harrison was appointed to the Ministry. The other otficfrs were se- lected from the members of the Hancock Society. Thus was success,fuljy launched another branch from the parent Society at Mount Lebanon, wLich has now already entered upon its second centennial year. In the following May, 1791, a community was gathered at Harvard, Mass., making the fourth Shaker Society in its order of establishment. The parent Society appoiuled Eleazer Rand and Hannah Kendall over this branch. Ju the month of Feb- ruary, 1792, another branch was established at Canterbury, N. H., under the guidance of Job Bishop and Hannah Goodrich. At the same time two oth r branches were established, one at Enfield, Conn., and the other in Shirliy, Mass ; that at Enfield, under Calvin Harlow and Sarah Harrison, and at Shirley under the ministerial guidance of P^leazer Rand and Hnnnah Kendall. The Shaker Community at Shirley, Mass., originated by the donation of Elijah Wildes of his farm, and of others strong in the Shaker faith. They were especially strengthened in their earl}' days by such solid and prominent members as Nathan Willard, Oliver Burt, Amos Buttrick and Ivery Wildes. The Society at Shirley was organized in the year 1793, with a membership of forty-four adults and twenty-two youths and children. From this humble beginning many hundreds here have found a home, some for a longer and some for a shorter period of time. The pretty, little, well-filled cemetery at- tests that a goodly number have held on to the end. Elder John Whiieley. i ELDER JOHN WHITE LEY. 57 Extending their domains by purchase and other accessions, they now hold the ownership of some two thousand five hundred acres of land. Farming, the raising of garden seeds, the manufacture of Shalvcr brooms, dish and floor mops, with the celebrated Shaker apple sauce and some other articles, are their chief means of support. John Whiteley, who came to America from England fifty years ago, is the presiding Elder and the business manager of this Society. A more upright and honorable man, and in whose countenance the index of his character is more plainly stamped, never walked the streets of Shirley. Elder Whiteley has also the general superintendency of the Society at Harvard, Mass. The business there chiefly carried on is farm and dairy work, and the preparation of medicinal herbs. They have also a large estate in acreage. The present number of able and devoted workers at both Shirley and Harvard is not large, but they are patiently watching and waiting. Thus we have seven distinct settlements of communistic Societies of Shak- erism, each one of which has now successfully passed into its second centen- nial year with a present membership of some one thousand souls, and as pro- prietors of about thirty thousand acres of land, with buildings unsurpassed for comfort and durability by any farming and manufacturing community in the land. In the following February, 1793, another branch of the parent Society was gathered in the town of Alfred, Me., where John Barnes and Sarah Kendall were delegated as the presiding Elders. This settlement, shortly after, was followed by any other branch at Enfield, N. H., and about the sams time other Societies were established, one in New Gloucester, Me., another in Grove- land, N. Y., and still another at Tyringham, Mass. This comprised all of the Shaker settlements made previous to the year 1794, no others being founded till 1805. They were all founded within a period of five years — 1787 to 1793. At the beginning of the year 1780, the entire Community of Shakers num- bered no more than nine persons, all of whom came over from England. Twenty-three years later, 1803, they numbered one thousand six hundred and thirty-two. Twenty-five years later, a thousand more members had been added to their census, and by the end of the year 1839, the entire member- ship of the Shaker Societies numbered five thousand persons. • The Society at Enfield, N. H., was established about the same date, of that of Shirley, Mass., 1793. They have a beautiful situation along the west shore of Mascoma Lake. They have a large estate, and are chiefly interest- ed in farming and dairy pursuits. They have a good stock of full-blooded, registered Durham cows. At the Church Family they have one of the finest barns for stock to be found in that section. It is one hundred feet long by fifty feet wide, a cellar running under the entire building, the walls of which are laid with large blocks of granite. The first floor has its stalls for the 58 KEXTUCKV KEVIVAL. COWS, a reservoir of water and a cooking tank, and a room for the storage of the herdsmen's tools. The boiler room and root cellar are both entered from this floor. The second loft is used as a feeding floor, where the hay is easily passed to the cow stalls on the floor below. The third floor is the "drive- way." An abutment at both ends of the barn forms an easy passage for the loads of hay on this floor, where the teams are unloaded and the hay stored on either side of the barn, after which the teams are driven out of the opposite eud into the fields beyond. The building has a gable roof, and is covered with slate brought from the State of Vermont. The building was erected in LS54. In cold weather the cow stalls are warmed by steam, to a temperature of about sixty degrees, through a line of pipes rauning the entire length of their apartments. The warm room for the cows, the warm food with which they are fed, and the warm water given them to drink in cold weather, amply pays for all the outlay, in an increased supply of milk. CHAPTER X. "KEN^TUCKY EEYIVAL"— PECULIAR FOEMS OF WOESHIP— SHAKERS SENT ON FOOT A THOUSAND MILES TO INVESTIGATE— PERSE- TIONS— COMMUNITIES ESTABLISHED IN KENTUCKY AND OHIO. FOR the next twelve years, following 1793, Shakerism made no very marked progress. A moderate growth in numbers from admissions of members into the already established Societies was all that could be claimed. In the years 1800 and 1801, in the southwestern portion of the State of Kentucky a most remarkable religious fervor swept over that entire commu- nity, which shortly after paved the way for the established of Shakerism in that distant State. An interesting account of this "most extraordinary out-pouring of the spirit of God" — so styled by some church members, while othei's designated it as the "works of the devil" — is to be found in a little work of 142 pages, entitled ; "The Kentucky Revival," written by an eye- witness of the proceedings, Richard M'Nemar, and published in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1807. We learn from him that for several years previous to the outbreak, the state of religion in that portion of Kentucky was at a very low ebb iu the dominant churches, which were composed of the Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist persuasions, and that although these different sects professedly set out to establish and promote the peaceable religion of Jesus, their usual debates and controversies brought to life a hot spiritual warfare, and that such was the zeal of each for their distinguishing tenets and forms of worship, that they held aloof from any communion or fellowship whatever with each other — in fact, treating each other with ever}" possible mark of H'Uliollllllliil FORMS OF WORSHIP. 