Other members
57-473: Mount Lebanon Shaker Society , also known as New Lebanon Shaker Society , was a communal settlement of Shakers in New Lebanon , New York. The earliest converts began to "gather in" at that location in 1782 and built their first meetinghouse in 1785. The early Shaker Ministry, including Joseph Meacham and Lucy Wright , the architects of Shakers' gender-balanced government, lived there. Isaac N. Youngs ,
114-459: A Believer – and separation from the world. Ann Lee's doctrine was simple: confession of sins was the door to the spiritual regeneration, and absolute celibacy was the rule of life. Shakers were so chaste that men and women could not shake hands or pass one another on the stairs. Enshrined in Shaker doctrine is a belief in racial equality and gender equality. Shakers were celibate; procreation
171-519: A few other buildings when he visited the Shakers in 1856. Mount Lebanon is located where Shaker Rd. merges with Darrow Rd. off US 20 in New Lebanon, New York . The North Family buildings are preserved as the Shaker Museum . Note: This Shaker site is notable for having preserved hundreds of diaries, account books, hymnals, and other manuscripts in collections now at Hancock Shaker Village ,
228-644: 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. 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. On January 2, 2017, Sister Frances Carr died aged 89 at
285-606: A small nucleus of Ministry elders and eldresses with authority over all the Shaker villages, each with their own teams of elders and eldresses who were subordinate to the Ministry. The Shaker Ministry continued to build the society after Lucy Wright died in 1821: Subsequent members of the Shaker Ministry included: Shaker theology is based on the idea of the dualism of God as male and female: "So God created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). This passage
342-472: A transformation. These movements believe in radical changes to society after a major cataclysm or transformative event. Millenarianist movements can be secular (not espousing a particular religion) or religious in nature, and are therefore not necessarily linked to millennialist movements in Christianity . Both millennialism and millenarianism refer to "one thousand". They both derive from
399-460: Is because "God has no sex in our human understanding of the term; yet being pure spirit He may best be thought of by man with his limited power of comprehension as having the attributes of both maleness and femaleness". The Trinity is not viewed as being false. Instead, Shakers argue that the Trinity has been misinterpreted for being completely masculine. Ann Lee's embodiment of Christ thus completed
456-451: Is incorrect, stating: Millennium is from the Latin mille , "one thousand," and annus , "year"—hence the two n's. Millenarian is from the Latin millenarius , "containing a thousand (of anything)," hence no annus , and only one "n". The application of an apocalyptic timetable to the changing of the world has happened in many cultures and religions, continues to this day, and
513-443: Is not relegated to the sects of major world religions , both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic. Increasingly in the study of apocalyptic new religious movements , millenarianism is used to refer to a more cataclysmic and destructive arrival of a utopian period as compared to millennialism which is often used to denote a more peaceful arrival and is more closely associated with a one thousand year utopia. Christian millennialism
570-580: Is part of the broader form of apocalyptic expectation. A core doctrine in some variations of Christian eschatology is the expectation that the Second Coming is very near and that there will be an establishment of a Kingdom of God on Earth. According to an interpretation of biblical prophecies in the Book of Revelation , this Kingdom of God on Earth will last a thousand years (a millennium ) or more. Many if not most millenarian groups claim that
627-503: The Aum Shinrikyo terrorist acts). It sometimes includes a belief in supernatural powers or predetermined victory. In some cases, millenarians withdraw from society to await the intervention of God. This is also known as world-rejection . Millenarian ideologies or religious sects sometimes appear in oppressed peoples , with examples such as the 19th-century Ghost Dance movement among Native Americans , early Mormons , and
SECTION 10
#1732775741428684-550: The Berkshire Athenaeum , Fruitlands Museums Library, 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 | Mount Lebanon , Western Reserve Historical Society , Williams College Archives, Winterthur Museum Library, and other repositories. As pacifists,
741-657: The Cane Ridge, Kentucky 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 Village, Ohio ; South Union, Logan County, Kentucky ; and Pleasant Hill, Kentucky (in Mercer County, Kentucky ). In 1806, a Shaker village, named Watervliet , after the New York town that was the site of the first Shaker settlement,
798-776: The Library of Congress , New York Public Library , New York State Library , Mount Lebanon , Western Reserve Historical Society , and the Winterthur Museum Library. Some of these primary sources have been published. Shakers Other members The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing , more commonly known as the Shakers , are a millenarian restorationist Christian sect founded c. 1747 in England and then organized in
