their land were fertile they would be glad to leave off manufacturing
entirely. But on such land as they have they cannot make a living.
The leading elder of the society remarked to me that, though in numbers
they were less than formerly, the influence of the Canterbury Society
upon the outside world was never so great as now: their Sunday meetings
in summer are crowded by visitors, and they believe that often their
doctrines sink deep into the hearts of these chance hearers.
_Enfield, N. H._
The Society at Enfield lies in Grafton County, about twelve miles
southeast from Dartmouth College, and two miles from Enfield Station, on
the Northern New Hampshire Railroad. It is composed of three families,
having altogether at this time one hundred and forty members, of whom
thirty-seven are males and one hundred and three females. This
preponderance arises chiefly, I was told, from the large number of young
sisters. There are thirty-five youth under twenty-one years of age, of
whom eight are boys and twenty-seven girls. In 1823 the Enfield Society
had over two hundred members; thirty years ago it had three hundred and
thirty members. They do not now receive many applications for
membership, and of those who apply but few remain.
This society was "gathered" in 1793, and consisted then of but one
family or community. It arose out of a general revival of religion in
this region. A second family was formed in 1800, and the third, the
"North Family," in 1812. They lost some members during the war of the
Rebellion, young men who became soldiers, and some others who were drawn
away by the general feeling of unrest which pervaded the country. They
like to take children, but are more careful than formerly to ascertain
the characters of their parents. "We want a good kind; but we can't do
without some children around us," I was told.
The society has about three thousand acres of land, part of it being an
outlying farm, ten or a dozen miles away. The buildings are remarkably
substantial. The dwelling of the Church Family is of a beautiful
granite, one hundred feet by sixty, and of four full and two attic
stories; some of the shops are also of granite, others of brick, and in
the other families stone and brick have also been used. There is an
excellently arranged infirmary, a roomy and well-furnished school-room,
a large music-room in a separate building; and at the Church Family they
have a laundry worked by water-power, and use a centrifugal dryer,
instead of the common wringer.
Nearly the whole of their present real estate was brought into the
society as a free gift by the founders, who were farmers living there;
and many of the early members brought in considerable means, for those
days. When they gathered into a community they began to add
manufacturing to their farming work, and the Enfield Shakers were among
the first to put up garden seeds. Besides this, they made
spinning-wheels, rakes, pitchforks, scythe-snaths, and had many looms.
Until within thirty years they wove linen and cotton as well as woolen
goods, and in considerable quantities.
At present they put up garden seeds, make buckets and tubs, butter-tubs,
brooms, dry measures, gather and dry roots and herbs for medicinal use,
make maple-sugar in the spring and apple-sauce in the winter; sew shirts
for Boston, and keep several knitting-machines busy, making flannel
shirts and drawers and socks. They also make several patent medicines,
among which the "Shaker anodyne" is especially prized by them; and
extracts, such as fluid valerian; and in one of the families the women
prepare bread, pies, and other provisions, which they sell in a
neighboring manufacturing village. Finally, they own a woolen-mill and a
grist-mill; but these they have leased. One of their members has
invented and patented for the society a folding pocket-stereoscope.
Besides all these industries, uncommonly varied and numerous even for
the Shakers, they have carpenter, blacksmith, tailor, and shoemaker
shops, and produce or make up a great part of what they consume.
Moreover, as in most of the Shaker societies, the women make up fancy
articles for sale.
The members of the society are almost all Americans, and the greater
part of them came in as little children. Of foreigners, there are one
Englishman, two of Irish birth, one of Welsh, and two French Canadians.
As elsewhere, Baptists, Methodists, and Millerites or Second Adventists
contributed the larger part of the membership.
They hire from twenty to thirty-five laborers, according to the season
of the year.
