“Expedition Against the Shakers” Kentucky Gazette

This article called the, “Expedition Against the Shakers,” was placed in the Kentucky Gazette on October 2nd, 1810. This article recounts the events of a mob that surrounded a place called “Shaker Town.” Hundreds of angry citizens came together and made allegations “that they [The Shakers] had secret vaults wherein was thrown their infants” and that many of the people in the village were held against their will. People of the mob ordered the Shakers to leave the area by the first of December, or they would be moved by force. The village was searched with vigorous scrutiny, but nothing came up. All of the allegations proved false, but they still traveled across the Kentucky River to their final location at Pleasant Hill. It is assumed that they moved because of the threats made by the mob.

This article reveals the mistreatment and mistrust of the Shakers at the time. This is a fact I believe is often overlooked. Sources from different time periods really creates well-rounded research for our documentary. This information also helps us transition from the history of the Shakers on the east coast. This event could very well be the reason Shaker Village in Kentucky exists today. This article is not packed full of facts, but it is just as important as the sources that are. There is always more to a story than what meets the eye.

The Shaker Adventure

The Shaker Adventure written by Marguerite Fellows Melcher is a three hundred and nineteen page book of stories and information on the Shakers. This source was also found in the William T. Young Library on campus. Much of this book does not pertain to the specific topics our group is researching, but it does have detailed information on topics we do wish to include. One topic covered on pages 120-130 discusses the role of the Trustees in the Shaker Village. Each village had a Trustee’s office that where people from the outside world came to help the Shakers. A trustee managed all business transactions within and outside of the Shaker community. Some of these transactions include but are not limited to the trading of goods, the buying and selling of property, handling of charity funds, and the management of family expenditures (clothing, food, workshop materials). Each family within the society had to handle its money and its affairs separately from the other families in the village.

Other information that may be helpful in building a solid research base included specific facts about Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. One example was the spring that was opened behind the Center House where the Shakers built a large cistern to hold and distribute water to multiple houses. The fact that no epidemics occurred in this community proved that they cared for their water systems very diligently. Another specific example included the fact that Pleasant Hill was credited with the first four-wheeled dump cart.

This source will not be extremely helpful in the structure of this project, but it will give certain topics in our research more depth. Depth is needed in order to create credibility. I choose to read through only a few sections of this book, but it could be a beneficial source later in the project.

The Early Shakers: An Experiment in Religious Communism

Finding articles that you can access online proved to be very difficult, so I decided to look at William T. Young Library for a more sources. My goal was to find a source that was unique from the others I had read so far. The title of this book, The Early Shakers: An Experiment in Religious Communism, was a good indication that this source would be different than the others. The book is twenty-two pages and was written by Daryl Chase in 1936. I believe the time period is vital in understanding the perspective this author had on the Shakers.

Chase began his book like many other sources by giving the background history of the Shakers and the significance of Mother Ann in Shaker Theology, but then he branched off to discuss more specific topics. He also uncovered a man that I had not come across in my previous research named Joseph Meacham. Meacham was the successor of Mother Ann and he was the one that introduced “The Covenant” which was a document that legally separated new members from their possessions and their property. Most of the rules of the society were unwritten, but some of them were written down. Chase has a list of the rules in his writing, but they are followed by only a few comments on his part. The purpose of this book is mainly to inform the audience of the Shaker practices, but he has a bias against the religion like many Americans of the time. He rarely uses his own opinions to elicit this bias, rather he uses the opinions of others to get his point across. In his final thoughts, Chase actually states that Shakerism was religious communism that had economic success. This source is unique because of the point of view it provides, and it would be beneficial to compare this source with sources with a more modern view of the Shaker religion.

Interview 1: Survery

This week our group members came together to decide what the main purpose of our documentary should be. We came up with a couple ideas such as informing the public and/or educating the students at the University of Kentucky about Shaker Village. I decided to address the second option because it was much easier to conduct interviews with students at the University of Kentucky rather than trying to find people in the public willing to answer my questions. This option also creates less bias and fewer extraneous variables because most students are the same age and are at the University for the same reasons. The main focus of my survey was to see if people even knew what this historical attraction was.

I did not try to over complicate my wording, and I decided to ask only a few simple questions. Are you a resident of Kentucky? How old are you? Do you know what Shaker Village is? I sat outside the 90 in order to find an unbiased, random sampling of the University’s students. I split my results into two sections; residents of Kentucky and non-residents of Kentucky. I asked ten residents of Kentucky and found that 40% of them were familiar with Shaker Village. Similarly, I asked ten non-residents of Kentucky and found that 0% of them knew what Shaker Village was. All students polled were between the ages of eighteen and twenty years of age.

With these results, I concluded that Shaker Village goes largely unnoticed by a majority of individuals. Focusing our documentary on informing the students at the University of Kentucky about Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill would be a worthwhile project, but there are still many other ideas that hold valuable perspectives to this project. I would like to compile the research of our group, and decide the purpose of the documentary by the end of this week.