855-573: 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. Other meetings were then held in Manchester , Meretown (also spelled Mayortown), Chester and other places near Manchester. As their numbers grew, members began to be persecuted, mobbed, and stoned; Lee
912-529: The "second coming" of Christ, traveled throughout the eastern states, preaching her gospel views. After Ann Lee and James Whittaker died, Joseph Meacham (1742–1796) became the leader of the Shakers in 1787, establishing its 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. Joseph Meacham brought Lucy Wright (1760–1821) into
969-652: The 18th century in the northwest of England ; originating out of the Wardley Society . James and Jane Wardley and others broke off from the Quakers in 1747 at a time when the Quakers were weaning themselves away from frenetic spiritual expression. The Wardleys formed the Wardley Society, which was also known as the "Shaking Quakers". Future leader Ann Lee and her parents were early members of
1026-545: The 19th and 20th-century cargo cults among isolated Pacific Islanders . The Catechism [doctrine] of the Catholic Church rejects all forms of millenarianism and its variations: The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgement. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of
1083-468: The 21st century, the Shaker community that still exists—The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community—denies that Shakerism was a failed utopian experiment. Their message, surviving over two centuries in the United States, reads in part as follows: 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
1140-524: The Bride made ready for the Bridegroom, and in her, the promises of the Second Coming were fulfilled. Because of the adoptionist view of Christ only becoming divine during his baptism and the dualist idea that God was to be expressed in male and female genders, Shakers are sometimes viewed as being nontrinitarian . However, modern-day Shakers profess the divinity of Christ and claim that Shaker dualism
1197-714: The Christian tradition. Neither term strictly refers to "one thousand" in modern [1963] academic usage. Millennialism often refers to a specific type of Christian millenarianism, and is sometimes referred to as Chiliasm from the New Testament use of the Greek chilia ' thousand ' . The terms millennialism and millenarianism are sometimes used interchangeably, as in The Oxford Handbook of Millennialism . Stephen Jay Gould has argued that this usage
SECTION 20
#17327757414281254-503: The Church Family. The Shakers used a controversial practice of adopting children and using them as servants and labor. The 1875 New York State Census lists many children as 'servants'. The 1892 New York State census lists many as 'inmates' From that point, membership eroded further. In 1879, the Church Family housed only 54 male and 88 female Shakers, for a total of 142. The closing of smaller communities and consolidation into
1311-428: The Ministry to serve with him and together they developed the Shaker form of communal living ( religious communism ). By 1793 property had been made a "consecrated whole" in each Shaker community. 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
1368-603: The North Family; the rest of the buildings of remaining Families are privately owned. Mount Lebanon's main building became a National Historic Landmark in 1965. Although the first of the Shaker settlements in the U.S. was in the Watervliet Shaker Historic District , Mount Lebanon became the leading Shaker society, and was the first to have a building used exclusively for religious purposes. Benson Lossing documented that meetinghouse and
1425-655: The Sabbathday community, leaving only two remaining Shakers: Brother Arnold Hadd, age 58, and Sister June Carpenter, 77. 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
1482-515: The Second Order) housed 57 male and 48 female Shakers, for a total of 105. In 1789, the Church Family's two orders housed 117 male and 116 female Shakers, for a total of 233. Numbers fluctuated according to the state of the economy and the vigor of Shaker missionaries; hard times increased membership, but rarely did the numbers reach that high again. The total dropped to 130 in 1806, then gradually rose to 240 in 1843 (111 males and 129 females) in
1539-471: The Shaker community as members left or died with few converts to the faith to replace them. By 1920, there were only 12 Shaker communities remaining in the United States. As of 2019 , there is only one active Shaker village: Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village , in Maine . Consequently, many of the other Shaker settlements are now museums . The Shakers were one of a few religious groups which were formed during
1596-528: 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 Lincoln exempted Shaker males from military service, and they became some of
1653-578: 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
1710-642: The Trinity by fulfilling the female aspect of God. Adam's sin was understood to be sex, which was considered to be an act of impurity. Therefore, marriage was abolished within the body of the Believers in the Second Appearance, which was patterned after the Kingdom of God, in which there would be no marriage or giving in marriage. The four highest Shaker virtues were virgin purity, communalism , confession of sin – without which one could not become
