On February 29th, 1736, in Manchester, Ann Lee was born. She was the second child of an impoverished blacksmith and his wife and her destiny was expected to be that of an illiterate textile worker in the mills of Lancashire. History proved otherwise. She was a sensitive, impressionable child and as a young women was attracted to the Quaker religion and in particular a form which came to be called the ‘Shaking Quakers’ due to their practice of shaking, shouting, dancing, whirling and speaking in tongues. These rituals had been adopted from the French Camisards, early eighteenth century refugees to England from persecution at home in France.

In 1762 Ann was forced into a loveless marriage to one Abraham Stanley. She found support in her faith and from James and Jane Wardley who were leaders of the group. They preached that the end of the world was near, that Christ would soon reign and his return would take the form of a woman as the psalms had predicted - somewhat revolutionary beliefs! They shunned the church and clergy. Initially Ann’s participation was passive using the Wardleys as support in her unhappiness. During this period she had born four children, all of whom died as infants. It is likely that these tragedies and her increasing estrangement from her husband, led her to believe that marriage was wrong. She had visions (revelations she called them) and she began to testify in public. The meetings became increasingly noisy and wild and the participants’ criticism of both the institution of marriage and the church more violent. This naturally aroused hostility and the Shakers were often attacked and imprisoned. It was while Ann was in prison in 1772, she had the ‘revelation’ which was to change her life and to become the cornerstone of the Shakers beliefs and practices. On her release she claimed that she had seen Christ and that she believed that he now dwelt in her and that she now understood the full nature of the fall from grace and the possibility of redemption. The Wardleys accepted her as the leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming (to give the Shakers their full title). She had fulfilled their prophecy of Christ’s return in a woman’s form. Thus she became Mother Ann, their guide and leader.

In 1774, after persecution in Manchester, Ann and eight of her followers left for America to establish their church in the new land of religious freedom. It would appear that their ship, the ‘Mariah’ was unseaworthy and had been condemned as such before the voyage. It cannot have been a comfortable trip with the Shakers noisy acts of worship and the sceptical sailors struggles to keep the ship afloat during storm and tempest. However, the ‘Mariah’ arrived safely in New York and from there, Ann and her followers set out to form the first Shaker settlement at Niskeyuna, near Albany. Ann’s revelations brought new followers as a result of her testimony and a series of occurences that seemed to confirm her prophecies. Undoubtedly she had a dynamic personality and not a little courage. In the 1730s and 40s in America there had been a religious revival, the Great Awakening, which had left behind a radical, anticlerical fervour. This was followed by a vast migration of people to the frontier whose lives had been hard and a struggle for survival. Along with concern for the body was concern for the salvation of the soul. The Shakers were to benefit from this situation and their sect grew and spread.

By 1826, 18 Shaker villages had been set up in eight states. Ann died in 1784 and her mantle was picked up by Elder Joseph Meacham and Eldress Lucy Wright. By the 1840s there were 6,000 members enrolled in the Church.

It was Joseph Meacham who gave the Shaker religion its form. The Shakers believed in equality, celebacy, simplicity, hard work and community. They were against slavery and believed fervently in pacifism. They were equal in the sight of God and in their daily lives.

Everything they had or brought to the villages they shared. They were equal in every aspect of life - dress, housing, work, food. Theirs was indeed a true community. Married couples became brothers and sisters in ‘holy families’ and children went into their own orders and many orphans were homed and raised with the Shakers.

After the initial establishment of the church, evangelism ceased and visitors were actively discouraged from coming to the villages. Meacham gradually directed their style of worship away from wild and noisy outbursts to one more controlled and quiet at the same time developing the practical religion for which the Shakers were to become known. Thus, the sect which was once viewed with suspicion and hostility for its wild and noisy forms of worship, became admired and respected for its orderliness and industry. Over the next two centuries their numbers declined which was only to be expected under the circumstances. In the late nineteenth century they began to advertise for members but by the end of the last century only a handful of Shakers remained.

Their legacy, however, is very strong. Their industry and inventiveness have given the world, among other things, the screw propeller, Babbit metal, a rotary harrow, an automatic spring, a turbine waterwheel, a threshing machine and the circular saw among other things. They were also the first people to package and market seeds and were once the largest producers of medicinal herbs in United States. Their furniture has become very highly prized. Simple in its design, functional and austere, it was manufactured to a high standard. The Shakers believed that to make a thing well was in itself an act of prayer. The design was entirely free of European influence and it anticipated the concepts of functualism which were to become common. They also left a legacy in their music and dance. Shaker melodies appear in music by classical composers such as Aaron Copeland. Their hymns have also endured - "’Tis a gift to be simple, ’tis a gift to be free" is a well known example.

Although the Shaker communities are gone and there are few if any Shakers remaining, they have left behind ideals still relevant today. In 1986, Eldress Bertha Lindsay wrote these words "We are simple people who believe in Christ. Like good Christians everywhere, if we live by his teachings we are good people. We feel that the Christ spirit comes to each person individually, differently, not at the same time. If the Christ spirit is in my life, then Christ has come. We know that Christ is with us every day".

Barbara Hothersall