Biography of Mother Ann

I encountered the name Mother Ann many times during my research, so I wanted to know more about her. Ann Lee grew up in Manchester, England and was a laborer in the textile mills. She gave birth to 4 children whom all died as newborns/infants. She joined a group later known as the Shaking Quakers, and was placed in jail for her religious beliefs. She claimed to have seen Christ while and prison and she told her followers what she had seen. She led the pilgrimage to the colonies, and was known as the Mother of the Shaker religion. She died at age 48. Her followers may have believed that she was the female reincarnation of Christ or that she was a prophet predicting the second coming of Christ. Her life is an important aspect of Shaker history which will be included in our project. She is also a significant part of the start up of this religion in the “new world.” This source also included multiple quotes that I thought we could use in our documentary. I thought the following quote summed up the Shaker beliefs;”Do all your work as though you had a thousand years to live on earth, and as you would if you knew you must die tomorrow.”

The Shaker Village by Raymond Bial

From the introduction of this short book written by Raymond Bial, I knew that this was going to be a very beneficial source for our research and  for our final documentary. The author begins by reiterating some of the historical knowledge that many other sources have also used, but then he gets more in depth on the Shaker’s daily living. This book talks about the rules of the society and how the Shaker villages organized and governed their societies. The book also described what the Shakers did from the time  they woke up in the morning to the time they laid down to sleep at night. I was unsure on how much of the project I wanted to delegate to the daily living of the Shakers, but this article provides enough information for it to be a significant part of the project. I would also like to include information on the Shaker inventions and how they contributed to the lives of the Shakers as well as the outside world. The article provides specific examples of inventions that can be described in further detail if we choose to do so. This book had lots of great information, and I hope I can use some of the sources Bial used to further my research. The Shaker Village

Interview Questions

Tour Guide

1. When did you become a tour guide here at Shaker Village and why?
2. How many people do you have on the average tour and how old are they?
3. Do you have tours all year long or just certain times of the year?
4. What is your favorite parts of this job?
5. What is your favorite thing to teach about when giving a tour?
6. What do you think tourist should take away from a visit to Shaker Village?
7. What location in the village is the most popular and why?
8. What is one thing you think tourist need to do before they leave Shaker Village and why?
9. Do you attend the extraneous events held by Shaker Village?
10. Which event held by Shaker Village brings in the most patrons?

Shaker Village Actor

1. How long have you been an actor here at Shaker Village?
2. How did you learn about this position here?
3. Are there actors in the village every day of the week?
4. What audience do you normally speak or teach to?
5. Do you teach specific lessons or just the generalized history of the Shakers?
6. What is your favorite thing to teach and why?
7. Where did you get the outfit you wear around the village?
8. What is your favorite part of this job and why?
9. What location in this village is the most popular and why?
10. Which event held by Shaker Village is the most popular?

Shaker Village Patron

1. What brings you here to Shaker Village today?
2. Where did you learn about this location?
3. Have you visited Shaker Village before?
4. How many times have you come to Shaker Village?
5. Have you noticed changes in the village since you first visited?
6. What was your favorite thing to learn about and why?
7. What was your favorite location here at Shaker Village?
8. Would you consider this to be a family friendly location?
9. Would you recommend this location to a friend?
10. What types of attractions did you participate in today?

Shaker Village Home

When beginning my research, the Shaker Village Home website seemed like a logical place to start. This source is solely focused on giving general and in depth information on various aspects of the village such as the farm, the riverboat, the preserve, and the historic center. It nicely organizes the history of the Shakers before and after they settled in Kentucky. It also gives an overview of the present activities going on there. This site is a perfect link to further our research. The calendar will help our group plan what day we should film the village. The major events that draw guests in occur on Saturdays, so those are days we should plan interviews.

I believe the facts in this source will cover a large part of our project because the are not a lot of sources that discuss such a specific location. The way the information was provided on the website gives us an idea on what parts of the Shaker Village we should focus on. This source can be used as an outline, and we could find other resources that discuss specifics aspects in more detail. The things they focus on, on their website will probably be the things they focus on in the village. Overall, this source is a solid base for our research.

“Home – Shaker Village.” Shaker Village ICal. Web. 6 Oct. 2015. <http://shakervillageky.org/&gt;. 

Account of Proceeding Legislature Regarding the Shakers

This article is a primary source about the Shakers in 1828. The author of this article uses a very surprising tone. Although he is not a Shaker himself, he seems very envious of their lives. The article revolves around all the positive aspects of Shaker life. He first addresses their impressive architecture and profound “neatness.” The Shakers went to great lengths to make sure the things they did were of the best quality possible. Next, the author praises the Shaker’s ability to be self sustainable. They did not hide behind their religion; they paid their taxes and paid for their own belongings. Unlike similar religious communities of the time, the Shakers deemed extremely successful in growing crops and raising cattle. Their techniques were some of the best around the country. Shakers were also a very giving people, and they took in the poor and the needy with open arms.

Although this piece of research had a first hand perspective of the Shaker’s life, I do not think this source will be particularly helpful in the overall production of our documentary. The article was mostly opinions and did not talk about any one topic in very much depth. I would like to use this source if possible only because it is very unique.

http://kdl.kyvl.org/catalog/xt78gt5fbt2m_80