state of Neu-22 orit.
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No. 198. ſº
IN ASSEMBLY, APRIL 2, 1849,
* = & REPORT
of the Select Committee on the subject of the Shakers.
Mr. Taylor, from the select committee to which was referred a
resolution, inquiring into the propriety of rescinding certain trusts held
by the United Society of the people commonly called Shakers, under
a law of this State, passed April 15, 1839; and also several petitions
on the same subject.
REPORTS :
That they entered upon the delicate and responsible duty confided
to them, with feelings of no ordinary emotion. The unceasing clamor
which for several years past has been made at the door of our Legis-
lature ; the unsettled opinion of the public mind in relation to the
expediency of giving legislative aid to encourage this strange people
in our country; and the constitutional right of legislative interfer-
ence have all been duly considered by your committee. It is not to
be expected that a report upon a subject so little understood by the
great body of the community as that of the Shakers, will meet with
universal approval, nor does your committee flatter itself it will be
able to silence the many tongues which have been raised in relation
to this almost unknown people, still it will be the object of your com-
mittee to present the statement of facts elicited, and give a brief
og raphy of the origin, progress and present position of the society,
together with the prominent characteristics which mark them as a
[Assembly, No. 198.] 1 ſu.n.&5t.]
2. [Assembly
strange people, and thus hope to place the matter in a position to be
more fully understood.
The Shakers profess to but one object, which is religious unity, and
they clain but one title, which is the followers of Jesus Christ. Their
mode of life and religious conduct derives its origin from the spirit of
the French prophets, who sprang up and formed societies in Dauphiny
and Vivarais in the year 1688. This society professed to be inspired
by the Holy Ghost. They in a few years extended their numbers
to several thousands. Their actions were not only novel but strange
indeed. They would have fits which came upon them with trembling
and fainting, as in a swoon. They would stretch out their arms and
limbs, strike themselves violently with their hands, fall on their backs,
shut their eyes and heave with their breasts. They believed and so
proclaimed, that they saw the Heavens open, angels, paradise and
hell. After they had been for a while under these agitations of
body they would prophecy, the chief of which was, “Amend your
lives, repent ye; the end of all things draws nigh.” The hills and
vallies rebounded with their loud cries for mercy; their imprecations
were severe and unlimited against corruptions of all other religious
denominations. They felt that the spirit of anti-Christ was stalking
broad-cast through the world. D
In 1706 some 3 or 4 of these prophets went into England, carrying
with them their prophetic spirit. They propagated the like spirit to
others, and in a short time they numbered between two and three hun-
dred in and about London. The great things they pretended by the spirit
was to give warning of the near approach of the Kingdom of God, the
happy times of the Church, the millennium state. It is proper here to
note that the United Society of Shakers of the present day claim that
after the ministry of Jesus Christ and his apostles on earth, a declension
from the true spirit of christianity took place, the spirit of Anti-Christ
gained the ascendency and commenced its dark reign, which continued
for a space of 1260 years. In 1747 James and Jane Wardley
established near Manchester, England, a society entertaining views
very similar to those of the first French prophets, differing only in
their rules of worship; they thought God would show them the way,
and would consequently sit for hours without moving a limb, finally
they would commence jumping and whirling with trembling and vio-
lent agitation of the body. They would run, leap, sing and shout for
joy. From these exercises of the body the appellation of “Shakers”
No. 198.] 3
was given, which has proved a common name of distinction to the
present day. N.
The introduction of the doctrines and success of the society in this
country is mainly attributed to Ann Lee, and as her name is so uni-
versally known in connection with the society as almost its founder,
a few words in relation to her career may not be out of place. Ann
Lee was born in Manchester, England, in the year 1736. She was
of humble origin, and misfortune deprived her of the knowledge to
either read or write; during her childhood and youth she was employ-
ed in a cotton manufactory, and was afterwards a cook in the Man-
chester infirmary. She was married to Abraham Stanley, a blacksmith,
by whom she had four children, all of which died in infancy. In 1758
she became acquainted with James and Jane Wardley, and joined
their society; this society held to an open “confession of every sin
they had committed, and to a full and final cross against everything
which they knew to be evil.” In the summer of 1770, after nine
long years of trouble and anguish of mind, she received a revelation.
At this time she was in prison, where she was confined on account of
her religious principles. This revelation revealed to her God’s will
to dispense through her his power over all sin, so great was this work-
ing that she was soon acknowledged as their spiritual mother in CHRIST
from which she received the title of JMother Ann. Her persecutors
Were severe upon her, often stoning her through the streets, and im-
prisoning her for many days at a time with scarcely any sustenance.
