Shaker Collection

• Shaker Bibliography
• Warren Broderick's J.E. West's New Lebanon Shaker Community Photographs

Historical Note and Description of Papers:

From the introduction in A Guide to Shaker Manuscripts in the Library of the Western Reserve Historical Society. Kermit J. Pike, comp. (Cleveland: The Western Reserve Historical Society, 1974. pp.ix-x)

The Biblical passage "What thou seest, write it down" (Revelation 1:11) was most conscientiously implemented by the members of the United Society of Believers in Christ Second Appearing or, as they were more commonly known, the Shakers. From the date of their arrival in New York harbor from England on August 6, 1774, members of this religious communal society, founded and originally led by Ann Lee, were a visible, and at times, controversial minority group. Their religion, which embodied the notions of obedience, confession and celibacy; their modes of religious worship, including the frenetic dance that led to their being called "shaking Quakers," and their withdrawal from the world, as represented by their refusal to bear arms and to take oaths, provoked the antagonism of many of their New England neighbors who viewed the Shakers as heretics and extremists. This negative reaction, which resulted in physical as well as verbal abuse, was reason enough for the Shakers to document their activities and keep careful records of their temporal transactions. The growth in their numbers in New York in the 1780s, in New England in the 1790s, and in Ohio and Kentucky in the first quarter of the nineteenth century also prompted the creation of records.

Members in what would total 19 major communities by 1826 had to be appraised of refinements in matters of philosophy and theology, changes in the forms of worship, developments concerning increasing contact with the outside world, and news that dealt with common spiritual and temporal concerns. In order to accomplish this, letters were frequently exchanged, diaries and journals were kept, and key documents, which usually originated in the main communities at Watervliet and Mount Lebanon, New York, were painstakingly copied and distributed to the other communities; concurrently, copies of important documents originating at these communities were sent to Watervliet and Mount Lebanon. The Shakers' affinity for order and discipline also can be seen as a contributing factor to the creations of records in this manner and their careful retention through the nineteenth century.

Whereas oral agreements binding the members to a common set of beliefs sufficed for the earliest Shakers, by 1795 these agreements were replaced by written covenants. The covenants usually bound the members of a given Shaker community. In some instances, members of a given family (the typical living unit within a specific community, i.e., First Family, North Family, etc.) signed a covenant. The covenants spelled out the key element in Shaker communal philosophy – "the possession and use of a joint interest" – and contained additional statements concerning faith and principle. The strictures set forth in the covenants were supplemented through the years with the appearance of various rules and regulations that were periodically revised and codified as in the case of the millennial laws of 1821 and 1845. Other documents relating to the practical considerations of community organization and order include those that concern membership, such as indentures, apprenticeship agreements, and discharges, and those concerning land, such as deeds, agreements, surveys, and maps.

Furthermore, the Shakers regularly kept accounts of their financial transactions, particularly as these relate to their contacts with non-Shakers. Representatives of this are the records relating to the sale of seeds, herbs, cloth, brooms, and other Shaker products. The large quantity of typical 19th-century financial records, such as receipts, bills and promissory notes, are interspersed with valuation of communal and personal property, and lists of charitable donations.

Although Shaker philosophy emphasized the community over the individual, the latter was not totally submerged. Care was extended to the maintenance of membership records, often in the forms of rolls and lists. These frequently contain the individual's birth and death date, as well as the date of reception into and, when applicable, of withdrawal from a Shaker community.

As Shaker ministers set out from the East to establish eventually the seven communities in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, regular contact was maintained with the church leaders through correspondence. Many of these letters, which reflect the challenges, successes, and failures in the Midwest, have survived. Scattered as the communities were throughout the northeastern United States, the letter continued to be an important means of communication. In addition, members of the Shaker hierarchy, who found it necessary to travel among the communities, frequently kept detailed journals of their experiences. Occasionally they visited other communal sects, (but more frequently they were in search of markets for their goods). Upon direction of the elders, Shaker sisters often kept daily journals of "domestic occurrences." In other instances, Shaker artisans (i.e. shoemakers, clockmakers) kept journals in which they recorded their labors. In general, concerted effort was made to document the day-to-day activities of the brethren and sisters as well as the travels of the ministry, elders, and eldresses and the events of importance concerning the church.

While each Shaker originally enjoyed little economic independence, there were opportunities for individual expression. An example is the large number of autobiographies that were prepared. These and the biographies of deceased Shaker leaders were widely circulated among the Shaker communities. The criticism directed towards Mother Ann that continued even after her death was answered in the 1810s and 1820s by the preparation and, in some instances, publication of "testimonies." The latter contained individual accounts by Shakers attesting to the high moral character of Mother Ann and other Shaker leaders. Testimonies were again prepared in the 1840s as Shakers were called upon to testify to their belief in and acceptance of Shaker religious tenets. Many of these testimonies begin with autobiographical accounts. The existence of these autobiographies, biographies, and testimonies reflects the fact that a large number of learned and articulate people were drawn to Shakerism. This is also evident in the series of addresses, sermons, and essays that deal with a wide range of subjects, including history, education, spiritualism, the Bible, and theological subjects.