Most of the members are under forty, and almost all are farmers. I heard
of one lawyer; and one when he entered had been a law student. Almost
all are meat eaters, and they use both tea and coffee. A few of the
older men are allowed to chew tobacco. There are no fevers in the
society, and their health is excellent, which arises partly I suppose
from the fact that the ground upon which the buildings stand has
thorough natural drainage. Some of their members have lived to the age
of ninety--which is not an uncommon age, by the way, for Shakers--and on
the register of deaths I found these ages: 89, 86, 86, 80, 80, 79, 76,
75, and so on.
They have a library of about two hundred volumes in each family,
exclusive of strictly religious books; and almost all the younger people
can read music, one of the members being a thorough teacher and good
musical drill-master. They read the Bible a good deal, and sometimes
pray aloud in their meetings. Once or twice a week they hold reading
meetings, at which some one reads either from a book of history or
biography, or extracts from newspapers.
There was some years ago a defalcation in one of the societies, which
"came largely if not entirely through neglect of the rule not to owe
money." The family which suffered in this case has not entirely
recovered from the blow; it still owes a small debt.
An annual business report is now made by the trustees to the ministry
who are set over this society and that at Canterbury.
There is but one Shaker Society in Connecticut, at _Enfield, Conn._
The Society is in Hartford County, about twelve miles from Springfield,
Massachusetts. It was founded in 1792; and the meeting-house then built,
of brick, is still standing, but is now used for other purposes. There
were formerly five families, and in 1823 this society had two hundred
members. At present there are but four families, one of which is small,
and contains only a few aged people, too much attached to their old home
to be removed. There are in the four families one hundred and fifteen
persons, of whom the Church Family has sixty, and the Gathering Family
twenty-five. One third are males and two thirds females; and there are
forty-three children and youth under twenty-one, of whom eighteen are
boys and twenty-four girls. So late as 1848 this society numbered two
hundred persons.
They own about three thousand three hundred acres of land, and make
their living almost entirely by farming. Before the rebellion they had
built up a large trade in the Southern States in garden seeds; but the
outbreak of the war not only lost them this trade, but in bad debts they
lost nearly all they had saved in thirty years. They now breed fine
stock, which they sell; and they sell some hay, but only to buy Indian
corn in its stead. They are careful and excellent farmers. The women
make some articles of fancy work. They employ fifteen hired men
constantly.
This society is prosperous. One of the families has just erected a large
and, for Shakers, uncommonly stylish dwelling; and all the buildings are
in good repair and well painted. Nevertheless they have not had an easy
task to make a living. "If we have got any thing here," said an elder to
me, "it is because we saved it." They have, however, the advantage of an
excellent farm. In the beginning they raised garden seeds, and were
among the first in this country to establish this business, and at one
time they made lead pipe--but the invention of machinery drove them out
of that business.
They eat meat, and use tea and coffee moderately; and a few of the old
members take snuff. They are mostly Americans, with a few Scotch and
English, and more than half of the adult members came in when they were
full-grown. About forty years ago there was in Rhode Island a religious
revival among a sect of Baptists who call themselves "Christians," and
many of these entered the Enfield Society. They now adopt a good many
children, and do not seem displeased at the result. They have a school,
and are fond of music, having a cabinet-organ in their music-room, and
holding a weekly singing-school for the young people. They take "a great
many" newspapers and magazines, and have a variety of books, but no
regular library. The elders have the selection of reading-matter, and,
as in all the societies, exclude what they think injurious.
They have been, they told me, somewhat careless of sanitary regulations,
and have had typhus fever in their houses; but they are now generally
healthy.
They make very few articles for themselves, but buy a good deal.
They make no regular business statement, and owe no debts. They once had
a defalcation, but only of a trifling amount.
There are four Shaker societies in Massachusetts: at Harvard, Shirley,
Tyringham, and Hancock.