In the year 1774, she professed that she had received a special
revelation directing her to repair to America. On the 19th of May
in the same year, she embarked on board the ship Maria, Capt. Smith,
of New-York, accompanied by her husband and eight others of her
believers. They arrived at the port of New-York, after a boisterous
( ). « » wº
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º
passage, on the 6th of August following. Whilst on the passage,
the ship sprung a leak, and as she stood by, a loose plank instantly
closed in and the leak was stopped. At this miraculous interposition,
the captain was greatly moved and he afterwards gave the company
full liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their con-
sciences. Her husband was sickly for two years after their arrival
in the city of New-York, at which place they resided. He then
abandoned her and her faith, and afterward he married another woman
which ended her marriage relation.
ſº
*
4 |ASSEMBLY
In 1776, she, with a few followers, took up her residence in the
woods of Watervliet, near Niskayuna, seven miles from this city,
(Albany.) At this period, our country was engaged in the war of
the Revolution. By some she was suspected of witchcraft, and by
others, because she and her friends and followers were opposed to
war, she was accused of holding a secret correspondence with the
British, and consequently a charge of treason was alleged against her,
and she was, under this charge, imprisoned in Albany during the same
summer. In the fall they concluded to send her to New-York city,
with the view of banishing her to the British army; but not succeed-
ing in their object, they imprisoned her in the Poughkeepsie jail until
Governor Clinton, late in the same fall, became acquainted with her po-
sition and situation, released her. She immediately returned to Water-
vliet, and again commenced calling around her large crowds of sym-
pathisers and gained many converts, She afterwards visited the New
England States; while at Harvard and Petersham, she was scourged
with whips, stoned, kicked and dragged through the streets. But
these persecutions tended, in the end, to increase her flock. In 1783,
she and her friends returned to Watervliet. Her biographer says,
“Ann Lee became now sensible that she must soon leave her friends,
and she accordingly prepared them for the trying event, by making
known to them that she felt that her decease was shortly at hand.
Being satisfied that she had finished the work which she had been
called to perform on earth, she bid adieu to all terrestrial things and
was released from her labors, her sorrows and sufferings, and calmly
resigned her soul to God, on the 8th of September, 1784, in the forty-
eighth year of her age.” Thus ended the earthly career of the woman
whom the Shakers sincerely believe now occupies that form or figure
which John the Baptist saw in his vision standing beside the Saviour.
Her remains are deposited in a little mound about a quarter of a mile
from the meeting-house at Watervliet, beside a rude field of forest
trees, with nothing to mark the spot save a small rough stone, upon
which is inscribed “M. A. L.”
The cause of the settlement at New Lebanon grew out of a re-
markable revival of religion among the people of this and the adja-
cent towns, attended with most extraordinary circumstances of con-
viction, which greatly aroused not only the preachers but almost the
whole people. Many who had been for years professors of religion,
came out and confessed that they felt that the foundation upon which
No. 198.] , 5
they stood was false. Some thought that they had been favored with
visions and prophecies, by which they testified that the day of re-
demption was at hand, that Christ was approaching even at their
doors; and loud cries went up to God for his kingdom to come.
This work was swift and powerful but of short duration. Soon
their visions and prophecies ceased and none of the things which they
had testified appeared. Although filled with deep distress and anxi-
ety of mind they clung to their confidence in the near approach of
God’s kingdom, and with earnest prayers enjoined the faithful to
stand firm.
In the spring of 1780 some of these believers providentially visited
Mother Ann and her little family, and were soon convinced that they
were in the very work for which they themselves had been so earn-
estly praying. Soon after many others from New Lebanon resorted
to see her and them, and when they heard the new testimony from
her lips and witnessed the extraordinary operations of Divine Power
they were confirmed in the belief that Christ had in very deed ap-
peared again on earth.
There are at the present time, three societies of the Shakers in this
State. The first settlement was made at Watervliet in 1776. But
the first regularly organized society under the written covenant was
the New Lebanon Society, which was founded in 1788. The third
society is at Groveland, Livingston county. The New Lebanon So-
ciety contains at the present time a population of 529 souls The
Watervliet 316, and the Groveland 117, making a total of 962 in
the State. It may be proper to state, that there are eighteen societies
of Shakers in the United States, located thus: 3 in New-York, 4 in
Ohio, 2 in Kentucky, 1 in Connecticut, 2 in New Hampshire, 4 in
Massachusetts, and 2 in Maine. Each society contains an average
population of about 225 souls, making a total in the United States of
4050 souls.
