Editing Shakers (section)

==History==
{{Further|Early chronology of Shakers}}

===Origins===
The Shakers were one of a few religious groups which were formed during the 18th century in the [[North West England|northwest of England]];<ref name="Stein">{{cite book |last1=Stein |first1=Stephen J. |title=The Shaker Experience in America: A History of the United Society of Believers |date=1992 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-05933-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHUP_-cBln0C |access-date=7 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|1–8}} originating out of the [[Wardley Society]]. James and [[Jane Wardley]] and others broke off from the [[Quakers]] in 1747<ref name="Evans">{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=F. W. (Frederick William) |author1-link=Frederick William Evans |title=Compendium of the Origin, History, Principles, Rules and Regulations, Government, and Doctrines of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing. With Biographies of Ann Lee, William Lee, Jas. Whittaker, J. Hocknell, J. Meacham, and Lucy Wright |date=1859 |publisher=[[D. Appleton & Company]] |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/shakerscompendi00conggoog/page/n6/mode/2up |access-date=8 May 2021}}</ref>{{rp|20}}<ref name="Stortz">{{cite book |last1=Stortz |first1=Martha Ellen |editor1-last=Aune |editor1-first=Michael Bjerknes |editor2-last=DeMarinis |editor2-first=Valerie M. |title=Religious and Social Ritual: Interdisciplinary Explorations |date=1996 |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |isbn=978-0-7914-2825-2 |pages=105–135 |language=en |chapter=Ritual Power, Ritual Authority: Configurations and Reconfigurations in the Era of Manifestations|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxn6Thqm9KsC&pg=PA105}}</ref>{{rp|105}} at a time when the Quakers were weaning themselves away from frenetic spiritual expression.<ref name="Ruether">{{cite book |last1=Ruether |first1=Rosemary Radford |author1-link=Rosemary Radford Ruether |title=Women and Redemption: A Theological History |date=2011 |publisher=[[Fortress Press]] |isbn=978-1-4514-1778-4 |page=122 |access-date=8 May 2021 |language=en |chapter=Shakers and Feminist Abolitionists in Nineteenth-Century North America|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pEJzuC8VVdEC&pg=PA121}}</ref> The Wardleys formed the Wardley Society, which was also known as the "Shaking Quakers".<ref name="Clark">{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Bob |title=Enfield, Connecticut: Stories Carved in Stone |date=2006 |publisher=[[Dog Pond Press]] |isbn=978-0-9755362-5-4 |pages=189–196 |access-date=8 May 2021 |language=en |chapter=The Shaking Quakers|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKAm2Eu8mJYC&pg=PA189}}</ref>

Future leader [[Ann Lee]] and her parents were early members of the sect. This group of [[Charismatic Christianity|"charismatic" Christians]] became the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (USBCSA). Their beliefs were based upon [[Spiritualism (beliefs)|spiritualism]] and included the notion that they received messages from the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] which were expressed during religious revivals. They also experienced what they interpreted as messages from God during silent meditations and became known as "Shaking Quakers" because of the ecstatic nature of their worship services. They believed in the renunciation of sinful acts and that the end of the world was near.<ref name="Stortz"/><ref name="Evans"/>

Meetings were first held in [[Bolton, England]],<ref name="Evans"/> where the articulate preacher, Jane Wardley, urged her followers to:

{{Blockquote|Repent. For the [[kingdom of God]] is at hand. The new heaven and new earth prophesied of old is about to come. The marriage of the Lamb, the first resurrection, the [[new Jerusalem]] descended from above, these are even now at the door. And when Christ appears again, and the true church rises in full and transcendent glory, then all anti-Christian denominations—the priests, the Church, the pope—will be swept away.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Edward Palmer |author1-link=E. P. Thompson |title=[[The Making of the English Working Class]] |date=1980|orig-date=1963 |publisher=IICA |page=48 |language=en |chapter=Christian and Apollyon|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l2aLyk-kacIC&pg=PA48}}</ref>}}