_Harvard._
The Harvard Society lies in Worcester County, about thirty miles
northwest from Boston. It was founded in 1793; and had in 1823 two
hundred members. It has now four families, containing in all ninety
persons, of whom sixteen are children and youth under twenty-one--four
boys and twelve girls. Of the seventy-four adult members, seventeen are
men and fifty-seven women. The Church Family has fifty members, of whom
forty-one are women and girls, and nine men and boys. It is usual among
the Shakers to find more women than men in a society or family, but at
Harvard the disproportion of the sexes is uncommonly great.
The members are mainly Americans, but they have some Scotch, Germans,
and Welsh. A considerable proportion of the present membership came in
as adults, and these were, before becoming Shakers, for the most part
Adventists, some however coming from the Baptist and Methodist
denominations. The elder of the Gathering Family was a Baptist, and the
leading minister was an English Wesleyan. The people are mostly in
middle life. The health of this society has always been good; the
_average_ age at death, I was assured, ranged for a great number of
years between sixty to sixty-eight. One sister died at ninety-three, and
other members died at from eighty to eighty-six.
Their home farm consists of about eighteen hundred acres; and they have
besides a farm in Michigan, and another in Massachusetts. Their living
is made almost entirely by farming; and they have drained very
thoroughly a considerable piece of swamp, which yields them large crops
of hay. They make brooms, have a nursery, and press and put up herbs;
and employ sixteen or seventeen hired laborers.
They have a small library, but "do not let books interfere with work;"
there is a school, but no musical instrument; most of the people eat
meat, and drink tea and coffee; and a few are indulged in the practice
of chewing tobacco. They are not very musical, but they take a great
many newspapers.
"Do you like to take children?" I asked; and an eldress replied, "Yes,
we like to take children--but we don't like to take monkeys;" and, in
general, the Shakers have discovered that "blood will tell," and that
they can do much better with the children of religious parents than with
those whose fathers or mothers were dissolute or irreligious.
This society has no debt, and is prosperous, though its buildings are
not all in first-rate order according to the Shaker standard, which is
very high. It has suffered from one defalcation.
The ministry among the Shakers usually occupy their spare time in some
manual labor, as I have explained in a previous chapter. The leading
minister over Harvard and Shirley makes brooms; his predecessor made
shoes. The leading female minister is a dress-maker.
_Shirley_.
The Society of Shirley lies about two miles from Shirley Station, on the
Fitchburg Railroad. It was gathered in 1793, the meeting-house having
been built the year before. Mother Ann Lee passed nearly two years among
the people in this vicinity, preaching to them; and this accounts for
the early building of the meeting-house. In 1823 the Shirley Society had
one hundred and fifty members. At present it has two families, numbering
altogether forty-eight persons; of these twelve are children and youth
under twenty-one--eight girls and four boys. Of the adults, six are men
and thirty women. Until a year ago there were three families, but
decreasing numbers led them to call in one; and they now let the
buildings formerly used by that one. Thirty-five years ago this society
numbered one hundred and fifty persons; twenty-four years ago,
seventy-five; twenty years ago it had sixty. As the old people, the
founders, died off, new members did not come in. They have not now many
applications for membership; and of the children they adopt and bring
up, not one in ten becomes a Shaker.
The society owns two thousand acres of land, which includes several
outlying farms. They employ nine or ten hired laborers; and their main
business is to make apple-sauce, of which they sell from five to six
tons every year. One family makes brooms; and they all preserve fruit,
make jellies and pickles, dry sweet corn, and in the spring make
maple-sugar. The women make fancy articles for sale. Farming is also a
considerable business with them, and they have good orchards.
Most of the members grew up in the society, and the greater number of
them are, I believe, past middle age. Like all the Shakers, they are
long-lived--one sister, a colored woman, is eighty, and another
eighty-eight--and their mortality rate is low. Most of the members are
Americans, but they have a few Nova-Scotians. Most of them eat meat, and
drink tea, but no coffee; and they are especially fond of oatmeal. One
old member both smokes and snuffs, but none others use tobacco in any
shape. They are fond of flowers, but do not cultivate any; have "plenty"
of books and newspapers, but no regular library; like music, but have no
musical instrument; and they are fond of the Bible. Among their meetings
is one for singing.