The records furnished your committee, show that but a trifling in-
crease has taken place in the societies during the last ten years. The
females exceed the males about ten per cent. The records of the
deaths, which were also placed in the hands of your committee, show
an average age of fifty-four years. This it is believed greatly surpasses
any other class of people of equal number in the world.
'6 [Assembly
The principal characteristics of their faith consists in following the
example of Jesus Christ, by living a life of purity; implying an efi-
tire abstinence from all sensual and carnal gratifications. “Follow
peace with all men,” is a Divine precept, hence they abstain from
war and blood-shed, from all acts of violence towards their fellow-
man, and from all party contentions and politics of the world. To be
just and honest in all their dealings with mankind, and holiness,
“without which no man shall see the Lord;” from this arises their
doctrines and practical rules of dedicating their persons, services and
property to social and sacred uses; by which they establish one con-
secrated and united interest. A prompt obedience to the call of
Christ, “Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate.”
Hence begins the first order of the Society.
On joining the Society, a covenant is entered into between the par-
ties, in which the use and benefit of the property, and the services of
all and each, are freely devoted to the common support of the order
or family. The parties solemnly announce their faith, and the ob-
ject of their order. They agree to live together as brethren and sis.
ters of one family, possessing one consecrated interest, and equally
enjoying the benefits of the same; to conform to the order hereto-
fore known and approved, such as the several orders of ministry,
elders, deacons and trustees; and the duties and obligations, rights
and privileges of the members respectively. They further, in the
most explicit terms, relinquish all claim to personal or private pro-
perty, and wages for their services, and debar not only themselves,
but their heirs and assigns forever, from all private claims to the said
consecrated interest, on account of any property or service which
they may have contributed and bestowed; and jointly securing to all
and each the unmolested enjoyment of all those benefits and privi-
leges, spiritual and temporal, during life, provided they perseveringly
conform to the principles and rules of the Society. Any person join-
ing the Society, and bringing into it property, who may afterwards
become dissatisfied, and conclude to withdraw from it, can also with-
draw all the property they bring in: That is, all members belonging
to the junior order, are allowed the full control of their own proper-
ty, and if at any time they become dissatisfied, and wish to with-
draw, they have an indisputable right to all the property they have
brought in, or the value thereof. But those who wish to unite with
the senior class or order, and enter into church relation, are permit-
No. 198.] 7
ted to do so, if freed from all involvements; but such relation im-
plies a full dedication to God, forever, of all their temporal property,
which they can hever thereafter claim. Yet this does not prohibit
the trustees of said joint interest or property from doing justice to
such persons in case they should finally conclude to withdraw; and
it has been an invariable rule with the trustees, to make donations to
the full amount of property that such persons have brought in, or
become heir to, on their withdrawal.
According to the law of Moses which is considered as typical of
the law of Christ, “No devoted thing that a man shall devote unto
the Lord, of all that he hath both of man and beast and of the field
of his possession shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is
most holy unto the Lord.”
During a period of more than seventy years, not a legal claim has
been entered, by any person, for the recovery of property brought
into the Society; but all claims, where they have been found to
exist, have been amicably settled, to the satisfaction of the parties
concerned.
No person can be received into this order, unless he be clear of
debt, so that whatever property he may possess may be clearly his
own. Minors cannot be received as covenant members, yet they may
be received under its immediate care and protection; and when they
shall arrive at lawful age, if they choose they can sign the covenant
and continue in the Society, by conforming to its principles. Minor
children, male and female, are generally received by the Society un-
der articles of indenture, the same as factors take apprentices. It is
not the custom of the Society to seek children to be indentured to
them; but destitute parents and orphan children as a last resort seek
the Society; the parents for membership the children for apprentice-
ship.
No believing husband or wife is allowed by the principles of the
Society to separate from an unbelieving partner, except by mutual
agreement, unless the conduct of the unbeliever be such as to warrant
a separation by the laws of God and man. Nor can any husband or
wife who has otherwise abandoned his or her partner, be received
into the Society. If an unbelieving wife separate from a believing
8 | Assembly
husband, by agreement, the husband must give her a just and reason-
able share of the property; and if they have children who have arrived
at years of understanding sufficient to judge for themselves, and who
choose to go with their mother, they are not to be disinherited on that
account.
