In Nascent America, the Small Group of Religious Believers Called Shakers Began Their Own Revolution of Values, Lifestyle, Belief, and Economics

REVOLUTIONARIES BY LISA SEYMOUR

In nascent America, the small group of religious believers called Shakers began their own revolution of values, lifestyle, belief, and economics. Now a major exhibit illustrates their cultural endurance over nearly four centuries.

n 1783, the justices of HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE, INC. expertise of the partner the town of Richmond, Quiet institutions to examine the Massachusetts, alarmed Shakers as not only producers about the activities of of highly collectible decorative AnnI Lee and her small but arts pieces, but as a complex growing group of followers society which, in seeking a known as “Shaking Quakers” utopia, redefined family, or Shakers, concluded that governance, gender roles, and “[t]hey appeared to be con- even productivity in ways that scientious, and acted upon countered or outright rejected religious principles; yet they the values of the newly formed deluded the people, and American nation. When slavery disturbed the inhabitants, and was common, Shakers at they must be taken care of, Watervliet may have assisted or they would turn the world some to escape; while the Age upside down.” of Jackson celebrated individ- The Shakers: America’s ual liberty, the Shakers praised Quiet Revolutionaries is a obedience to leadership; major exhibition, recently and during the Victorian era, opened at the New York State when women were idealized Museum in Albany, about the

HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE, INC. United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (the group’s formal name). A collaborative endeavor between the State Museum, the Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon, Above: The family was the basic social and economic unit Hancock Shaker Village, and of the Shaker community, and members of families were the Shaker Heritage Society, sometimes, though not necessarily, biologically related. the exhibition draws upon Right: Shakers made an extraordinary variety of goods for the collections and curatorial sale to the world.

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Joseph Meacham and Lucy Wright established their central ministry at New Lebanon, New York in 1821. Many of the original buildings there still stand.

suppose from their disaffection unit of the community, and to the American Cause that members of families were they mean to convey them to sometimes, though not nec- the Enemy...” British-born essarily, biologically related. founder Ann Lee, accused of The Lead Ministry at the New being a witch and spy, was met Lebanon community became

SHAKER MUSEUM | MOUNT LEBANON with mobs and violence in the “center of union,” the many of the towns she seat of Shaker government visited in New England on and spiritual leadership. her missionary journeys from Meacham and Lucy Wright, 1781 until her death in 1784. whom Meacham elevated to Nonetheless, pockets of the title of Mother as his receptive listeners amassed. first act of leadership, sought In 1795, the Believers at New to unify the geographically Lebanon, New York signed dispersed and diverse body of and bound by convention, the Covenant of Joint Interest membership, as well as expand Shaker sisters managed and Union and embarked the reach of Shakerism into industries and economies. upon the great experiment in the American West. From the communal life that continues central ministry at New The Believers today at Sabbathday Lake, Lebanon, rules and regulations The fledgling religious group Maine, the last active Shaker pertaining to nearly every encountered rising political community. aspect of work and daily life and social tensions upon their Joseph Meacham, Ann Lee’s were issued with the goal of arrival in New York City in successor, devised and oversaw keeping all Believers in union, August of 1774 and their the gathering of communities which to them meant spiritu- subsequent move to Niskayuna, into “gospel order,” the hier- ally bonded: united to one outside Albany, in 1775. In archical structure that came to another, the Church, and to the summer of 1780, Shaker define Shaker life. Each village, God. Yet each Shaker village David Darrow and two others or community, was comprised developed a unique identity were discovered moving “a of several “families,” with two and followed the rules as the Number of Sheep.” They pairs of male and female family’s leaders saw fit. And were brought before New leaders overseeing both spiri- though women did not enjoy York State’s Commission for tual affairs (elders and eldresses) equality in the modern sense, Detecting and Defeating and temporal or business and the power held by Lucy Wright Conspiracies on July 7; the domestic affairs (deacons and and the leadership positions commission concluded that deaconesses). The family was held by generations of “there is the greatest reason to the basic social and economic eldresses and deaconesses

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SHAKER MUSEUM | MOUNT LEBANON cleanliness they maintained in Above: Shakers were not Top: A six-tub clothes-washing machine, built and later patented by the living and working spaces, and immune to the fads of Shakers, attests to the size of a typical Shaker family. the practice of celibacy. Yet the world. Eldress Emma the communal lifestyle, which Neale was the subject of Bottom: All Shakers were expected to work in support of the community. allowed the sick, elderly, and a phrenology reading performed in 1880. stand in marked contrast to vegetables but also enjoyed infirm to work as much as the lives of their contempo- doughnuts, maple sugar cakes, they were able and ensured Below: Shaker design raries in the world. and popcorn balls. Though plentiful food, clothing, and relied upon the purest All Shakers, including members were urged to seek shelter to all who came into essence of form. members of the ministry, were medical care from practitioners the community, surely played a NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM expected to work in support within the community, Shaker significant role. Shaker life was of the community, but work medical practice did not differ intended to be heaven on earth, was not to be an excessive significantly from that of larger and so it may have seemed strain. A six-tub clothes-wash- society. For example, Eldress to those willing to sacrifice ing machine, built and later Emma Neale of the Mount personal independence. patented by the Shakers, Lebanon community was the attests to the size of the subject of a phrenology read- Beauty and Utility typical Shaker family, which ing performed in 1880 (phre- Shakers are perhaps best could consist of as many as nology is a pseudo-science in known for their 150 people, and to the which the contours of the design of ingenuity of Believers who skull are measured and inter- material strove to make their chores preted to reveal the subject’s objects, united less labor-intensive. Communal character), indicating that the by the qualities living also allowed the Shakers Shakers were not immune to of outstanding to consume a rich and varied the fads of the world. craftsmanship diet once the communities The Shakers enjoyed and composition were well established. They exceptional longevity. They of only fundamental grew and ate many fruits and attributed this to fresh air, the elements. Details like