Their buildings are not so large as those of a Shaker settlement usually
are, but they are in excellent order, and include an infirmary, a house
for aged and feeble members, a nice school-room, and a laundry. They
have the reputation in the neighborhood of being wealthy; and had the
enterprise once to build a large cotton factory, on the shore of a pond
which they then owned. This building they have sold. It ran them into
debt; and this they did not like. They were poor at first; have never
had any defalcation; have no debt now; and make no regular business
statement, trusting to the ministry to keep a proper oversight of their
accounts.
In the school at Shirley physiology was taught, and with remarkable
success as it seemed to me, with the help of charts; the children seemed
uncommonly intelligent and bright. The school is open three months in
the summer and three in the winter--two hours in the forenoon and two in
the afternoon; and the teacher, a young girl, was also the care-taker of
the girls. Singing-school is held, for the children, in the evening.
The societies at Hancock and Tyringham lie near the New York State line,
among the Berkshire hills. They are small, and have no noticeable
features.
There are three Shaker societies in New York: at Mount Lebanon,
Watervliet, and Groveland.
_Mount Lebanon_.
The Mount Lebanon Society lies in Columbia County, two miles from New
Lebanon. It is the parent society among the Shakers, and its ministry
has a general oversight over all the societies. It is also the most
numerous.
The Mount Lebanon Society was founded in 1787. In 1823 it numbered
between five hundred and six hundred persons; at this time it has three
hundred and eighty-three, including forty-seven children and youth under
fifteen. This society is divided into seven families; and its membership
has one hundred and thirty-six males and two hundred and forty-seven
females, including children and youth.
It owns about three thousand acres of land within the State of New York,
besides some farms in other states; and several of its farms in its own
neighborhood are in charge of tenants. The different families employ a
considerable number of hired laborers. They raise and put up garden
seeds, make brooms, dry medicinal herbs and make extracts, dry sweet
corn, and make chairs and mops. The women in all the families also make
mats, fans, dusters, and other fancy articles for sale; and one of the
families keep some sheep.
In a previous chapter I have given so many details concerning the Mount
Lebanon Society that I need here say nothing further about it, except
that it is in a highly prosperous condition.
_Watervliet_.
The society at Watervliet lies seven miles northwest from Albany, and
upon the ground where Ann Lee and her followers first settled when they
came to America. Her body lies in the grave-yard at Watervliet. No
monument is built over it.
The society there has now four families, containing two hundred and
thirty-five persons, of whom sixty are children and youth under
twenty-one. Of the adult members, seventy-five are men and one hundred
women. In 1823 it had over two hundred members; between 1837 and 1850 it
had three hundred and fifty.
It has in its home estate twenty-five hundred acres of land, and owns
besides about two thousand acres in the same state, and thirty thousand
acres in Kentucky. Its chief industry is farming, and the families keep
a large number of sheep and cattle. They shear wool enough to supply all
their own needs in cloth and flannel, but have these woven by an outside
mill; they raise large crops of broom-corn and sweet corn: the first
they make into brooms, and the other they put up dry in barrels for
sale; they put up fruits and vegetables in tin cans, and also sell
garden seeds. They have given up their tan-yard, which was once a source
of income. Finally, they make in their own shops, for the use of the
society, shoes, carpets, clothing, furniture, and almost all the
articles of household use they require.
They hire about seventy-five laborers.
Most of the members are Americans, and three quarters of them grew up
from childhood in the society. Among the membership are some Germans,
English, Irish, Swedes, Scotch, and two or three French people. Some
among them were originally clergymen, others lawyers, mechanics, and
gardeners; but the greater number are farmers by occupation. Some of
those who came in as adults had been "Infidels," some Adventists, others
Methodists. The society at this time contains more young than old
people.