61 hostility. This, then, was the spiritual state of the churches. Meanwhile Deism began to spread rapidly over the community, and very many embraced that faith. This condition of affairs continued for several years, and until the year 1800, when, from the banks of the Gasper and Red Rivers, in the counties of Logan and Christian, a ripple of commotion came over those troubled waters that struck consternation into the hearts of many a household. Reports came of strong men shaking as a reed in the wind ; of au intense throbbing of the heart, with violent weeping; of being thrown in the street, and by no visible power; with a swooning away until every appearance of life had departed, and they lay as in a trance. Children were seized with the same influence. In time, some recovered from the trance with a shout of joy, others cried out for mercy. The infliction rapidly overspread the whole country. It broke out in Knoxville, and there was an outburst of it in Nash- ville, Tenn. Camp meetings were held in very many places to accommodate the throngs that crowded to witness the mighty power that was shaking the populace to its very center. One of the most remarkable of these meetings was begun ou the 22nd of May, 1801, in the town of Cabin Creek, and continued without intermission for four days and three nights. The scene is said to have been "awful be- yond description." Many, in attempting to flee from its influence, fell by the way, and so many were they that they were collected together and l:\id out, covering two squares of the floor of the meeting-houhe, in order to pn - vent their being trodden under foot by the multitude. At another general camp meeting, convened in the town of Concord, in Bourbon county, some four thousand persons gathered and met with like i x- periences. On another occasion, at a general gathering o.' some twenty thousand people at Caneridge, in thi^ same county, on tlie 6th of August, it is said that three thousand persons fell to the ground in the state of trance. Later on, these persons formed themselves into a body of worsliipers ctdled Schismatics, or separators from the established churches. When we read of their peculiar forms of worship, of their exercises in roll- ing, jerks and barks, we stand aghast, and ask ourselves if this people had run mad. In tne "rolling" exercise, they doubled head and feet together, and rolh d over and over like a wheel; or, stretching tliemselves prostrate, they turned swiftly over and over like a log. This was considered as debasing and mor- tifying the flesh. But still more demeaning were the "jerks." This exercise commonly began in the head, which would fly backwartl and forward, and from side to side, with a quick jolt ; then, with a violent dash on the ground, they would bounce from place to place, like a foot ball ; or they would hop about with head, limbs and body twitching and jolting in every direction. But the last possible grade of mortification culminated in the "barks." In this they were exercised to take the position of the dog, and move about up- ()2 A MISSIONARY JOURNEY. ou all f(5urs, growling and l>arking, snapping of teeth, having every appear^v ance of a most vicious beast. These exorcises were acknowledged, by the victims, as being brought upon them involuntarily, and in punishment for disobedience, or as a stimulus to incite them to perform some duty to which they were opposed. And as it was inflicted upon those of cultivated and polite breeding, equally with those of lower birth, it would seem to the ob- server as though the candidate was moved by some supernatural power. In the course of time these strange proceedings were superseded by the voluntary dance, and we read that "brother Thompson, at the spring sacra- ment, at Turtle Creek, in 1804, was constrained, just at the close of the meeting, to go to dancing, and for an hour or more to dance around the stand, all the while repeating in a low tone of voice — 'This is the Holy Ghost— glory!'" Before the close of the year 1804, the Schismatics, or New Lights relig- ionists, as they were often called, had organized themselves into regular So- cieties, covering the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and AVestern Pennsylvania, their meetings characterized by the same wild fervor of praying, shouting, jerking, barking, rolling, prophesying and singing, as when the news of the first outbreak came down from the banks of the Gasper and Red Rivers in Kentucky. Their mode of prayer was of the most singular form. Each one stood alone and by himself ; each one was for himself, and himself alone in his separate and individual petition to Almighty God, which formed one united whole, by the sound of which thereof, it was said, the doubting footsteps of some, who were in search of the meeting, were directed there for miles. Another singular feature of their exercise was the shaking of hands, and at the same time of pledging themselves each to the other, by the most sol- emn and sacred of vows, that they would persevere to the end in then- sin- killing work. Their songs and hymns were unique, the following being a specimen of a couple of verses from 4 'Part First" of one of the latter, though Mr. M'Nemar remarks that the hymn itself was not originally intended for publication : "The twenty-first of the third month, in eighteen hundred one, The word of God came unto me — that word wliich came to John: 'My gospel is prepai'ing for this benighted land ; Go and proclaim the tidings my kingdom is at hand.' "With prayer and exhortation they make the forest roar, And such loud strains of shouting were never heard before. The stupid antichristians were struck both blind and dumb, With such loud supplications, 'Lord, let thy kingdom come!' " The following is from ' 'Part Second" of the same hymn : "Five preachers formed a body in eighteen hundred three, From antichrist's false systems, to set the people free; MISSIONARIES. 63 His doctrine and his worship in pieces they did tear, But ere the scene was ended these men became a snare. "The word of God came unto them in eighteen hundred four: 'Tour work is now completed; you are called to do no more. My kingdom soon must enter, I cannot long delay; And in your present order you're standing in my way.' " This, then, was the religious state of the western country which came by post to the Shaker Society at Mount Lebanon, and determined them to send as missionaries to that then far-off land, John Meacham, Benjamin S. Youngs and Issachar Bates. This journey of more than a thousand mUes was made by them on foot, and attended with many privations and hardships. It was begun on the first day of January, 1805, and they arrived in Kentucky about the fu'St of March. It was their intention to visit the scenes of the great revival and see for themselves how much was the work of God and how much that of man. Here the featore of spirit impressions came in as a factor. It was this which impelled the ambassadors to take their long journey on foot to carry the "true gospel" to the laud of the great awakening. And it was this same spirit impression that had led the multitude of subjects to form great expec- tations of a miraculous display of Divine power in the coming suiuaier of 1805, and which was expressed in the words of their hymn : "Shout! Christians, shout! the Lord is come! Prepare, prepare to make him room. On earth he reigns; we feel him near; The signs of glory now appear." The ambassadors remained for a few days at Paint Lick, where they were very kindly received, and then passed on to Caneridge and spent a few days more with the subjects of the revival there, and then passed over into Ohio, and paid their first visit to Springfield. From