The manner of worship among the Shakers is so peculiar, that it
demands a passing notice. They have no printed form of worship,
but assemble in a plain, neat building: the floor is furnished with
moveable benches. The worship commences by the men arranging
themselves in one end of the room and the women in the other;
after which a few words are addressed to them by the elder, whilst
they remain standing; then, after a profound silence for some five
minutes, they commence singing hymns, the words of which are un-
intelligible to the auditors.
After this they remove the benches, take off their coats and hang them
upon wooden pins around the sides of the room, resume their positions,
and march backwards and forwards, in a sort of shuffle step, facing each
other to a tune which they all sing; then they face the wall with their
backs to the audience, who are provided with seats upon benches
along the front side of the room, and march backwards and forwards
towards the wall. This being over they form two circles, one large
and one small one, and march round each other to the tunes sung by
the inner circle, which is composed of the principal singers; their
hands also keeping time either by the alternate motion of swinging
backwards and forwards, or by clapping them together as they become
animated by the spirit of the tunes which are sung. After these ex-
ercises, which last about half an hour, are over, they replace the
benches, and all are seated. Here a pause or silence of several min-
utes takes place, after which some one of their leading men advances
to the centre of the room and addresses the audience and members
upon subjects involving the general principles of the Society, showing
that the scriptures furnish abundant proof for the origin of the dance,
and that the teachings of Jesus command and point out to them the
mode to become his true followers. This being over, one of the
elders advances in front of the auditors, and briefly thanks them for
the orderly manner in which they have respected their form of wor-
ship, and the meeting is declared to be over. The authority of the
No. 198.] Q 9
worship by dancing is found throughout the whole of the Old Testa-
ment “David and all Israel danced before the Lord.” At the yearly
feast of the Lord in Shiloh, the daughters come out to dance in the
dances. “Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King, let them
praise his name in the dance.” “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the
dance.”
The sceptic may desire to know how this Society is to increase under
its own laws which teach and recognize only the state of celibacy.
This is answered by the Shakers thus: “The child of God must be
begotten in the spirit, by the word of life, and travel in the spiritual
regeneration till he comes to the new birth, before he can be born into
the real nature and life of Christ. It must appear obvious that if
Divine wisdom had designed that Christ should ever be manifested in
the female sex for the purpose of raising them to their proper order in
the work of redemption, which none can dispute, there must be a be-
ginning; and this manifestation must first commence in one woman,
and from her be extended to others; and it must necessarily appear
and be confirmed to others by the fruits and works brought forth by
her. As the true character of Christ in the male, so the true charac-
ter of Christ in the female, must be first manifested in that female
who first received the fullness of the same spirit. And as this corres-
pondent character was never displayed in any woman until it was
manifested in Ann Lee, therefore she must be the distinguished female
who was selected by Divine wisdom for that very purpose. The true
foundation being thus laid in both male and female, the work of God
proceeds by a corresponding spiritual union and relation between
them through which souls are regenerated and born into the everlast-
ing kingdom of Christ. And without this correspondence, the work of
the new creation could not proceed, any more than the works of the
old creation could go on without the natural correspondence between
the male and female. Hence it appears evident that the work of re-
generation, and the new birth could not be accomplished until the
second appearing of Christ.”
Having thus passed briefly over the history and prominent charac-
teristics of the Shakers, your committee will proceed to examine the
immediate subjects of their duty, viz: the resolution and petitions.
10 [Assembly
The resolution inquiring into the propriety of rescinding certain
trusts has reference to the following law:
AN ACT in relation to certain trusts.
Passed April 15, 1839.
The People of the State of JWew-York represented in Senate and
Jissembly, do enact as follows: **
$ 1. All deeds of trust in relation to real and personal estate exe-
cuted and delivered prior to the first day of January, eighteen hun-
dred and thirty, to any persons in trust for any United Society of
the people commonly called Shakers, shall be valid and effectual to
vest in the trustees the legal estates and interests purported to be
conveyed by such deeds, to and for the uses and purposes declared
therein, or declared by any declaration of trust, executed by such
trustees, in the same manner and to the same effect, as before the first
day of January, eighteen hundred and thirty; and such legal estates
and trusts may be continued so long as may be required for the pur-
poses of the trust, by conveyances from the trustees named in such
deeds to other trustees appointed by such society, and by conveyances
from them to others appointed in like manner.