Other meetings were then held in [[Manchester, England|Manchester]], Meretown (also spelled Mayortown), [[Chester, England|Chester]] and other places near Manchester. As their numbers grew, members began to be persecuted,<ref name="Evans"/> mobbed, and stoned; Lee was imprisoned in Manchester.<ref name="Evans"/>{{rp|127–128, 132–137}} The members looked to women for leadership, believing that the second coming of Christ would be through a woman. In 1770, Ann Lee was revealed in "manifestation of Divine light" to be the second coming of Christ and was called Mother Ann.<ref name="Evans"/>{{rp|17–22}}

===Mother Ann Lee===
{{Main|Ann Lee}}
Ann Lee joined the Shakers by 1758, then became the leader of the small community.<ref>{{cite news |title=Shaker Eldress Dies |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CMsSAAAAIBAJ&pg=2220,507661&dq=shakers+shaking+quakers&hl=en |agency=Associated Press |date=October 4, 1990 |access-date=August 30, 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>D'Ann Campbell, "Women's Life in Utopia: The Shaker Experiment in Sexual Equality Reappraised – 1810 to 1860." ''New England Quarterly'' Vol. 51, No. 1 (Mar. 1978), pp. 23–38. {{JSTOR|364589}}.</ref> "Mother Ann", as her followers later called her, claimed numerous revelations regarding the fall of [[Adam]] and [[Eve]] and its relationship to [[sexual intercourse]]. A powerful preacher, she called her followers to confess their sins, give up all their worldly goods, and take up the cross of celibacy and forsake marriage, as part of the renunciation of all "lustful gratifications".<ref name="Evans"/>{{rp|127–131}}

She said:

{{Blockquote|I saw in vision the Lord Jesus in his kingdom and glory. He revealed to me the depth of man's loss, what it was, and the way of redemption therefrom. Then I was able to bear an open testimony against the sin that is the root of all evil; and I felt the power of God flow into my soul like a fountain of living water. From that day I have been able to take up a full cross against all the doleful works of the flesh.<ref name="Evans"/>{{rp|23}}}}

Having supposedly received a revelation, on May 19, 1774, Ann Lee and eight of her followers sailed from [[Liverpool]] for colonial America. Ann and her husband Abraham Stanley, brother William Lee, niece Nancy Lee, [[James Whittaker (Shaker)|James Whittaker]], father and son John Hocknell and Richard Hocknell, James Shephard, and Mary Partington traveled to colonial America and landed in [[New York City]]. Abraham Stanley abandoned Ann Lee shortly thereafter and remarried. The remaining Shakers settled in [[Watervliet (town), New York|Watervliet, New York]], in 1776. Mother Ann's hope for the Shakers in America was represented in a vision: "I saw a large tree, every leaf of which shone with such brightness as made it appear like a burning torch, representing the Church of Christ, which will yet be established in this land." Unable to swear an Oath of Allegiance, as it was against their faith, the members were imprisoned for about six months. Since they were only imprisoned because of their faith, this raised sympathy of citizens and thus helped to spread their religious beliefs. Mother Ann, revealed as the "second coming" of Christ, traveled throughout the eastern states, preaching her gospel views.<ref name="Evans"/>{{rp|23–24, 138–144}}<ref>William J. Haskett. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UbESJzwY-7UC&pg=PA25 Shakerism Unmasked, Or The History of the Shakers ...]''. author, E.H. Walkley, printer; 1828. p. 25–34.</ref>

===Joseph Meacham and communalism===
[[File:Shaker Cemetery.jpg|thumb|200px|right| Historical Marker at the Niskayuna Community Cemetery in modern-day Colonie, New York, where Mother Ann Lee is buried]]

After Ann Lee and [[James Whittaker (Shaker)|James Whittaker]] died, [[Joseph Meacham]] (1742–1796) became the leader of the Shakers in 1787, establishing its [[Mount Lebanon Shaker Society|New Lebanon headquarters]]. He had been a New Light [[Baptist]] minister in [[Enfield, Connecticut]], and was reputed to have, second only to Mother Ann, the spiritual gift of revelation.<ref name="Stein"/>{{rp|10–12, 41–42}}