thence they went to Turtle Creek, a place near Lebanon, which t^iey reached on the 22d of March, tar- rying over night at the house of one Malcham Worley, who was a man of in- dependent fortune and liberal education, as well as a man of unspotted char- acter, and one of the most prominent men in all that region. Mr. M'Nemar teUs us that Malcham was one of the violent subjects of the great revival, and one of the first to embrace the new religion brought to his door by the Shaker ambassadors; and he says, "I was at first staggered, from a deep-rooted prejudice that I had imbibed against some of his peculiar sentiments, but finally concluded that if Malcham had been more wild in his former exercises than the rest, he certainly needed salvation the more. But I was not a little surprised that these strange Brethren should come directly there, and he receive them with such cordiality, when I was well assured that no previous acquaintance had existed between them." (i4 PEKSECUTIOX. Within three or four weeks from the time that Malcham eiubnieed the faith, some ten or twelve families had joined him, and within a very short time aft- er, some thirty families more had embraced the Shaker doctrine. But the same spirit of persecution which followed in the footsteps of Moth- er Ann, and, indeed, ever}' Shaker who attempted to preach his peculiar doc- trine to a new people, began to break out in a violent form. First in the field against them was one Elder .John Thompson, a minister of the gospel at Springfield, who, though at a distance from Turtle Creek, where the ambas- sadors from Lebanon were making proselytes, wrote to the church at that place, under date of April 5, LSOS, in which he expressed his opinion of the Shakers in these words : "It matters not to me who they are, who are the devil's tools, whether men or angels, good men or bad. In the strength of God I mean not to spare ; I used lenit}^ ouce to the devil, because he came in a good man — namely, Worley. But my God respects no man's person ; I would that they were even cut off who trouble you. I mean in the name and strength of God to lift his rod of almighty truth against this viper." And in virtue of his words he hastened to the camp meeting at Turtle Creek, on the 27th of the month, and raised a sudden and passionate outcry against the Shaker intruders, asserting that the Holy Ghost had made him the overseer of the flock, and that these Shakers were false Christs, false prophets, wolves in sheep's clothing, creeping into houses and leading captive silly women and sillier men ; and, stUl further seeking to incite the populace against them by exclaiming in a loud voice : ' 'They are liars ! they are liars ! Down with them and their pernicious doctrine ! " With such an example as this set before the people by a professing Chris- tian minister, is it any wonder that a layman boldly spat in the faces of John Meacham and Issachar Bates, crying aloud : "Let us make a great fire and burn these false prophets from the face of the earth." But notwithstanding these persecutions, the Shakers "waxed strong," and soon were planted two Societies in Kentucky and fom- in Ohio, numbering some two thousand souls, being augmented by members coming in from oth- er adjoining States. There are four families of Shakers at Pleasant Hill, Ky., the dwelling of the Church Family being shown in the accompanying sketch. o Q g Ki.Di.K, IIai;\ K1 L. Ead^ 69 chaptj:r XI. BIOGRAPHY OF BISHOP H. L. EADS, SOUTH UNION, KENTUCKY. THE SHAKER COMMUNITY at South Union, Ky., has about three thousand acres of land. That noted, venerable Shaker, the late Bishop Harvey L. Eads, was at the time of his death, February 13, 1892, at the ripe old age of eighty- four years and ten months, the managing head of this Shaker Community, ha\'ing been appointed to this position in 1872. He was the oldest minister in the order. The following biographical sketch of him is from the history of Kentucky, published in 1886 : — "Bishop H. L. Eads, of Logan County, was born in a log cabin, near South Union, Ky., April 28, 1807, and is a son of Samuel G. and Sallie (Robinson) Eads. He joined the Society of Shakers in his mother's arms; at its first gathering, on the 1 7th of November following was 'given up to the Lord' and placed in 'the children's order' before he was one year old. AU he is, or has, the Shakers made him and gave him, after obtaining his existence. He continued to live in a little log cabin until he was fifteen years old. After four years of age he attended school three months each year, learned to read, spell, write 'and 'tis said could cipher too' as far as the rule of three and vul- gar fractions. All else (and he is the best read scholar, wi'iter and logician ever reared among the Shakers) he has 'picked up' at spare moments. After he was six or eight years of age he worked sedulously at some manual labor for nine months each year ; learned the shoemaker's trade by four years' act- ive service ; was a teamster for two years ; a seed grower for eight years ; was next elevated to the Ministry (1836) with Elder Benjamin S. Youngs, (the first missionary sent from the mother Society in New Y^ork to the West) and now 'paid his way' by learning and working at the tailoring and book- binding trades. In 1844 he was suddenly called to Ohio; was then informed of his releasement from the capacity of a Bishop, and requested to make his home at the Union Village Society. This he did without inquiring the rea- sons for his displacement, and to this day he is ignorant of the cause. In Ohio he learned and worked two years at wool-carding and spinning, also at the tin and sheet-iron works. He was appointed Novitiate Elder at Union Village, Ohio, in 1846, remaining at the same twelve years ; there learned the printing, dentistry, painting and hat trades ; was relieved of the Eldership in 1858, and worked as a common laborer for two full years, when he was again appointed the Elder of a senior family. At this as well as at the novitiate 70 ELDER HARVEY L. EADS. family he was very successful iu his undeitakiugs. At the opeuiug of the civil war he was sent back to Kentucky to assume the position he so sudden- ly vacated in 1844 — the junior bishop in the Society having been absent more than eighteen years ; next became one of the bishops in the consolidat- ed Ministry of the two Kentucky Societies. In 1872 this consolidation was dissolved, and he became and has remained acting head of the Shaker So- ciety at South Union, Ky." Louis Basting, a member of the Shaker Society at West Pittsfleld, Mass., in a recent communication to the New York Sim, thus speaks of Elder Eads : "The death of Elder H. L. Eads, the head of the Shaker Commuuity at South Union, Ky., removes a striking figure from the scene of action. The unique experience of ha\'ing been born among Shakers was his, for his par- ents, shortly after marriage, were converted and united with the Society where he lived and labored during the eighty-five years of his life. He grew up among the very trying scenes of hardship and danger which marked tlie founding of the western Communities. His great natural abilities and evi- dent devotion to the religious principles of the order soon caused him to be called to positions of trust and responsibility. The very limited educatiou he received was of the most rudimentary quality, but the impulse for informa- tion being strong within him, he ava-iled himself of ever}^ opportunity to en- large his stock of knowledge, and by close