1767-882: The United States in the 1780s. They were initially known as "Shaking Quakers " because of their ecstatic behavior during worship services. Espousing egalitarian ideals, the Shakers practice a celibate and communal utopian lifestyle, pacifism , uniform charismatic worship , and their model of equality of the sexes , which they institutionalized in their society in the 1780s. They are also known for their simple living , architecture , technological innovation, music, and furniture . Women took on spiritual leadership roles alongside men, including founding leaders such as Jane Wardley , Ann Lee , and Lucy Wright . The Shakers emigrated from England and settled in Revolutionary colonial America , with an initial settlement at Watervliet, New York (present-day Colonie ), in 1774. During
Mount Lebanon Shaker Society - Misplaced Pages Continue
1824-458: The age of 21, they were free to leave or to remain with the Shakers. Unwilling to remain celibate, many chose to leave; today there are thousands of descendants of Shaker-raised seceders. Shaker religion valued women and men equally in religious leadership. The church was hierarchical, and at each level women and men shared authority. This was reflective of the Shaker belief that God was both female and male. They believed men and women were equal in
1881-437: The current society and its rulers are corrupt, unjust, or otherwise wrong, and that they will soon be destroyed by a powerful force. The harmful nature of the status quo is considered intractable without the anticipated dramatic change. Henri Desroche observed that millenarian movements often envisioned three periods in which change might occur. First, the elect members of the movement will be increasingly oppressed, leading to
1938-484: The devout and dedicated. In most millenarian scenarios, the disaster or battle to come will be followed by a new, purified world in which the believers will be rewarded. While many millenarian groups are pacifistic , millenarian beliefs have been claimed as causes for people to ignore conventional rules of behaviour, which can result in violence directed inwards (such as the Jonestown mass murder) or outwards (such as
1995-521: The ecstatic nature of their worship services. They believed in the renunciation of sinful acts and that the end of the world was near. Meetings were first held in Bolton, England , where the articulate preacher, Jane Wardley, urged her followers to: 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,
2052-834: The faith. On April 12, of 1805 Benjamin Youngs, and two companions, held the first ceremony west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was held at 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
2109-485: 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". She said: 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
2166-573: The fields doing farm work and in their shops at crafts and trades. Shakers worshipped in meetinghouses painted white and unadorned; pulpits and decorations were eschewed as worldly things. In meeting, they marched, sang, danced, and sometimes turned, twitched, jerked, or shouted. The earliest Shaker worship services were unstructured, loud, chaotic and emotional. However, Shakers later developed precisely choreographed dances and orderly marches accompanied by symbolic gestures. Many outsiders disapproved of or mocked Shakers' mode of worship without understanding
2223-652: The first conscientious objectors 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. The Shakers had a hard time competing in the industrialized economy that followed the Civil War. With prosperity falling, converts were hard to find. 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. Today, in
2280-405: The larger villages postponed dissolution for several decades. In the 1940s, due to aging members and declining membership, the Shakers sold the site to Darrow School . Throughout the subsequent years, the site has been managed by several different owners. Darrow owns what remains of the Church and Center Families, while Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon manages preservation and operates tours of
2337-407: The mid-19th century, an Era of Manifestations resulted in a period of dances, gift drawings, and gift songs inspired by spiritual revelations. At its peak in the mid-19th century, there were 2,000–4,000 Shaker believers living in 18 major communities and numerous smaller, often short-lived communities. External and internal societal changes in the mid- and late-19th century resulted in the thinning of
Mount Lebanon Shaker Society - Misplaced Pages Continue
2394-412: The next — whatever that involves. All we have to do is be ready.” The Shakers at Sabbathday Lake "stressed the autonomy of each local community" and therefore do accept new converts to Shakerism into their community. This Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community receives around two enquiries every week. Four Shakers led the society from 1772 until 1821. After 1821, there was no one single leader, but rather
2451-477: 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. In addition, Shakers preserved thousands of spirit communications still extant in collections now held by