Joseph Meacham brought [[Lucy Wright]] (1760–1821) into the Ministry to serve with him and together they developed the Shaker form of [[communal living]] ([[religious communism]]).<ref name="Desroche">{{cite book|title=Les Shakers américains. D'un néo-christianisme à un pré-socialisme|language=fr|trans-title=The American Shakers: From Neo-Christianity to Pre-Socialism|author=[[Henri Desroche]]|translator=John K. Savacool|date=1971}}</ref> By 1793 property had been made a "consecrated whole" in each Shaker community.<ref name="Stein"/>{{rp|42–44}}

Shakers developed written covenants in the 1790s. Those who signed the covenant had to confess their sins, consecrate their property and their labor to the society, and live as celibates. If they were married before joining the society, their marriages ended when they joined. A few less-committed Believers lived in "noncommunal orders" as Shaker sympathizers who preferred to remain with their families. The Shakers never forbade marriage for such individuals, but considered it less perfect than the celibate state.

In the 5 years between 1787 and 1792, the Shakers gathered into eight more communities in addition to the Watervliet and New Lebanon villages: [[Hancock Shaker Village|Hancock]], [[Harvard Shaker Village Historic District|Harvard]], [[Shirley Shaker Village|Shirley]], and [[Tyringham Shaker Settlement Historic District|Tyringham Shaker Villages]] in Massachusetts; [[Enfield Shakers Historic District (Connecticut)|Enfield Shaker Village]] in Connecticut; [[Canterbury Shaker Village|Canterbury]] and [[Enfield Shaker Museum|Enfield]] in New Hampshire; and [[Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village|Sabbathday Lake]] and [[Alfred Shaker Historic District|Alfred Shaker Village]] in Maine.<ref name="Evans"/>{{rp|35–37}}

===Lucy Wright and westward expansion===
{{Main|Lucy Wright}}
After Joseph Meacham died, Lucy Wright continued Ann Lee's missionary tradition. Shaker missionaries proselytized at [[Revival meeting|revivals]], not only in New England and New York but also farther west. Missionaries such as [[Issachar Bates]] and Benjamin Seth Youngs (older brother of [[Isaac N. Youngs|Isaac Newton Youngs]]) gathered hundreds of proselytes into the faith.<ref name="Stein"/>{{rp|55, 110}}

On April 12 of 1805, Benjamin Youngs and two companions held the first ceremony west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was held at [https://www.wchsmuseum.org/ourproperties.html the cabin of James Beedle], East of Lebanon, Ohio. In 2019, the cabin was relocated, by the Warren County Historical Society, to its current site next to Harmon Museum in Lebanon, Ohio.

Mother Lucy Wright introduced new hymns and dances to make sermons more lively. She also helped write Benjamin S. Youngs' book ''The Testimony of Christ's Second Appearing'' (1808).

Shaker missionaries entered Kentucky and Ohio after the [[Cane Ridge, Kentucky]] [[Revival (religious)|revival]] of 1801–1803, which was an outgrowth of the Logan County, Kentucky, [[Revival of 1800]]. From 1805 to 1807, they founded Shaker societies at [[Union Township, Warren County, Ohio|Union Village, Ohio]]; South Union, [[Logan County, Kentucky]]; and [[Pleasant Hill, Kentucky]] (in [[Mercer County, Kentucky]]). In 1806, a Shaker village, named [[Watervliet Shaker Village (Ohio)|Watervliet]], after the New York town that was the site of the first Shaker settlement, was established in what is today [[Kettering, Ohio]], surviving until 1900 when its remaining adherents joined the [[Union Village Shaker settlement]].<ref name="Ohio Historical Marker">[https://www.beavercreekliving.com/book/item/50-book-thirtyfive ''Ohio roadside historical marker #6–57, Watervliet Shaker Community''.] "Beavercreek Living" website article on "Watervliet, Vale of Peace...", with photo of and text from roadside historical marker (retrieved March 2, 2022).</ref> In 1824, the [[Whitewater Shaker Settlement]] was established in southwestern [[Ohio]]. The westernmost Shaker community was located at [[West Union (Busro), Indiana|West Union]] (called Busro because it was on Busseron Creek) on the Wabash River a few miles north of Vincennes in [[Knox County, Indiana]].<ref name=" Stein"/>{{rp|62–54}}