application to study, when not en- gaged in manual labor or official duties, he became a talented public speaker, capable of meeting the arguments of every form of belief or unbelief. The svorks of Plato, Spinoza, and Locke were quite familiar to him, and gave to his discoui'ses a logical turn and acute discernment, making them weighty and effective. His published criticisms of the infidel positions assumed by Tyndall and Ingersoll, and of the extreme orthodoxy of McCosh and Tal- mage, reveal not only great intellectual ability, but also the perfect fah-ness with which he met those of different belief and opinion." "The outbreak of the civil war placed the Believers of Kentucky in a very difficult position. They had never owned slaves, and did not approve the institution which permitted it, and on that account were regarded with dis- trust and suspicion by the pro-slavery element of the neighborhood, while their peace principles, which forbade them to take up arms in defence of the Union, brought them into conflict with the authorities at Washington ; so that much tact was required on the part of the leaders to steer safely through those troublous times. Their settlements were often occupied by Northern and Southern forces, and the depredations of irresponsible guerriUas were a constant source of anxiety ; but their greatest loss came from the almost to- tal cessation of business." "When peace was restored, Elder Eads applied himself with great energy, and successfully, to repair the damages his people had suffered. But he was pained to see them steadily decline in numbers. The effect of the war n ■Jitr~a:5i« «rey"»M»sii( a mtmcrx O ; '^ • O i o '■• 'Sj :m il^ m ]! liiii imm !iiii; ,>i%%A A 4- ^^^^^rfiiil^ Ii;i:;iii:ii:r!!!i:ll;!!,i|l!i^' ELDER HARVEY L. EADS. 73 had been disastrous, not only financially, but it seemed also to have changed the public sense of religious and moral obligation to a feeling of indifference and lukewarmness, and his efforts to counteract this tendency were unceas- ing. He devotedly preached and lectured, and kept his pen busy to promote the cause to which he was pledged, and it did seem at times as if he would succeed. He formed a numerous company from Sweden into a family, and erected new buildings to accommodate the increasing number of novices ; but alas ! but few endured the period of probation before they fell back into 'the weak and beggarly elements' of the world. These disappointments did not crush his heroic spirit. And he set himself to fulfill literally the Master's behest, and gathered all manner of folk from the highways and hedges, the streets and lanes, if peradventure a few among them might be found wearing 'the wedding garment,' worthy to eat bread in the kingdom of God. It is not given to any man to say that the labors of the latter years of his life were wholly fruitless ; if the immediate result of his unselfish efforts has been small, the just records of eternity will undoubtedly reveal that much of the seed he has sown has not been wasted." "Throughout his long and useful life he was a firm advocate of the princi- ples of religious communism and celibacy, and what he taught he embodied in his conduct. He dignified hand labor and practiced it to the last. The versatility of mind which led him to become thoroughly grounded in theology, science, and mathematics, and enabled him to acquire a good working knowl- edge of several languages, also extended into the region of commerce, me- chanics, and agriculture : indeed, he seemed to have a good share of that practical ingenuity which distinguished his near relative, Capt. Eads, the fa- mous engineer. When, not many years ago, instrumental music was intro- duced and none was found capable of playing piano or organ, with character- istic energy he applied himself to the task of studying music, and soon was able to instruct younger people in the art. His contributions to the West- ern press were quite numerous, but the work by which he is best known and will be longest remembered is 'Shaker Theology: Scripto-Rational,' an oc- tavo of three hundred pages, which has passed through several editions. His character was of puritanical sternness ; he was a strict disciplinarian and m- sisted upon obedience to the rules of Shaker life — 'the sacred laws of Zi- on,' as he was wont to term them. He 'magnilied his office,' and held it as a sacred ti'ust for which he was accountable ; yet personally he was of a very kindly and affectionate disposition, easily approached by children or any one, and his conversation sparkled with quaint old-time humor. He was as hap- py as any one could be in his environment. What to the great majorit}' of mankind appears to be but an abject servitude was to him a means whereby to gain true liberty — a life he had chosen voluntarily, and the full vnlue of which he had experienced. " "He now has stepped behind the veil ; but he will not bo a stranger there. 74 COMMUNITY AT BUSRO. for many of those whom he has led into the higher life and who have gone before him will stand ready with celestial greetings, welcoming him to the kingdom of Him whose servant he was. His own people loved and revered him, and the world honored and respected him. The Louisville Courier- Journal, when printing his farewell sermon in August last, spoke of him as 'one of the purest and best of men.' Can a nobler epitaph than that be written of any man ? "' CHAPTER XII. COMMUNITY AT BUSRO— INDIAN^ RAIDS— WAR— SHAKERS DRAFTED— BILL PASSED FOR THEIR RELIEF. AS an outcome of the Kentucky revival, a Community of Shakers wr.s established for a time in the ^^llage of Busro, on the Wabash river, a set- tlement on the extreme frontier, then the Indian Territory. In 1811 the Be- lievers at Mount Lebanon sent out to this distant post Issachar Bates, Arch- ibald Meacham, and others, as missionaries. On their arrival, in the spring of the same year, they found some two hundred persons believers in the faith of Ann Lee. Issachar and Archibald immediately began the work of organiz- ing a Shaker Society in this wilderness. They vigorously laid the axe at the root of the trees enlarging the clearing which had already been started, ploughed the laud, planted seed, built log houses, and in the fall were rewarded by a plentiful harvest, which was readily disposed of in the surrounding district, often in gifts to many unfortunates suffering for want of food. During the winter and spring, a saw and grist mill were in process of erection ; mean- while, some one hundred and fifty others had joined the Society and every- thing was progressing favorably for the Shaker settlement, when the rumors of an Indian war broke upon the serenity of the followers of Mother Ann. General William Henry Harrison was the governor of the Indiana Terri- tory, and to him had been intrusted the control of all Indian affairs by Presi- dent Madison. Matched against General Harrison was the proud and defiant Tecumseh, the head chief of aU the Indian tribes. As a precautionary measure, Governor Harrison called out the militia, and the Shaker Community were notified to join the army at once, which sum- mons, as followers of the Prince of Peace, they willfuUy disregarded. In the meantime the lordly Tecumseh had been summoned to appear before His Ex- cellency Governor Harrison, at Vincennes. Tecumseh, with a large follow- ing of his warriors, appeared in person before the Governor, disclaiming any intention of war against the whites. And so the counsel came to an end, with the only result of a deep distnist on both sides. Farms were abandoned, and there was a general flocking into the forts by the people, who believed an In- dian war was imminent. INDIAN RAIDS. 