Editing Shakers (section)

===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}}