===Era of Manifestations===
{{Main|Era of Manifestations}}

The Shaker movement was at its height between 1820 and 1860. It was at this time that the sect had the most members, and the period was considered its "golden age". It had expanded from New England to the Midwestern states of [[Indiana]] and [[Ohio]] and Southern state of [[Kentucky]]. It was during this period that it became known for [[Shaker furniture|its furniture]] design and craftsmanship. In the late 1830s a spiritual revivalism, the Era of Manifestations was born. It was also known as the "period of Mother's work", for the spiritual revelations that were passed from the late [[Ann Lee|Mother Ann Lee]].<ref>Christian Becksvoort. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=SvNd-yJUDW0C&pg=PA41 The Shaker Legacy: Perspectives on an Enduring Furniture Style]''. Taunton Press; 2000. {{ISBN|978-1-56158-357-7}}. p. 40.</ref>

The expression of "spirit gifts" or messages were realized in "gift drawings" made by [[Hannah Cohoon]], Polly Reed, [[Polly Collins]], and other Shaker sisters. A number of those drawings remain as important artifacts of Shaker folk art.<ref>Jane F. Crosthwaite, "The Spirit Drawings of Hannah Cahoon: Window on the Shakers and their Folk Art," ''Communal Societies'' 7 (1987): 1–15.</ref><ref name="Schorch">David A. Schorsch and Ruth Wolfe. [http://www.afanews.com/articles/item/1641-a-cutwork-tree-of-life-in-the-manner-of-hannah-cohoon#.Uy8LfIXJH4A ''A Cutwork Tree of Life in the manner of Hannah Cohoon.] AFANews. February 23, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2014.</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px">
File:Shakers Dancing.jpg|''Shaker dance and worship'', during the [[Era of Manifestations]]
File:Polly Ann Reed, A present from Mother Lucy to Eliza Ann Taylor, 1851.jpg|Polly Ann Reed, ''A present from Mother Lucy to Eliza Ann Taylor'', 1851
File:Hannah Cohoon, Tree of Life or Blazaing Tree, 1845.jpg|[[Hannah Cohoon]], ''The Tree of Light or Blazing Tree'', 1845
File:Jacob Skeen Genealogical Chronological and Geographical Chart 1887 Cornell CUL PJM 2085 03.jpg| A two-sheet religious chart intended to further Shaker education, by Jacob Skeen, 1887
</gallery>

[[Isaac N. Youngs]], the scribe and historian for the New Lebanon, New York, Church Family of Shakers, preserved a great deal of information on the era of manifestations, which Shakers referred to as Mother Ann's Work, in his Domestic Journal, his diary, Sketches of Visions, and his history, A Concise View of the Church of God.<ref>Domestic Journal of Daily Occurrences (1834–46), New York State Library ms.; Sketches of Visions, 1838, Western Reserve Historical Society Cathcart Shaker Collection ms. VIII:B-113; A Concise View of the Church of God and of Christ on Earth, Edward Deming Andrews Memorial Shaker Collection, Winterthur Museum Library, ms. 861.</ref>

In addition, Shakers preserved thousands of spirit communications still extant in collections now held by the [[Berkshire Athenaeum]], [[Fruitlands Museum|Fruitlands]] Museums Library, [[Hamilton College (New York)|Hamilton College]] Library, [[Hancock Shaker Village]], [[Library of Congress]], [[New York Public Library]], [[New York State Library]], the Shaker Library at [[Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village]], [[Shaker Museum and Library|Shaker Museum {{pipe}} Mount Lebanon]], [[Western Reserve Historical Society]], [[Williams College]] Archives, [[Winterthur Museum]] Library, and other repositories.