75 About the middle of June, a party of Indians visited the Shakers, bringing a quantity of farming tools with them to be repaired. Elder Issachar, fear- ful of a condemnation by the Governor if the work was done without his per- mission, wrote to him for instructions, and received in reply that no smith- work whatever should be done for the Indians ; only to feed them weU and treat them kindly. The Indians were greatly disappointed at this turn in af- fau-s, and declared they had no thought of war. As they were accompanied by their wives and children, it would appear that there w^as a measure of tnith in their assertion : ' 'We don't take our squaws with us when we are on the war path."' For nearly a month, some two hundred of the redskins were encamped near the Shaker settlement, and as they behaved very peaceably, and took their departure without making a single inroad upon the property of the Shaker fraternity, it lent color to the report that the Shakers were in league with the Indians for the expulsion of the whites. This was further strength- ened by the absolute refusal of the Shakers to take up arms against the In- dians, and led some of the more hot-headed opposers of Shakerism to de- clare that Elder Issachar and his followers were at the bottom of all the trouble, and should be banished forthwith from the territory. In the very height of all this excitement, a malarial fever of malignant type broke out among the Brethren, which prostrated a very large number of them. A strolling band of Indians improved this opportunity to secure a valuable team of horses belonging to the Shakers, and one night crept down to the stable and captured the best four-horse team in all that section, and made off with them. The Shakers were loath to lose so many valuable horses without an effort for their recovery, so a couple of the Brethren, with one Capt. Robbins, a friendly world's man, followed up the Indian trail for nearly a hundred miles, and succeeded in capturing the horses and started on their return trip. They had proceeded less than ten miles when they were overtaken by the same Indians, who not only recaptured the four horses, but took with them the three that Abraham, James and Capt. Robbins had ridden in their journe3^ Capt. Robbins was indignant that his compan- ions would willingly submit to such treatment without fighting for their rights, and he implored them strongly to allow him to hold the "red devils" at bay, but to no puipose ; they would only answer him, "Nay, nay, friend Robbins, we must not commit so grievous a sin." Whether or not Abraham and James met with a change of heart, on this particular point, during their long and tedious journey on foot homeward, Capt. Robbins never knew, and neither did he feel particularly comforted with the rejoicing of the Elders over their safe return, and all because they had so rigidly obeyed the injunction "not to fight under any circumstances.' However, this affair tended, in a measure, to relieve the Shakers from the stigma, under which they were resting, that they were in league with the lu- 7() SHAKERS DRAFTED. diaiis for the overthrow of the whites, as it was seen that the Indians were no respecters of persons in their raids. By the middle of September, the advance troops under General Harrison began to arrive at Busro, and a company of cavalry and two of infantry were quartered in the Shaker Village. The Elder's house was used as a store-house by the commissary, and the back door-yard appropriated as a slaughter pen, much to the disgust of the Elders ; and to crown it all the beating drums and piercing fifes, turned the heretofore peaceful settlement into a camp of war. Many of the Shakers were drafted into the service, while all were required to do military duty, and for their non-attendance were mulcted with fines. Matters were going very hard against these Brethren of peace, w^heu Capt. Boyd, with five hundred regulars from Boston, Mass., ar- rived. He at once interceded in behalf of the persecuted Shakers, saying that he knew them at the East to be of the best of people in the commu- nity. About the same time. Col. Da\is arrived with a troop of cavalry from Kentucky. He being well acquainted with the Pleasant Hill Shakers in that State, was also friendly to them here, and joined Col. Boyd in his efforts to relieve the Shakers from doing military duty. On the 26th of September, Gen. Harrison himself arrived, when all of the drafted Shakers were ordered to report for duty at twelve o'clock. By the advice of Col. Davis, who was a lawyer, the Shaker Elders called upon Gen- eral Harrison and made known to him their situation, and it was finally ar- ranged that the Shakers might remain in camp at their settlement and be de- tailed as hospital nurses, and such of the soldiery as were sick, were left be- hind under their care, while on the 28th the army took up their march north- ward to meet the foe. It was not until the 5th of November that the famous battle of Tippeca- noe was fought, and in which General Harrison routed the brave Tecumseh and laid in waste his town and all therein. Some years after this event, owing to the continued unhealthy condition of Busro, arising from the malarial banks of the "Wabash, the Shakers aban- doned their settlement, removing to Ohio and Kentucky. After General Harrison's defeat of the British in Canada, he retired to the State of Ohio, and was a member of the Legislature there in 1821, at which time he presented a petition for the relief of the Shakers in that state from military duty, substituting for them three day's work on the highway, in place of the three days of military duty, all able-bodied men were obliged to perform. This measure he advocated in four able speeches before the House, and it was largely due to his influence that the bill was passed. At the present time, the Shaker Societies have Communities at Union Vil- lage, White Water and Watervliet, Ohio ; Pleasant Hill and South Union, Kentucky. Eldkp:ss, ^fARY p. Vance. 81 CHAPTER XIII. MAINE— JOHN COTTON— "NEW LIGHTS"— "'MEERY DANCEES"— "COME-OUTEES"— "NEW-LIGHT BAPTISTS"— ELDEESSES MARY P. VANCE AND MAEY A. W. GILLISPIE. rr^HE history of the establishment of the Shakers iu the State of Maine -JL is akin to that of Kentucky, and there originated in the person of one John Cotton, a son of John Cotton whose name is mentioned in the history of the town of Gorham. John Cotton settled in Alfred, Me., about the year 1781. He married Eleanor Coffiu, a daughter of Simeon Coffin, who is said to have been the first white man to penetrate the forest of what was then called by the Indians, Massabesic, and took up his abode in an Indian wigwam, which then stood near the site of the present Shaker house of worship in Alfred. At the tune of John Cotton's advent iu Alfred, an extensive revival of re- ligion was prevailing in the western part of that State, also in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The nature of the revival partook much of the form of Second Adventism, and many of the converts announc- ed the speedy coming of Christ, the day of judgment, and the millennium as being at hand. Nearly, if not quite, all of the subjects were impelled to ex- press their enthusiasm in singing and dancing, shaking off the fetters of the set forms and creeds of the old established