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the graceful shaping of the by peddler wagon and later cross members of a grading by mail-order catalogs and rake (used to smooth and stores operated within the level soil), or the elegant communities. SHAKER HERITAGE SOCIETY carving of a hat shaper, suggest that the beauty of Christians in Community these objects was the result The Shakers were distinct of the Shakers’ reliance upon from other Christian denomi- the purest essence of form. nations in that they believed A chrome-yellow lap desk in the dual nature of God as reveals that the Shakers a spirit that encompassed embraced brilliant colors and both male and female quali- that functionality was not ties. Moreover, they were the sole consideration in the Millennialists, though that creation of furniture or even does not mean they awaited utilitarian pieces. the world’s end. Instead they Indeed, Shakers made an believed that the second extraordinary variety of goods coming of Christ had already for sale to the world, informed occurred, and that Mother by their religious principles Ann Lee was the first to be

NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM and aided by the wealth of imbued with the Christ Spirit. resources that combined to The second coming, or millen- produce them. Shaker com- nium, was available to anyone munities used the wealth who lived according to the contributed by members to teachings of Mother Ann in acquire large land holdings. the Shaker Church. Each Shaker Agriculture was the foundation had to regularly confess his or for Shaker life and commercial her sins, practice celibacy, and enterprises, and communal place the community above life provided another advan- one’s self. While these beliefs tage: unlike many of their have not changed a great rural contemporaries, the deal over time, many religious Shakers could afford to engage practices have. Though the in experimental practices society was long known as and purchase or fabricate the the “Shaking Quakers,” they most modern and efficient are not, in fact, Quakers, though they share a common NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM equipment. The Shakers long sustained their communities style of worship that does not by the production and sale of include sermons or ministers: garden seeds, medicinal herbs, each member may speak, or brooms, chairs, and “fancy give testimony, as the spirit goods” (objects made for sale moves him or her. Early in rather than their own use), their history they performed Above: Each Shaker village developed a unique identity and followed including satin-lined sewing uncontrolled, spiritually the rules as the family’s leaders saw fit. baskets. The society earned a inspired movements that gave Middle: Shakers long sustained their communities in part by the reputation for the high quality the sect its nickname; in the production and sale of medicinal herbs. of their goods and also 1790s, they began performing Below: Shakers share a common style of worship with Quakers that does evolved their marketing strat- highly choreographed dance not include sermons or ministers. egies, selling their wares first movements and marches that

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The sale of garden seeds was an important source of financial support for Shaker communities.

THE ARCHIVES CONNECTION

isplayed in Quiet DRevolutionaries are artifacts and documents from two important reposi- tories of Shaker material: the New York State Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections, and the Emma B. King Research Library at the Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon. The State Library has contributed two elegantly written works by Elder David Austin Buckingham, a biographical essay on Mother Ann Lee, and a grammatical diagram, as well as examples of inden- HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE, INC. ture forms, documents signed by parents who brought children to be raised in the Shaker communities. continued until the twentieth annual meetings, which women to positions of leader- The State Library holds about century. unlike regular meetings were ship, and accepted members fifty of these indentures. Though the Shakers always closed to the public, saw the of all races and ethnicities. The Emma B. King practiced spiritualism, or resumption of some of their Most importantly, their Research Library has contrib- communication with the spirits earliest practices, including communal lifestyle demanded uted rarely seen original of the dead, the practice trembling and shaking. In the placing the society and God documents like an 1802 was at its height during the twentieth century, Shaker before oneself; yet by pooling travel diary kept by Benjamin Era of Manifestations, the religious practice evolved from resources and labor they Seth Youngs, a Bible once religious revival undergone energetic dance performances provided security to their owned by Mother Lucy by the Shakers in the 1840s. to quieter and deeper expres- members a century before the Wright, and Emma Neale’s Members received messages sions of faith, but Shaker “social safety net” was estab- phrenology reading. The from Holy Mother Wisdom, meetings today are once lished and allowed an individ- library has also furnished the Heavenly Father, and again open to observers from ual’s natural talents and many of the exhibition’s Shaker leaders who had died, the outside world. creativity to come to fullest historic photographs. such as Mother Ann Lee and The Shakers are justly fruition. The values they Mother Lucy Wright. These celebrated for their furniture embraced in the eighteenth messages might take the and other decorative arts. But and nineteenth centuries form of songs, dances, perhaps their greatest legacy were seen as an attempt to hymns, poems, or drawings, is their role in, and influence “turn the world upside down,” commonly called gift or spirit upon, American cultural iden- but their communities were drawings. During this time, tity. Long before these acts formed in part to serve as an The Shakers: America’s Quiet meetings were held on were common, they practiced example to the world. Revolutionaries is on exhibit “feast grounds” crowned by responsible stewardship of Perhaps, over the centuries, at the New York State Museum fountain stones. These twice- land and animals, elevated they have done so. n through March 6, 2016.