The most unusual series of records, the inspired writings, came into being at a time when the Shakers appeared to be wavering from their original religious intent and falling victim to such worldly temptations as material prosperity. Young people were challenging the accepted wisdom of bygone leaders and showed less enthusiasm for the traditional forms of worship. The result was a decade (1838-1848) characterized by visions, prophecies, messages, and communications transmitted through visionists or instruments among the Shakers. The sources of these messages were identified as deceased Shaker leaders, Biblical figures or other notable personages. These manifestations often contained warnings and instructions or word gifts and presents directed to individual Shakers. These messages, some of which are in the form of detailed drawings, had a profound religious, cultural, and social influence on the Shakers and, particularly, on their music, art, poetry and rituals, such as the dance. The impact on Shaker music, for example, is evident in a study of the many hymnals containing music and verse, much of which was "received" through inspiration. Songs, which generally were expressions of beliefs, were a Shaker characteristic from the Society's inception and their evolvement through the years reflect the continual changes that occurred in Shaker philosophy and ritual.

This collection of manuscripts and publications touches all aspects of the Shaker way of life. In addition to the better known Shaker principles – celibacy and separation from the world – it also includes information on their beliefs and actions regarding pacifism, charitableness, equality of sexes, and sanctity of labor. To a lesser extent, it reflects upon the Shakers' applied agricultural, mechanical, and technical skills, which are embodied in many of the artifacts that have fortunately survived. From the lofty medium of poetry to the more practical realm of school books, recipes and prescriptions, insights are provided into the contribution of the Shakers and forces that attended the growth, development and decline of this most significant 19th-century communal society.

Provenance and Organization

This guide reflects the total reorganization of the Shaker manuscripts and many printed items in this repository by bringing together over 400 items that had been previously catalogued separately, or not at all, to form one collection.  A substantial number of manuscripts and publications came to this repository about 1913 by donation from M. Catherine Allen on behalf of the United Society of Believers, commonly called the Shakers. Another substantial donation was made in March 1931 by Anna Case of the South Family of Shakers. Many other materials came by way of transfer from the New York State Museum, or were acquired by purchase or donation.  Complete information regarding the acquisition of individual items or collections can be found in the accession files maintained by this repository.  The basic organization scheme of this collection is two series: I. Manuscripts; II. Printed Materials. The Printed Materials series consists of works by Shakers and works about Shakers.

All the manuscripts were examined individually to determine the community of origin of each item and the following subseries were established:

1. Watervliet, New York
2. Mount Lebanon, New York
3. Groveland or Sonyea, New York
4. Harvard, Massachusetts
5. Other, Mixed, or Unidentified Origin

The collection is arranged by community and then by form/genre (covenants, financial records, membership, etc.) to facilitate research of specific communities. (For those researching form/genre, this guide includes a Manuscripts Series Form/Genre Index.) The community of origin as defined here means one of the following: the community in which the item was first written; the community in which the writer resided or with which he or she was chiefly associated, or the community with which the item was most associated. If a community of origin could not be determined or there appeared to be more than one, these manuscripts assigned to subseries E along with those from identifiable communities, for which there were too few in number to establish a separate subseries. The communities represented in subseries E are Canterbury, New Hampshire; Enfield, Connecticut; Enfield, New Hampshire; Hancock, Massachusetts; Shirley, Massachusetts; Tyringham, Massachusetts, and Union Village, Ohio. This last subseries also includes all music, poetry, and recipe-prescription manuscripts since most of this material is multi-community in origin. Within each subseries the descriptive level is primarily by item, with additional notes when deemed necessary to bring out information a researcher might not normally expect to find in a given item.

The Printed Materials Series consist of over 250 items, including pamphlets, broadsides, trade catalogues and periodicals, most of which were authored and published by the Shakers themselves. Arrangement and description of items in this series is linked closely to the format found in Shaker Literature: A Bibliography, compiled and annotated by Mary L. Richmond (Hancock, Massachusetts: Shaker Community, Inc., 1977), the most comprehensive source of information on publications by or about the Shakers. The Richmond bibliographic number is included in parenthesis at the end of each entry in this guide so it easily can be consulted by researchers. Consulting Richmond is strongly recommended before requesting a particular title since many items are in poor physical condition.

Microfilm copies of many of the publications are also available for use in the Library.  Items in the collection that have been microfilmed have the microfilm call number in parentheses after the item listing.

Manuscript Series Form/Genre Index

Box and Folder List:

Series I: Manuscripts

Series II: Printed Material

(R#): Designates bibliographic number for items listed in Shaker Literature: A Bibliography compiled and annotated by Mary L. Richmond (Hancock Massachusetts: Shaker Community, Inc., 1977). 2 vols.