churches, to make room for the "new light" which they proclaimed as about to dawn upon the earth. By the unbelieving portion of the community, these religious enthusiasts yrere known by the name of "New Lights," "Merry Dancers," "Come-outers," and "New-Light Baptists," by which latter name they became to be known wherever they had an existence. To this order John Cotton attached him- self in 1781, and became a very zealous member. In 1783, John Cotton caught the emigration fever then so prevalent for settling in Vermont. With John Coffin as a companion, the two started out on foot to make a new home for themselves in that State. Their long tramp led them through the towns of Canterbury and Enfield, N. H. Here, much to John's sui'prise, he found more of the New- Light Baptists. At Enfield he tarried for a few days with one of the advanced brothers in the new light doctrine, one James Jewett, a well-to-do farmer, who had adopted the faith of the Mother Ann proselytes from Mt. Lebanon. Among the many things which farmer James sought to impress upon his Christian guest, was the utter impossibility of living a pure, Christ-like, virgin life, in a state of malrimo- 82 PILGRIMAGE TO NISKEYUNA. 11}'. John tells us that this so worked upon his uiiud, that he became con- vinced of the truth of it, and then and there made a confession of his sins to James. John has also left his testimony, that, one morning after breakfast, when seated with James, talking upon this subject, he was raised from his chair by an all-controlling power and spun round like a top for the space of half an hour, when he was whirled through the open door and down to the waters of Mascoma Lake, some rods distant, and then was whirled back again with the same force and landed in the same chair he was taken from. This event, he says, he regarded as a seal to his faith and a baptism of the Holy Spirit which he determined to keep to the end of his days, and decided him to return to Alfred, which he did without delaj\ On arriving at his house, he related his remarkable experience, and prepared the way for the missionaries from Mt. Lebanon, N. Y., Enfield, N. H., and Hancock, Mass., who soon followed him. Meetings were held in Alfred, Lyman, Waterborough, Gorham, Windliam, New Gloucester, Poland and Fahnouth, in what was then the Province of Maine. In 1784, a company from Gorham and New Gloucester (Sabbath-Day Pond) chartered a small vessel at Portland, called "The Shark," to go to New York, thence up the Hudson river to Albany, with the avowed object of visiting Mother Ann and the Elders at Niskeyuna. Thirteen Pjrethreu and twelve Sisters constituted the party for the pilgrimage, which was undertaken in the month of August, and safely accomplished, although they encountered a severe storm on their return trip, on the evening of Sept. 7th, just outside of New York harbor, which nearly resulted in then- destruction, but from which they happily escaped without loss. Later on, in the same month, a company of ten Brethren and Sisters accomplished the same journey on horseback. The Society at Alfred, Me., was organized in March, 1793. Doubtless, residing in the city of Lowell, Mass., there are many fashion- able women who will recall to mind, in the cut displayed though disguised in the garb of a Sister Shaker, the pleasant face and affable manner of one who, twenty-five years ago, was at the head of the millinery establishment of one of the leading firms in that city, Mary P. Vance, now the senior El- dress on the Board of Elders in the Church Family of the United Society of Believers, commonly called Shakers, at Alfred, Me. She was born in the town of Lebanon, York County, Me., on the 16th of November, 1845, the daughter of Shubael B. and Abigail (Hussey) Vance, and a grand-daughter of the late Hon. William Vance, of Readfield, Me. He was a large land-holder in the eastern part of that State, and was a mem- ber of the convention for forming the constitution of Maine, after its sepa- ration from Massachusetts. At eight years of age, Mary's parents removed to Lowell, Mass., where Eldress Mary A. Gillis'pie. ELr>RESS MARY A. GILLISPIE. 85 she received her education iu the public schools until she arrived at the age of fifteen, when she entered one of the leading millinery establishments of Lowell, to learn that business, where she remained until October of the year 1864 ; the last two years as the manager of that department. On several occasions before she was eighteen years of age, she made visits to her brother, John B. Vance, who was a member of the Society of Shakers at Alfred, Me ; and now an Elder in the Church Family of that body, and upon each occasion expressed a great and growing desire to join the fraternity. This was most strenuously opposed by her mother, who fondly desired her to remain with them iu Lowell and to accept the attentions of a young, es- timable gentleman who sought her hand in marriage. But iu the month of October, 1864, she decided to sever her very pleasant connections in Lowell and join the Shakers, towards whom she had been so strongly drawn by the feeling that in no other way could she satisfy the craving demands of her conscience. So, at the age of nineteen, consecrat- ing her little all to God and the good of humanity, she joined the Society of Believers at Alfred, and for the past twenty years has been a member of the Board of Elders there, of which she is now the senior Sister. We are indebted to venerable Bishop Harvey Eads, of South Union, Ky., for the original of this excellent likeness of Sister Mary Vance. Bishop Eads, in his communication, says : "I send her photograph, because it is the best representation of Shaker costume of any in my album." The late Mary Ann Gillispie, who was long an associate on the same board with Sister Mary P. Vance, will also be remembered by many of those who have visited the Shakers in Alfred. She was born in Portsmouth, N. H., on the 9th of June, 1829. Her father, Joseph Gillispie, was an English sea captain ; her mother, Mary Ann (Wendall) Gillispie, died when her daugh- ter was but four years of age, leaving her in the care of a kind friend, who was as a mother to her until she arrived at the age of eleven years, when the failing health of her adopted mother resulted in the removal of the child to be further cared for by the Shakers iu Canterbury, N. H. Here her spiritu- ality and amiability soon won for her the position of caretaker for a company of little girls. At the age of twenty-three she had advanced to the position of one of the presiding Elders over the Novitiate, or North Family, as it was then called. After eight years of faithful service here, she was still further advanced as the assistant to Hester Ann Adams on the board of Elders of the Ministry, at Alfred and New Gloucester, Me. Here, for twenty-seven years she faithfully sei-ved this people, until her labors on earth ceased, on the 15th of April, 1887. Of her it was well said that during all these years she was an able minister of the truth, her life emphasizing her teachings, her heart so filled with the love of humanity that very many outside of the pale of Shakerism felt her loss iu the Community. 