§ 2. Trusts of real and personal estate for the benefit of any Unit-
ed Society of the people called Shakers, may hereafter be created for
the use of the members of any such society, according to the religious
constitution of such society; and the legal estates of any property so
held in trust, shall be vested in the trustees and in those to whom
such property may be transmitted in trust by the appointment of any
such society, so long as may be required for the objects and purposes
of such trusts. But no society shall become beneficially interested
in any real or personal property, or acquire any equitable right or
interest in any such property, either directly or indirectly, the annual
value or income of which, after deducting necessary expenses, shall
exceed five thousand dollars, on pain of forfeiture of the privileges
conferred by this act; nor shall any trustee be a trustee of more than
one such society at the same time.
'No. 198.] 11
f
§ 3. The word “society,” for the purposes of the preceding sec-
sons of the religious belief of the people called Shakers, resident
within the same county.
§ 4. The legislature may at any time alter, modify or repeal this
ºiet.
It was the anxious desire of your committee to ascertain whether
any of the provisions of this law under which they hold their lands
in trust had been violated; and from none of the witnesses who ap-
peared before your committee entertaining hostile feelings towards
them, either generally or definitely sustained the charge that they had
whilst all who bore testimony in behalf of the Society declared that
they had not.
The various petitions referred to your committee, on the subject,
set forth that the foregoing act worked a serious evil to society;
that it enabled this class of citizens called Shakers, to unite in a
dangerous monopoly of the lands of this State, and by their teach-
ings to the youthful 'rhinds who are placed among them, it tends to
lead into darkness rather than light. To support these petitions,
Séveral witnessés were examined before your committee, all of which
bore testimony, that children when taken into the Society of Sha-
kers, as apprentices, were required to make open confession of their
past sins, and were severely admonished against repetitions; that the
general teaching of the Society, is to convince the young that a de-
parture from the Society or its faith, will be followed by disgrace and
ruin. Hence deep-rooted fears are the consequence, and many whose
natural inclinations would lead them to leave the Society, after learn-
ing its general principles, are deterred, lest the horrible consequences
taught them, may follow.
All the witnesses against the Society also admitted, that from the
experience they possessed, the Society lived strictly up to their
avowed principles in relation to celibacy, frugality, temperance,
honesty, &c.
12 [Assembly
On examining the leading members of the Society, it was asserted,
that all the witnesses who bore testimony against them, were persons
who had been turned away from the Society for imprudent conduct,
or had been those who had joined them under improper motives, and
becoming disappointed, had left.
On examining the schools at Watervliet, a model worthy the imita-
tion of the best society was presented: a full and excellent library
of the most approved books was found; and a thorough education for
the business man is there imparted, by teachers competent for the
task. The scholars, both male and female, seemed highly pleased
with their situation, and were in the apparent enjoyment of all the
pleasures of youthful life.
Their work-shops and manufactories, it is truly believed, surpass in
mechanism any similar establishments in the country. Brooms, herbs
and garden seeds are the principal articles of sale. These have a
world-wide fame. *
The total number of acres of land held and owned by the three
communities of Shakers in this State, is about ten thousand, but a
fraction over ten acres to each person;–not one fourth the quantity
held by the Papal Indians of this State, against which not a mur-
mur has ever been uttered.
The only remaining subject of consideration is that of the right of
legislative interference. Your committee are clearly of opinion that
our written constitution fully and unequivocally settles this ques-
tion.
Af
That the Shakers are a religious society, no one has presumed to
doubt. That their principles of religion and mode of worship may
be sneered at, scorned, or regretted: that from without the pale of their
community, all may unite in the mortification, that such a strange,
innocent and deluded people should exist, may readily be conceded,
but that they are inhuman, and do not possess moral feelings, all
must deny. Hence the panoply of our laws are over them, and they
must be allowed, unmolested, to enjoy the free exercise of their reli-
gious devotions.
No. 198.] 13
In consideration of all the facts and circumstances presented for
the consideration of your committee, they are clearly of opinion that
the matter presents no cause for legislative interference, and there-
fore ask to be discharged from the further consideration of the sub-
ject.
HOLLIS WHITE,
WESSEL S. SMITH,
JOHN A. CROSS,
GERRITT H. STRIKER,
DANIEL B. TAYLOR.
STATE OF NEW-YORK,
IN Assembly, JApril 2d, 1849.
Ordered, That the report of the select committee of the Assembly
(upon the bill to repeal the Shakers Trust Act., of 1839, and
upon the petitions asking for an investigation into certain charges
against them,) against the propriety of any legislation thereon, and
asking to be discharged from the further consideration of the subject,
be agreed to, and that five times the usual number of the said report
be printed for the use of the Legislature.
By order of the Assembly.
PHILANDER B. PRINDLE, Clerk.
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