Editing Livingston County, New York (section)

=== The Shakers of Groveland ===
The only [[Shakers|Shaker]] colony in western New York began moving from [[Sodus, New York|Sodus]], [[Wayne County, New York]] to the hamlet of [[Groveland, New York|Sonyea]] in Groveland in 1836. The Shakers practiced celibacy, [[Agrarian society|agrarian]] communal living, and self-sufficiency.

The Groveland site was convenient as a stopping place for Shakers traveling between their western societies in Ohio and their parent village at [[New Lebanon, New York]]. The 1,700-acre farm, with its fertile flatlands and the access to the [[Genesee Valley Canal]] benefited the Shakers’ cottage industries. They made flat brooms, dried apples, dried sweet corn, and fancy goods such as sewing boxes.<ref>Stephen J. Paterwic, ''Historical Dictionary of the Shakers'' (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2008), 96-97.</ref>

Groveland's Shaker population peaked with 148 members in 1836. In 1857, they had 130 members, which shrank to 57 in 1874. Shaker membership everywhere had diminished to the point where the society had to begin consolidating its population at fewer sites. In 1892, the remaining 34 Groveland members moved to the North Family of the Shaker community at [[Watervliet, New York]].

After the Shakers left Groveland, [[New York (state)|State of New York]] paid the Shakers $115,000 for the buildings and 1,800 acres of land at Groveland, for the [[Craig Colony for Epileptics]].<ref>Paterwic, ''Historical Dictionary of the Shakers'', 97</ref>

Several diaries and journals from the Shakers' early years at Groveland can be found at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.<ref>See, for instance: a daily journal kept by an unidentified Groveland Shaker (1837–1841), ms. V:B-23; two journals by Mary Dryer (1839–1846), mss. V:B-24 and 25; two Groveland Church Family journals (1842–1847), mss. V:B-26 and 27; Polly Lee's journals (1843–1871), mss. V:B-28 and 29, and Chauncey Sears' diary (1861–1865), ms. V:B-32, all in the Cathcart collection at Western Reserve Historical Society.</ref> These manuscripts are also available on microfilm at more than 20 locations throughout the U.S.<ref>The current Shakers, who live at Sabbathday Lake, in [[New Gloucester, Maine]], have a Shaker Library which owns this microfilm, as do many Shaker historical sites and a number of academic institutions.</ref>