Most of the people eat meat, and drink tea and coffee. Some use tobacco,
but this is discouraged.
They had formerly a good many colored members; and have still some, as
well as several mulattoes and quadroons.
One colored sister is ninety years of age.
The members here have been long-lived; the register proves this: it
shows deaths at ninety-seven, ninety-four, ninety-three, ninety, and so
on. They are careful to have thorough drainage and ventilation, and pay
attention to sanitary questions. They were formerly subject to bilious
fevers; but since rejecting the use of pork, these fevers have
disappeared.
They take a number of newspapers, and have a library of four hundred
volumes, but the people are not great readers, and are fonder of
religious books and works of popular science than of any other
literature. There is a school; and the children are now to have
instruction in music, as one of the families has bought an organ, and
asked a musical brother from New Hampshire to come down and give
lessons. Instrumental music, however, has been opposed by the older
members, and here as in some of the other societies it has been
introduced only after prolonged discussion.
This society has no debts, and has never suffered from the
unfaithfulness of agents or trustees. It is in a very prosperous
condition. Each family makes a detailed annual report to the presiding
ministry, and a _daily_ diary of events is kept.
They have baths in the dwellings, and well-arranged laundries.
The Watervliet and Mount Lebanon Societies have a number of members
living in the outer world, but holding to Shaker principles, and
maintaining by correspondence a connection with them. Some of these are
inhabitants of cities, and "above the average in wealth and culture," I
was told. The Watervliet Society has also a branch at Philadelphia,
consisting of twelve colored women, who live together in one house under
the leadership of an old woman, who was moved about twenty years ago to
leave this society and go to Philadelphia to preach among her people.
The members find employment as day servants in different families, going
home every night. They mainly support themselves, and have never asked
for help from the society; but this occasionally makes them presents,
and keeps a general oversight over them.
_Groveland_.
The Groveland Society lies near Sonyea, in Livingston County,
thirty-seven miles from Rochester on the Dansville and Mount Morris
branch of the Erie Railway. This society Was founded at Sodus Point in
1826, and removed from there to its present location in 1836. They had
at that time one hundred and fifty members; and were most numerous about
twenty-five years ago, when they had two hundred members. At present
they have two families, with fifty-seven members in all, of whom nine
are children under twenty-one; of these last, six are girls and three
boys. Of the adults, thirty are females and eighteen males.
They own a home farm of two thousand acres, and an outlying farm of two
hundred and eighty acres, mostly good land, and very well placed, a
canal and two railroads running through their home farm. They have a
saw-mill and grist-mill, which are sources of income to them; and they
raise broom-corn, make brooms, and dry apples and sweet corn. The women
make fancy articles for sale. They also keep fine cattle, and sell a
good deal of high-priced stock. Farming and gardening are their chief
employments, as they have a ready sale for all they produce. They employ
eight hired laborers.
The members are mostly Americans, raised in the society; but they have
French Canadians, Dutch, German, Irish, and English among them. The
French Canadians were Catholics, and some of their other members were
Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Methodists. Most of those who came in
as adults were farmers. They are long-lived--living to beyond seventy
in a considerable number of cases.
They eat meat, drink tea and coffee, and some aged members who came in
late in life, with confirmed habits, are allowed to use tobacco. One
sister smokes.
They have a school, and a good miscellaneous library of about four
hundred volumes, in a case in the dwelling-house of the Church Family.
They sing finely, but are opposed to the introduction of musical
instruments. In some of their evening meetings they read aloud, and the
last book thus read was Mr. Seward's "Journey around the World."
They do not adopt as many children as formerly, and experience has
taught them the necessity of knowing something of the parentage of
children, in order to make judicious selections.
"Formerly we had one or two physicians among our members, and then there
was much sickness; now that we have no doctor there is but little
illness, and the health of the society is good."