===American Civil War period===
As pacifists,{{#tag:ref|[[Church of the Brethren|Brethren]], [[Mennonites]] and [[Quakers]] are the three "historic peace churches". Other religions were pacifists who eschewed violence and war, including the Shakers.<ref>John Whiteclay Chambers; Fred Anderson. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=_Rzy_yNMKbcC&pg=PA522 The Oxford Companion to American Military History]''. Oxford University Press; 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-19-507198-6}}. p. 522.</ref>|group="nb"}} the Shakers did not believe that it was acceptable to kill or harm others, even in time of war. During the [[American Civil War]], both Union and Confederate soldiers found their way to the Shaker communities. Shakers tended to sympathize with the Union but they did feed and care for both Union and Confederate soldiers. President [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] exempted Shaker males from military service, and they became some of the first [[conscientious objector]]s in American history.

The end of the Civil War brought large changes to the Shaker communities. One of the most important changes was the postwar economy.<ref name="NPS">{{NPS|url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/shaker/shakers.htm|title=The Shakers" Shaker Historic Trail|accessdate=March 23, 2014}}</ref> The Shakers had a hard time competing in the industrialized economy that followed the Civil War. With prosperity falling, converts were hard to find.

===20th century to the present===
By the early 20th century, the once numerous Shaker communities were failing and closing. By mid-century, new federal laws were passed denying control of adoption to religious groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shakerdigital.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=40|title=Shaker Pedia|website=www.shakerdigital.com|access-date=December 24, 2017}}</ref> Today, in the 21st century, the Shaker community that still exists—The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community—denies that Shakerism was a failed utopian experiment.<ref name="NPS" />

Their message, surviving over two centuries in the United States, reads in part as follows:
<blockquote>Shakerism is not, as many would claim, an anachronism; nor can it be dismissed as the final sad flowering of 19th century liberal utopian fervor. Shakerism has a message for this present age–a message as valid today as when it was first expressed. It teaches above all else that God is Love and that our most solemn duty is to show forth that God who is love in the World.<ref name="NPS" /></blockquote>

In 1992, [[Canterbury Shaker Village]] closed, leaving only Sabbathday Lake open. Eldress Bertha of the Canterbury Village closed their official membership book in 1957, not recognizing the younger people living in other Shaker Communities as members.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19881217&id=JnghAAAAIBAJ&pg=877,4794790&hl=en|title=Schenectady Gazette – Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=October 28, 2017|date=17 December 1988}}</ref>

On January 2, 2017, Sister Frances Carr died aged 89 at the Sabbathday community, leaving only two remaining Shakers: Brother Arnold Hadd, age 58, and Sister June Carpenter, 77.<ref name="lasttwo">{{Cite news |url=https://apnews.com/749eec6f79634be687653f0aba5773dc/1-of-the-last-remaining-Shakers-dies-at-89,-leaving-just-2 |title=1 of the Last Remaining Shakers Dies at 89, Leaving Just 2 |last=Sharp |first=David |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |date=January 4, 2017}}</ref> A profile of the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake, published in ''The New York Times'' in September 2024, described Brother Arnold, aged 67 and Sister June, aged 86, preparing to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Ann Lee's arrival in New York. Brother Arnold said: “We’ve survived 250 years. We are looking forward as much as our ancestors did to the next — whatever that involves. All we have to do is be ready.”<ref name="NYT2024"/>

The Shakers at Sabbathday Lake "stressed the autonomy of each local community" and therefore do accept new converts to Shakerism into their community.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theconversation.com/why-the-legacy-of-shakers-will-endure-71063|title=Why the legacy of Shakers will endure|last=Pierce|first=Joanne M.|date=18 January 2017|publisher=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]|language=en|access-date=28 August 2018|quote=However, the members at Sabbathday Lake stressed the autonomy of each local community. Quietly, a few younger people became associated with the Maine community in the 1960s through the 1980s. The two remaining members of this community, Arnold Hadd and June Carpenter, are listed as members today.}}</ref> This Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community receives around two enquiries every week.<ref name="Chiorazzi2017">{{cite web|last=Chiorazzi|first=Anthony|date=13 April 2010|title=The Last of the Shakers|url=https://bustedhalo.com/features/the-last-of-the-shakers|access-date=28 August 2018|publisher=Busted Halo|language=en|quote=Hadd and the other Shakers are not giving up. They are open to converts and average two inquiries a week.}}</ref>