2508-407: The second period in which the movement resists the oppression. The third period brings about a new utopian age, liberating the members of the movement. In the modern world, economic rules, perceived immorality or vast conspiracies are seen as generating oppression . Only dramatic events are seen as able to change the world and the change is anticipated to be brought about, or survived, by a group of
2565-559: The sect. This group of "charismatic" Christians became the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (USBCSA). Their beliefs were based upon spiritualism and included the notion that they received messages from the 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
2622-751: The sight of God, and should be treated equally on earth, too. Thus two Elders and two Eldresses formed the Ministry at the top of the administrative structure. Two lower-ranking Elders and two Eldresses led each family, women overseeing women and men overseeing men. This allowed the continuation of church leadership when there was a shortage of men. In their labor, Shakers followed traditional gender work-related roles. Their homes were segregated by sex, as were women and men's work areas. Women worked indoors spinning, weaving, cooking, sewing, cleaning, washing, and making or packaging goods for sale. In good weather, groups of Shaker women were outdoors, gardening and gathering wild herbs for sale or home consumption. Men worked in
2679-472: The society's scribe, chronicled the life of this Shaker village for almost half a century. Youngs also designed the schoolhouse built there in 1839. Holy Mount , where Shaker services were held, has a spur ridge which has been called Mount Lebanon. In addition to the Shakers' central Ministry, notable residents at Mount Lebanon's North Family included Elder Frederick W. Evans, known for his public preaching, and his partner, Eldress Antoinette Doolittle , who
2736-1419: 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 , Harvard , Shirley , and Tyringham Shaker Villages in Massachusetts; Enfield Shaker Village in Connecticut; Canterbury and Enfield in New Hampshire; and Sabbathday Lake and Alfred Shaker Village in Maine. After Joseph Meacham died, Lucy Wright continued Ann Lee's missionary tradition. Shaker missionaries proselytized at 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 Newton Youngs ) gathered hundreds of proselytes into
2793-506: The symbolism of their movements or the content of their songs. Millenarianism Millenarianism or millenarism (from Latin millenarius 'containing a thousand' and -ism ) is the belief by a religious , social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society , after which "all things will be changed". Millenarianism exists in various cultures and religions worldwide, with various interpretations of what constitutes
2850-957: 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. 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 , 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, New York , in 1776. Mother Ann's hope for
2907-529: 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 its furniture design and craftsmanship. In the late 1830s a spiritual revivalism, the Era of Manifestations
SECTION 50
#17327757414282964-401: Was born. It was also known as the "period of Mother's work", for the spiritual revelations that were passed from the late Mother Ann Lee . 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. Isaac N. Youngs ,
3021-716: Was established in what is today Kettering, Ohio , surviving until 1900 when its remaining adherents joined the Union Village Shaker settlement . In 1824, the Whitewater Shaker Settlement was established in southwestern Ohio . The westernmost Shaker community was located at West Union (called Busro because it was on Busseron Creek) on the Wabash River a few miles north of Vincennes in Knox County, Indiana . The Shaker movement
3078-492: Was forbidden after they joined the society (except for women who were already pregnant at admission). Children were added to their communities through indenture, adoption, or conversion. Occasionally a foundling was anonymously left on a Shaker doorstep. They welcomed all, often taking in orphans and the homeless. For children, Shaker life was structured, safe and predictable, with no shortage of adults who cared about their young charges. When Shaker youths, girls and boys, reached
3135-506: Was imprisoned in Manchester. 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. Ann Lee joined the Shakers by 1758, then became the leader of the small community. "Mother Ann", as her followers later called her, claimed numerous revelations regarding
3192-454: Was interpreted as showing the dual nature of the Creator. Shakers believed that Jesus, born of a woman, the son of a Jewish carpenter, was the male manifestation of Christ and the first Christian Church ; and that Mother Ann, daughter of an English blacksmith, was the female manifestation of Christ and the second Christian Church (which the Shakers believed themselves to be). She was seen as
3249-519: Was succeeded by Anna White , M. Catherine Allen artists Sarah Bates , and Polly Anne Reed . The North Family was also known for publishing a book of poetry, Mount Lebanon Cedar Boughs: original poems by the North family of Shakers , Anna White, ed. (Buffalo: Peter Paul Company, 1895), with a number of poems by Cecilia Devere and Martha Anderson. In 1787, the Church Family (the First Order plus
#427572