86 CHAPTER XIV. SHAKER MISSION INTO MAINE— ALFRED COMMUNITY— BOYHOOD VANITY OF FATHER JOHN BARNES— "THOMPSON'S POND PLAN- TATION"— NEW GLOUCESTER COMMUNITY— "THE RANG"— SABBATHDAY LAKE— POLAND MINERAL SPRINGS- GREAT LONGEVITY OF THE SHAKERS. FATHER JAMES WHITTAKER made his first and ouly visit into the State, or what was then called the Province of Maine, in the summer of 1785. He was accompanied by Elders, Henry Clough, Job Bishop, Eleazer Rand and PLbenezer Cooley. Their mission was extended as far east as Gor- ham. Meetings were held all along the route, and large audiences gathered to hear the Shaker doctrine expounded. Often a spirit of opposition mani- fested itself against Eather James, who was not mild in denouncing the sins of the flesh, which irritated in no small degree a majority of those present. On one occasion, when preaching a very plain and pointed sermon at Gor- ham, Father James was inten-upted several times by the village black and white smith, one Richard Pxlwards, who, being a man of powerful frame, was regarded by the populace as the champion of all their rights ; and perhaps, somewhat in the character of the blustering bully of the neighborhood, he sought to strike terror into the heart of James by his frequent inten-uptions. But there generally comes a time in the life of every man of this stamp when he stands aghast at the temerity of some less stalwart individual, and bows his head in shame, as did Edwards on this occasion, when the brave old sea captain, John Stevenson, commanded him to sit down. "Sit down, Ed- wards," he said, "hold your tongue, and let this man preach. You may know how to make a plow, or an ox yoke, but, hang me, if you know how to preach. We came to hear this man Whittaker preach, not to listen to your silly gabble." Every one present felt that the old captain spoke to be obeyed, and there was no more disturbance. From Gorham Father James returned to Alfred, a few miles distant, and from thence, shortly after, to the Societies in Massachusetts. The first house built for public worship in Alfred by the Shakers, was raised in the smnmer of 1786, but it was never wholly finished. Twelve rough-hewn beams, twelve inches square, cut from the clearest of pine tim- ber, were exposed to view overhead. The Shaker Society at Alfred, Me., was organized in March, 1793, under the charge of Father John Barnes, of Alfred ; Elder Robert McFarland, of tl- I FATHER JOHN BARNES. 89 Gorham ; Mother Sarah Kendall and Eldress Lucy Prescott, both of Har- vard, Mass. These two Sister Shakers rode in the saddle — which was the almost universal mode of travel at that date — from Harvard to Alfred, and were the fii-st Shaker Sisters to visit the Province of Maine. On leaving Har- vard, they were presented with the horses, saddles and bridles, and bidden God speed by those left behind. Of the worldly vanity of Father John Barnes in his younger days, a good story is still extant. It is said that upon one occasion, when Mother Ann and the Elders were on a visit at Harvard, Mass., from their home at Niske- yuna, John was very eager to meet with Mother Ann, and so strong was the desire that he made the journey on horseback from Alfred to Harvard for that purpose. Arriving at Hai-vard, he put up at the village inn and retired to a room, from which he shortly emerged dressed in broadcloth, knee-breech- es, long black stockings with silver buckles, a profusion of lace and ruffles in his shirt bosom and cuffs, with a blue silk stock about his neck, alow crowned fur hat on his head, with a walking-stick in his hand, and sallied forth, bent upon making the striking impression upon Mother Ann that in hmiself was embodied the elements of true Shakerism. Arriving at the house to which he had been directed, just as a Brother Shaker was emerging therefrom, he inquired if the "Lady Elect" was within. The brother gazed on him from head to foot with amazement. At last, find- ing his tongue, he replied: "I presume the woman to whom thou hast made reference is within. If thou desirest to see her, walk up to the door and knock." As he halted upon the steps and stooped to brush the dust from his well- polished boots with his silk kerchief, Mother Ann came to the door. With a scornful glance, she said : ' 'You proud and haughty young man, kneel where you are, humble yourself before your God, and pray to Him to give you a spirit of humility." John, completely overcome by the force of her rebuke, which he felt most keenly, sank upon his knees, profusely apologizing for his vanity. Realizing that John was sincere in his desire for reformation. Mother Ann in\nted him into the house, and cared for him as for a son. He prolonged his visit for several days. Meanwhile, making his confession to Eider Wil- liam Lee, he became established in the simple faith of Shakerism. In the early days of Shakerism at Alfred, Me., very many of the converts claimed the power of healing the sick and of prophes^ang, all of which, no doubt, confirmed the people in their faith and added many to the Church. As an instance of their enthusiasm, a case is cited in which one William Na- son, a very upright and conscientious man, felt caUed upon to warn the peo- ple to keep the fear of God constantly before their eyes, marched in the road which encompassed Massabesic Lake, a distance of some fou)' miles, repeat- ing at frequent intervals : ' 'Woe ! woe to the inhabitants of the earth ! Touch not my anointed, and do my good prophets no hann." 90 THE CHURCH AT ALFRED. It was not an nucommou thiug for the world's people to overhear iu the early morning one Shaker brother salute his nearest Shaker neighbor with the words, "More love, brother David," and then for the person addressed to re- ply, "More love, brother William." Then a more distant Shaker brother, hearing the salutation, w^ould take up the refrain, "More love, brother John," until for a long distance the air would resound with the Shaker melody as it came from scores of the devoted followers of Ann Lee. To-day the Shaker Community at Alfred, Me., have in their possession some twelve hundred acres of land, beautifully situated on very elevated ground, known as Shaker Hill. Upon the top of this hill stands the little Shaker Village consisting of about twenty-four old-fashioned farm houses, most of them having been built nearly one hundred years ago. They are in excellent repair, each buUdiug standing by itself, with an exteusive green lawn stretching out on all sides. One line of these houses is fronting on the main street, w^hUe another straight row stands in the rear. This Society is divided into what are called two families, containing in all about seventy-five persons. Elder John B. Vance is the recognized head of this Societ3\ While their occupation is mostly that of tUling the land, every needful occupation for then- support is carried on in the village. They have a fine stream of w^ater which courses through the valley below, on which stands the mill which grinds the grain harvested from the large acreage under cultivation. After the organization of the Shaker Society in Alfred, Me., in 1793, the meeting house of 1786 was found to be inadequate for the accommodation of the Believers, and a more commodious one was built, after the model of the Mount Lebanon Church, the same being finished in 1794, and stands to-day as a monument of the dispensation granted by Father Joseph Meacham in these words: "If you, as a people, believe it to be your duty to build a house to meet in, as you have signified, you have liberty, according to the same order and covenant our own here in New Lebanon was built." The conditions were as follows : 1. That it should be built by free contributions. No one must be asked to give anything ; all donations must be made freely, and as a matter of their own faith, and by their gift no one must be brought into debt or blame on account of their donation. God required of no man more than he was able to do in justice, thus leaving it to every Brother to be the judge of his own circumstances. 2. That it should be done by a joint union and agreement with each other. 3. As the house was to be for religious, and not for common use, none should hold a right of government in the house by "sartue of what they had done, but by Church order, the property being changed from a private to a public use, is consecrated to the Lord. It shall be the privilege of all that believe, and are holden in union, according to their opportunity, to assemble therein, one day in seven, for the public worship of God. Any further use Co O k Thompson's pond plantation. 93 of the house thau this must be by order, as the good of the Church and So- ciety may require. If all of the chiu'ches erected by other denominations were built with the same Christian spirit, church debts would be unknown, and the line less sharply drawn, even if it did not wholly disappear, between the rich and the poor. The new meeting house was constructed with apartments for the accom- modation of the Ministry, which were not only ample for themselves, but for all who might chance to come from other Societies. Very many of those who had professed the Shaker faith in the surrounding towns, sold their pos- sessions and removed to Alfred. Flax was raised by the Shakers every year in considerable quantity. This .was carded and spun into yarn, and manu- factured into cloth by the Sisters, who occupied several rooms with their spinning-wheels and looms, in a building erected in 1796 as a Sisters' shop. This workshop still stands, having been put in thorough repair in 1872. The Shaker Sisters displayed no little skill in their handicraft, in making kerchiefs of fine linen, some in white boi'ders, and others checked in blue and white. Sheep were raised for their wool, and cotton was bought in Portland, and it was no uncommon thing for the Sisters to work far into the night in the carding and spinning of cotton, wool and flax, manufacturing the same into cloth, not only for the use of the Shaker fraternity, but for the general market. Even after the introduction of machinery in Rhode Island for the making of cotton yarn, merchants in Portland would supply the Soci- ety with the yarn, which the Sisters would weave into cloth at a certain price per yard. The old meeting house of 1786, was transformed into a workshop for the men, who there manufactured, on quite a large scale, tubs, pails, churns, spinning-wheels, and other articles of a domestic nature. The establishment of the Shaker Society at New Gloucester, Me., was brought about by the advent of Elisha Pote, Nathan Merrill and Joseph Stone, who came from Gorham, Me., in the month of November, 1782, into what was then called "Thompson's Pond Plantation," and tarried at the house of one Gowan Wilson, senior, where they held meetings and expound- ed the doctrine of Shakerism to those who gathered in to learn of the new and strange religion from the lips of Elisha Pote whose gift of oratory had spread well over that sparsely settled community. These meetings consisted of singing, preaching and dancing, and a gener- al invitation was extended to all present to unite with them in the exercises. Among the verj' first to avail themselves of this privilege were Dorothy Pote and Mary Merrill, who simultaneously became inspked with an impulse which agitated them violently. They soon began to turn swiftly and spin like tops which was continued for the space of an hour, much to the amazement of the Gentiles who were present. 1)4 THE RANG. This influence rapidly spread among the people of that neighborhood and very many became proselytes, regarding the ambassadors as harbingers of God, the doctrine of Mother Ann Lee as the complete embodiment of the true Christian religion, and that through her, Christ had surely made his second appearance on earth. Early to embrace this faith were some of the most prominent families in that section. Among the number were Gowan Wilson, in whose house the meetings were held ; Nathan, and Edmund and also James Merrill with his daughter Mary ; Josiah, Simeon and Gershani Holmes; Thomas Pote, the father of Elisha ; Samuel Pote, Elisha's elder brother, with their sister Dor- othy ; Barnabas and Ephraim Briggs ; Thomas Cushman and Eliphaz Ring, the latter residing on "Rang" Hill, one of. three hills lying side by side, ad- jacent to three ponds similarly situated. The hills and ponds ranging side by side, this locality came to be known as the "Rang," the old settlers pronounc- ing the word as if rhyming with bang. The first converts were made on the 24th of November, 1782. Eliphaz Ring then owned the farm on which is now located the celebrated Mineral spring property of Hiram Ricker and Sons in Poland. At first, these new converts personally held their own property, but, later on, they adopted the community scheme and held all things in common. It was from the great liberality of Eliphaz that the Shakers at Alfred became possessed of their valuable water privilege and mills. In 1793, Jabez Ricker, the grandfather of Hiram, the senior in the firm of the present proprietors of the Mineral spring property, exchanged his farm in Alfred, Me., where he then resided, for the Ring property. Eliphaz, with others, then remDved to Alfred, and was one of the number to assist in establishing the Society there. The organization of the Shaker Community in New Gloucester was ac- complished on the 19th of April, 1794, under the leadership of Father John Barnes, from the Society at Alfred. His associates were Elder Robert McFarland, from Gorham, Me., and Mother Sarah Kendall and Eldress Lu- cy Prescott, from the Society at Harvard, Mass. These persons comprised the established Ministry for the Societies at Gorham and Alfred, and the new organization at West Gloucester, the name given to the settlement at "Thompson's Pond Plantation." The Ministry appointed Nathan Merrill and Barnabas Briggs as Trustees of the West Gloucester Society. Their first meeting house was raised on the fourteenth of the following June. The design was after the old Dutch style of houses of worship then in vogue in New York. The timber for the meeting house and central dwelling had been cut, drawn to the spot and framed, some two years previous. The twenty thousand bricks in the huge chimneys of the central dwelling, were made near the foot of the "Pond.'' They were somewhat smaller in size than are those of the present day. All ^ POLAND SPRING HOUSE. 97 the nails used in the construction of the tvvo buildings were forged by ban 1 by one of the Shaker brothers, Joseph Briggs, a son of Ephraim, and his young apprentice. The church building was finishe I and ready for occu- pancy on Christmas day of that same year. The ui'W organization was conipo!-ed of irdividuals of veiy n operate cir- cumstanci s. Their combined : cieage in huid formed, at first, but a meagre means for support, but by prudeuc ■, industry and good management, they have succeeded in amassing a valuable property, consisting of nearly two thousand acres of land. In 18 li), the Gorham Society removed to "Poland Hill," the first r.nd highest of the "Rong," which is situated one mile north of the Aevv Glouces- ter Society, and united with it, forming the Novitiate Order for this L'om- muuity. This Society retained the name of West Gloucester, until less than three years since. In 1